Hear all about it . . .

 

READ Jeremiah 31–35

One of our local TV stations includes good stories in their newscasts. They know that the hopelessness in the world inclines viewers to change the channel or turn off the set. God knows that too. Reading OT prophets can be depressing. Who wants to hear about God’s punishment for sin? Yet there is good news.

God tells Jeremiah that He will make a new covenant with His people. Thirty chapters tell why this is necessary; the people could not and would not obey Him. They fell into grievous sin including idolatry. But that is not the headline in this story. This new covenant looks forward to a redemption and to a Savior.

The Lord declared, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you” (31:3) then continued to say: “He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock. For the Lord has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion . . . . I will turn their mourning into joy . . . .  There is hope for your future . . . . and your children shall come back to their own country.” (Jeremiah 31:10–17)

Second, the Lord will put His law within His people. This was a new covenant in that it begins with God changing their hearts. They could not obey or heed the prophets or His Laws, but instead of changing the rules, He would change them.

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant . . . . 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.” (31:31–34)

Jeremiah acknowledged the power of God and His right to repay guilt. He also remembered His “signs and wonders in the land of Egypt” and that He gave them “this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.” Although He was good to them, they “did not obey your voice or walk in your law. They did nothing of all you commanded them to do. Therefore you have made all this disaster come upon them.”

The Lord recounted the disobedience and chastening He promised, yet added another promise (both of which He kept!):

Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me . . . .  I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul. For thus says the Lord: Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them. (32:37–42)

He told them, “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” and that He would heal them and restore their prosperity and security as well as forgiving and cleansing them from all their sin. The world would hear of it and His people would tremble because of His goodness. For that, they would bring thank offerings to Him for He “is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” (33:2–11)

All of this points to Jesus, the One who would fulfill the promises of God, not only to His people Israel but also to all who call upon His name in repentance and faith. The Messiah has come, and as God promised how He would bring His people to new life and the ability to believe through new hearts, He continues to grant saving faith to all who cry out to Him for mercy.

This is the gospel. The OT shows how badly I need it. Both OT and NT tell how wonderfully God provided it. I cannot live without Jesus nor can I bear the thought of running away from Him. This is indeed good news!