The Promise of a New Covenant, Part 1

Have you blown it with God? Have you failed in your walk with God and find yourself thrashing about trying to find a place of renewed fellowship? In chapter 31 of Jeremiah, the promise of God to a failed people was to renew them to a New Covenant even though they had completely failed to keep the Covenant of the Law.

[Jer 31:1-40 KJV] 1 At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. 2 Thus saith the LORD, The people [which were] left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; [even] Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. 3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, [saying], Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. 4 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry. 5 Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat [them] as common things. 6 For there shall be a day, [that] the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God.

7 For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel. 8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, [and] with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither. 9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim [is] my firstborn. 10 Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare [it] in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd [doth] his flock. 11 For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of [him that was] stronger than he. 12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.

When we read this chapter of Jeremiah we find several verses that were quoted in the gospels and other books of the New Testament as being fulfilled in Christ. The early church leaders and the apostles saw the prophetic words here as pointing to Christ and the work of God in the church. Much of the prophecies here point on the surface to the national destiny of the nation of Israel yet they find a deeper fulfillment in the coming of Christ and his purposes in broader humanity as He raises up His church and His people as representatives of the kingdom. From this perspective we read these verses and ask ourselves what do they tell us about ourselves and what do they tell us about who Jesus is to us?

Verse 2 speaks of the people turned out into the wilderness by the sword of Babylon. The promise is that God will show grace to the northern tribes and cause them to come to rest. It is good to remember that at this time Israel and the northern tribes have been completely dispersed for many years and history tells us they never return from their captivity. What is the meaning then? It speaks to us as those who have been lost to sin and alienated from God having been brought to rest and rescued out of the wilderness of godlessness by the work of Christ on the Christ. God’s whole purpose is not to put us to work but to bring us to rest. Heb. 4:9 tells us that there “remaineth a rest to the people of God…” Many times people come to Christ as young Christians and within just a short period of time they are pressed into service to fill vacancies of volunteer positions in the church. Leaders and pastors often have the idea that they must put new converts to work and impose obligation on them or they won’t stay in the church. That is not God’s plan. God’s plan is not to put you to work or impose some standard of religious performance on you. He want to bring you and keep you at rest in Christ. Having said that – resting in Christ is not inactivity. You can get more done from a position of rest in Christ than 10 men can do laboring through a performance mentality trying to impress others with how spiritual they are.

To Be Continued Next Week