Answers Bible Curriculum Year 2 Quarter 4 Lesson 3
This week in our Answers Bible Curriculum Sunday school, we take a closer look at God’s promise of a New Covenant in Jeremiah 31. What was the promised New Covenant? Has the New Covenant arrived yet? How does the New Covenant compare to the Old? And what does the arrival of the New Covenant mean for the Old Covenant? We’ll consider these questions and more.
Our lesson will feature some investigation of different New Testament but will center on Jeremiah 31:23-40.
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furthermore we discussed last week how we how we too have been granted a vision of the glory of Yahweh and even and in an even greater way than Ezekiel had been that is because we had been given a revelation of Jesus Christ Through the Bible through the scriptures that talk about Jesus we behold the glory of God as displayed in the Sun in the sun glorified himself and his Incarnation his obedience his death his resurrection and he is now exalted and sitting at the right hand of the father Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega the judge of the world the resplendent one yet he’s the friend and savior of a savior of those who believe in him so we dare not commit or we dare not neglect the commands of Jesus instead we are to love him be zealous for him to know and to do his will let us then put off sin and put on righteousness and let us declare his gospel boldly and Make Disciples of all the nations now prophets of old were motivated and to be motivated by the glory of God and so are we to be any questions on what we talked about last week okay uh by the way just so I can test how the audio connection sounds can somebody say something and I want to see if I can hear it Rob can you say something did you say anything I see you can you hear me Dave I can hear somebody yeah I have a microphone so if anybody wants to talk I’ll bring it to you okay all right well we can definitely use that then we do have an uh congregation mic but I guess it’s maybe not strong enough or the settings not turned up or something all right well thanks okay this week we return to Jeremiah 31.
and we’re going to do a deeper look at God’s New Covenant what is the New Covenant how does it compare to the old covenant What do we do with the old Covenant when the New Covenant arrives and why is the New Covenant so significant those are some of the questions we’re going to consider today here’s our outline for today’s class we’re going to examine the unveiling of the New Covenant as explained in Jeremiah 31 we’ll sample what the New Testament has to say about the new and the old covenants how they interact and we’ll consider some application for ourselves let’s pray a great God we thank you for this time where we can look at your word I pray that you’d help me to be able to explain it that the technical things would hold up and that this would be an enjoyable and profitable time because you’d work in the hearts of those at Calvary and those listening it’ll be a great blessing and that they would be affected by your word as they were meant to be in Jesus name amen all right please open your Bibles now Jeremiah 31.
Jeremiah 31 and we’re going to be focusing on versus 23 to 40.
in just a moment let me check one of my settings here you might be asking yourself we’re back in Jeremiah 31 we’ve been here before we talked about it a little bit why are we back here again well we didn’t get to talk about it in a very great very great detail some things that I say today will be a little bit of review for where we briefly touched on Jeremiah 31 before but other things will be new we’re going to take a longer or a wider look at this section and we’ll consider more specifically what the New Testament has to say now our main text is Jeremiah 31 verses 23 to 40. but before we read let me re-establish the context for you we’re listening to Jeremiah Jeremiah is the prophet of Judah but warn the people to repent he was warning Judah because the Judgment of God was coming upon them that judgment was coming in the form of Babylon Babylon was going to attack and Conquer that people did not listen to Jeremiah they didn’t turn away from their evil and so Babylon did come he came and conquered Judah multiple times during Jeremiah’s life it was this he witnessed the second invasion of Babylon where the people were taking Cactus most the people were taken captive and taken into Exile in Babylon you may remember the second invasion is around what date 599 BC so remember we got those three dates 607 599 and 588. those are our three dates for the Babylonian invasion while Babylon comes and takes the people captive it doesn’t take Jeremiah captive Jeremiah is allowed to stay in the land along with king zedekiah and a small number of remaining judeans Jeremiah continues to prophesy pleading with the remaining people to turn back to the Lord writing to the people in Exile telling them to repent and turn to the Lord but the people would still not listen to Jeremiah right at least those that were still with him in Judah and God therefore warned that more judgment was coming the people remaining in Jerusalem were going to be annihilated and the temple was going to be destroyed all this hard-heartedness from the people just increased the sorrow of Jeremiah because he knew that the Lord’s judgment was coming in his his countrymen his brothers and sisters in Judo are going to be killed that’s why we call him the weeping prophet he wept streams of Tears because of wuda’s Judas judah’s incurable wound the Unstoppable Judgment of God coming but God was going to send another word to Jeremiah and not just to him but to all those who would look to the Lord and Hope and tremble at the word of Yahweh look at Jeremiah 30 for a second Jeremiah 30 verses 1 to 3 opens the section in which we’re in today look at Jeremiah 31-3 so this is Page 786 in a few Bible Jeremiah 30 verse 1.
the word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying thus says the Lord the god of Israel write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book for behold days are coming declares the Lord when I will restore the fortunes of My People Israel and Judah the Lord says I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers and they shall possess it so these verses proceed the next two chapters of Jeremiah in which we find our main text today and these chapters confirm that while traumatic judgment is coming and even um an even more violent conquest of Babylon on Judah that is coming but also in the future restoration is coming and we’ve seen his theme in the other books and we’re seeing it again in Jeremiah but now let’s look at the main text Jeremiah 31 verses 23 to 40.
all right follow along as I read thus says the Lord of hosts the god of Israel once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I restore their fortunes the Lord bless you o boat of righteousness O Holy Hill Judah in all its cities will dwell together in it the farmer and they who go about with flocks for I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes at this I woke and looked and my sleep was pleasant to me behold days are coming declares the Lord when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed and Beast Zion watched over them to pluck up to break down to overthrow to destroy and to bring disaster so I will watch over them to build and to plant declares the Lord in those days they will not say again the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge and everyone will die for his own iniquity each man who eats the sour grapes his teeth will be set on edge behold days are coming declares the Lord and I will make a New Covenant with the house of visual and with the house of Judah not like the Covenant which I made with their made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt my Covenant which they broke although I was a husband to them declares the Lord but this is a covenant which I’ll make with the house of Israel after those days declares the Lord I will put my law within them and on their heart I will write it and I will be their God and they shall be my people they will not teach again each man his neighbor and each man his brother saying know the Lord they will all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them declares the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more who says the Lord who gives the son for light by day in the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night who stirs at the sea so that its waves Roar the Lord of hosts is his name if this fixed order departs from before me declares the Lord then The Offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before me forever thus says the Lord if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched Out Below then I will also cast up all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done declares the Lord behold days are coming declares the Lord when the city will be rebuilt for the Lord from the Tower of Hannah now to the corner gate the measuring line will go out far farther straight ahead to the hillgar and it will turn to Goa and the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron the corner of the house the horse gate toward the East shall be holy to the Lord it will not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever okay let’s start our analysis of this text with some basic observations notice the promises God gives Judah in verses 23 to 30.
he says in verse 23 people will again call down blessings on Judah and Proclaim her righteousness they will say she is the righteous place all the cities of Judah in verse 24 will be inhabited again and her lands again tended by farmers and Shepherds verse 27 God will put man and Beast back into the land as if a farmer was sowing seed verse 28 there’s going to be rebuilding and replanting accomplished by the Lord and verse 29 to 30 no one will be able to complain about suffering the consequences of their forefathers before or from the actions of their forefathers rather each person will only suffer for his own evil only suffer the consequences of his own evil now notice how is Jeremiah affected by these words he says he awoke from the vision and his feelings was one of just of having Pleasant sleep ever wake up from a good night of Rest full of pleasant dreams that’s the way Jeremiah feels this by the way shows that his vision is is coming to Jeremiah when in his sleep God is using a vision in the night uh dreams to communicate his Revelation to Jeremiah and he’s done this at other points in the Bible too this is something that Daniel experiences in Abraham and others notice in verse 31 God introduces the New Covenant and then that is remember Covenant means treaty or contract or agreement this is a new one and there’s the timing of this Covenant is not specifically identified it simply says days are coming multiple times days are coming and after those days so I know it’s in the future but we’re not told specifically when in the future now notice also as we’ve discussed previously that this Covenant will be with whom will be with Israel and Judah says I’m making it with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah just updating my slide there and notice this because this New Covenant is contrasted with the Covenant Israel received previously when leaving Egypt what was his previous Covenant the Mosaic Covenant Israel’s Covenant the one that was given to Israel via Moses now where can we find the Mosaic Covenant in the Bible the first five books the pentateuch the law that’s essentially the old Covenant the Mosaic Covenant it is the law of God given by Moses to the people it’s contained in the pentateuch now was the Mosaic Covenant a conditional or an unconditional Covenant well if we look back at the pentateuch we hear a number of statements like the one given in Exodus 19 verses 5 to 6.
I’ll read that one for you this is Exodus 19 verses 5 to 6.
God says now then if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my Covenant then you shall be my own possession among all the peoples for all the Earth is mine and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation you notice the if then given by the Lord in those verses he’s establishing a condition if you obey me and if you keep my Covenant then I will make you my own possession you will be a kingdom of priests and only nation so if that’s the condition what if Israel doesn’t fulfill the condition what if Israel doesn’t keep its part of the treaty or what does Israel’s contract say not just here but elsewhere well God promises if you don’t keep this Covenant then I will curse you then I will judge you then I will destroy you then I will remove you from the land written into the contract did Israel end up being faithful to its part in the Covenant no it didn’t that’s what Jeremiah has been saying did God end up being unfaithful to his part of the contract well God was not Unfaithful Israel was unfaithful but God was faithful God did exactly what he said he would do he says if you break your part of the Covenant then here’s what I will do and he did just that he sent the judgments remember God is it cannot violate his own character he’s totally faithful he has to be faithful to his own nature that’s what II Timothy says even to judge now how was Israel supposed to keep its part of the Covenant what were they supposed to do obey the laws of the Lord keep his Commandments fulfill the requirements that are given in his law in the first five books of Moses and remember what were the Lord’s commands that was everything that’s written there all the Civil the ceremonial the moral laws everything about what you are allowed to eat and what you were not allowed to eat what you were to do whenever you sinned or committed a transgression how that was going to be covered by sacrifice the way you treated your neighbor all of those things are part of how Israel is going to keep the Lord’s Covenant now when we think of the old Covenant we sometimes think of the Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments are part of the old Covenant but let’s recall what is the significance of the Ten Commandments in relation to the whole old Covenant the whole law as given by Moses what’s the significance of the Ten Commandments it’s a summary it’s a summary of the Old Testament law it’s like you can or you might also call it a foundation it’s like you can look at this the ten different Commandments and see how the other laws given in the first five books are based off of those things or our sunrise in those things there are various laws and the law given by Moses that relate to sexual Purity but they’re all summed up in the seventh commandment that thou shall not commit adultery are there various laws related to how one is to Worship the Lord and not wish brother Gods but all those are contained or summarized in the first two Commandments of the Ten Commandments Thou shalt have no other gods before me and thou shall not make a Graven image shall Worship the Lord only so the rest of the law is just an expansion or an elaboration of the the main truths given in The Ten Commandments but it’s not like the Ten Commandments are one special set of laws and then there are the rest of laws that aren’t as important now all of them are together the Ten Commandments is just like a good summary of those laws it’s part of the old Covenant the Mosaic Covenant so God gave Israel a special Covenant to keep a good Covenant with good laws and a great reward if Israel would keep it but Israel did not Israel would not and so Israel fell under the penalties that were written into the Covenant you now must experience the curses that’s part of the Covenant back to Jeremiah God tells Jeremiah a New Covenant is coming to Israel and Judah that is not like this old Covenant well what’s going to happen in this new covenant notice what God tells Jeremiah God says he will write his law on the hearts of his people where was the law written in the old Covenant now yes it was written on I suppose pieces of paper for people to review for the priest or for the king I guess technically not paper the animal skins or something like that but originally what was the law written on Moses received the law of God God himself wrote it on Stone right in the tablets that’s where the old Covenant was given now says this New Covenant is going to be written on the hearts of God’s people this new law is going to be written on their hearts or in this new covenant the law will be written on their hearts what else did God say God said that God would be Israel’s God and they would be his people God says that the all the people will know God no one from the least to the greatest will need to tell his brother to know Yahweh because everyone will and God said also says God will forgive his people for their sins and remember their iniquities no more what part of Israel and Judah need to fulfill in order to bring these promises to pass if you look they don’t have a part there’s no there’s no task given here no if then statement if they do this then I’ll do this there’s none of that here so is this a conditional and unconditional Act it’s unconditional so who’s doing all the action God is the one who says I’m going to do all these things it’s nothing nothing stated to your fruit that is necessary for Israel to do to make God Act in verse 35 God reminds Jeremiah of God’s ability to create to order and to sustain creation and then in the next couple verses God makes two if statements God says if the fixed order of creation stops then Israel will also cease to be a nation he also says if the heavens and the inner parts of the Earth can be found out and measured then God will also cast off Israel for all the wicked things she’s done come back to that in a moment final part of this section notice we get a set of promises having to do specifically with Jerusalem this is verses 38 to 40. God says that in the future Jerusalem will be rebuilt and enlarged even the Valley of the dead bodies and Ashes will be made holy to Yahweh now what is this Valley the Valley of the dead bodies and Ashes well this must be the valley of hinom the place where people used to burn their children and sacrifice to false gods you can understand why there’d be dead bodies there and also ashes it was a place of burning it was a place for bodies to be burned for people to be burned this is a notorious Valley in Judah King Josiah you may remember him one of the good Kings of Judah he tried to stop the practice of child sacrifice and the value of genome earlier and he did for a time he defiled the valley and made it inappropriate for worship but Josiah died and the people turned back to their sin and rebellion and they came back to the valley and resumed their practice of child sacrifice even sacrificing children to Yahweh as if that was something that God desired or enjoyed God said that did not even enter my mind in Jeremiah 7 speaking of this Valley God says the valley of hindom would be renamed the valley of Slaughter promising that the judeans themselves would be slaughtered for their barbaric idolatry and that their bodies would be buried all over the valley it was a cursed Valley the file Valley it was going to be further defiled with all these dead bodies and by the time in the New Testament the valley of hindom was a garbage dump and it was Contin continually burning with trash they’re burning the trash there and you may remember the New Testament makes reference to the value of Phenom too but the word in Greek for this Valley is gehenna and in the New Testament that word is translated as hell yes the valley of hinom was used by Jesus and the apostles as a picture of what Eternal punishment is like hell pictured by gehenna or hell is pictured in the valley of gehenna hell is a place just like the original Valley of hinom was at least in Jesus day it was a place for all that is worthless and unclean to be burned forever he says that’s that’s hell that’s what hell is like that’s why Jesus warned people about going to hell going into what is pictured by the valley of hinom this is what Jeremiah 31 is talking about the Valley of the dead bodies and Ashes yet notice what’s so surprising what does God promise about this horrific place in verse 40.
this Valley he says it shall be holy to the Lord this down like the surrounding area will be made clean and set apart by God when he restores his people very surprising by the way Jeremiah 32 features a parallel set of promises to the ones that we’ve just been looking at in Jeremiah 31. I want you to see that before we take some time to ask interpretation questions turn just a bit to Jeremiah 32 actually I guess it’s if you’re already looking at the end of 31 it’s right there in the true bible Jeremiah 32 and let’s look at verses 37 to 44.
in this section God has just commanded Jeremiah to buy a piece of property in Judah even though babylon’s about to conquer Judah for a third and final time and take away everyone’s property Jeremiah obeys God but he doesn’t understand why God told him to do that it kind of seems like a big waste but listen to what part I listen to part of what is God’s response Jeremiah 32 verses 37 to 44.
just updating my slide there okay Jeremiah 32.
37-44 behold God says I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in my anger in my wrath and in great indignation I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety they shall be my people and I will be their God I’ll give them one heart and one way that they may fear me always for their own good and for the good of their children after them I will make an Everlasting Covenant with them I will not turn away from them to do them good and I will put the fear of me in their hearts so they will not re they will not turn away from me I Will Rejoice over them to do them good and will Faithfully plant them in this land with all my heart and with all my soul for thus says the Lord just as I brought all this great disaster on this people so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them Fields will be bought in this land of which you say it is a desolation without man or beast it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans men will buy fields for money sign and seal deeds and call in Witnesses in the land of Benjamin in the environments of Jerusalem in the cities of Judah in the cities of the Hill Country and in the cities of lowland and in the cities of Negev for I will restore their fortunes declares the Lord you may notice that section featured many of the same promises and slightly different language as to what we saw in Jeremiah 31. it’s a further announcement of this new Everlasting Covenant coming to Israel and Judah now that we’ve made these observations let’s let’s now ask some interpretation questions what does it mean what does it mean that God will one day write the law right yeah write his law on his people’s hearts what does that mean certainly there’s a contrast to the externality of the Old Law the Old Law was written on Stone it was external the new law is going to be internal it’s going to be an internal work and it’s happening in the future but is God saying that his people are going to be suddenly given perfect knowledge of him and of his commands I would say no there is an aspect of Enlightenment here to be sure but this phrase appears to have more to do with attitude than knowledge because consider Jeremiah 32 again in that section God didn’t say he was give his people special inner knowledge but that they would have a fear of him in their hearts God was going to place that fear a holy fear moreover psalm 40.
uses the phrase uh the law written on on a person’s heart and it’s set in parallel to a person loving God and loving his Commandments David writes in Psalm 40 speaking with the voice of the Messiah this is Psalm 40 verse 8. I Delight to do your will oh my God your law is written or your law is within my heart so you can see there there’s a connection between loving the Lord’s will and loving the Lord and having the law on your heart having his law on your heart his commands the sense then in Jeremiah 31 of this phrase is that the people’s hearts will be changed by God to love and fear God as a consequence they will love God’s law they will care about it they will want to seek it they will want to know it they will want to follow it and who’s causing all this Yahweh God himself is causing them to love him and his law so that you could even say the law is written on their hearts God is writing it there was part of this God promises to forgive the sins of his people and remember them no more but if God is God how can God cease to remember sin isn’t God omniscient well of course God is omniscient and he couldn’t right he could never make himself not know something God could not compromise his own character he can never truly forget sin or that something happened so we cannot be too literal with a sense of this forgetting it’s the same thing whenever we hear the Bible talk about God remembering God remembered Noah or God remembered Abraham it’s not that God forgot it’s just a way of describing that God was going to especially bring to mind a certain person and then act on their behalf what’s similar with this phrase forgetting doesn’t mean that God literally forgets but that God will no longer hold his people’s sin against them they’ll no longer be a cause of judgment for them God is going to remove their sin in such a way that it is no longer a barrier between him and his people it’s like he’s going to just forget about their sin so this is a metaphor for to help us understand what God is going to do with sin put the sins of his people so yes he is still omniscient but he is going to remove the sin in a way as if he’s forgetting it another question how can God still be just and pardon sin he may love his people but that but by forgiving them doesn’t that mean that he’s letting evil go unpunished how can he simply forgive sin well it’s not revealed here but you should already know the answer from our other studies God has to provide a way to bring about this forgiveness while still satisfying his own Justice someone has to pay the full price a truly worthy sacrifice for sin has to be presented or else God cannot allow himself to forgive his sinful people he may desire to do that forgiveness but he cannot let himself if his Justice and Holiness cannot be satisfied he must provide a way but who could ever provide such a worthy sacrifice who could who could stand as a as payment for sin and for sinners every man is flawed and every sin is so heinous to God it’s not like one can just serve in purgatory for ten thousand years no the sin is more heinous than that to truly pay for sin you need a substitute or you need someone to pay who has the very righteousness of God only that kind of sacrifice would be acceptable to the Holiness and Justice of God so where could we get such revision only from God himself and that is what we have received in Jesus Christ the son we’ll say more about Jesus in a moment but understand that Jesus is the way that God brought about to bring restoration and forgiveness for his people he is the reason that his people can be forgiven God’s not simply ignoring sin he’s providing a way for that sin to be dealt with and have his people be forgiven not specifically revealed here but we know it from the other scriptures another interpretation question what is the point of the two if statements in verses 35 to 37.
is God setting a limit to his love for his people is he setting forth some condition no it’s the opposite God is showing that this is impossible for his love to be altered that it is given unconditionally creation will fall apart before God will allow Israel to be destroyed the whole universe will be completely measured before God Cast Away his people even for their sin the idea of these things as expressed in these verses is that these acts are impossible to accomplish therefore Israel and Judah can know with certainty that God will never abandon them God made discipline them but he will never abandon them completely but someone may say wait a second we know the Earth will be destroyed one day bye five the creation Cycles will then cease so doesn’t that mean that there’s a chance that Israel will be cast off isn’t God essentially setting a limit well think about it who’s going to end creation God is the only one with that kind of power no one else can end creation no one else can end the order of the world man can never destroy creation or end its order and neither can the angels no one can thwart God’s purposes when it comes to Creation therefore if God promised that Israel will never be destroyed who’s going to thwart that intention God’s not going to thwart his own intention because he’s already promised to do the opposite so who else could do it it’s just like creation what about man you say what if Israel just becomes so wicked might God then break his promise well look at the analogy again can man halt the creation order no he can’t and just as men cannot stop the ordained cycles of the universe so man even Wicked Israel cannot stop God from preserving his Nation only God has the power and God has already made his choice therefore God’s promises to Israel here are unconditional they are certain it’s the same with mapping the heavens and the inner earth can anyone do that can man do that can the Angels do that no only God knows the length depth and breadth of the universe and what has God already decided that the offspring of Israel will never be cast off God’s promise then is certain and unconditional even Israel cannot stop God’s promises they are certain another question why does God give these words to Jeremiah these words are promise why does it give them to Jeremiah and through him to the Exiles of Judah well it is to give is people hope and comfort is that not pictured by the sleep of Jeremiah it has improved upon hearing these promises for the faithful remnants the faithful remnant of Judah hearing these words regarding a New Covenant enables them to lift up their heads to again sleep well to be encouraged even when they see the walls of Jerusalem being torn down when they hear of their countrymen being killed or when they are LED as captives into a new land they can be encouraged because they know God is not done with us yet he will yet save and restore us he will forgive us our sins he will bring us back into the land he will dwell among us again one day it can be encouraged they know that God has not cast them off and will never cast them off he will restore them again they can have hope and for those judeans who haven’t been faithful who were previously in sin and idolatry they have hope in Repentance they can see that there is hope and repentance it’s like they can say to themselves though I have sinned greatly against Yahweh he is making a way for me he has not utterly cast me off there’s still time to repent God will restore our people to love him and to experience his Blessing I want to be part of that people There’s Hope for me because if God promises to forgive Israel their sins then my sins too can be forgiven no matter how great they are and all of this shows God to be even more glorious and this is what God has committed to fundamentally right to give himself the glory that he is due it’s like the vision or this revelation of the New Covenant in a way is like the vision of God on his throne given to Ezekiel because we are beholding the glory of the Lord we see in this new covenant God’s astounding faithfulness is power and his kindness he is going to change the hearts of his rebellious people he’s going to cause them to love him and to be loved by him he’s going to restore them permanently in the land he’s going to forgive their their sin and dwell among them as God what other God does this who is like Yahweh among all the gods of the world of course there are no other gods but even there and even in the imagination of men who is like Yahweh so when will all these promises be fulfilled when will the new covenant come well it already has come well at least in part about 600 years after this prophecy given by Jeremiah Emmanuel was born God’s son lived among men determined to die on behalf of these people and not just for the house of Israel but also for the chosen from all the Gentile Nations that Gentiles too might become partakers of God’s New Covenant before suffering on the cross Jesus told his disciples as they shared a Passover meal together in Luke 22 20.
this cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood as we’ve said before Jesus brought the New Covenant he is the high priest and mediator of this new covenant his blood shed on the cross for sins is what enables a person to be part of the New Covenant to be cleansed to be clothed with the righteousness of Jesus and to be totally forgiven and to receive and to receive Jesus a person must simply repent and believe they must turn away from sin and believe in Jesus as Savior as master and as God now someone may ask but I thought the New Covenant was unconditional repentance and beliefs sound like conditions how can you say I can be part of the New Covenant if I repent and believe if the New Covenant is unconditional well in a way it’s true that repentance and belief are conditions they are the conditions of Salvation and participation in the New Covenant there is no true salvation there is no participation in the New Covenant without repentance and belief but who causes a person to repent and believe really we and all men are no different from Israel we are just as apart from Christ apart from his work in us we are just as stubborn and rebellious as the people of Israel and Judah during the days of Jeremiah therefore if a person repents and believes as he is required to to participate in this new covenant this New Covenant it is only because God has already changed his heart God has already put the holy fear of him in that person God has already given that person faith God has already begun writing his law on that person’s heart God is doing it all of course we’re talking about the interaction of the human and divine and so from our perspective we can’t see when that is happening when God is doing that Divine work but we can see the results we recognize when it’s happened when God has written on someone’s heart and changed it because what do those who are part of Jesus’s New Covenant start to do if the law is written on their hearts and they love the Lord’s love they seek out and do the commands of God I sneak on and do the commands of Jesus they want to know the Lord and his will this is the result of God changing their hearts it manifests itself in fruit so understand that you and all men are responsible to come to Jesus God commands you to come to believe to repent that is your responsibility but when you come we see here from Jeremiah 31 and from other places in the Bible when you come give all the praise to God because he is the one who did everything to make you come he’s the one who does everything for your salvation enables you to do what is even required repentance and belief but someone may yet say I thought the New Covenant was with Israel and Judah didn’t they reject Jesus how can the New Covenant have arrived without Israel being saved if you say that the New Covenant has arrived I I don’t see those things fulfilled in Jeremiah 31 how can the New Covenant actually have a right well there are three parts to answer this question and we actually see the three parts of this answer in the Book of Romans the Apostle Paul is actually dealing with the same question what about God’s promises to Israel they seem like they’re unfulfilled even though you talk about Jesus the Messiah this New Covenant it looks like Israel has not received what was promised now here are the three parts to the answer that question Romans will let him the first part is a remnant of Israel has been saved and brought into the New Covenant here’s what Romans 11 1-5 says you can look in Romans you can just listen to me talk Romans 11 1-5 Paul says I say then God has not rejected his people has he may never be for I too am in Israelites a descendant of Abraham of The Tribe of Benjamin God has not rejected it’s people whom he foreknew or do you not know that the scripture says in the past is about Elijah how he pleads with God against Israel Lord they have killed your prophets they’ve torn down your altars and I alone am left and are they are seeking my life but what is the Divine response to him I have kept from myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the need to bail in the same way then there has also come to be at the present time a Remnant according to God’s gracious choice so a remnant of Israel has been saved according to the New Covenant that’s the first part the second part is God has allowed the majority of Israel to temporarily remain outside the New Covenant in order that the Gentiles might be brought into the New Covenant they are brought in the same way that Israel is brought in by God’s choice and by faith here again is Romans Romans 11 11.
I say then this is Paul Israel did not stumble so as to fall did they may never be but by their transgressions salvation has come to the Gentiles to make them that is the Jews jealous Romans 11 25 for I do not want you Brethren to be uninformed of this mystery so that you will not be wise in your own estimation that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in so the second reason that we don’t see the New Covenant fully manifest is that God is temporarily hardened Israel allowed Israel to remain outside the New Covenant so that the Gentiles can be brought in but then there’s a third part the third part is that Israel as a nation will yet be saved in the last days of the earth when Christ returns to establish his Messianic and Millennial kingdom in Jerusalem at that time and around that time all Israel will be saved for here’s what Paul says in Romans 11 again Romans 11 26-27 and so all Israel will be saved just as it is written the deliverer will come from Zion he will remove ungodliness from Jacob this is my Covenant with them when I take away their sins so yes the New Covenant has arrived and yet part of it has not arrived part of it is yet future but a Remnant individual has already been saved and Gentiles and even some Jews as part of that Remnant are still being saved one day all of Israel will be saved one last question if the New Covenant has arrived what has happened to the old Covenant the teaching of the New Testament is this the old Covenant the Mosaic law has been fulfilled by Jesus therefore the old Covenant is obsolete Christians need not follow the old Covenant that is Israel’s Covenant anymore understand that the old Covenant was not God’s plan a in the New Covenant with God’s plan B not at all God always designed the old Covenant for a specific purpose what was that purpose just show Israel and to show all mankind their intense sin problem and their need for God to unilaterally save them the ceremonies and the rituals the old Covenant well glorious and good they were not able to produce what man really needed heart change and Lasting covering for sin but that’s the point the old Covenant is there to reveal the need for the New Covenant and to lead God’s elect to belief and salvation in Jesus Paul describes the changing Covenant like this in Galatians Galatians 3 23.
it came we were kept in custody under the law basically synonymous with the old Covenant here being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed therefore the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ so that we may be justified by faith but now that faith has come we are no longer under a tutor moreover the signs and ceremonies of the old Covenant find their fulfillment in Jesus and are no longer necessary Hebrews 10 1 says for the law since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things can never by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year make perfect those who draw on the air the things the old Covenant were good but they were only Shadows of what was to later be revealed and we have that in the New Covenant Colossians Colossians 2 16-17 says this therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or Sabbath day things which are a mere shadow of what is to come but the substance belongs to Christ so you see that the these old Provisions like dietary laws even festivals and Sabbath days they were Shadows of pointing that were pointing to what was to come what they pointed to has come Christ has come and therefore these things are no longer necessary circumcision dietary laws rules about cleanness and uncleanness rules about festivals and Sabbath keeping prescriptions on animal sacrifices they are they are now all obsolete crisis circumcised the heart he has declared all foods clean he has provided himself as true food he has cleansed his people from inner defilements he is the Sabbath rest for believers to enjoy and to keep he is the perfect sacrifice for sin he is the perfect mediator and the perfect high priest of a superior Priestly line therefore there is no reason for us to return to return to or to require the old Covenant though you may personally keep aspects of the old Covenant according to your own preference and conscience they’re no longer required now does this mean we become antinomian that is without law for you to act as we please by no means as Paul says we have died to sin and are under the law of Christ we now want to do Christ’s will we are not free to sin and does this mean that the Old Testament is now useless where we found the old Covenant revealed Again by no means hopefully you’ve already seen that as we’ve examined various parts of the Old Testament in Sunday School while the New Testament acknowledges that the old Covenant is fulfilled nevertheless the Old Testament though new Desmond writers declare was written for us for New Covenant Believers it was written so that we might learn God’s character we might learn from the examples of the past and we might understand the great truths that God revealed to the prophets so just as the New Testament says all scripture is profitable all scripture is about Christ and directly or indirectly and therefore necessary for us even in the New Covenant we have much benefit to gain from the Old Testament where the old Covenant was revealed and this passage today that we’re looked at is just another example of that Jeremiah 31.
so to sum up what we’ve seen today was God’s further Revelation even in ancient days of God’s Great Plan of Salvation Jeremiah was granted to see that Israel’s and all Rebellion against God was not final God promised unconditionally in undeserved kindness to bring about heart change and salvation for Israel and Judah God later allowed we Gentiles who were even more far off than Israel to also enter by faith into the New Covenant through the blood of his son may we then love our Lord even more and may we ever fear to treat lightly or cheaply so great a Salvation that has been revealed like to take some time to answer questions through coming to the end of our lessons day does anyone or do any of you have any questions based on what we’ve discussed right looks like we have a question here is that Jay yeah yeah hi Jay hi um sorry famous person shock um so you said that that rest of that passage is going to be fulfilled like in the millennial Kingdom that’s right I I yeah you’re welcome certainly as you know the pastor’s been talking about eschatology lately in his sermons there’s a there’s a change in Israel that takes place I think right before Jesus comes back and that’s part of why an antichrist seeks to make war against Israel but it’s fair for us to say that it’s part of the last days of the world right before Jesus comes back Israel is going to look on him whom they have peers and they’re going to turn back to the Lord and so it’s right around Jesus coming and the full restoration actually begins when Jesus comes because you now have the Messiah reigning in Israel any other questions oh we have one more hi Dave Joe ricardi Hey Joe just wanted to say we appreciate your uh all your preparation and knowledge and your uh your you know your generous ability to share share with everyone uh I I wanted to say that um when you said that the law was a was a summary of the pentitude being the first five books of the Bible and then you made that connection uh you know about uh well that was analogous and and and that was what uh God required uh for his children to obey those Commandments which they can never do and then you made the reference to Jesus which uh was the only way that anyone can can ever be uh kept from their sin okay so you refer to it as a summary okay and what I wanted to say was that uh Jesus is also a summary and when we speak of Jesus we always talk about you know being christ-centered and and so on Jesus is the only way truth and the life to to be kept from sin so I just wanted to make that that statement and that comment okay I appreciate that Joe yeah and and the law is all summed up in Jesus the requirements of law are fulfilled by Jesus he is the he does everything that we need and he is um he’s the example he he’s the one who gives us the commands to follow now and so certainly if we look at the old Covenant the the law summarized by The Ten Commandments but calls for all the people to obey and to fulfill it has at its core something that is internal it’s not like the old Covenant was totally external but an internal requirement which is to love the Lord your God to something that we could never do but that Jesus did do and that Jesus does do so I think you’re right Joe to make the the parallel between the requirements the old Covenant and the the gift of the New Covenant what the old Covenant required only Jesus could fulfill and Jesus has fulfilled that for those who who believe in him we could say more if you have more questions please email me or contact me in some way I appreciate your time today thank you for being at Sunday school I want to leave you just with a few application questions to think about as we closed our time today it’s your responsibility as those who are taking in the word of God to apply it I can’t discover all the applications of what we’ve looked at today but here are just a couple questions to get you thinking have you realized your own deep need for salvation do you see that have you realized the purpose of the old Covenant and law for you is to show you that you need to be saved according to the New Covenant if you are saved you love the Lord for including you in his new covenant undeservedly does your life show God’s law written on your heart do you love the Lord’s law and seek to put it into practice in your life that’s the market people part of the New Covenant and do you look forward to your place in Christ’s kingdom yes these promises were given to Israel Israel will be restored but even if you’re a gentile you now have a place in that Kingdom you’ve been brought in as a wild Olive Branch you’re the the ones who are invited to the banquet of God because the others would not come and so God made a place for you do you look forward to your place do you live soberly because you’re going to have that place so some things for you to think about next week we’re looking at or back in the Book of Daniel we’re going to learn about some times that those Faithful Men Daniel and his companions had to put their lives on the line for trusting in the Lord and we’ll see how God responded and provided for them let me pray and then I’ll sign off and see you guys later that’s right oh my God I thank you for these people I pray that you would continue to build them up and encourage them Lord we thank you for your New Covenant there is no way God we would ever draw near to you unless you had done all the work and we were rebellious just as Israel was and you brought us near thank you Lord Jesus for willingly dying for us thank you Father for sending your son and for loving us and providing a way for your own Justice to be satisfied and for our sins to be totally removed I pray that the people meditate on this truth and that it would change them in Jesus name amen all right I’ll see you guys later