READ: Jeremiah 31:31-34
KEY IDEA: Those who belong to God have God’s laws written on their hearts.
Through God’s mercy they have been forgiven, and at God’s initiative the
desires of their hearts are being transformed.
BACKGROUND:
This text from Jeremiah is the smallest section of Scripture studied during
our time together, yet it encapsulates the hope and future of God’s people
with the promise of new life. In the midst of Jeremiah’s painful prophecy
the words of hope found in chapters 29-33 stand as a beacon revealing God’s
gracious restoration of his wayward people.
The book continues with twenty-one more chapters, most detailing the
crushing fulfillment of the prophecies of God spoken by Jeremiah. Jerusalem,
the holy city of the people of God, falls to the Babylonians and its walls
are destroyed. The king is tortured and taken into captivity. Jeremiah
suffers imprisonment and exile. And in the face of all these things, the
people of Israel continue to disbelieve the words of God. The book closes
with Jeremiah’s prophecies regarding the downfall of the foreign nations
that have oppressed the Hebrew people.
NARRATIVE:
A Sinful People – The people of Judah had refused and continued to refuse
the correction of God through Jeremiah. In the worst of times, they turned
to other gods; in the best of times, they simply rejected Jeremiah’s words
of correction and call for repentance, choosing the ‘form” of religion
without the ‘function” of fidelity.
The people believed that because God had a covenant with them, he would
never destroy them or His holy temple which resided in Jerusalem, the
capitol of Judah. They saw their chosen status as assurance that they stood
outside the consequences of their sin, and that God, although perhaps
frustrated by their actions had placed them in position beyond discipline.
They were not ‘simply misguided” as Horizon’s points out, but in fact they
did not even desire to do good.
We see in our text for today (31:31-34) a clear understanding of the work of
salvation. It is not something to be achieved from human motivation or
action. In fact, the Israelites were incapable of returning to God on their
own. Outwardly, they demonstrated some signs of Hebrew tradition, but
inside, they had rejected both the faith of their ancestors and their
covenant relationship with God. It was God alone who could turn the hearts
of his people back to himself.
The Old Covenant – God, in his sovereignty, chose a people unto himself. We
can follow the unfolding of God’s covenant relationship with his people
throughout the Old Testament in the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It
was an exercise of this covenant in which the LORD brought his people out of
Egypt (Exodus 6:1-8). Over the generations God gave Israel the Law, that
they might recognize God’s will and live in covenant obedience to him.
Sadly, Israel’s history was merely dotted with eras of obedience against a
backdrop of rebellion and stubborn self-determination. However, in mercy,
God continually pursued his wayward people, for his covenant was ultimately
rooted not in the fidelity of Israel, but in the perfect will of God.
Question: Have there been times in your life that you have taken church for
granted, or thought of faith as something you were born to, rather than
God’s gift and the key to your dynamic relationship with God?
Question: What are the differences and similarities between the descriptions
of the Old and New Covenant in this text?
The New Covenant – The New Covenant difference described by Jeremiah is not
a replacement of the old, but rather a new location for the words of life.
It is no longer words on tablets to be disregarded by those who refuse to
learn, rather it is written on the hearts of God’s people. We read earlier
in chapter 17:1 that the sins of the people were engraved upon their hearts.
These same words are used (engrave upon their hearts’) to describe the
action that God is going to take with regard to his people. This is not a
change in the nature of the people (we are all still sinners.) but it is a
change in the place where the laws of God, the covenant of God, is located.
The people’s hearts will now know, at God’s initiative rather than their
own, the word of God. A word of caution; this does not mean that we will now
automatically know all of Scripture by heart, nor will our thoughts suddenly
become wholly God’s thoughts. We must not disregard our sinful nature.
Instead, the passage is speaking of a work that God is accomplishing within
us, as we are being transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ.
Notice that the language of covenant, old and new, remains the same. Read
Exodus 6:7 and Jeremiah 31:33. Notice the common declaration of the will of
God, ‘…I will be their God and they shall be my people.”
Notice also that all the active verbs, the action words, refer to actions of
God.
Have the group list the verbs with response to God.
‘make”, ‘took”, ‘put”, ‘write”, ‘be”, ‘forgive”, and ‘remember”
Question: What do they tell us about God?
Question: What are the verbs that refers to the people? ‘broke” and ‘shall
be” and ‘shall know”
Question: What do they tell us about the people?
Notice that it is God who acts and the people who are acted upon. The only
‘action” that the people take is to break’ the laws of God. This is God’s
great mercy, unchanged and constant even in the midst of His justice. As the
people are experiencing the consequences of their sin, God is still at work
for their redemption in the future.
The New Covenant comes into fullness in Jesus Christ, who is himself the
embodiment of the new promise. Jesus taught of the turning from sin and the
turning to God. He took our sin upon himself. Once again, God acted, coming
in Christ, to accomplish the greatest act of forgiveness once and for all.
It cannot be stressed too much that the New Covenant does not obliterate the
old. God’s word, God’s promises, God’s law, God’s mercy, all remain
unchanged. God still accomplishes his will in the lives of his people.
Imagery in Jeremiah – All throughout his ministry Jeremiah was called to
employ rich imagery to portray God’s word to the people. In this text
(specifically vs. 32), we see the imagery that God uses to describe his
relationship with His people.
Question: What imagery is used to describe our relationship to God? What do
you think is meant by this?
1. The image of taking the people by the hand’ to lead them out of Israel.
This brings to mind a child or another who is helpless and must be guided.
Consider how this compares to the words recorded in Hosea 11:1-4 in both
imagery and situation.
2. God says he was Israel’s husband’ – so in reference to the broken
covenant with him, the charge against Israel would be adultery. Adultery is
often the charge God levels against his people when they forsake him. (This
theme is laid out fully as the prophet Hosea is called to marry the
prostitute Gomer.)
Both of these images convey again the continual acting of God for the
benefit of an unfaithful people.
Forgiveness and Judgment – The text ends with words of God’s forgiveness
which includes such a complete cleansing that it is ‘remembered no more”.
These words are spoken and this promise made in spite of the judgment that
the people are currently experiencing, a judgment which will increase in
intensity long before relief will come.
.
God’s judgment is the natural consequence of our sin. Consider the people
God brought out of Egypt – they were freed from slavery and given a new life
with God, but because of their continued lack of faith and their sin in
creating an idol and worshipping it, these particular people were forced to
wander in the desert for forty years and none of them were allowed to
actually live in the promised land. However, in the midst of their
punishment, God was merciful in fulfilling his promise to Israel by allowing
the children of the those who wandered to take possession of the land of
promise. Jeremiah points to the history of Israel’s relationship with God to
reveal the pattern of God’s mercy and grace in the midst of Israel’s
ingratitude and disobedience. None of the people ransomed from Egypt
deserved to enter the promised land, but out of his mercy and love, God
brought them there. In the same way, none of the people in Jeremiah’s day
deserved mercy – they had turned their hearts from God. But God promised
that one day he will take the hearts of his people and return them to
himself. He will forgive, not because they deserve it, but because it is His
desire. He will forgive and remember no more; it is gone forever.
Question: What is involved in being restored by God? Consider one or both of
these incidents of restoration from Scripture: Deuteronomy 30:1-20, 1 Samuel
12:1-25
SUMMARY
We have seen Jeremiah agonize over the message he was called to speak to a
disinterested and unfaithful people, pray for those who refused to respond,
wrestle with the ramifications of his own calling as a prophet, and yet
through it all remain steadfast in faith and courage to God’s word and to
God’s calling in his life.
We also see that there are severe consequences for us when we refuse to
worship the One True God. God’s justice is true and he acts for the
restoration of his people.
Finally, we have seen that in the midst of our disobedience God remains
faithful to his covenant promises to us. God is relentlessly pursuing his
people, turning our hearts to him, and bringing us home. Through Christ
Jesus the pursuit is complete; stubborn hearts are broken and new hearts
being transformed in Christ are the gift in their place, the dead are given
new life, and the impossible debt of our sin has been paid in full.
SUGGESTIONS FOR LEADERS
A. Preparing the Lesson
1. Read the narrative information provided here and the Scriptures in
Jeremiah as well as the other Scriptures that are referred to in the lesson.
(You may or may not wish to turn to the reference scriptures during the
actual lesson. If so, ask individuals to mark those passages in their Bibles
ahead of time)
2. Review the questions in the lesson. You may wish to put them on cards for
easier reference.
B. Connecting with God and with one another
1. Opening prayer
Merciful and steadfast Savior, we approach you and your word today that we
may know and love you more and serve you better. Renew our hearts and minds
as we listen. By the power of your Holy Spirit, enable us to be faithful to
you. In Christ’s name we pray, AMEN.
2. You may wish to chose a hymn or song appropriate to the lesson. I would
recommend Great Is Thy Faithfulness.
3. If you asked participants to bring a symbol that represents their
awareness of God in their lives, you will need to provide time for them to
share.
C. Discovering the Scripture
1. Read the text together
2. Use the questions and the narrative provided here.
D. Exploring the Scriptures
Invite participants to share about what they have learned during this study
of Jeremiah, or what text(s) were most meaningful to them and why. Be sure
that key themes and Scriptures are fresh in your mind so that you might be
able to facilitate sound conversation. (You may wish to use the key ideas
from previous lessons to remind people of the topics and you may wish to use
the summery in this lesson to spur conversation.)
E. Closing Time Together
1. Sing or read together the hymn ‘Now Thank We All Our God.”
2. Closing prayer
Loving God, we know that we are unworthy of your mercy. We thank you that
your love for us is not dependent upon our actions, and that you pursue
those who are your own ever correcting, recalling, and restoring. We thank
you for your steadfast love that has engraved your laws on our hearts.
Enable us daily to conform our lives to your holy word, loving you and our
neighbors more each day. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.