Sunday School Lesson
Oct. 17, 2004
CREATING A NEW COVENANT
Bible Background—JEREMIAH 29:1-14; 31:31-34
Focal Verses—JEREMIAH 29:10-14; 31:31-34
Devotional Reading—JEREMIAH 30:18-22
“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 in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their GOD, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33).
When 70 years of exile were over, GOD promised to bring HIS PEOPLE back to the land. GOD’S PLANS were to prosper them when they sought HIM with all their heart. HE was going to make a NEWCOVENANT with HIS PEOPLE, A COVENANT OF THE HEART. Under the NEW COVENANT, HIS PEOPLE would OBEY and RECOGNIZE HIM and forgiveness would be available to all.
By way of background, the controversy between Jeremiah and the false prophets of Judah began after the first deportation of 3, 023 Israelites to Babylon (Jeremiah 23:9-15). The conflict continued, with each side delivering messages to support their view of the deliverance of the Israelite captives. According to the false prophet Hananiah (not Daniel’s friend Shadrach), the captivity of the Israelites would be short-lived: “’Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the LORD’S house that Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon. I will also bring back to this place Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim King of Judah and all the other exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares the LORD, ‘for I will break the yoke of the King of Babylon’” (28:3-4, NIV).
However, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, the true prophet of GOD, with a message the people did not want to hear: “’This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the King of Babylon seventy years. But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the King of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the LORD, ‘and will make it desolate forever’” (25:11-12, NIV).
The conflict that began in Jerusalem as a war of words continued in Babylon with a war of letters. Shemaiah, a false prophet who had been carried into Babylon, continued the false teaching of Hananiah. He went so far as to send a letter to the priests in Jerusalem to incite them to persecute Jeremiah (29:24-29). Jeremiah answered Shemaiah’s letter with a letter of his own to the captives in Babylon.
Our lesson this week begins with the letter Jeremiah wrote to the Jews who had been taken into Babylonian captivity during the first deportation of Judah around 595-597 BC. The document—delivered by Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah (29:3)—is considered to be one of the most important documents in the Old Testament.
The letter that the men delivered to the exiles contained four important truths about their new situation: (1) Settle down and start new lives (Jeremiah 29:6). GOD was telling the people to settle in and make the land of their exile their new home. (2) Be good productive citizens (v.7). Since the people were going to be there for the long haul, they should attempt to make their new home a better place. (3) Don’t be deceived by idols or false prophets (vv.8-9). In a pagan society, there are many pitfalls from within and without. GOD’S people must be alert for the false gods of the nations and the false prophets who dwell among them.
1. A NEW WORK (Jeremiah 29:10-14)
The final truth GOD wanted to convey to the exiles was that HE had not forgotten about them. Although the generation that had originally been taken into captivity would probably die in the new land, GOD would indeed deliver HIS people 70 YEARS FROM THE DATE OF THE FIRST DEPORTATION. In the letter written by the hand of Jeremiah but spoken by GOD, the LORD proclaims that at the appointed time HE will visit HIS people and make good on HIS PROMISE.
GOD acts according to a HOLY TIME SCHEDULE that no one can alter and fulfills HIS PROMISES according to HIS REDEMPTIVE PURPOSE. In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, we see the phrase, “But when the fullness of the time was come, GOD sent forth HIS SON made of woman, made under the law” (Galatians 4:4). “The right time” refers to the completion of a predetermined length of time and of a predetermined set of circumstances. The 70 years marked “the right time” for the Israelites’ redemption from exile.
Sometimes it may seem that the LORD has forgotten HIS people, but HE is always working on our behalf. When it appears that nothing is going on and GOD is not answering our prayers, HE is lining up events so that at the precise predetermined time HE will move. GOD always works according to HIS DIVINE SCHEDULE; but we can rest assured that HE will never fail to make good HIS WORD or HIS PERFECT TIMING.
GOD told Jeremiah that HE had formed him in the womb of his mother. Before the prophet was born, the LORD sanctified him and ordained him to ministry (Jeremiah 1:5). Just as GOD had a plan and a ministry for Jeremiah, HE has a plan for all his people. In the case of Israel, GOD’S plans were to raise up an eternal King from among them who would reign and rule over the whole world, to save and provide fro them in the land HE promised them and to deliver them from captivity (see 23:5-8).
GOD’S thoughts for HIS people are never evil; they are good and are designed to bring them peace and an “expected end” (Jeremiah 29:11b). The peace that GOD promised the Israelites refers to their physical and spiritual health (30:17), security in their cities (v.18), happiness and joy (v.19), and many children (v.20). The expected end is simply the expectation that GOD will honor HIS PROMISES. In this case, it means a return to the land of promise.
Before the Israelites’ captivity, Jeremiah had prophesied that on the day the evil came upon them they would cry out to GOD and HE would not hear them: “Therefore, thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape and though they shall cry unto ME, I will not hearken unto them. Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto ME for their trouble” (Jeremiah 11:11, 14). The prayer that GOD ignored was the cry to escape the consequences of their actions. The prayer that GOD would answer would be the prayer of hope based on faith. At the end of their time in captivity, GOD HIMSELF would stir up the people to pray. At that point, GOD says the people will “call upon ME…pray unto ME…seek ME…search for ME with all [their hearts]” (29:12-13). Although GOD had already determined the time and the method of their deliverance, HE would only move in answer to their prayers.
In response to the prayers of HIS people, GOD says, “I will hearken unto you. I will be found of you…I will turn away your captivity…I will gather you from all the nations…I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive” (Jeremiah 29:12, 13-14). GOD will align the will of the people with HIS WILL so they pray according to HIS WILL. Then HE will answer them and give them the desires of their hearts.
It’s comforting to know that none of the situations we encounter in life surprise GOD. HE is not only aware of our circumstances, but HE has predetermined our deliverance from the circumstance. HIS WILL is always to BRING HIS PEOPLE PEACE and to GIVE THE END THAT JUSTIFIES THEIR FAITH. That is why CHRIST said, “If ye abide in ME, and MY WORDS abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7).
2. A NEW COVENANT (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
People are often shortsighted when it comes to the blessings and promises of GOD. As long as GOD fulfills our immediate needs and desires, we are satisfied. The ancient Israelites would have been more than satisfied with GOD restoring them to the land of their forefathers. However, when GOD told the people that HE was thinking of them and had plans for their future (Jeremiah 29:11), HE meant much more than simply restoring them to the land. GOD’S purpose was never to simply restore Israel to the land; HE intended to restore all humanity to HIMSELF.
Israel had failed to keep the terms of the covenant—their contractual obligation agreed to at Mount Sinai (see Exodus 24:3-8; Deuteronomy 29:12-13); GOD now promised that one day in the future HE would institute a new and better covenant with the entire reunited nation of Israel. The church is “grafted in” to Israel’s promised covenant (see Romans 11:17-27).
The NEW COVENANT would enable all believers to have a personal relationship with GOD: “For they shall all know ME, from the least of them unto the greatest of them” (Jeremiah 31:34). The NEW COVENANT would deal with the sin issue once and for all. Priests would no longer have to take animal sacrifices into the HOLY OF HOLIES to make atonements for the people. The blood of animals could only remind a person of his sin (Hebrews 10:1-4). The BLOOD OF CHRIST completely washes away all sin so that GOD no longer remembers it. As the writer of Hebrews states, “Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worthy sanctuary. But CHRIST being come a HIGH PRIEST of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but BY HIS OWN BLOOD HE ENTERED IN ONCE INTO THE HOLY PLACE, HAVING OBTAINED ETERNAL REDEMPTION FOR US” (Hebrews 9:1, 11-12).
The old covenant was inadequate and incomplete. It was a temporary provision that looked ahead to its ultimate fulfillment in CHRIST. JESUS IS THE MEDIATOR OF THE NEW COVENANT. HIS heavenly ministry is far superior to that of the old covenant. The NEW COVENANT is an agreement and a promise of GOD to bestow divine grace on all who respond to the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST with sincere faith and repentance.
As GOD’S children, we too are in a covenant relationship with HIM. Daily we can pray and ask HIM to help us be mindful of this connection. We should always honor our agreement to be HIS people because indeed HE IS FAITHFUL AS OUR GOD.
THINK ABOUT IT!!!!
Spiritually Yours,
Rev. Chris Lowe, Sr. DD