Jeremiah
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INTRO
Part of the point of this one-shot-series is to ENCOURAGE YOU - read books for yourself.
as you read, you’ll see similarities w/ Jesus
Both delivered unpopular message to those they loved
both wept over Jerusalem
both predicted temple destruction
both rejected by Jeru
both accused of political treason
boh were tried, imprisoned, executed
both were abandoned by nearly all
both had deep prayer/fellowship w/ God
both showed how God hated hypocrisy
AND THE world around each was similar
the people though their biggest problems were political
babylonian oppressors - roman oppressors
but Jesus/Jeremiah both knew - the problem was moral
they had rejected God for idols.
not nebuchadnezzar or Caesar… but God.
So unless they repented… judgement was coming.
SO WHEN YOU READ - think of it as reading a history of the world.
the age old problems repeating themselves.
AND AS YOU READ - you’ll notice it seems out of order.
think of it like a collection of works - but it’s ordered a certain way, like a poem.
The high point is in the middle, the beginning and end repeat themselves - called a chiasmus
TEXT INTRO - so today, we spend our time at the mountaintop of this book. The peak. The central prophecy.
this is the promise of good news in the middle of the really bad news....
Jeremiah 31:31-34 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
THE RECIPIENTS OF THE PROMISE
“the house of Israel, the house of Judah” - v31
so wait - we aren’t talking about us?
Let me help put this in all of the Bible’s context for us.
Why did Jesus have 12 dsiciples? What else were there 12 of in the OT?
and even when Judas betrayed - it was important for them to restore that number to 12 - Mattias.
The Bible also talks about another group of Jesus’ dsiciples numbering 70 (Luke 10:1-2 &17)
Israel in the wilderness had it’s 70 elders.
And the JOB of Jesus’ 12? Judging the 12 tribles (Luke 22)
In all of this… what was happening?
Jesus was forming the new Israel. the true israel. the new covenant. and he spent 3 or so years proclaiming it.
even their baptism - passing through the red sea again.
Heb 10:14-19 - the author or Hebrews takes Jeremiah’s promise and applies it to us… BECAUSE it was always meant for us.
English Standard Version Chapter 10
14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds,”
17 then he adds,
“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
The Full Assurance of Faith
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,
HOW? because we (Jesus’ Church) are the true Israel.
you see? your eschatology matters.
right now we’ve got a bunch of folks motivated to save the nation of Israel because they think they have to in order to guarantee their view of the last days.
And Jesus’ words at the last supper “this is my blood of the new covenant” what new Covenant? This one.
SUMMARY
So the promises of Jeremiah - they are for us. The TRUE ISRAEL.
So… lets dig in.
PROMISE #1 - I WILL PUT MY LAW WITHIN THEM; WRITE IT ON THEIR HEARTS v33.
This doesn’t mean the law goes away - the spirit embeds it in us. causes us to delight in it. causes us to walk in it.
EXPLANATION:
Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law[b] of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
two ways to live - two laws - according to teh law of man, or the law of God.
and psalm 1 says - two results. blessed or cursed
Romans 8:6 Paul calls it “life and peace” or “death”
Or David continues in Psalm 1:3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.In all that he does, he prospers.4 The wicked are not so....
God gives us his law to guide us - the path to life and peace - path to blessedness… fruitfulness - prosperity
but there’s a problem. The flesh is weak.
so.. all the law does is curse and condemn us. we can’t do it… but theres a promise in the NEW COVENANT that jeremiah prophecies.
I WILL PUT MY LAW WITHIN THEM - WRITE IT ON THEIR HEARTS
via the Spirit.
we see glimmers of this in the Old Covenant. David is a great example. But even David had his catastrophic failures.
by the Spirit - God CAUSES us to walk in his statutes.
Galatians 5, Ezekiel 36
PROMISE 2: I WILL BE THEIR GOD AND THEY WILL BE MY PEOPLE v33
Intimacy - Gotta go to NT to flesh this out
Romans 8 - the purpose of God’s predestining (the golden chain) is that we are conformed to the image of his son?
why? for the same reason Eve had to be created from Adam’s side. He needed a help meet like him.
PROMISE 3: THEY SHALL ALL KNOW ME; FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREAT
The intimacy is no longer limited...
EXPLAIN - THE OT -who went in to the tent of meeting? - Moses, High Priests, David… but not everyone
BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
“have you ever read in the Bible where Jesus says there is no marriage in heaven?”
It’s because all our “knowing” of one another here has a purpose, it’s an object lesson.
AND IT IS NOT LIMITED - (LEAST TO GREAT) rich poor, kings servants, celebrities and normal folks.
the world is striving for equality - where did they get that idea? from the Bible.
and the world will never be able to pull it off apart from the Bible. They try to use redistribution of wealth, regulationsn on work, and all out force to accomplish it… but it never works. Why?
Because it’s done by the Spirit of God, within the people of God. And it doesn’t mean that we are suddenly all the same socioeconomic class. It means we are all the same, have the same value, in the Lord.
WHICH MEANS - if you are striving for equality through any mechanism apart from the Bible… or with people who live outside of God’s covenant… it is not possible.
vanity of vanities.
But there is that word “teach” there.
which means there is knowledge that we are attempting to communicate and consume.
“the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom… (knowledge).”
So ALL will know me - from the least to the great...
so much so that no one needs to be taught anymore...
“And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me….
But is this true of today? Well… obviously not.
our neighborhoods aren’t all Christians.
even our children/family on occasion
and in this Pride month - where the world celebrates what the Bible calls an abomination...
I’m watching ‘Christian” artists fall by the wayside.
Will there be a time on earth where your whole neighborhood and family will be christians?
Habakuk says there will be time with the knowledge of the lord (same thing) will cover the earth like the waters cover the sea.
John says that one day The kingdoms of the world will become the kingdoms of our lord.
Jesus says there will always be tares among the wheat, but will there be a day when the world is a wheat field?
I think so, but as paul says “let each be convinced in his own mind”
regardless of where you are at in working through this promise, one thing you can take away is in the very next promise: all who are truly of this covenant will have their sins forgiven…..that's our next promise
PROMISE 4 - I”LL FORGIVE THEIR INIQUITY AND REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE
there is so much hope in this passage
he will give us the desire to obey him - he will give us the ability to obey him - he will conform us .... and HE will forgive us.
but whta about my past?
what about it? God says he forgives it.