a new covenant

Jeremiah 31:31-34 says… “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (NKJV)

These verses from Jeremiah speak of a new covenant which God will make with his people. The old covenant had been broken repeatedly. The rules of the old covenant were the laws that He gave them through Moses. This is referring to the Hebrew nation of Old Testament times. Historical context is important in order for us to understand what God did and what His intentions were towards His creation.

Verse 33 uses the words after those days. What days? The days after the redeemer would walk the earth and fulfill what He came to do. This redeemer was Jesus Christ. A new covenant was brought into existence through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

This new covenant is not like the old one. He no longer leads us by the hand. It is not an external relationship. In the new covenant it has become an internal relationship with a living God. He lives inside of us. He has put His law in our minds and written it on our hearts.

to be continued...