Jeremiah 31Why Israel? Part 2 New Covenant Hope and Holiness  

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 I. God deservedly disciplines unholy individuals and graciously gives hope to the holy who wholeheartedly repent

 Jer 29:1 these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the elders (priests, prophets, and all the people whom He caused to be v7) carried away captive, by Nebuchadnezzar  from Jerusalem to Babylon. 8  thus says LORD of hosts, God of Israel: Do not let your prophets in your midst deceive you 9 For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says LORD.  10 For thus says LORD: After 70 years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. 11 For I know the thots that I think toward you, says the LORD, thots of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says LORD, I will bring you back from all the places...

APP: God wants to forgive and bless, but we miss out by failing to seek Him (not just blessing) with all of our heart. How do you seek?

30:2 Thus speaks LORD God of Israel: Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you. 3 Days are coming, that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah, says the LORD. And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. 12 Your affliction is incurable, your wound is severe. 14 All your lovers have forgotten you; they do not seek you; for I have wounded you with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of your iniquities, b'cse your sins have increased 15 Why do you cry about your affliction? Your sorrow is incurable. b'cse of the multitude of your iniquities, b'cse your sins have increased, I have done these things to you. 16 all those who devour you shall be devoured... all who prey upon you I will make a prey

17 I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds 18 have mercy on his dwelling places;  city shall be built upon its own mound 19 Then out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those who make merry; I will multiply them, and they shall not diminish; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. 22  You shall be My people, and I will be your God.

23 Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goes forth with fury, continuing whirlwind; it will fall violently on the head of the wicked. 24 fierce anger of LORD will not return until He has done it, until He has performed the intents of His heart. In the latter days you will consider it.

APP: God's sovereign plan is to temporally (and eternally) judge sin, and bless those who stop sinning and seek Him wholeheartedly.

II. God's hesed and goodness redeems and returns Israel to His favor & land, resulting in satisfaction and worldwide praise

 31:1 At the same time, says LORD, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people. 2 People who survived the sword found favor/grace in the wilderness Israel, when I went to give him rest. 3 Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;

therefore with hesed I have attracted you. 4 Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel!  5 You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria 7 Sing with gladness for Jacob, shout among the chief of the nations; Proclaim, give praise, and say, 'O LORD, save Your people, the remnant of Israel!' 8  Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the ends of the earth...a great throng shall return there. 9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble; for I am a Father to Israel, Ephraim is My firstborn.

APP: God saves the humble repentant for His praise and glory, acc to His covenant/hesed. How are you responding to His love?

10 Hear the word of LORD, O nations, and declare it in the isles afar off: He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd does his flock.' 11 For LORD has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he 12 they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, streaming to the goodness of the LORD, for the wheat and new wine and oil, flock and herd; Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, and they shall sorrow no more at all. 13 I will turn their mourning to joy, will comfort them,  make them rejoice rather than sorrow. 14 I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the LORD. 23 They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I bring back their captivity: 'The LORD bless you, O home of justice, and mountain of holiness!' 24 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all its cities together, farmers and those with flocks. 25  I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul."

APP: When we, in holiness and justice delight ourselves in the Lord and His good provision we will be abundantly content and satisfied

III. The (Millennial) New Covenant is made with Israel after rebels are destroyed, others repent and are restored to the land

31:27 Behold, the days are coming, says LORD 28 as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says LORD. 30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity;

31 Behold, the days are coming, says LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah 32 not acc 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 (faithful) 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 (not true in OT/NT or now), says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

Isaiah 40:1 "Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" Says your God. 2 Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is (now) pardoned; for she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins.

37 Thus says LORD: "(only) If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says the LORD. 38 Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that the city shall be (literally) built for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.

APP: To what extent is God's word/law in your mind and decisions/actions? How well do you know the Creator God of the Scriptures?

IV.  Our Great & Almighty Creator God redeems and repays (+/-) acc to His purpose of a loyal rlshp and glory

32:16 Now when I had delivered the purchase deed to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD, saying:

17 Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You 18 You show hesed to 1000's (who love Him and keep command Dt 7:9), and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them-the Great, Mighty God, whose name is the LORD of hosts. 19 You are great in counsel/purpose and mighty in work, for Your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone acc to his ways and acc to the fruit of his doings.

APP: How aware are you that God is watching to reward and repay? What is the intended fruit of your doings? Who does it glorify?

20 You have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and in Israel and among other men; and You have made Yourself a name, as it is this day. 21 You have brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror; 22 You have given them this land, of which You swore to their fathers to give them --- "a land flowing with milk and honey." 23 And they came in and took possession of it, but they have not obeyed Your voice or walked in Your law. They have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do; therefore You have caused all this calamity to come upon them.

26 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? 28 I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it.

APP: Why do we think we won't reap what we sow? What are you sowing? How are you obeying the Great Commission? (Mt 28:19-20) 17%

VI. Worship of and a rlshp with God is an immense privilege, that comes with responsibilities of reciprocation, otherwise forfeit blessing

32:29 And the Chaldeans who fight against this city shall come and set fire to this city and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me to anger; 30 because the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only evil before Me from their youth. For the children of Israel have provoked Me only to anger with the work of their hands,' says the LORD. 31 'For this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My fury from the day that they built it, even to this day; so I will remove it from before My face 32 because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me to anger --- they, their kings, princes, priests,  prophets, Judah, Jerusalem. 33 And they have turned to Me the back, and not the face; though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction. 34 But they set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 35 And they built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass thru the fire to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.' 36...city shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon 37 I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely.

APP: do you provoke God to  bless you or discipline you?How teachable are you? How responsive to His word?

37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. 38 They shall be My people, and I will be their God;

39 then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them.

40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me. 41 Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.' 42 "For thus says the LORD: 'Just as I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them.

APP: God disciplines for our good of a rlshp with Him, which promises blessings for those who fear Him, and doom for those who don't

VII. God will reveal wrath to the unholy or abundance of peace and truth/faithfulness to the holy ones who call on Him in Truth

33:1 Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the prison, saying, 3 'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.' 5 'They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but only to fill their places with the dead bodies of men whom I will slay in My anger and My fury, all for whose wickedness I have hidden My face from this city. 6 Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. 7 And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places as at the first.

8 I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and  have transgressed against Me. 9 Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.'

 Dan 4:34 I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation.

35 He does acc to His will...36 At the same time my reason returned to me, and glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor, my counselors and nobles, I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me. 37 I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.

APP: We're crazy proud if we think we can live independently of God; if and when we return to our senses, God is able to restore blessings

 34:17 You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother...Behold, I proclaim liberty to you, says LORD 'to/from the sword, to pestilence, and to famine!' I will deliver you to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it 20 into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life.

APP: Being disloyal to God and cov't obligations results in sure destruction. How do you ensure that you are faithful to your obligations?