Jeremiah 31:33 Kommentar

This chapter goes on with the good words and comfortable words which we had in the chapter before, for the encouragement of the captives, assuring them that God would in due time restore them or their children to their own land, and make them a great and happy nation again, especially by sending them the Messiah, in whose kingdom and grace many of these promises were to have their full accomplishment. I. They shall be restored to peace and honour, and joy and great plenty (Jer 31:1-14). II. Their sorrow for the loss of their children shall be at an end (Jer 31:15-17). III. They shall repent of their sins, and God will graciously accept them in their repentance (Jer 31:18-20). IV. They shall be multiplied and increased, both their children and their cattle, and not be cut off and diminished as they had been (Jer 31:21-30). V. God will renew his covenant with them, and enrich it with spiritual blessings (Jer 31:31-34). VI. These blessings shall be secured to theirs after them, even to the spiritual seed of Israel for ever (Jer 31:35-37). VII. As an earnest of this the city of Jerusalem shall be rebuilt (Jer 31:38-40). These exceedingly great and precious promises were firm foundations of hope and full fountains of joy to the poor captives; and we also may apply them to ourselves and mix faith with them.

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 31 This chapter is connected with the former, respects the same times, and is full of prophecies and promises of spiritual blessings; of the coming of Christ; of the multiplication of his people, and the increase of their joy; of the conversion of the Gentiles; of the covenant of grace; and of the stability of the saints. It begins with the principal promise of the covenant, confirmed by past experience, of divine goodness, and with a fresh declaration of God's everlasting love, Jer 31:1; an instance of which would appear, in planting vines or churches in Samaria, the metropolis of Ephraim or the ten tribes, under the ministry of the apostles, the watchmen, on Mount Ephraim; whereby the Israel of God would be built, beautified, and made to rejoice, Jer 31:4; yea, it would be matter of joy to all that heard of it; since, notwithstanding distance and other difficulties, a great number should come to Christ, and to his church, drawn by the Father's love to them, and as owing to the relation he stands in to them, Jer 31:7; redemption out of the hands of Satan, and every spiritual enemy, must be published among the Gentiles; which would cause great joy, and give great satisfaction to the priests and people of the Lord, expressed by various metaphors, Jer 31:10; and though, upon the birth of the Redeemer, there would be an event, which might tend to damp the joy of saints on account of it, the murder of the infants at Bethlehem; yet some things are said to encourage faith, hope, and joy, and to abate sorrow and weeping, Jer 31:15; Ephraim's affliction, and behaviour under it, his repentance and reception, are recorded, Jer 31:18; backsliding Israel are called upon to return, in consideration of the birth of the Messiah, Jer 31:21; the happy and flourishing estate of the people of God is promised; all which were made known to the prophet by a dream in the night, Jer 31:23; and fresh promises are made, that the Lord would do them good, and not punish the children for their fathers' sins, but everyone for their own, Jer 31:28; and then an account is given of the new covenant of grace, as distinct from the old, and of the articles of it; the inscription of the law in the heart, spiritual knowledge of the Lord, and remission of sin, Jer 31:31; then follow assurances of the everlasting continuance of the true Israel and church of God, Jer 31:35; and the chapter is concluded with a promise of rebuilding the city of Jerusalem, and of the holiness of it, and of its abiding for ever, Jer 31:38.

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord,.... The several articles or branches of the covenant next follow, which show it to be different from the former: I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; not the ceremonial law, which was abolished when this covenant was made; but rather the moral law still in force, which is a transcript of the nature and will of God; was inscribed on Adam's heart in innocence; is greatly obliterated by sin; a contrary disposition to it is in man; this is reinscribed in regeneration; and hence a regard is had to it by regenerate persons, in which lies part of their conformity to Christ: or else, since the word here used signifies doctrine or instruction, the Gospel and the truths of it may be meant; see Isa 2:2, Rom 3:27; which have a place and dwell in the hearts of renewed ones. The Septuagint version reads it in the plural number, "laws"; and so does the apostle, Heb 8:10; and may design the ordinances of the Gospel, and the commandments of Christ; which such, who are called by grace, have at heart to keep, and are made willing to be subject to; besides, the principle of grace in the soul is called "the law of the mind"; Rom 7:23; it has the force of a law; is a reigning, governing, principle; and which is implanted in the genre by the spirit and power of God; the tables on which this law or laws are written are not tables of stone, but the fleshly tables of the heart; the heart is the proper seat, both of the law of God and Gospel of Christ, as well as of the grace of God in all regenerate persons: and the "putting" of those things there denotes knowledge of them, as of the spirituality of the law, and its perfection; that there is no righteousness by it, and is only fulfilled by Christ; and that it is a rule of walk and conversation; and also of the doctrines of the Gospel, in the power and savour of them, and of the ordinances of it, so as to practise them, and walk in them; and an experience of the truth and reality of internal grace: and "writing" them here may denote affection for, and subjection to, the above things; and a clear work of grace upon the soul, so as to be legible, and appear to be the epistle of Christ, written not with the ink of nature's power, but by the Spirit of the living God; see Co2 3:3. This passage is applied to future times, the times of the Messiah, by the Jews (m): and will be their God, and they shall be my people; God is the God of his covenant ones; not as the God of nature and providence only, but as the God of grace, and as their God and Father in Christ; which is preferable to everything else; all things are theirs; nor can they want any good thing; they need fear no enemy; they may depend upon the love of God, and be secure of his power; they may expect all blessings here and hereafter; for this covenant interest will always continue: and they are his people in such sense as others are not; a distinct, special, and peculiar people; a people near unto the Lord; high in his favour, and greatly blessed by him; all which is made to appear in their effectual calling; see Pe1 2:9. (m) Shirhashirim Rabba, fol. 3. 2.

For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. [Jeremiah 31:31-34] Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

When Israel was led out of the land of Egypt, God was intimate only with that people, such that it could be said that he took them by the hand and made a covenant with them, which they then violated and were therefore neglected by the Lord. Now, however, it is promised in the gospel that after the cross, resurrection and ascension, the covenant will be written not on stone tablets but on tablets of embodied hearts, since the testament of the Lord was to be written on the minds of believers, he being God dwelling in them and they a people in him, so that they would never again seek Jewish teachers and traditions and human commandments but would be taught instead by the Holy Spirit, provided that they are worthy to hear: “You are God’s temple, and the Spirit of God dwells in you.” But “the Spirit blows where he wills” and has various graces and is himself the possession of the knowledge of the God of all virtue. “And I will forgive their iniquities, and I will not remember their sins any more,” he says. From this, it is clear, according to the proper knowledge of the reading above, that this must be understood of the Savior’s first coming, when both the people of Israel and Judah were joined together. Should anyone worry, however, about why it says “I will make a new covenant—or testament—with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with your ancestors,” he should first understand that the church of Christ came to everyone from the Jews and, moreover, that the Lord Savior said, “I came only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Isn’t the finger of God to be understood as being the Holy Spirit? Read the gospel, and see that where one Evangelist has the Lord saying, “If I with the Spirit of God cast out demons,” another says, “If I with the finger of God cast out demons.” So if that law too was written by the finger of God, that is by the Spirit of God, the Spirit by which Pharaoh’s magicians were defeated, so they said, “This is the finger of God.” So if that law too, indeed because that law too was composed by the Spirit of God, that is, by the finger of God, why can it not be said of it, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ has delivered you from the law of sin and death”?… So, the “law of the Spirit of life,” written on the heart, not on stone, in Christ Jesus, in whose person was celebrated the ultimately real and genuine Passover “has delivered you from the law of sin and death.”

What are you asking about, you see, is what special thing God is keeping for the good, if he generously bestows so many things on both good and bad. When I said, “What eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it come up into the heart of people,” there is no lack of people to say, “Can you think what it is?” Here is what it is that God is keeping for the good alone, though it is he who has made them good. Here is what it is. Our reward has been very briefly defined by the prophet: I will be their God, and they shall be my people. I will be their God. He has promised us himself as our reward.

God is the reward, in him the end, in him the perfection of happiness, in him the sum of the blessed and eternal life. For after saying, “I will be their God, and they shall be my people,” he at once adds, “And they shall no more teach everyone his neighbor, and everyone his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me, from the least to the greatest of them.”

Here, God is Jerusalem’s reward. Its highest—its entire—good is to possess him and to be possessed by him.

I have acted thus, not as a finished master but as one needing to be perfected with his pupils, excellent lady, daughter deservedly honored and cherished in Christ. Indeed, even in the subjects that, one way or another, I know, I am more anxious for you to be learned than to be in need of my learning, for we ought not to desire the ignorance of others in order to teach what we know. It surely is much better for all of us to be ready to be taught of God what will certainly be perfected in that country on high when the promise will be fulfilled in us, that a person shall not say to his neighbor, “Know the Lord, for all shall know him,” as it is written, “from the least of them even to the greatest.”

You should not write the creed out in any way, but, so as to hold the exact words of the creed, learn it by listening. Not even when you have learned it should you write it down, but, rather, always hold it and cherish it in your memory. For whatever you will hear in the creed is contained in the inspired books of the Holy Scriptures. The fact that it is not permitted to write down what has been thus collected and reduced to a definite form comes about in memory of the promise of God in which, predicting a New Testament, he said in the words of the prophet: “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord, by setting my law in their minds, I will write it also in their hearts.”

It was probable, however, that the holy apostles would perhaps think these things difficult to put into practice. Therefore he who knows all things takes the natural law of self-love as the arbiter of what any one would wish to obtain from another. Treat others, he says, such as you wish them to treat you. If you would have them harsh and unfeeling, fierce and wrathful, revengeful and ill-disposed, treat them this way. But if, on the contrary, you would have them kind and forgiving, do not think it a thing intolerable to be so yourselves. And in the case of those so disposed, the law is perhaps unnecessary, because God writes on our hearts the knowledge of his will. “For in those days,” says the Lord, “I will surely give my laws into their minds and will write them on their hearts.”

CONTINUATION OF THE PROPHECY IN THE THIRTIETH CHAPTER. (Jer. 31:1-40) At the same time--"In the latter days" (Jer 30:24). the God of--manifesting My grace to (Gen 17:7; Mat 22:32; Rev 21:3). all . . . Israel--not the exiles of the south kingdom of Judah only, but also the north kingdom of the ten tribes; and not merely Israel in general, but "all the families of Israel." Never yet fulfilled (Rom 11:26).

will be their God-- (Jer 32:38).