31 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Juda:
32 not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took hold of their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they abode not in my covenant, and I disregarded them, saith the Lord.
33 For this is my covenant which I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I will surely put my laws into their mind, and write them on their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
34 And they shall not at all teach every one his fellow citizen, and every one his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them: for I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins I will remember no more. +
This is an amazing prophecy and promise! This passage is referred to by Jesus and quoted in Hebrews. But before we see that, let’s just see what Jeremiah says.
- I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah
- not according to the covenant I made with their fathers. They broke that one. ‘I led them out of Egypt, made a covenant with them, they broke that covenant.’
Details of the covenant:
(1) I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts
The Old was external, written on tablets of stone, the New will be internal, written on their hearts. This is being born again (Ezekiel 36:25-27; John 3).
(2) I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people
This is the fundamental intent of every covenant God makes with anyone, ‘I will be your God, you will be my people.’
(3) all shall know me
This is interesting, it would seem that it was possible to be a covenant person but not know God under the Law, thus they could encourage someone to know the Lord. The new covenant will be internal and personal, every member will know the Lord.
(4) their sins will I remember no more
Forgiveness of sins. The full implication of this is spelled out in the book of Hebrews.
What a promise! When will this happen? And what does this have to do with Jesus?
Jesus referred to this at the last supper, And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it all of you; For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. New covenant, remission of sins? Every one who knew the Scriptures would recognize this as a reference to Jeremiah. Jesus established the new covenant by his death on the cross. The epistle to the Hebrews explores this thoroughly:
Hebrews 8:6-13
6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
Paul++ does not exegete the passage here, he uses it to support his point that we are under a new covenant. He says Jesus has a more excellent ministry, is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises (6). A new covenant demonstrates the insufficiency of the first covenant, and he quotes Jeremiah to show this (7-11). In verse 13 he stresses his point – We have a new covenant; this makes the first covenant old; being old the first covenant is ready to vanish away.
In chapters 9 and 10 he elaborates on this, comparing the inability of the first covenant with the power of the new. In 9:13-15 we read:
13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant which was established by the blood of Christ; that blood purges our conscience, redeems us from transgressions, and gives us eternal inheritance. He continues in chapter 10:
1-4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
5-9 Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. By do thy will he means offer himself as the sacrifice for sins.
He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By his death on the cross he brings the first to an end and establishes the second or new covenant.
10-14 His sacrifice, the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, is efficacious.
10 By the which will (covenant) we are sanctified
11-13 this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God
14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
This is the power of the new covenant. It was established by the death of Christ, and the blood of Christ cleanses us from sin. Now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (9:26)
Then he again quotes our passage in Jeremiah:
15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,
16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
He quotes Jeremiah as a witness not only of the establishing of the New Covenant, but also of its efficacy – through it God forgives our sins, which the first could not do.
18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
This is the New Covenant. Jeremiah prophesied it, Jesus said he was establishing it by his blood, the Apostle shows us its efficaciousness. Christ was sacrificed once for all time and our sins can now be forgiven. Hallelujah!
Jeremiah said it would be made with Israel and Judah and they shall benefit from it, but clearly the covenant now controls God’s dealings with all peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations. Jesus offered himself a sacrifice for all and anyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven.
The New Covenant – Jesus came to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
The Gospel – Believe in Jesus and your sins will be forgiven.
To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name
whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
+ This is from the Septuagint (LXX), the translation the Jews made of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek. And why am I using this? This is the translation the epistle to the Hebrews quoted. The similarity is even more noticeable in Greek.
++ Did I really say Paul was the author of Hebrews? Sure did. I accept the earliest tradition that he wrote it. You may say, “Scholars today say that nobody knows who wrote it.” Well, if they’re right then you can disagree with me, but you can’t say I’m wrong. Haha!
Next: 33:14-18 The Branch of Righteousness
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