According to Jeremiah 31, Who was to Receive the New Covenant?

2nd Semester / Week 2

(To listen to this study on YouTube, click here)

In our last study we saw how the New Testament authors often gave spiritual interpretations or utilized symbolic representations that were to be “spiritually discerned,” rather than for the ultimate intended fulfillment to be revealed only through utilizing extreme literalism. In order to apply that knowledge, let’s look again at what was predicted in Jeremiah:

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a New Covenant with the house of ISRAEL… 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… 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,” (Jeremiah 31:31-33).

The Old Covenant, also called the Mosaic Covenant since it was given to Moses, was the conditional agreement established between God and Israel at Mount Sinai. It was God’s Law which contained the Ten Commandments as well as what’s often described as civil, ceremonial and moral laws. The tabernacle and priesthood which carried out the sacrificial system were the fundamental elements of that covenant which temporarily served as the means for atonement and worship.

We just saw in Jeremiah that the New Covenant is different, it’s “not like” the Old Covenant, and we’ll eventually see that the New is also the “better” and “more glorious” covenant based on “better promises.” However, throughout Church history the difficulty has been in deciding what ways the New is different, and what ways it’s similar to the Old Covenant. Yet what we can all be confident of regarding the New Covenant is that it emphasizes grace over law, faith over works, and a personal relationship with God rather than mere ritualistic observances. The New Covenant brings believers into a transformative direct relationship with God through its redeeming forgiveness of sins, as well as empowerment through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that leads and guides us and enables us to have victory over sin on a daily basis.

The New Testament clearly reveals that this New Covenant has already been inaugurated, which was explicitly stated by Jesus at the Last Supper (see Luke 22:20, as well as Hebrews 8:13 and 2 Corinthians 3:6), yet our passage in Jeremiah had predicted that the New Covenant was to be made specifically with “Israel.” That’s why dispensationalists at first had thought there might be two different New Covenants: one for Christians and one for “Israel” in a future millennium. Then the next variety of dispensationalists that came along abandoned that and assumed there’s only one future New Covenant and that the Church isn’t under any covenant at all. They’d unfortunately focused too much on their limited and extremely literal interpretation of “Israel,” so much so that they attempted to take the New Covenant away from Christians.

We know that it’s now, and has always been, only the “Elect” or “Remnant” that has a saving “covenant” relationship with our Savior and Creator:

“Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ‘Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, ONLY THE REMNANT WILL BE SAVED,’ ” (Romans 9:27).

And yet:

“ALL Israel will be saved,” (Romans 11:26).

Therefore, which one is it? Will “only the Remnant” of Israel be saved, or will “all Israel” be saved? Furthermore, exactly who is “Israel?” And what relationship does Jesus have with the name “Israel?”

We should know that God is the one who decides who will be called “Israel.” It’s a God given name, and the original “Israel” was simply one man whose name had been Jacob, but God bestowed upon him the new name of “Israel.” Scripture declares that Israel is the firstborn son of God (Exodus 4:22). This concept of sonship can also be seen in passages such as “out of Egypt I called my son,” (Matthew 2:15), which was quoting and fulfilling Hosea 11:1. The full verse from Hosea was this:

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son,” (Hosea 11:1).

The original context seemed to refer to the nation of Israel, and yet, surprisingly, this passage in Hosea found its ultimate intended fulfillment in Jesus Christ, according to Matthew 2:15, when Jesus was also brought out of Egypt. From those passages, it’s undeniable that there’s a direct connection between Jesus and the name “Israel.” Hosea had said, “When Israel was a child…,” and yet that passage found its fulfillment in Jesus. Furthermore, even though “Israel” had been called the “firstborn,” we should recognize that the New Testament similarly declares that Jesus is actually the “firstborn,” and is the firstborn of many (Romans 8:29, Colossians 1:15-18, Hebrews 1:6, 12:23, Revelation 1:5). Jesus is also the fulfillment of the Old Testament Feast of “Firstfruits” (1 Corinthians 15:20), as well as being the intended fulfillment of all of the feasts of “Israel.”

Interestingly, the book of Deuteronomy is recorded as being “the words which Moses spoke to all Israel,” (Deuteronomy 1:1), and while the nation of Israel had spent 40 years in the wilderness, Jesus, using the “day for a year” principle, spent 40 days in the wilderness and overcame temptation by appropriately and victoriously utilizing the relevant verses from Deuteronomy which were intended for “Israel,” as well as ultimately taking upon Himself the curses found in Deuteronomy which were also directed at “Israel.” Therefore, we’re beginning to get a glimpse from Scripture that Jesus might actually be the True Israel. And if Jesus is now the True Israel of God, could it also be that we who belong to Jesus and are called “the body of Christ” are also considered to be the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16)? We should be able to see that Scripture is all about Jesus, and we’ll conclude this semester by seeing how throughout the life of Jesus, everywhere the fleshly physical nation of Israel had previously failed, in an act of recapitulation, Jesus as the True Israel retraced their steps and was victorious.

We’re going to see that God’s plan for the original nation of Israel was for them to have the opportunity to become a nation of priests in order to bless all the nations of the world, but they failed to become that nation of priests when they immediately broke the Covenant by worshipping a golden calf (that was the reason why Jeremiah 31 had said, “My covenant which they broke”). So what happened next? We’ll see next semester that 1 Peter 2 tells us that the new plan was this:

“you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices… a royal priesthood, a holy NATION, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him… who once were not a people but are now THE PEOPLE OF GOD,” (1 Peter 2:5, 9-10).

Christians are surprisingly yet clearly now called “the people of God,” however, as we’ve seen, the New Covenant was to be made specifically with “Israel.” Therefore, this semester we’ll continue to evaluate “Who is Israel,” then next semester we’ll explore more about “Israel and the Promise,” and in the 4th Semester we’ll evaluate the significance of the New Covenant. Fortunately, we’re going to continue to see that it’s all about Jesus and the work He has done for His followers.