God’s New Covenant with Israel (2), Jeremiah 31:31-34

With respect to the Law of Moses, Jesus came not to destroy the Law of the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.  For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled (Matt. 5:17-18).  

There are two ways people might look at this; one of them is very wrong though it might sound logical.  You might think that Jesus came to keep the law perfectly so as to show us all how it’s done so we can do it.  But one problem with this is that He did not simply say He came to keep the Law and the Prophets.  He said He came to fulfill, and that is different than keep.  To keep requires one-for-one obedience; He does all the law said.  To fulfill indicates the Law had a purpose and that Jesus fulfilled this purpose with absolute perfection and completion.  And that is what we believe Jesus was saying in Matt. 5.

Paul said that Jesus was the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes (Rom. 10:4).  Again he said, For what the law could not do … God did by sending His own Son … that the righteousness requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who … walk … according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:3-4).  What Jesus did was to bring to an end the point or purpose of the law; He kept it for us, bringing to an end the power it once had over everyone who believes.  

I ask you just to think about this, keep these things in mind, as we begin to look at several wonderful Old Testament passages about the New Covenant.  We will begin with the passage that is the most fundamental; it is not the first passage in chronological order but the first in order of importance because it enables us to understand the distinction between the Old and New Covenants.

·        Jeremiah 31:31-34:

o   With whom is this covenant made?  It is made with the nation of Israel, both houses (v31).  In this sense it is like the old covenant (the one made at Sinai) which was made with the house of Jacob … the children of Israel (Ex. 19:3).  It was not made with the Egyptians or the Canaanites or any other nation but Israel.  The Law of Moses was God’s special gift to His chosen nation (Deut. 4:7-10; 6:20-25; 7:6-8).  This includes the Ten Commandments; read Moses’ prelude to the Ten in Deut. 5:1-6 and you will see that they were given to Israel as part of the Old Covenant.  And note in 31:34 they all shall know Me.  This Covenant will reach to the entire nation, speaking of the time when all Israel shall be saved (Isa. 59:20-21; Rom. 11:26-27).  This, of course, is a still future event.

o   What is the relationship of the Old and New Covenants?  They are not the same type of covenant.  The Old was conditional: if you obey I will bless you; if you disobey I will curse you.  Israel never kept their part of the covenant though God kept His.  The New is characterized not by what man does but by what God does: He says I will.  Jeremiah also says that the New comes in the days after the Old; it fits the idea of Jesus’ fulfillment of the Old, being the end of the law, so that the New could be established.  That is why Jesus did not come to patch the old wineskins but to make new ones (Luke 5:37-38).

o   What is promised in the New Covenant?  God says He will put His law in the hearts of Israel and that they will know Him in a miraculous way so that no man needs to teach them to know God.  The result is that God and Israel will have the relationship that was always intended: God is Israel’s God and Israel is God’s people!  What is described here is the blessing of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the people.  Other New Covenant passages emphasize this as we will see; Jeremiah does not refer to the Spirit.  But what he describes is brought about by the outpouring of the Spirit (e.g. Ezek. 36:26-28).  What God also promises through Jeremiah is the work of Christ on the cross; this God/People relationship is only possible because the sins of the people have been atoned for.  

The New Covenant is totally dependent on the Lord Jesus Christ.  And through His work this amazing relationship of God is within reach today by all who will do as Abraham did: believe in the promise of God, of salvation through His Son!  What a blessing to study this subject; it is so honoring to our Lord.  Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus our blessed redeemer!