A New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
It's really heartbreaking that people use this scripture to disprove true torah keeping, when in fact, it's saying just the opposite. This may be insightful to you.
Let's take a look:
Jeremiah 31:31
Behold, the days come, saith יהוה, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
I want to stop here. This verse is very important. Sadly, the only words that are noticed by people in this verse are usually "new covenant". That's all people see, and then some assume this automatically connotes a different torah where we don't have to keep it the "old way". But there is something very important in this verse. There are two parties mentioned here: the house of Judah and the house of Israel. Notice how both divided houses are distinguished here from each other, as will be seen as significant later. This also rebukes any doctrine that "gentiles" as a separate entity from Israel as Yahweh's people are part of this covenant. Let us not add to the Word when the Word says no such thing. Those from the nations/gentiles can become a part of this covenant through Messiah, but as such, they are considered Israel.
Jeremiah 31:32
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 יהוה:
What is this "not according to the covenant..." here? Many people only notice these words in this scripture too and assume it means that he doesn't require torah obedience anymore. As we will see, this has nothing to do with changing his laws or standard of conduct. This has to do with the method torah will be given this time. They were given on stone (and thus outside of the heart), through Moses (who broke the torah) from Mt Sinai in the wilderness. He's not going to do that this time. Torah is an aspect of the covenant, not the entire covenant itself. Continuing:
Jeremiah 31:33
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith יהוה, I will put my torah in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people.
Once again, it is sad that most people look at "I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts", and then automatically - "see! that means that we keep only the moral laws now because the spirit tells us what to do! it's not about rules and regulations!"
Not only do they ignore the rest of the verse, which are equally important, and prove that more of the scripture should be read, but this idea is purely manmade and cannot be found in scripture. They look at it from and unlearned, non-Hebraic, biased viewpoint. Notice he only mentions the house of Israel when he says he will put his torah within them. Why does he do this, and why does he not include Judah? And why does he say he "will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people"? Is this just a random statement? According to many, it very much is. He says this for absolutely no reason. It's just a nice little vain addition to this verse.
But as we will explicitly prove, there is a reason only the house of Israel is mentioned in this verse, and there is a reason he says he "will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people". This covenant was made to redeem all Israel (both houses) from division and all former sin (not to change torah) and to bring both houses together in unity, which is what he is saying in the next verse:
Jeremiah 31:34
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know יהוה: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith יהוה: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Both houses will no longer be divided having to teach one another as brothers and neighbors (Judah will not have to teach Israel the torah and to know Yahweh for example, and Israel will not have to teach Judah about knowing Yahweh through Messiah) because both redeemed houses will know Yahweh and his torah. He will forgive all iniquity (torah-less-ness) and all sin and forget it (grace, as opposed to being “under law†– Romans 6:14).
But back to Jeremiah 31:33; what is that saying? Let's take a look at Hosea, the prophet to the ten northern tribes. This will clear everything up:
Hosea 1:9
Then said Elohim, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your Elohim.
Hosea 1:10
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living Elohim.
Hosea 1:11
Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves One Head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
Now you're probably like, "What the hey?". Although I'd advise you to read the chapter, I will give you a briefing of what's going on.
Yahweh through Hosea is declaring the curses and idolatry of Ephraim Israel (ten northern tribes, or the house of Israel). He tells him to take a wife of "whoredoms" (symbolizing the sin of the house Israel). He is using this to typify the curses of Israel through Hosea and his wife's children (who represent the children of the house Israel as opposed to Judah)
His first child with this wife (who's name was "Gomer") was a boy Yahweh commanded to be called Yizre-El, or "Jezreel", as it reads in English. Yizre-El means "El will sow". El will sow what? The children of Israel scattered out in all nations (see the study, “The Gentiles of the New Testament†in "Wavy's Views").
Anyway, with the birth and naming of this child, Yahweh cursed the house of Israel with the cessation of their kingdom (Hosea 1:4-5).
The second child Hosea had by Gomer was a girl Yahweh commanded to be named Lo ruhamah, which means "no mercy". He said he would not have mercy on the children of Israel but would have mercy on the house of Judah (Hosea 1:6-7). This let's us know that the house of Judah and the house of Israel are not the same, and are not interchangeable terms in this context. Here is a curse of no mercy upon the house of Israel for their torah-less-ness.
Hosea's third child was commanded to be named Lo Ami, meaning "not my people". He tells us this in the verses above, saying that the children of the house of Israel are as the sand of the sea, and that one day, in the place where it was said "you are not my people" by Yahweh, it would be said to them "you are the children of the living Elohim".
I believe Messiah at his first advent declared the reversal of these curses starting at the beginning of Matthew 5 as the fulfillment of this prophecy. The last verse, Hosea 1:11, brings Jeremiah 31:31-34 to light. This covenant was made (the NT reveals to us it was put into effect by the blood of Messiah) to bring both divided and scattered houses of Israel and Judah together, and it allows Yahweh to be their husband again despite the curses from their torah-less-ness.
This is why Yahweh distinguishes the house of Israel from Judah in Jeremiah 31:33 and says what he said. He makes it clear that through this new covenant of redemption and restoration, he once again becomes their Elohim and they his people. He had to write the torah on their heart so they could do them, unlike before which is the reason they were cursed. Judah needs Messiah. He has torah and even foolishly thinks it will save him and that he can reject Messiah because of it (not realizing that Messiah is the goal of the torah – Romans 10:4)
Jeremiah 31:31-34 has absolutely nothing to do with changing laws or only requiring the "moral laws" of torah. Ezekiel makes what this means clear:
Ezekiel 36:26
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:27
And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Ezekiel 36:28
And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your Elohim.
This is the reason Yahweh gives us a new heart and why he writes his torah on our heart by the Spirit: so we can perform his torah. Just for the "rules and regulations" sake? No. So we can just do what Yahweh said with a joyful, pure, obedient, repentant heart, and to be light to the world as his “workmanship†(Ephesians 2:10). This is how loving Yahweh with all heart/soul/mind/strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves is the basis of all the torah and prophets. Messiah affirms that they hang off of these two major commandments and do not replace them (Matthew 22:37-40).
This is how love fulfills the torah. Not that we redefine what right and wrong is based off of our manmade concept of "morale". Torah was always supposed to be on the heart. This is not a new concept. Yahweh said it through Moses long before Jeremiah or the New Testament was written:
Deuteronomy 6:6
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
(One of the several correlations between the old and new covenants. Moses predicts the glory and the attitude of the redeemed nation under the new covenant, and commands it that day for it to happen then)
Deuteronomy 10:16
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.
Deuteronomy 30:6
And יהוה thy Elohim will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love יהוה thy Elohim with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
(Long before Paul wrote Romans 2:29 or Colossians 2:11, we see this principle established in the torah by Moses)
Deuteronomy 30:10
If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of יהוה thy Elohim, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this scroll of the torah, and if thou turn unto יהוה thy Elohim with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
Deuteronomy 30:11
For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
Deuteronomy 30:12
It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
Deuteronomy 30:13
Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
Deuteronomy 30:14
But the Word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
This is the Spirit put in us by and through Messiah Yahshua. He is the "Word" that is "nigh" to us. Paul makes this clear in Romans 10:4-13 - another correlation. The New Covenant is for all Israel and all who would bless and “sojourn†with Israel, even as one born among them (Leviticus 19:33-34). Torah has been renewed through the gift of eternal life in Messiah, who redeems (Isaiah 47:4), restores (Jeremiah 30:17), gathers (Psalm 147:2), and marries (Hosea 2:20) all Israel to himself.
Peace and Love in Messiah
It's really heartbreaking that people use this scripture to disprove true torah keeping, when in fact, it's saying just the opposite. This may be insightful to you.
Let's take a look:
Jeremiah 31:31
Behold, the days come, saith יהוה, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
I want to stop here. This verse is very important. Sadly, the only words that are noticed by people in this verse are usually "new covenant". That's all people see, and then some assume this automatically connotes a different torah where we don't have to keep it the "old way". But there is something very important in this verse. There are two parties mentioned here: the house of Judah and the house of Israel. Notice how both divided houses are distinguished here from each other, as will be seen as significant later. This also rebukes any doctrine that "gentiles" as a separate entity from Israel as Yahweh's people are part of this covenant. Let us not add to the Word when the Word says no such thing. Those from the nations/gentiles can become a part of this covenant through Messiah, but as such, they are considered Israel.
Jeremiah 31:32
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 יהוה:
What is this "not according to the covenant..." here? Many people only notice these words in this scripture too and assume it means that he doesn't require torah obedience anymore. As we will see, this has nothing to do with changing his laws or standard of conduct. This has to do with the method torah will be given this time. They were given on stone (and thus outside of the heart), through Moses (who broke the torah) from Mt Sinai in the wilderness. He's not going to do that this time. Torah is an aspect of the covenant, not the entire covenant itself. Continuing:
Jeremiah 31:33
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith יהוה, I will put my torah in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people.
Once again, it is sad that most people look at "I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts", and then automatically - "see! that means that we keep only the moral laws now because the spirit tells us what to do! it's not about rules and regulations!"
Not only do they ignore the rest of the verse, which are equally important, and prove that more of the scripture should be read, but this idea is purely manmade and cannot be found in scripture. They look at it from and unlearned, non-Hebraic, biased viewpoint. Notice he only mentions the house of Israel when he says he will put his torah within them. Why does he do this, and why does he not include Judah? And why does he say he "will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people"? Is this just a random statement? According to many, it very much is. He says this for absolutely no reason. It's just a nice little vain addition to this verse.
But as we will explicitly prove, there is a reason only the house of Israel is mentioned in this verse, and there is a reason he says he "will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people". This covenant was made to redeem all Israel (both houses) from division and all former sin (not to change torah) and to bring both houses together in unity, which is what he is saying in the next verse:
Jeremiah 31:34
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know יהוה: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith יהוה: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Both houses will no longer be divided having to teach one another as brothers and neighbors (Judah will not have to teach Israel the torah and to know Yahweh for example, and Israel will not have to teach Judah about knowing Yahweh through Messiah) because both redeemed houses will know Yahweh and his torah. He will forgive all iniquity (torah-less-ness) and all sin and forget it (grace, as opposed to being “under law†– Romans 6:14).
But back to Jeremiah 31:33; what is that saying? Let's take a look at Hosea, the prophet to the ten northern tribes. This will clear everything up:
Hosea 1:9
Then said Elohim, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your Elohim.
Hosea 1:10
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living Elohim.
Hosea 1:11
Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves One Head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
Now you're probably like, "What the hey?". Although I'd advise you to read the chapter, I will give you a briefing of what's going on.
Yahweh through Hosea is declaring the curses and idolatry of Ephraim Israel (ten northern tribes, or the house of Israel). He tells him to take a wife of "whoredoms" (symbolizing the sin of the house Israel). He is using this to typify the curses of Israel through Hosea and his wife's children (who represent the children of the house Israel as opposed to Judah)
His first child with this wife (who's name was "Gomer") was a boy Yahweh commanded to be called Yizre-El, or "Jezreel", as it reads in English. Yizre-El means "El will sow". El will sow what? The children of Israel scattered out in all nations (see the study, “The Gentiles of the New Testament†in "Wavy's Views").
Anyway, with the birth and naming of this child, Yahweh cursed the house of Israel with the cessation of their kingdom (Hosea 1:4-5).
The second child Hosea had by Gomer was a girl Yahweh commanded to be named Lo ruhamah, which means "no mercy". He said he would not have mercy on the children of Israel but would have mercy on the house of Judah (Hosea 1:6-7). This let's us know that the house of Judah and the house of Israel are not the same, and are not interchangeable terms in this context. Here is a curse of no mercy upon the house of Israel for their torah-less-ness.
Hosea's third child was commanded to be named Lo Ami, meaning "not my people". He tells us this in the verses above, saying that the children of the house of Israel are as the sand of the sea, and that one day, in the place where it was said "you are not my people" by Yahweh, it would be said to them "you are the children of the living Elohim".
I believe Messiah at his first advent declared the reversal of these curses starting at the beginning of Matthew 5 as the fulfillment of this prophecy. The last verse, Hosea 1:11, brings Jeremiah 31:31-34 to light. This covenant was made (the NT reveals to us it was put into effect by the blood of Messiah) to bring both divided and scattered houses of Israel and Judah together, and it allows Yahweh to be their husband again despite the curses from their torah-less-ness.
This is why Yahweh distinguishes the house of Israel from Judah in Jeremiah 31:33 and says what he said. He makes it clear that through this new covenant of redemption and restoration, he once again becomes their Elohim and they his people. He had to write the torah on their heart so they could do them, unlike before which is the reason they were cursed. Judah needs Messiah. He has torah and even foolishly thinks it will save him and that he can reject Messiah because of it (not realizing that Messiah is the goal of the torah – Romans 10:4)
Jeremiah 31:31-34 has absolutely nothing to do with changing laws or only requiring the "moral laws" of torah. Ezekiel makes what this means clear:
Ezekiel 36:26
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:27
And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Ezekiel 36:28
And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your Elohim.
This is the reason Yahweh gives us a new heart and why he writes his torah on our heart by the Spirit: so we can perform his torah. Just for the "rules and regulations" sake? No. So we can just do what Yahweh said with a joyful, pure, obedient, repentant heart, and to be light to the world as his “workmanship†(Ephesians 2:10). This is how loving Yahweh with all heart/soul/mind/strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves is the basis of all the torah and prophets. Messiah affirms that they hang off of these two major commandments and do not replace them (Matthew 22:37-40).
This is how love fulfills the torah. Not that we redefine what right and wrong is based off of our manmade concept of "morale". Torah was always supposed to be on the heart. This is not a new concept. Yahweh said it through Moses long before Jeremiah or the New Testament was written:
Deuteronomy 6:6
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
(One of the several correlations between the old and new covenants. Moses predicts the glory and the attitude of the redeemed nation under the new covenant, and commands it that day for it to happen then)
Deuteronomy 10:16
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.
Deuteronomy 30:6
And יהוה thy Elohim will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love יהוה thy Elohim with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
(Long before Paul wrote Romans 2:29 or Colossians 2:11, we see this principle established in the torah by Moses)
Deuteronomy 30:10
If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of יהוה thy Elohim, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this scroll of the torah, and if thou turn unto יהוה thy Elohim with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
Deuteronomy 30:11
For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
Deuteronomy 30:12
It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
Deuteronomy 30:13
Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
Deuteronomy 30:14
But the Word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
This is the Spirit put in us by and through Messiah Yahshua. He is the "Word" that is "nigh" to us. Paul makes this clear in Romans 10:4-13 - another correlation. The New Covenant is for all Israel and all who would bless and “sojourn†with Israel, even as one born among them (Leviticus 19:33-34). Torah has been renewed through the gift of eternal life in Messiah, who redeems (Isaiah 47:4), restores (Jeremiah 30:17), gathers (Psalm 147:2), and marries (Hosea 2:20) all Israel to himself.
Peace and Love in Messiah