August 13~A New Covenant

Jeremiah 31:15-40

Jeremiah 49:34-51:14

The focus of Jeremiah’s prophecies were on the future fall of Babylon and the return of God’s people to their homeland. “The Israelites are like sheep that have been scattered by lions. First the king of Assyria ate them up. Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon cracked their bones. Therefore, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel says, ‘I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I punished the king of Assyria; and, I will bring Israel home again to her own land’” (50:17, 18).

The Lord is sovereign over the nations. He raises up kings and deposes them. Just as He used Babylon to destroy Assyria, so He raised up the Medes and the Persians to destroy Babylon. “Sharpen the arrows! Lift up the shields! For the Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes to march against Babylon and destroy her. This is His vengeance against those who desecrated His Temple” (51:11).

In the midst of his prophecies about the end of the Babylonians and the return of the Jews, Jeremiah was given a glimpse of great news — a New Covenant. “The day will come,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors, when I brought them out of Egypt. They broke that covenant... This is the new covenant I will make with the people. I will put My laws in their minds and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be My people... I will forgive their wickedness and never again remember their sins” (31:31-34).

The New Covenant would replace the Old Mosaic Covenant. The Law required that people perform sacrifices and rituals in order to please God and remain in His grace. Jesus came to fulfill the Law of Moses (Matthew 5:17) and create a covenant between God and His people. While the Old Covenant (Testament) was written in stone, the New Covenant (Testament) will be written on our hearts, made possible only by faith in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. At dinner, on the night He was arrested, Jesus said to His disciples, “This cup that is poured out for you is the New Covenant in My blood” (Luke 22:20).

Now that we are under a New Covenant, we are no longer under the penalty of the Old Covenant; rather we have been given the opportunity to receive salvation in Christ, a permanent, unbroken relationship with God through Him. “That is why He is the One who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under the first covenant” (Hebrews 9:15).

Daily Reflection

What are some of the other benefits of being under the New Covenant of Christ?

One of the benefits that I appreciate most about the New Covenant is that it is unconditional. Those who lived in the Old Testament had heavy requirements placed on them to maintain a good relationship with the Lord. In other words, it was all based on their own work. Under the New Covenant, we are forever in God’s grace, not because of anything we’ve done but because of what Christ has done. The New Covenant is a work of God, not of ourselves. Praise the Lord that we live under the New Covenant!

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