Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament - The New Covenant in Jeremiah

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD; I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” - Jeremiah 31:31-34 (ESV)

When God freed the Israelite slaves from Egypt, He established a covenant with them at Mount Sinai. In this covenant, God provides them with the Law that is intended to help govern and transform the people of Israel into the Promised Land.

From the moment the Old Covenant Law was given, the people were caught up in a disobedient sin cycle. The people broke their covenant with God and the future of Israel seemed like a lost cause. The Israelites left Egypt to be free around 1300 BCE; however, they would continue to live in captivity and throughout time, their sin would catch up to them. Sacrifices to God were made but their hearts were still impure and this sin problem needed to be addressed.

During the time of the Judges and Kings, Israel would continue to live in bondage due to their disobedience. They knew God’s Law but their hearts weren’t living it. They were not revering God. Six hundred years after leaving Egypt, Assyria captured the Northern Kingdom of Israel, taking the ten tribes into captivity which would last seventy years. Shortly after, the Kingdom of Judah was taken captive by Babylon and this is where our passage from Jeremiah takes place – during the Babylonian exile.

Jeremiah, a prophet, is writing this message to give hope to the future of Judah during their time of captivity. God is saying that one day He will create a New Covenant with Israel and Judah – one that would move from being external to internal due to their corrupt heart problem. And with this New Covenant, their sins would be forgiven and God would remember their sins no more.

Six hundred years before the birth of Christ, Jeremiah prophesied this hope from the LORD (Jeremiah 31:31-33) that points to Jesus, the One that would come to establish this New Covenant with God and His people. Jesus came to fulfill the Law and to establish the New Covenant between God and His people that would resolve the sin problem once and for all.

Matthew 5:17 says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

The Old Covenant was an external covenant that was written in stone; whereas, the New Covenant is an internal covenant that is written on our hearts.

God is faithful. He does not break His covenants, even when we do. God loves us so much that He continues to give us chances. With this New Covenant, we can be assured that God will not remove it away from us, but rather if we choose to accept Jesus as LORD, we enter this New Covenant with God and receive forgiveness of sin. Entering this New Covenant with God is only made possible through faith in Jesus.

This New Covenant is a covenant of love. It is a covenant of transformation. It is a covenant of grace. It is a covenant made through sacrifice. Jesus did what we couldn’t do.

By Jesus shedding blood for us and sacrificing Himself on the cross, He has opened the door to forgiveness of our sins and He has restored fellowship with those whose hearts are turned away from Him.

Hebrews 9:22 says, “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

Jesus’ blood, sacrifice, love and perfection fulfilled and established the New Covenant with God and His people. As believers in Christ, Gentiles have been grafted into this promise and covenant. What a beautiful example of love and forgiveness from God. A beautiful covenant of grace.

“For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace” – Romans 6:14

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