AS THEY WERE OF OLD DELIVERED FROM EGYPT, SO ISRAEL ARE NOW AGAIN TO BE REDEEMED AND DELIVERED, SO THAT THEY MIGHT FIND REST BECAUSE OF YHWH'S LOVE FOR THEM (JEREMIAH 31:2). The reference back to the old deliverance from Egypt confirms that we are to see in what follows a reference to the whole of I... [ Continue Reading ]
YHWH WILL LEAD THE REMNANT OF ISRAEL BACK FROM EXILE AS A FATHER DOES HIS CHILDREN AND ON THE HEIGHT OF ZION THEY WILL REJOICE IN THE RESULTING GLORIOUS PROVISION OF YHWH (JEREMIAH 31:7). In striking contrast to the present state of the exiles we now have a glorious picture of restoration, but one t... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THIS GREAT JOY WILL ARISE OUT OF SORROW AND OUT OF WHAT YHWH HAS CAUSED TO HAPPEN TO HIS PEOPLE (JEREMIAH 31:15). In a deliberate contrast to the joy and exultancy of the previous verses, Jeremiah now returns to the anguish of the current situation. In a very short (one verse) passage we are re... [ Continue Reading ]
RACHEL'S WEEPING WILL, HOWEVER, BE REWARDED, FOR HER CHILDREN WILL BE RETURNED TO HER, AND THEY WILL COME TO YHWH IN REPENTANCE AND BE RECEIVED BY HIM AS A BELOVED SON (JEREMIAH 31:16). The call now comes to the weeping ‘Rachel' to cease her weeping, because her activity has been rewarded. Her chil... [ Continue Reading ]
SUB-PART B. THE COMING DAYS WILL INTRODUCE A COMPLETELY NEW TYPE OF COVENANT PROVIDED BY YHWH, ONE THAT IS WRITTEN IN THE HEART AND WILL THUS RESULT IN CHANGED LIVES (JEREMIAH 31:23). This sub-part commences with the words, ‘Thus says YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel,' and a feature of it is the ph... [ Continue Reading ]
IN COMING DAYS YHWH WILL RE-ESTABLISH ISRAEL AND JUDAH IN THE LAND AND WILL BUILD THEM UP (JEREMIAH 31:27). YHWH's promise is that He will, once the time is ripe, sow the land with men and animals so that they will grow and multiply and fill the land, after which He will build and plant so as to es... [ Continue Reading ]
THE THREEFOLD PREDICTIONS CONCERNING ‘THE DAYS THAT ARE COMING' (JEREMIAH 31:27). We now come to a threefold prediction concerning the coming days, backed up by absolute assurances of their fulfilment. · The days are coming when the people of Israel and Judah will be firmly established in the land... [ Continue Reading ]
IN COMING DAYS YHWH WILL MAKE A NEW COVENANT WITH HIS PEOPLE, A COVENANT WRITTEN IN THEIR HEARTS (JEREMIAH 31:31). A covenant is an agreement made between two or more parties which is binding on both. God's covenant is an example of a covenant which is instituted by one party to the agreement as the... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS WORK OF GOD WITHIN IS GUARANTEED FOR YHWH'S TRUE PEOPLE, BEING AS CERTAIN AS HIS GIVING OF LIGHT THROUGH SUN, MOON AND STARS BY DAY AND NIGHT, AND AS HIS CONTINUAL STIRRING UP OF THE SEAS (JEREMIAH 31:35). YHWH demonstrates the certainty of His actions in regard to His people by comparing His... [ Continue Reading ]
YHWH FIRMLY GUARANTEES THAT NOT ALL OF THE SEED OF ISRAEL WILL BE CUT OFF (JEREMIAH 31:37). The suggestion that ‘not all the seed of Israel will be cut off' was an indication that some would be. And in the circumstances in which Jeremiah found himself that was a certainty. That was why such severe j... [ Continue Reading ]
IN COMING DAYS YHWH WILL RE-ESTABLISH THE WHOLE OF JERUSALEM AS HOLY TO HIM (JEREMIAH 31:38). The first thing that was to happen ‘in coming days' was the restoration of YHWH's people in the land, where they would be planted and built up (Jeremiah 31:27). The second thing to happen was YHWH's giving... [ Continue Reading ]