James Nisbet Commentary - Jeremiah 31:31 - 31:31

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James Nisbet Commentary - Jeremiah 31:31 - 31:31


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

A NEW COVENANT

‘I will make a new covenant.’

Jer_31:31

The progress of Jewish history, as recorded in the Old Testament, was marked by a series of covenants, in which God declared His gracious purposes towards His people, with the conditions on which His favour was to be enjoyed, and the people, on their side, promised to do all that God commanded. Thus covenants were made with Noah after the Flood; with Abraham, when the land of Canaan was promised to his descendants; at Sinai, when Israel became a nation; and with Joshua after the conquest of the Promised Land.

Jeremiah recalls in particular the covenant at Sinai, which marked the formation of the Jewish people, and in which the pledges between God and Israel were sealed with sacrificial blood. It was indeed a memorable scene when, at the bidding of Moses, the Israelites vowed fidelity to Jehovah. But the vow so solemnly taken was broken. Year after year, generation after generation, the people sank into idolatry and all the sins that idolatry begets. And at last God permitted the overthrow and exile of the nation. The ancient covenant, so often broken, was dissolved.

It is at this point that Jeremiah speaks. Looking forward, the prophet perceives the gathering of a new Israel, and the granting of a new covenant. When was the ‘new covenant’ established? At the moment when the great sacrifice was offered which consecrated the Israel ‘of faith’! On the betrayal night Jesus took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood.’ The old covenant was made at Sinai, the new at Calvary.

The new covenant is distinguished by Jeremiah in three ways.

I. It is a spiritual one.—Its terms are written, not on stones, but on tables of the heart. The new régime is not of outward regulations, but of inward principles. In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ demands a righteousness which shall exceed that of the old law; not merely abstinence from impure deeds, but purity of soul; not the refraining from murder only, but the cherishing of a spirit of love.

II. Another note of the new covenant is its universality.—‘They shall all know Me.’ The old covenant recognised a priestly order, the new creates a kingdom of priests. The old required a line of prophets, the new calls every believer to be ‘taught of the Lord.’ This feature of the new covenant was emphasised by the Reformers. Luther refused to recognise the priestly caste which came between the people and Christ. John Hooper, at St. Paul’s Cross, declared to the citizens of London that, if spiritually enlightened, they might judge for themselves as to matters of faith and conscience, neither pope nor priest having the right to interfere.

III. The third characteristic of the new covenant is that it is a covenant of forgiveness.—The note of the earlier covenant was obedience, that of the later is mercy. Moses stood for law, Christ stands for love. Hence our Saviour declares that His blood of the new covenant is ‘shed for many unto remission of sins.’ We are under the ‘covenant of grace.’ What we could never merit, God freely gives. And the faith that accepts the ‘gift of God’ becomes the spring of the new life, out of it arising the gratitude and love which are the motive forces of Christian character.

It is well to ask ourselves sometimes whether we are living according to the ‘new covenant.’ Are we really prompted by spiritual motives? Do we know God for ourselves? Have we the humble joy of those who love much because they have been forgiven much?