Jeremiah 31
February 7, 2024 3:57 PM
Solitary Man
solitaryman.substack.com
20240207
Jer 31:1 At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
At the same time refers to the previous chapter. God had promised to restore Israel – all Israel, not just Judah. Thus this word is primarily meant for the end of days, though it certainly had a partial fulfillment in the return from the Babylonian captivity. Jer 30:24 stated that in the latter days we would be given special insight into the ultimate restoration of all Israel.
In case you missed yesterday’s teaching, let us review the main revelation that will now be fully confirmed in the first six verses here. At the end of days God will restore all Israel, including the so called 10 lost tribes. In these verses God speaks not of Judah, but of Israel 3 times, but also refers to them as Ephraim, Samaria, and Zion. Zion can refer to Jerusalem or the mountain where Jerusalem sits, but here and in many places it refers to all the land of Israel.
Israel had been overthrown in 722 BC, and the final deportation by the Assyrians occurred around 670. We are now at the brink of the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem that will occur in 586. At this moment (and at any other moment), God did not consider Israel to be lost, nor ceasing to exist. That is only found in the mind of certain theologians. Paul clearly teaches us of the unique blindness given to Israel until the end when all Israel shall be saved (see Rom chapters 9-11).
This verse is to all the families of Israel. God promises that in the latter days, or end of days, he will be the God of all the families of Israel, meaning all the tribes. I find it fascinating that it is Judah that is about to be overrun, yet God specifically chooses to speak about Israel proper, whether that refers to the 10 tribes, or to all the tribes, as I believe it to mean here. The name of Israel predominantly refers to the northern kingdom, but in future comprehensive prophecies such as this, God, in faith, sees all the tribes reunited once again, and uses the term Israel to mean all 12 tribes. God does call things which be not as though they were (Rom 4:17).
Let us once and for all cease our discounting of the Hebrews in the plans and purposes of God. What does it really profit to embrace replacement theology? God will do what he will do with the Jew. It is not up to us. There is really no upside to this heresy, but great risk.
Replacement theologians want to claim all the positive promises made to the Jew for the church. First of all, you must also then claim all the terrible curses for disobedience as well. Second, there is nothing to stop the Holy Spirit from quickening a promise made to the 10 tribes as also applying to the church. Third, if you are wrong in your permanent denunciation of the Jew, then you are risking God’s wrath for no good reason whatsoever. Let God deal with the Jew. Study the wonderful promises in this chapter and be encouraged that no matter how far the Jew has gone astray, God does not permanently abandon them, no matter how severely he chastises them. God always promises his people a happy ending. Let this same pattern be a blessing and a source of great hope to us, the recipients of a new covenant, that God will remember us the same way. Indeed, this is the very chapter where that glorious new covenant will be declared. In the midst of all this awful judgment and calamity, God unleashes his greatest promise yet.
Jer 31:2 Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
Whenever the wilderness is spoken of, it most likely means that God is referring back to the Exodus, and the wilderness wanderings. On first glance, it may not be clear what sword God is referring to. They did not fight a battle in Egypt. Yet God can describe any slaughter of his people as having been under the sword. Today we have been given the judgment of the sword, but not via the way of a physical war. It is by the piercers (jabs) unleashed upon us. By the sword of the tongue, the stirring up of hatred and false arrests against the righteous.
The sword in this verse may refer to the slaughter of the male children in Egypt. Perhaps the slaying of the weak and helpless by the Amalekites in the wilderness (Ex 17:8). There were also those slain by the Levites as retribution for the golden calf (Ex 32:28). It could refer to all the adults who were left to perish in the wilderness due to their believing the evil report of the 12 spies (Num 14:22-23). However their children did indeed find grace, and God brought them into the promised land. Under Joshua, they did have to fight to claim their inheritance, but God did indeed give them a measure of rest at that time. Paul in Hebrews teaches us that the final fulfillment of this prophecy will only occur in Christ.
Jer 31:3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness (chesed, or kheh-sed – favor, mercy, pity) have I drawn thee (maw-shak – to stretch out, prolong, to develop, to continue).
This verse is reminiscent of Hosea 11:1-4, when God spoke of drawing Israel out of Egypt with bands of love. We need to remember the promises of God of old, as they are just as effective today as then. Even in the midst of terrible judgments, God still wants to remind everyone that his love is everlasting. In the midst of great suffering, our challenge it to keep these eternal truths in mind.
I was humbled by listening to a phone call to one of the Coutts 4 political prisoners, held in remand for over 700 days now for crimes that we know they did not commit, but have been entirely fabricated by the police and the prosecutors. No media but a single alternative media person attends these fake bail hearings, where bail is continually denied them. Needful medications have been denied one of them for many months. And yet when he spoke, he confessed that he had only become a Christian in March of 2020, when he quickly realized the covid agenda indicated something of much deeper sinister import than anything that had ever gone before. What impressed him the most was when he went to freedom rallies, almost all the people there were Christians! Only God can give the light needed to see through the plans of the enemy.
In any event, what humbled me was to listen to the wisdom spoken by this young believer. Rather than being bitter and angry, he was convinced that he was in exactly the right place that God wanted him to be. Rather than being depressed over the injustice of his situation, he was joyful and positive. His relationship with Jesus was his source of strength. He shamed me into examining my own attitude. Here was a young man who has had 2 years of this life already stolen, with no end in sight. Instead of being bitter and crying out for justice, he was joyful, gladly serving the Lord in the midst of such an unjust situation. I fear that many of us will eventually end up joining him in similar narrow straits of distress. Will be have the same attitude as this hero?
The word maw-shak seems to imply the idea of a long, steady, process. God is not into just zapping you with a love bolt once or twice, as so many seem to seek in these camp meetings and conventions. He wants to slowly but consistently fill our life with lovingkindness – with mercy, pity and favor. That is what is meant by having a real relationship with him. We will begin to see him working in the everyday things of our life.
Jer 31:4 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets (tambourines, drum), and shalt go forth in the dances (round dances) of them that make merry (rejoice).
Such a jarring verse in the midst of the tone and tenor of the entire book! It seems hard to adjust our mindset to try and embrace what God is actually saying here. After 30 chapters of severe judgment (and many more to come), he pauses to give us some joyous promise that would make all the hyper charismatics immediately get up and shout and jump about!
Even after God once again destroys his people via the Babylonians this time, he never completely gives up on them. Even when he seems to do so, as when he speaks in Hosea about divorcing them, yet he is always willing to take them back. This is in contrast as to how he may or may not treat individuals. The general principle is the same, but we have seen in several passages where sometimes a person may go too far away from him and can never go back. That is not the case with Israel, and it is not the case with the church.
God does indeed call things which be not as though they were (Rom 4:17). He calls Israel a virgin. In what way? In the eyes of faith. She may of defiled herself over and over, but when he puts them through the fire of Jacob’s trouble at the end of the age, they will come out the other side spotless and pure, and ready for the marriage supper of the lamb. Are we willing to go through the fire so God can honestly call us his undefiled virgin, ready to become one with him forever? The whole imagery in this verse speaks of the joy of a wedding ceremony.
Jer 31:5 Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.
Jer 31:6 For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God.
God is a Zionist. He is the one who gave Zion, the entire land of Israel, to the Jew. It is theirs via a permanent covenant, cut by God alone with Abraham. It is an unconditional covenant, unlike the Mosaic covenant, where both sides swore an oath. With Abraham, only God shed blood and swore an oath. Therefore there is nothing Abraham or his seed could do to break it. God certainly won’t go back on his word. Stop listening to those who would claim the idea of Zionism is the greatest evil on the planet today. These people’s minds are darkened. It does not matter if they claim to be Christian, they are committing a grave heresy, calling God a liar. Do not let them hide behind the fact that they say they are only criticizing political Zionism. Zionism is Zionism, the unconditional promise of God of all the land of Israel to the Hebrew. There is no political part divorced from the spiritual part. Stay far away from such people.
I don’t know how God could make it more clear that he is clearly speaking of the northern kingdom, which are the 10 tribes that broke away from Judah. Though defeated over 120 years ago, God does not consider them gone forever. The land of the 10 tribes shall be inhabited by God’s chosen people once again. A day is coming when the intercessors of Israel shall be prompted to intercede for Zion like never before. God has a specific time when they will fully return.
Of course the Jew began returning even before world war one. God is fulfilling this promise in stages. Some would say that the Jew now in the land still are rejecting their messiah, so somehow it does not count as bible prophecy fulfillment. Did God not count this point in time, where there were hardly any of the 10 tribes left in the land? And those that were, do you think they were not severely infiltrated with the false worship by all the peoples whom the Assyrians brought in to repopulate the land? We know what the Jews thought of the Samaritans in Jesus day. The Samaritans were the remnant of the lost 10 tribes. Yet in all their apostasy and blindness, God still calls them Israel, whether he uses the name Israel, Ephraim, Samaria, or even Zion. There is an appointed day when they will return and worship the one true God in spirit and in truth.
How will this happen? Via a new covenant, that Jeremiah will describe in detail later in this chapter.
Jer 31:7 For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations (goy – Gentiles): publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save (yaw-shaw) thy people, the remnant (residual, final surviving portion) of Israel.
You would have to allegorize so many verses of the bible to continue to believe that the church has replaced Israel. God may quicken a passage that can also apply to the church, as we have been grafted into the promises. Sure, some Jews have been broken off, as dead branches. But do not become arrogant, as you can just as easily be broken off if you don’t continue in the faith.
Here is yet another name for the 10 tribes specifically, and all of Israel in general. Jacob the deceiver has been chosen by God. Chastised and corrected, brought through the fire. Paying a terrible price for his waywardness. But redeemed nonetheless.
All Gentile nations are commanded to rejoice in Israel’s final restoration. This represents God keeping his word. If he keeps his word after so long a time to Israel, surely he will jeep his word to his church. We are not only to rejoice, but to tell others about this God who always keeps his promises.
However, the sobering truth is that only the final surviving portion of Israelites will be saved. God always deals with a remnant. He never plays the numbers game. The devil may win the most souls, but God will always get the cream of the crop. Sort of like the relatively few people who we can turn to in the alternative media and in the various podcasts still available for now. They are not many, but they are the best of the best. The beast system may have all the numbers and all the temporal power at this time, but we have those few specifically chosen by God, all being equipped for special tasks for the king of kings. We cry out along with Jeremiah – save us oh Lord, the true remnant. We shall praise you and speak of your marvellous works, no matter how few we are.
Jer 31:8 Behold, I will bring them from the north (hidden, dark, unknown) country, and gather them from the coasts (rear, flank) of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return (shoob) thither.
Whether it’s the 10 tribes, who have been dispersed north to Assyria, or Judah, who has and is being dispersed north to Babylon, God will reverse the fortunes of his judged and scattered people. He will have such mercy on them that even the blind, lame and pregnant will not be left behind, as would be the case on most long sojournings, as these sorts would slow the entire caravan. God takes notice of the least of us, and does not leave us behind.
The word north carries the connotation of hidden and unknown. God will bring us out of our confusion. Even if we have been left behind as if we were at the uttermost rear of the army of God, no matter how wounded, helpless or weak, God will cause us to return to him, in what he considers a great company, even if it is only a remnant of all the people.
Jer 31:9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications (earnest prayer) will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble (waver): for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
God simply cannot stop using terms that make it crystal clear that he is speaking of all the tribes. Jeremiah chapter 31 should be more than enough scripture to quash all anti antisemitism and all replacement theology forever out of your thinking. We should not need to discuss the matter any further, unless the Lord leads.
I Chr 5:1 explains how Reuben lost the birthright, which was given to Joseph, out of which came Ephraim. He was given the blessing of the firstborn. a double portion. Spiritually, this may hint at the church coming into being. The firstborn received a double portion. Ephraim became the name synonymous of the 10 tribes. Thus, the 10 tribes could refer to Israel, but also refer to the church. We are the spiritual recipients of the completion of the double portion. Not the replacers, but the completion thereof. Note that Reuben may of lost the special blessing, but he was still considered part of the family. We can lose a special blessing that God had reserved for us through defilement. However if you repent and return, God will keep you in the family. Unlike Esau, who lost not only the blessing, but his place in Abraham’s tent as well.
This remnant will be known for its heart attitude. They will have a repentant attitude. Earnest prayer will be their hallmark. That is the path that God will place them on. He will lead us to the living water on the narrow path. Because we follow him in spirit and truth, we shall not waver nor stumble. This is all possible because God is our father.
Jer 31:10 Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations (goy – Gentiles), and declare it in the isles (coastlands) afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him (hedge him about), as a shepherd doth his flock.
All the nations of the earth are given a direct warning by God. God wants all nations to hear, no matter how close or far away they are. Though God has punished Israel, he is not done with them. Just as certainly as he has scattered them, so he will regather them, as a caring shepherd does his flock. When God places his hedge of protection back on them, no one will be able to touch them.
Perhaps some will have this verse quickened in their hearts for Canada, America, and all the western lands, though I feel that the scatter part has only just begun. It is our naive, immature, wishful thinking that somehow we can figure out a way to cut our judgments short.
Jer 31:11 For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
God is jealous of his own. God did not save Israel only to permanently lose them. His name shall not be blasphemed and mocked forever.
The word redeemed is gaw-al. This is the avenger of blood, the next of kin who would marry his brother’s widow. The performer of the duty of a kinsman. God is the nearest relative to Israel. If they have sold themselves into sin, it is God’s duty to buy them back. Because God is bound by his own laws, he sent his son Jesus to purchase them back. He performed the duty of a kinsman redeemer. Thank God that we have been grafted into this family, where the closest blood relative we have is our Lord and Savior! He will raise us up from the deadness of our trespasses and sins. The devil was stronger than us, but our kinsman redeemer rescued us from an eternity of bondage.
Jer 31:12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
The picture of material abundance spoke the loudest regarding painting a picture of total blessing for these Hebrews. All good things were to be given to God’s redeemed family. For us, we have been given all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph 1:3). When the Lord finally restores our fortunes, so shall we sing for joy in God’s abundance, having come to appreciate all good things after we have gone through the valley where those things had been taken away. You never appreciate what you have until it is taken away from you. Our souls shall be watered with the river of water of life, and all sorrow and sighing shall pass away (Rev 21:4, 22:1).
Jer 31:13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow (affliction, grief).
This paints a picture of when the battle against evil is finally over. We can let down our guard and now partake of the rewards of being faithful stewards. The virgin rejoices perhaps because she has finally found a spouse (in Christ), or all of the redeemed may be considered here, as the pure virgin bride of Christ. As a man, I’ve always had trouble with the image of me being a bride! I will let the women plumb the depths of spiritual truth found in this imagery.
God promises that all temporal suffering shall one day cease. All generation gaps will be removed. These are the kinds of promises we must hold on to as we go through the fire.
Jer 31:14 And I will satiate (slake the thirst) the soul of the priests with fatness (abundance), and my people shall be satisfied (satiated) with my goodness (toob – joy, the best of everything), saith the LORD.
We are all priests of the Lord. A special blessing is promised to those who perform the priestly duty of ministering to the Lord, whether a Levite or a new covenant worshipper of the Lord. For us, if we minister to God in a manner worthy of Him, God will fill our hearts and minds with great revelation and a deep sense of his presence. Wouldn’t it be something to become satiated with the presence of God?
Jer 31:15 Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
What a sudden shift in tone! I was starting to worry. Jeremiah was speaking completely out of character, with all these blessings one after another. It is good to see the old Jeremiah has now returned.
Levity aside, God continues on the theme of present woe and future joy by introducing a new section. Ramah is found in 1 Sam 22:6, and can also mean high place. Judg 19:13 lists it as city of Benjamin. Isaiah 10:29 may indicate that there may of been some memorable massacre during the Assyrian invasion. Of course, this passage has gained special prominence as being fulfilled in Mt 2:18, when Herod massacred the infants in Bethlehem. Rachel was the mother of 3 tribes – Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh, and may of been regarded at the mother of all 10 tribes of the northern kingdom.
While Israel may be resurrected in the future, partially in the return from Babylon, once again in the formation of the state of Israel in 1948, yet they will not be fully restored until the Millennial reign of Christ. So as of this moment, when Israel is being booted off their land, they are regarded as being no more, at least in the present.
Jer 31:16 Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin. She did not receive her reward in the joy of raising her own children. She will receive a future reward when those same children (or tribes) are brought back from the dead to permanently dwell in their own land.
I think the lesson we can take from here is that there is a fine line between weeping over the apostasy of the church and the lostness of our lands, versus the morbid state of despair that can grip a soul and drag them down to a quick grave. I knew of a mother that was gripped by this deadly malaise. She lost one of her daughters at age 55. She never got over it. 15 years after the fact, she seemed to go out of her way to remind everyone of her loss, and tried to drag down everyone around here, whether consciously or not. When her husband died, she never recovered. It was almost impossible to be around her. Within 5 years, a completely healthy woman lost all will to live and died.
We must be careful that godly grief and sorrow does not morph into something selfish and destructive. Perhaps you weep not from a sense of sin, or personal loss. Perhaps you feel your life’s work is all for nothing. In your eyes, you are a nobody. You may of been bound by some infirmity or situation that limited your effectiveness for the kingdom of God. Yet take hope. God sees all, and he does not judge as man does. He rewards faithfulness, not type of work. Keep your eyes on eternity. In due time you shall reap, if you faint not.
Jer 31:17 And there is hope (tik-vaw – an attached cord, an expectancy, a thing that I long for) in thine end (at the end of it all), saith the LORD, that thy children (bane – sons) shall come again (shoob) to their own border.
This is a one of a kind chapter in Jeremiah where I get to do a little preaching, more so than expositing. While this promise is for the Jews who long to see their exiled offspring returned to their homeland, who would doubt that here is a great promise that the Holy Spirit may quicken in a parent’s heart? How many countless mothers and fathers are out there with wayward children? What breaks the heart more than a rebellious, backslidden, lost child? We may lie to ourselves, saying that they really do believe in God, they’re just a little bit off course, but deep down, we know the truth. If they were to die today, where would they go? Pretending never gets anything done. The first step is to admit their true spiritual condition to God. The second is to go to the word like this passage and read it to God. God said we should have hope. We should have hope that at the end of their lives, our children shall return to their own border, that is, the borders of the heavenly kingdom. There is hope. As long as they are still breathing, there is still hope. Our children are still capable of shoobing in the right direction. Do not let go of your expectation. God says at the end of it all, they will come home. Can we live in peace and confident assurance until that day comes to pass?
Jer 31:18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning (consoling, shaking his head in pity for) himself thus; Thou hast chastised (punished, corrected) me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn (shoob) thou me, and I shall be turned (shoob); for thou art the LORD my God.
We are not accustomed to judgment, so we initially chafe under it and try to throw it off. God by his grace must give us the ability to accept his ways in judgment, so that we can then repent and return.
We need to cry with Jeremiah – God, shoob me, and I shall be shoobed.
Judgment will almost always initially lead to self pity. Many never get past that stage. Then comes the revelation that God is doing it, and not the devil. Then comes the acceptance that once God has done it, then it will be done properly and fully, thought there will be s struggle, since we are not used to this pattern or way of God dealing with us. Yet when God finally breaks us, we know that in our flesh dwells no good thing. We realize we can’t change our deh-rek – our course of life unless God himself changes our heart. So we cry out to him to turn us around. If he answers that prayer, then we shall be turned around indeed. This whole process will cause us to acknowledge God as our personal Lord and master in a much deeper way.
Jer 31:19 Surely after that I was turned (shoob), I repented (naw-kham – sigh, breathe strongly, rue the day); and after that I was instructed (yaw-dah – came to know), I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed (turned pale, was confounded), yea, even confounded (put to confusion), because I did bear the reproach (disgrace) of my youth.
First God has to do the work of grace in our hearts to change our desires toward him. Then we have the ability to repent. Repentance then enables us to hear the word of God and be instructed. With this knowledge comes the realization of our wicked state, and strong emotions often follow in shame and sorrow for our wretchedness. If you start the process with emotion, it will often disappear without any real permanent change. We must allow God to work his grace step by step in us. God often did not accept outward displays of sorrow because they did not go through the steps mentioned here to effect a permanent change.
This is where we could stop and consider the merits of tent meetings and the like as an effective form of evangelistic outreach. I think we have all heard the stats that in certain tent ministry statistics, less than 10% of converts remain saved 5 years later, in some surveys. I would never say that any sort of evangelism has no use, only that we should not be surprised if the effects do not last if we base our call on an emotional appeal of some sort. Even here in the old testament, God is laying out a certain critical process that must be done in order. Emotion is not first, but last. What comes first? Judgment. Judgment is the first step towards the long road toward salvation. How do most people come to Jesus? Is it in the middle of a vacation, or a fun time at a ball game? During a wonderful family outing, or watching your favorite tv show? No, usually some crisis hits. After exhausting all human efforts, we come to the end of our rope. Then we are willing to let God in, and begin performing his work of grace. Changing our heart and our mind. Turning us around in our way of thinking, our course of life, our decision making process. Beginning to be willing to go a different direction. Once we then are turned around in our way of thinking, repentance becomes an option. We choose to repent. The light comes on. We realize what an utter idiot we have been. Strong emotions follow. Humility and godly sorrow for the years wasted. A permanent impression is made in our souls. Thus another child of God is properly added to the kingdom.
Jer 31:20 Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a pleasant child (yeh-led – something born)? For since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy (raw-kham, raw-kham – love, love) upon him, saith the LORD.
Thank you Jesus that you still remember us, even when you have every right to be angry with us. God may of justly abandoned us for a season, yet it is impossible for him to forget those who are truly his own. He may hide his face from you for a little while, but he will eventually remember you. He brought us into this world, his compassion compels him to act on our behalf. He chastises us for our own good. Always to try and bring us back to his loving embrace.
Jer 31:21 Set thee up waymarks (guiding pillars), make thee high heaps (pillars): set thine heart toward the highway, even the way (deh-rek) which thou wentest (walked): turn again (shoob), O virgin of Israel, turn again (shoob) to these thy cities.
Shoob, shoob. You had once travelled the proper deh-rek – the correct course or path of life. If you look carefully, you will see the signs that point to the correct path. It is not hidden. They stick out like towers and pillars. Don’t lie to yourself, saying you don’t know how to get back to a real relationship with God. You know the way. You walked on it once. Shoob, shoob. Turn around, turn around, back on the way to life. Why will you die?
Jer 31:22 How long wilt thou go about (withdraw oneself), O thou backsliding (sho-babe – apostate) daughter? For the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass (surround) a man (gibbor or ghah-ber – a mighty one).
Because this speaks of God dong something new, this may refer to the virgin birth.
Other commentators say that God is inquiring when will backsliding Israel return to her husband? In that context, God will perform something new. Instead of the bridegroom (God) chasing after and wooing the bride (Israel), so God will cause Israel to chase after and woo God back into the marriage covenant.
Jer 31:23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again (shoob) their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice (tseh-dek), and mountain of holiness (ko-desh – consecrated thing).
Notice how God now switches to Judah and includes her in the restoration. God here is promising a return from captivity for the southern kingdom, just as he has been promising one for the north so far in this chapter. God says in the future they will speak of this miraculous return from Babylon. The exile had not yet fully run its course, yet God is already looking ahead to the return. God is always 10 steps ahead of the devil. In faith, Judah shall be known as a place of justice and holiness. We are about as far away from that reality as we can get in our lands this day.
Jer 31:24 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen (farmers), and they that go forth with flocks.
A continuation of the promise to restore the southern lands of Israel’s kingdom. There will be those that sow the word, and those that will take care of God’s sheep.
Jer 31:25 For I have satiated (slaked the thirst) the weary (thirsty) soul (nephesh), and I have replenished (filled) every sorrowful soul (nephesh).
It is amazing how many sayings of Jesus actually did not originate with him, but in him quoting in some measure something already written in the old testament. Does this not sound like the living water Jesus promised to give to those who were thirsty? Is your soul truly thirsty for the things of God? God fills those who earnestly seek him with all their hearts.
Jer 31:26 Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.
The most reasonable interpretation here is this is Jeremiah’s own insertion. He has received this prophecy in a dream. This would make perfect sense, as it is so different to the words of wrath that he was to speak in public.
I see it as God providing comfort to a tormented soul. Jeremiah had been given nothing but gloom and doom. He has made many enemies. He has no wife to support him. I am sure almost all his fellow priests were not on his side, nor sympathetic at all. His previous complaints to the Lord reveal a very troubled soul. So God comforts him with a dream. A dream not about his present ministry, but a promise of the future, so that he does not despair. It would be easy to throw in the towel and wonder what is the point of going on if all that is going to happen is death and destruction. Nobody is listening. If we’re all going to die, why should I persevere?
Perhaps this kind of thinking has crept into some of our minds. Perhaps all our family has been poisoned by the vax. Big pharma is predicting an explosion of turbo cancers between 2025 and 2030. What do they know that we don’t? Yet God may start something big just by giving one man a dream. This dream would first of all provide hope and a reason to endure for the thousands of Jews who have lost everything.
Jer 31:27 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.
Now we begin to transition into the greatest promise given to mankind, via the combined kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Note how God begins to speak of both kingdoms at the same time, as they are all his people, not just Judah. Just because one suffered punishment sooner than the other does not mean that they were somehow excommunicated from the family of God permanently.
God says that there is coming a day when the depopulation will be reversed. Not just with man, but with all of God’s creatures. He includes the beasts to show that his restoration will be a comprehensive one.
Jer 31:28 And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD.
If God blesses Israel with the same intensity that he has cursed them over the last several centuries, then they will be blessed indeed.
It seems that from 2020 onward, God had been watching over the west and breaking every single thing in our societies that we have ever relied on. He has plucked, broke, thrown, destroyed, and afflicted. Our health is gone. Our wealth is gone. Our culture, morality, safety and security. Our military might. Our intelligence, our common sense, our ability to reason and to have adult conversations. Our ability to speak freely. Our civility. Our self control. Our limits in behavior. Our love of what is good and hatred of what is evil. All gone. And much more could be added, which time does not permit.
We do not have the same assurance as Israel does as far as our physical lands go. The church may be able to lay hold on to promises such as these, in a spiritual sense, as Jesus came to bring a spiritual kingdom first and foremost.
Jer 31:29 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.
Jer 31:30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
This Hebrew proverb will no longer apply. Today, sin is not punished immediately. Often the consequence falls on a later generation. Not so in the millennium. Judgment sounds like it will be much more immediate.
Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new (khaw-dawsh – a fresh, new thing) covenant (ber-eeth – to cut, a compact made by passing between pieces of flesh) with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
And here it is. The most precious promise that a Gentile could ever find. And here it is, found in the most repetitious book of harsh judgments in the entire scripture. Ezekiel (Ez 36:25-28) also references this wonder, in the other book that is renowned for its terrifying punishments for sin. Note also that the promise is for Israel and Judah, in other words, the whole house of Israel. The Gentiles are not even mentioned! Thank God for Romans 11:11-24. Without that particular passage of scripture, this promise wouldn’t do any of us Gentiles any good.
Days – yome – a day. An obscure secondary meaning can mean 2 days. Perhaps a shadow of the 2000 years of the church age? Perhaps the King James translators were inspired to translate yome as days, rather than ‘the day will come’, which would of been perfectly acceptable.
God has saw enough. He had tried and tried for almost a thousand years to get his people to walk in the righteous standards of the law. No matter how hard they tried, no matter what safeguards they tried to put in place, they always ended up back in the same place. Rebellion, ruin, apostasy, immorality and idol worship. It was time for a better way. Yet God would wait more than 600 years before cutting this new covenant at Calvary.
Jer 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 the LORD:
Paul in Romans gives us the detailed picture as to why the law could never be the permanent solution to man’s sin problem. Our wretched, corrupt hearts, following our own will, will always find a way to rebel against the holy commandments and righteous mishpat of our Creator. God clearly states that this is not going to be some sort of better version of the Mosaic covenant. Even though God is of said to of walked hand in hand with Israel, delivering them out of bondage, they simply did not have it in them to walk in God’s ways. Even though God claims that he watched over and protected them as a loving husband would do for his wife. They had intimacy of a sort. God was personal, in that not only did he dwell in the tabernacle, but he came upon and even in his prophets and judges.
Jer 31:33 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 (torah) in their inward parts (keh-reb – the center of their being), and write it in their hearts; and will be their God (elohim), and they shall be my people.
After those days refer to the age of law, from Moses until Jesus. God now abbreviates the whole house of Israel by referring them just by the name of Israel. That is the most common name to denote all the Hebrews.
God knew something radically different had to occur if he had any hope of building a kingdom here on earth. Our corrupt sin natures would not allow us to serve God in the manner required. God could not change the eternal rules of holiness and right and wrong just to accommodate our lost state. He had to do something about our lost state itself. He hit upon a mechanism that would allow him to transform our hearts, to literally recreate our inner man, as 2 Cor 5:17 teaches. Torah must be obeyed. Not the letter of it, but the spirit within it. He had to directly download it into our inner man. Our sin nature could not be written on, it was like a defective hard drive. In order to upgrade our software, he first had to install new hardware via the new birth. Once that new hard drive was installed, it had the capacity to handle the new program which would contain the operating system that would allow torah to be downloaded and successfully processed into intelligible commands that our processor (our brains) could execute (obey).
The transhumanists are trying to do the same thing, but from the physical side, not the spiritual. Their self assembling computer circuits via the nanotech in the jabs is the blasphemous way that they are trying to provide their own ‘new birth’ to the citizens of Babylon today. We have had our new birth already, thank you very much. Babylon can take their new birth and shove it straight back into hell, where it came from and where it belongs.
Jer 31:34 And they shall teach (law-mad – to goad by the rod, instruct) 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.
What a miraculous event the new birth is! Who can force someone to do good? Trying to build a society by forcing people to obey God’s law without a true heart change will eventually fail. Look at Josiah. No king was more zealous for the law of God. He did everything possible to change all the laws and customs of the land to bring back Torah as the center of Jewish life. Yet as soon as he was gone, the people couldn’t wait to immediately go back to their idol worship.
So it is with us today. We lost the true form of Christianity, and it took no more than 40 years or so for all vestiges of Christianity to pass from the land. Indeed, it is almost on the verge of becoming illegal to be a true believer.
Jer 31:35 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:
Now God does a little boasting as Creator. The church has totally forgotten about this aspect of our God. Besides a few wonderful creation ministries, no one wants to talk about God the creator. We let the severe blasphemy of evolution capture the entire planet. It is now a given, in the same way that everyone knows that the sun rises in the east. So it took billions of years for life to evolve. What horrific, asinine, putrid garbage! We have no idea how much the idea of macro evolution offends God.
God gives us the sun, moon, the stars and the sea. Not mother nature. Not random chance. Not Darwin. I contend that that man did more to destroy the foundations of the faith in the west than any man alive. I cannot even begin to bear the thought of the punishment that he has now experienced for over 100 years.
Jer 31:36 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.
Here is the final nail in the coffin for replacement theology. If you only to remember one verse, this is it. God will be done with Israel when the sun stops shining, not before.
Jer 31:37 Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off (cause to disappear) all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.
Some haughty scientist may claim they can actually measure the universe, of know what is in the middle of the earth. Just like they can tell you such and such an animal evolved 240 million years ago. Not 250 or 230, but 240. Let me see the time stamped video of that, please.
Man is so stupid.
Israel will never go away. So sorry, muslims.
Jer 31:38 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.
This tower was a conspicuous landmark, and is mentioned in Neh 3:1, 12:39, and Zech 14:10. The corner gate may be referenced in 2 Ki 14:13, 2 Chr 26:9, Zech 14:10, Neh 3:24,32. God includes this obscure detail to show that he is speaking of a literal Jerusalem. Not a metaphorical or allegorical one, as so many apostate preachers want to turn most of the scriptures into.
Jer 31:39 And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath.
These 2 locations are mentioned nowhere else in scripture. Gareb means scabby, or leper’s hill, indicating a location outside the walls for lepers. Goath means to bellow, like a cow lowing. No more is known of it.
It is interesting that God highlights the place of the lepers, the place where the least desirable of society are found. God is telling us that the most despised of us, those of us who are the walking dead in our sins and trespasses, are not forgotten by him. He will watch over all of us.
Jer 31:40 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.
Perhaps Jeremiah was given here a picture of the worst part of the siege that was shortly to come to pass, where the dead would be piled up. Or it could simply reference the place of the dead of the common graves. More detail as to how the entire city would be rebuilt. This rebuilt city would not be full of corpses anymore, but would be set apart as the city of the king.
Let us rejoice in the surprising chapter of blessing and hope found in the midst of all this warning and woe. May be find the hope that we need as we find ourselves in our own midst of sorrow and grief.
Solitary Man
https://solitaryman.substack.com/
Photos courtesy Depositphotos
