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. 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.”
Jeremiah 31:-31-35
This passage was part of the daily reading today. So much packed into these four verses. The “back story” here is Jeremiah is a prophet in Judah telling them that they have sinned by disobeying God and ignoring His word thus God’s wrath is about to fall onto them as Babylonia’s are about to conquer and enslave them. However, inside all of this destruction and seemingly end of the people, God gives them hope in these verses. He promises them a new covenant which comes with Jesus Christ.
I love how God says “I will write it on their hearts”. So intimate and personal. Each of us that accepts the gift of salvation will have His law written on their heart by HIM. It is hard to stray from it when you carry it within you. It is not as in the Old Testament where only the high priests could be that close to God and read his word. We have access to it within us. Unlike the old covenant written on stone tablets that can be broken and scrolls that can be lost, the new covenant will be written within the people, on their very hearts.
The hope of the end of the verses is two fold. First “for they shall all know me”… everyone. No need for religious education, because everyone will know God, from the king to the stable boy, from the oldest elder to the youngest child. Everyone knows him, they just have to choose to accept his free gift of salvation and he will come alive within our hearts.
Second “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” which is the greatest promise of this text. He will forgive our sins… everyone of them and we will sin no more. This can be hard for us to comprehend. So many of us want to work to be forgiven of our sins, or think our sins are two great to be forgiven but here we see (and is only one of many verses that says this) God just forgives. Period. He wipes the slate clean for ANYONE, for ANY SIN. And, we will sin no more. This part is a process as we become closer with the one who created us and forgives us, we become more like him and we will sin less and less.
Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of this new covenant. You need only say a simple prayer to follow him and be forgiven of your sins. You will get a fresh slate. A new start. A life filled with hope knowing you will live with him in eternity.
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