The Covenant - Detailed Study of Jer. 31:33-34

Written by Andy Levine with Considerable help

and inspiration of the Holy Ghost

These 2 verses in Jeremiah reveal much about the heart of God.

note: There is additional discussion of a similar theme in the previous blog on the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. You may also want to go to "Eden Restored" at www.andy-levine.blogspot.com.

Jer 31:33  But this is the covenant that  I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD:  I will put My law in their minds, and  write it on their hearts; and  I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

34:  No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me,  from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD.  For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

Phrase		APPLICATION
	But this is the covenant that	The word “covenant” is from the Hebrew word beriyth (ber-eeth'); which means: (in the sense of cutting); a compact (because made by passing between pieces of flesh): -confederacy, league. It’s much more than a contract or a treaty. Covenants were made by passing between pieces of flesh. In order to pass between pieces of flesh, the flesh has to die, Matt 26:28   "For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Heb 9:22       And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. The Father cut a covenant with mankind, with the Body & Blood of His own Son. God wanted to do what the rest of this verse says, so bad, that John 3:16 became a reality.
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD:		I will make”  The initiative for this new covenant was totally God’s. He knew it would become necessary when He created man in the 1st place, yet He created us anyway. Look again at what I said in regards to Heb. 7:19 James 4:8     Draw near to God and He will draw near to you… The why of John 3:16, God wants a close relationship with His people, and even with you individually. He wanted this so badly He created man in His image, knowing what would happen. He knows every detail of all of history, from eternity past to eternity future. At some point in eternity past, God decided to create the universe, to create this Milky Way galaxy, this solar system revolving around the Sun, and even this little planet we call Earth. Then, He went so far as to create man in His own image. He knew what would happen. He knew how bad we would blow it. He knew how bad we would mess up this awesome creation. He knew most of mankind would not come into the relationship He created us for. And yet: v He still created us, v He still loves us, v He still wants us to get close to Him. v He still sent Jesus to die for us v He still reaches out to us individually, drawing us to Himself. The only response to this can be lifted arms of praise, adoration and thanksgiving. We get so busy, we fail to make time for the most important thing we can do this side of Heaven. Sometimes the Father cries out to us, “STOP! JUST STOP. TURN YOUR EYES. Spend your time in a better way, let’s just hang out together for a little while. I’ll give you what you need, your inner man needs some good stuff, your spirit needs what it can only get when alone with ME.” The phrase, “Draw near to God” is used 4 times in the Word. Does our heart cry out in response: Song Of Solomon 1:4:      Draw me, we will run after thee: the King hath brought me into His chambers… Song Of Solomon 2:10     My beloved spoke, and said to me: "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. Matt 11:28   "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29  "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30       "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Ps 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. (KJV) Our lives would change so wonderfully. He will exchange fresh fruit (fruits of the Spirit) for dead flesh (our carnal nature). He will cause you to pray about what is on His heart, you may experience heights of worship and praise, or deep depths of intercession. You may experience just a sweet time of refreshing, or the agony of petition for a lost soul. You may experience a level of compassion for someone beyond what you knew before, or be taken up into a heavenly realm and a communion with God that is indescribable. Any and all, anything between, anything beyond, anything is possible with God. He knows what you need when you need it, and He knows what other’s need that He will give you for them.
I will put My law in their minds, and		Did you ever ask God, “How do you think?” There is a difference between knowing what God did and knowing His ways, knowing His motivations to understand the logic of heaven. Following the Law was the temporary part of the old Covenant. But there are at least 10 verses in Deuteronomy referring to something wonderfully beyond that, Deut 28:9     "The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. Here again we see the concept of God creating a “holy people to Himself” who walk in His ways. We have an important role to play in this process. God doesn’t just stick His finger in your brain and somehow His law is all there. Ps 24:7          Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. The gates refer to your mind, you have to open that gate. The world says be “open minded,” the Word says to make sure anything you let in is in agreement with the Bible, just let the King in, not the trash. Here is the process: Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 2 Tim 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16  But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. (KJV) I got saved while in college. I was studying Secondary Education in a N.Y. State college. We were being indoctrinated in the world’s ways to educate high school students. The ungodly religion of secular humanism permeated most of what we were being taught. The fruits of that are evident in the deplorable state of government run education today, and the consequent ungodliness of American society. I was a babe in the Lord but the Lord helped me to tune out the garbage, and to find opportunities to talk about Him in class. He showed me what to study and what to shun – and you can be sure there are many “vain babblings” in any institution of secular education. Many TV shows, magazines and movies are also sources of “profane and vain babblings.” Be careful to identify trash and not let it get in your head or heart. You are not responsible for every bird that flies over your head, just don’t let them build a nest in your hair. Stay balanced on these issues, don’t get legalistic or throw the baby out with the bath water. The Word gives us the standard to judge this stuff: Phil 4:8          Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-- meditate on these things.
write it on their hearts		Ps 24:7          Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. The “everlasting doors” refers to the heart. A hinged door isn’t lifted up, think of your heart as an overhead door, like on a loading dock. The big truck backs in with its doors opened wide. There is a bright, beautiful glow. The sound of worship is awesome, the sweetness of the Manifest Presence of God is overwhelming. The truck is filled with the Word and blessings from the Father. It’s your choice to open the door. Rev 3:20       "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. This verse was not addressed to the world, but to the church, to God’s people. Our hearts are changed as we “dine” with Him. Jer 24:7         'Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart. Ezek 36:26   "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27       "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. The prophet describes the transformation that occurs. The seat of motivation is your heart. We will walk in His ways because they are written in our hearts; we have new motivations. We’re not following a bunch of dooz and don’ts. WWJD becomes a natural reality in the believer, not because he studied theology, or has mastered a detailed exegesis covering every motivation for every thing God did throughout the Word. David described the process this way: Ps 51:10        Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11       Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12       Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. 13       Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You. Verse 13 is the natural outworking of this supernatural process. Those who try to do this without a right heart often do more harm than good. Just like God wrote the 10 Commandments on tables of stone, He now wants to write His law on the flesh of the new heart He gives you.
I will be their God, and they shall be My people		Jer 32:38 'They shall be My people, and I will be their God; 39  'then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. Look at how much the prophet ties together in these 2 verses. Verse 38 is one of many scriptures stating The God / People relationship. Verse 39 then brings some definition to it. King David understood the “one heart” of this verse, Ps 27:4   One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple. Such a love for God that he is so single hearted as to pray that prayer. Jer. 32:39 is a promise to do just that. John 14:6     Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. The prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus, “one way” The intent of the Father is expressed so clearly in Verse 39, “for the good of them and their children after them.” Ps 73:1          Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart. We need that new heart so that we can tap into the Goodness of God.
Verse 34: No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me,		Evangelistic zeal is crucial for now. We still must teach saying, “Know the LORD” because this prophecy is not yet fulfilled. Most of the world is still lost in sin. David showed the consequence of having this new, clean heart, Ps 51:13  Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You. We need to seek God for more opportunities to do this, and for Him to touch the hearts of the hearers that they might be converted, that they will experience Godly sorrow 2 Cor 7:10    For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation…”
from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD.		Acts 10:34    Then Peter opened his mouth and said: "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. Rom 2:11      For there is no partiality with God. Rev 22:17     And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. John 3:16     "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. I Jn 4:10-11  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11       Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Rom 1:16      For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes...”
For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.		This word forgive is multifaceted. The Hebrew word used here is calach (saw-lakh'); to forgive, pardon, spare. The NT uses the Greek word “aphiemi it involves the complete removal of the cause of offense; such remission is based upon the vicarious and propitiatory sacrifice of Christ”. (from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers, bold added) I Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Be careful to understand the 2 sides of this verse. When we do the 1st part, God’s character (faithful and just) dictates what He will do. The cleansing that God does is with the Blood of Jesus, far better than Oxi-Clean or Clorox Bleach. Jeremiah said that the Lord, “will remember no more.” That’s pretty total memory loss. There’s nothing left to remind God about it. When the accuser of the brethren tries to bring it up, the Lord’s response is,, “What-ch-yall talkin’ ‘bout? Dat’s anudda lie, it neva happened.”