In Jeremiah 31:31-34 we have seen the powerful
promise to Israel of a new covenant.
Before we move to another description of this promise let us note two
things. First, this promise of God is
guaranteed. The LORD emphasizes this in
the following verses in Jeremiah, by pronouncement in Jer. 31:35-40, and by
illustration in Jer. 32:1-26. Through
Jeremiah the word of the LORD is that God’s fury will be poured out on
Jerusalem, but that beyond that God will establish His new covenant with
Israel.
Second we should remember that Hebrews makes a
strong emphasis on the prophecy of Jeremiah, quoting it in its entirety in Heb.
8:7-13. God was seeking to provoke
Israel to jealousy by those who are not a
nation, the Gentiles who were being saved (Deut. 32:21; Rom. 10:19). In Hebrews God was seeking to encourage these
Jews who had professed faith in Christ, to not turn away but confess Jesus to
be the Mediator of the covenant God had promised to Israel and which the Gentile
believers were enjoying. Paul, whose
ministry was primarily to the Gentiles, had a new covenant ministry (2 Cor. 3:4-18, esp.
v6). The point is: the promise was for
Israel first, and then through Israel came to the Gentiles.
Paul also referred to his ministry as the ministry of the Spirit (2 Cor.
3:8). Let us again go to the Old
Testament and see the connection between the new covenant and the outpouring of
the Spirit.
·
Ezekiel 11:19-20:
o Note
the context of this passage. In Ezek.
8-10 Ezekiel saw the glory of the LORD depart from the temple (which is
completed in 11:22-25). If you are not
familiar with this we encourage you to read it.
It is one of the heaviest moments in Israel’s history, followed by God’s
judgment (Ezek. 11:1-12) which leads Ezekiel to question God: Ah, Lord GOD! Will You make a complete end of the remnant
of Israel? God’s answer, “I will not
completely cast them off” (11:14-18); and then promises a spiritual restoration
of the nation (11:19-21).
o The
promise of restoration involves the new
covenant, although Ezekiel doesn’t use those words. He speaks of one heart, a new spirit
within and of the stony heart replaced
by a heart of flesh. The reason we know this is the New Covenant
is because of the end result: they will be able to do God’s statutes and
judgments and there will be a My
people/their God relationship. The stony heart connects with the Law of
Moses given on tablets of stone (Ex.
24:12). As Jeremiah had said, the New
Covenant was not like the Old Covenant.
The indwelling Spirit makes it possible to know and do God’s will, a
power not known under the Old Covenant.
Consider Paul’s words in today’s reading: we
are an epistle of Christ … written not with ink but by the Spirit of
the living God. This is the effect of God's promise in our lives.
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