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Scripture Text (NRSV)

 

Jeremiah 31:31-34

 

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:

 

Will we ever get to the point where we so KNOW God that we don't even have teach one another?

Also, a question for myself: what is written on my heart?

Squeeze in VT


What is written in my heart? From this abundance do i speak? ..... then am in great trouble!!! With the winter finally waning in Buffalo, how different life looks....... from the abundance.. may the Lord continue to write upon my heart... Commission Lay Pastor Paula


When I finished seminary, I had a lot of head knowledge about ministry (although there was much that I failed to acquire from educational opportunities). What I grew to appreciate was my need of heart knowledge. I sometimes wish that it had not taken 30+ years to move what I knew intellectually from head to heart to the depths of my soul. I know that I know that I know on many levels of my life that God's love and redemption is real. There may be some risks involved, but proclamation of Jeremiah's prophecy must involve some personal testimony that the one who preaches it has experienced it in the heart. TN Mack


Is there any significance to the repetition of "says the Lord" in every verse? It really seems to stand out and I am curious. LGB


For the Children: I have a stone and a sponge heart. We talk about the stone, then I bring out the heart--soft and malleable as images of the heart transplant that takes place when we embrace the faith. Sue in Steubenville


This is "a new covenant". How many covenants is this? How many follow this one? What covenant are we under now? Phil KS


LGB the saying "n'om adoni" --- "thus says the Lord" is a characteristic of Jeremiah. There might be two possible explanations for this peculiar construction in Jeremiah: 1. Jeremiah, as a youth, struggled with the words that the Lord had given him to say. His laments witness to his lack of willingness, at times, to serve in the capacity to which God had called him. He might be hedging his bets "DONT SHOOT THE MESSENGER!!! 2. Jeremiah's message, like that of so many of the prophets, did not fall on willing ears. His saying "n'om adoni" may have pointed beyond himself, and to his Lord, as a sign to those within the range of his voice to listen.

MN Campus Pastor


"The Word became flesh"

Is this not the same thing - Stoney tablets of Legal material transformed into earthy, dusty, vunerable hearts?

tom in ga


Thank you MN Campus Pastor, As a lay minister, I appreciate the wisdom of so many people on this site. You are a blessing. LGB


Historical view: God telling jeremiah there will be time,when they wont stray, new convenant. not like Noah's, Abraham's, Jacob's... Of course, the people don't understand what this new covenant really was going to be. I think, Jeremiah did though. If they would have understand, would they have done what they did to Jesus? Would the millenial Reign have begun then? Or Because God new human nature, was it His divine plan as to graffed in gentiles...The Future Covenant!!! When we have reached that perfection John Wesley tells us to strive for! We shall know all then, (You know those this new covenant will put 'us' out of a Job! Jesus won't need preachers, teachers, evangelists, prophets then...) Pastor Mary of OHIO