The Covenant With Abraham Will Never Be Forgotten

Jeremiah 31:31-40

“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:31-33)

God made a covenant or agreement with Israel when he brought them out of Egypt,  Under the terms of that covenant or contract, Israel agreed to keep the Old Testament law.  In exchange, God promised to protect them from their enemies, make their crops and herds productive and keep them healthy.  Failure to obey would result in forfeiture of those blessings, even to the point of being taken out of their land if they went that far.  Both Israel and Judah had violated those commands, even though God had kept his part completely.  Even the assessment of the penalties had not stopped them.  Now God is promising a new contract when he restores Israel to their place as he promised Abraham in an earlier contract.  The old covenant was written in stone, and the people found it easy to ignore.  The new covenant law will be written in their hearts so they are never separated from it.  Instead of an external influence it will be internal.

It is essentially the same covenant he makes with Christians.  I John 14:26 tells us, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”  As a result of the Holy Spirit in their life reminding them of what God wants, and the new attitude he produce, I John 3:9 says, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” 

“And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34)

Today, Jewish practice is largely controlled by the interpretations of the old Testament law by Rabbis and Jewish scholars.  In that day each person will know the laws themselves, thanks to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and thus they will not be susceptible to false teachers. 

“Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.   Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.“ (Jeremiah 31:35-37)

Almost six hundred years before the covenant with Israel when they came out of Egypt, God had made a covenant with Abraham, that he would give them the land of Canaan forever.  God set up the forces that keep the sun burning, the earth rotating, and all the stars and planets in their proper orbits.  His promises to Israel are just as dependable as are the orbits of those stars and planets.   If man can figure out how to change the earth’s orbit or rotation and measure the universe then God could be persuaded to break his promise to Abraham because of Israel’s sin.   God will save them, despite their sin.

“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.  And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath.  And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.” (Jeremiah 31:38-40)

In the Last Days, Jerusalem will be rebuilt and dedicated to the Lord, from the central defensive tower to the outermost corner of the wall. And it will be measured out to include even the old battlefields and graveyards outside the walls, from the brook Kidron and including all the fields that once surrounded the city.  Where once only the Temple was dedicated to God, in that day the entire city will be dedicated to hi.  It will never again be destroyed or conquered.