Scripture Text (NRSV)
Jeremiah 31:27-34
31:27 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will sow
the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and
the seed of animals.
31:28 And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break
down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them
to build and to plant, says the LORD.
31:29 In those days they shall no longer say: "The parents have
eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge."
31:30 But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone
who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.
31:31 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a
new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
31:32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their
ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land
of Egypt--a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says
the LORD.
31:33 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 within them,
and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people.
31:34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each
other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of
them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their
iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
Comments:
Law written on the heart? Is it in there just to guide us, or is it
there to mark us as belonging to God? Wondering, wandering pastor
the current debate in our country is whether to remove the ten
commandment monument or anything christian from government buildings.
it is a great hope for a christian that God's precepts are written in
our hearts.
Many "christians" have a bible but don't read/study it.
the Lord is inviting us to Know him, there is a promise for those who
seek Him.
some thoughts
John Rodriguez
We are responsible for our "own" sin, no longer the sins of our
parents (of course, psychology would remind us that this is not
totally true).
Thus we must be ever vigilant to hold the law within our hearts, to
recognize that the covenant is an intimate relationship, and that how
we live out that covenant makes all the difference in this world and
the next.
tom in ga
God's law written within me and and on my heart is there because of a
love affair I have with the Father. It makes me want to do good (inspite
of our sinful condition), just because I would like to make our Father
happy in any way I can!
The covenant is now within the human heart, the heart of flesh, it is
no longer exterior but interior. We find God within who makes his home
with us. No longer do we need teachers, for the Holy Spirit teaches us
all things. Indeed this is the new Covenant, the sheer gift of the
Cross. Such a gift empowers us to never give up or loose heart, but to
struggle for the fulfilment of the promises. Indeed, the answer to
prayer is transformed in our flesh as we take seriously our vocation
to live deeply in the river of God which flows through our veins.
This relationship is not acheived by us, it comes from God only, and
we as we accept the gift find ourselves strengthened by this new
relationship: Thus our sins are our own, they are not passed down from
former generations. We stand before God alone in his unconditional
love.
tom in ga
Through it all, Jeremiah is asking "How can I make you people care?"
and at the same time issuing a promise ... that one day the law will
be written in our hearts.
... let me know when it happens!
We can plaster it all over the courthouses, but until it's in our
hearts, it's useless.
Sally in GA
The OT says we'll need no more teachers because the law will be in our
hearts ...
and we love it (Psalm)
The epistle says people will have itching ears and seek teachers that
teach them something else - presumably something more palatable...
Begs the question of whether the law was really ever written on our
hearts.
Sally in GA
What do you all think of tying this passage into the 2 Tim passage?
The law is written in our hearts and we, ideally, shouldn't need to
teach each other. That is - if we're in tune with the Holy Spirit.
Because ... "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient,
equipped for every good work." Under the New Covenant we should be
learning through the Holy Spirit, who guides us into all truth as we
read the Word.
JB in PA
Jeremiah announces a day when Israel and Judah will be bound to God in
a new covenant written upon their hearts and sealed with God's
forgiveness.
"The days are surely coming," says the prophet. Regardless of how
devastated and hopeless things may seem in the present there is a time
coming when the people's knowledge and experience of God will be so
intimate that God's will and desires will be imprinted in the very
centre of their lives. It is a call to not lose heart and for the
faithful to align themselves with all that they know, even now, of
God's hopes for creation.
JB in PA - Yes, I think ALL the lections this week tie in well
together.
I wonder, though, about the infamous Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts
something-or-other. "How can I understand (the word) unless someone
explains it to me?"
There are still those who haven't heard or read the word. It would
take a major effort and possibly a crusade to inject God's Word (and
then, by whose understanding of God's Word) into every heart.
Sally in GA
Sally,
Yes - I too struggle with the idea that not everyone can aptly
interpret the Word. Look at the Jim Jones' of the world. I was
pondering this and then considered the Timothy passage. Mention is
made that he learned the scriptures as a child (it would seem he
received instruction from his mother Lois and grandmother, Eunice).
As you stated, the Word must first be received - or injected into
one's heart (I like that) whether it be as a child in Sunday School,
or later as an adult, and then understanding is based on the Covenant
as stipulated in Jere vs.33.
Just speculating here - but if we are not under the New Covenant (or
if we fail to keep it), then our understanding of Scripture will be
faulty. We don't have the Holy Spirit to interpret scripture for us.
Without the New Covenant, hence the presence of the HS within us, then
we do not have the "teacher" to guide us into understanding. Perhaps
that's why much of the world miscontrues what the Bible is all about!
Food for thought. Thinking "out loud" here.
JB in PA
