Growing with God: A daily devotional with Tonia Slimm.
Jeremiah 31:31 (NIV)
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.”
Jeremiah 31:31 (MSG)
“That’s right. The time is coming when I will make a brand-new covenant with Israel and Judah.”
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“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and with the house of Judah (the Southern Kingdom)…” -AMPLIFIED
“God announced that at a time future to Jeremiah’s day, He would make a new covenant. This new covenant would first be with Israel, but it would be not according to the covenant that God made with Israel in the Sinai desert.” ~David Guzik
Yesterday’s passage reminded us that we each must accept responsibility for our own sin.
“Rather, each will die for his own iniquity. Anyone who eats sour grapes—his own teeth will be set on edge.” -Jeremiah 31:30 (CSB)
As we look to today’s text, we find the Lord declaring that He will one day make a new covenant with His people. We are going to take the time to explore what a covenant is, as well as look at the previous covenants that the Lord had made with His people.
NOTE: “a contract or agreement between two parties. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word _berith_ is always thus translated. _Berith_ is derived from a root which means “to cut,” and hence a covenant is a “cutting,” with reference to the cutting or dividing of animals into two parts, and the contracting parties passing between them, in making a covenant (Gen. 15; Jer. 34:18, 19). The corresponding word in the New Testament Greek is _diatheke_, which is, however, rendered “testament” generally in the Authorized Version. It ought to be rendered, just as the word _berith_ of the Old Testament, “covenant.”” ~Biblegateway
“Look, the days are coming when I will bring about a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.” -(VOICE)
The Lord declares that a day will come when He would make a new covenant with His people. This phrase, “The days are coming…” often refers to the Messianic era, and in this case it does.
Why would the Lord need to make a new covenant? Because the people of Israel had failed to keep and uphold their part of the covenants that had been previously made. Note, God had not failed to uphold His part of the covenant, man had failed. Hence why there was a need for a new covenant.
“The day will come, says the Lord, when I will make a new contract with the people of Israel and Judah.” -(TLB)
“Here is something worth beholding; read this great promise with tears in your eyes: It is all wills and shalls; it is all covenant life; — no longer the law graven upon the tables of stone, but the law written on the heart; — no more the Lord’s command without man’s power and will to obey it; but God will renew our nature, and change our disposition, so that we shall love to do what once we loathed, and shall loathe the sins that we once loved. What a wonderful mass of mercies is included in the covenant of grace!” ~Charles Spurgeon
There tends to be a difference of opinion on how many covenants were made in the Bible with the Lord, 5, 6, or 7. In order to gain a deeper understanding, we will address them all. Keep in mind as you read through each, that a covenant is an agreement between two or more people. In this case, between God and Man.
The Adamic Covenant: Found in Genesis 1:26-30, Genesis 2:16-17, and Genesis 3:15. This covenant was between God and man, Adam. Adam was commanded not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, we know he broke this covenant, so, God had to bring judgement for man’s sin. But in this covenant, God promised future provision for man’s redemption.
The Noahic Covenant: Found in Genesis 9:11. With this covenant, God gave a rainbow as His promise to never destroy the whole earth with a flood again. The rainbow was a sign of the covenant made and His faithfulness.
The Abrahamic Covenant: Found in Genesis 12:1-3. In this covenant God promised to Abraham and his descendants not only a land and a nation, but many blessings which would reach to and touch to all nations.
The Palestinian Covenant: Found in Deuteronomy 30:1-10. This was a covenant between God and Israel concerning their land. According to the terms of this agreement, if Israel disobeyed God, He would scatter them around the world, but He promised that if this happened, one day He would bring them home.
The Mosaic or Sinai Covenant: Found in Exodus 19 and Deuteronomy 11. This covenant was made when God gave Israel His law, the directions on how to bring sacrifices to Him, and it also addressed how their choices would bring blessings or curses. This was a conditional covenant, that brought either blessing from their obedience to God, or a curse for their disobedience.
The Davidic Covenant: Found in 2 Samuel 7:8-16. This was a covenant between David and the Lord. In it a promise was made for a dynasty that would last forever, and the promised Messiah would come through David’s lineage.
The Messianic Covenant or New Covenant: Found in Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Ezekiel 11:16-20. This covenant was made first to Israel, but ultimately to all mankind. In this covenant, God promised to forgive sin and repair man’s broken relationship with Him. Under this New Covenant both Jew and Gentile could receive redemption and salvation through the death and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God’s own Son.
“A covenant made with God should be regarded not as restrictive but as protective.” ~Russell M. Nelson
My friend, we serve a covenant keeping God. He keeps all of His promises. Sadly, we have not upheld our part of the agreement. But fear not, God, out of His grace and mercy, His goodness, has made a new covenant with man. In this new covenant man can receive redemption and salvation through Jesus Christ. God did for man what man could not do for themselves. Jesus paid the price that we could not pay for our sin. He was the perfect sacrifice, willingly given for our sake, so that our relationship with the Lord, the covenant made with Him, could be restored. Hallelujah, what a Savior!
“Guidance, like all God’s acts of blessing under the covenant of grace, is a sovereign act. Not merely does God will to guide us in the sense of showing us his way, that we may tread it; he wills also to guide us in the more fundamental sense of ensuring that, whatever happens, whatever mistakes we may make, we shall come safely home. Slippings and strayings there will be, no doubt, but the everlasting arms are beneath us; we shall be caught, rescued, restored. This is God’s promise; this is how good he is.” ~J. I. Packer
My Prayer:
Adonai Elohim, my Great Lord, thank you for being the covenant keeping God. Thank you for taking the initiative, never giving up on man, for rescuing us from ourselves. You made a Way for us to come back to you. You did for man, through Jesus, what we could not do for ourselves. You rescued us. You saved us. You want to restore our relationship with you. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for never giving up on us, even though we kept messing up. Thank you for being faithful. You are so good to us, you are the Covenant Keeping God, and I am so grateful for this fact. ❤
Growing with God 