Bible Version: New International Version (NIV)
Application Notes: Life Application Study Bible (NIV)
JEREMIAH 31
1 “At that time,” declares the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”
2 This is what the Lord says:
“The people who survive the sword
will find favor in the wilderness;
I will come to give rest to Israel.”
3 The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
4 I will build you up again,
and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt.
Again you will take up your timbrels
and go out to dance with the joyful.
5 Again you will plant vineyards
on the hills of Samaria;
the farmers will plant them
and enjoy their fruit.
6 There will be a day when watchmen cry out
on the hills of Ephraim,
‘Come, let us go up to Zion,
to the Lord our God.’ ”
7 This is what the Lord says:
“Sing with joy for Jacob;
shout for the foremost of the nations.
Make your praises heard, and say,
‘Lord, save your people,
the remnant of Israel.’
8 See, I will bring them from the land of the north
and gather them from the ends of the earth.
Among them will be the blind and the lame,
expectant mothers and women in labor;
a great throng will return.
9 They will come with weeping;
they will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead them beside streams of water
on a level path where they will not stumble,
because I am Israel’s father,
and Ephraim is my firstborn son.
10 “Hear the word of the Lord, you nations;
proclaim it in distant coastlands:
‘He who scattered Israel will gather them
and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’
11 For the Lord will deliver Jacob
and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they.
12 They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion;
they will rejoice in the bounty of the Lord—
the grain, the new wine and the olive oil,
the young of the flocks and herds.
They will be like a well-watered garden,
and they will sorrow no more.
13 Then young women will dance and be glad,
young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into gladness;
I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.
14 I will satisfy the priests with abundance,
and my people will be filled with my bounty,”
declares the Lord.
15 This is what the Lord says:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
mourning and great weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
16 This is what the Lord says:
“Restrain your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears,
for your work will be rewarded,”
declares the Lord.
“They will return from the land of the enemy.
17 So there is hope for your descendants,”
declares the Lord.
“Your children will return to their own land.
18 “I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:
‘You disciplined me like an unruly calf,
and I have been disciplined.
Restore me, and I will return,
because you are the Lord my God.
19 After I strayed,
I repented;
after I came to understand,
I beat my breast.
I was ashamed and humiliated
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
20 Is not Ephraim my dear son,
the child in whom I delight?
Though I often speak against him,
I still remember him.
Therefore my heart yearns for him;
I have great compassion for him,”
declares the Lord.
21 “Set up road signs;
put up guideposts.
Take note of the highway,
the road that you take.
Return, Virgin Israel,
return to your towns.
22 How long will you wander,
unfaithful Daughter Israel?
The Lord will create a new thing on earth—
the woman will return to the man.”
23 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “When I bring them back from captivity, the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: ‘The Lord bless you, you prosperous city, you sacred mountain.’ 24 People will live together in Judah and all its towns—farmers and those who move about with their flocks. 25 I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”
26 At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me.
27 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will plant the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with the offspring of people and of animals. 28 Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the Lord. 29 “In those days people will no longer say,
‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
30 Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge.
31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them,”
declares the Lord.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
35 This is what the Lord says,
he who appoints the sun
to shine by day,
who decrees the moon and stars
to shine by night,
who stirs up the sea
so that its waves roar—
the Lord Almighty is his name:
36 “Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,”
declares the Lord,
“will Israel ever cease
being a nation before me.”
37 This is what the Lord says:
“Only if the heavens above can be measured
and the foundations of the earth below be searched out
will I reject all the descendants of Israel
because of all they have done,”
declares the Lord.
38 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when this city will be rebuilt for me from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 The measuring line will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. 40 The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be holy to the Lord. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.”
Application Notes
31:1 This promise is to all the families and clans (tribes) of Israel, not only to the tribe of Judah. The restoration will include all people who trust God.
31:3 God reaches toward his people with kindness motivated by deep and everlasting love. He is eager to do the best for them if they will only let him. After many words of warning about sin, this reminder of God's magnificent love gave them a breath of fresh air. Rather than thinking of God with dread, look carefully and see him lovingly drawing us toward himself.
31:10-14 What a celebration God promises in the future! This passage pictures God's final redemption that he has in store for all who believe in him. (See Isaiah 25:6-10 for another description of this great future feast.)
31:14 This means that many sacrifices will be made at the temple so that the priests will have a feast with their portion (see Leviticus 7:31-36 for the priest's portion). The Lord provided for the needs of the priests and their families through the sacrifices offered at the temple. The bringing of abundant offerings symbolizes prosperity and abundance for God's chosen people (Psalms 36:8; 63:5; Isaiah 55:2).
31:15 Rachel, Jacob's favorite wife, was the symbolic mother of the northern tribes, which were taken into captivity by the Assyrians. Rachel is pictured crying for the exiles at Ramah, a staging point of deportation. This verse is quoted in Matthew 2:18 to describe the sadness of the mothers of Bethlehem as the male children were killed. The weeping was great in both cases.
31:18-20 These verses express grief and mourning over sins of the past. Ephraim was one of the major tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel. Although Israel had sunk into the most degrading sins, God still loved the people. A remnant would return to God, repenting of their sins, and God would forgive them. God still loves you, despite everything. you have done. He will forgive you if you turn back to him.
31:29-30 The people tried to blame God's judgment on the sins of their parents. One person's sin does indeed affect other people, but all people are still held personally accountable for the sin in their own lives (Deuteronomy 24:16; Ezekiel 18:2). What excuses do you use for your sins?
31:33-34 The old covenant broken by the people, would be replaced by a new covenant. The foundation of this new covenant is Jesus Christ (Hebrews 8:6). The old covenant did not have the power to transform people's hearts or give them the ability to obey. The new covenant has revolutionary power, involving not only Israel and Judah, but even the Gentiles. It offers a unique personal relationship with God himself, with his laws written on individuals' hearts instead of on stone tablets. Jeremiah looked forward to the day when Jesus would come to establish this covenant and through his forgiveness all sins would be forgotten. For us today, this new covenant is here. We have the wonderful opportunity to have a fresh start and establish a permanent, personal relationship with God (see Jeremiah 29:11; 32:38-40).
31:33 God would write his law on his people's hearts rather than on tablets of stone, as he had done with the Ten Commandments. In 17:1, the people's sin was described as engraved on their hearts so that they wanted, above all, to disobey. This change seems to describe an experience very much like the new birth we read about in the New Testament, with God taking the initiative in the coming of Jesus (see John 16:6-7; 1 John 2:20, 27). When we turn our lives over to God, he, by his Holy Spirit, builds into us the heartfelt desire to obey him. What is written on your heart?
31:35-37 God has created and is in control of the laws of nature, and he ensures that they are stable and predictable. God confirmed here, in no uncertain terms, that just as he will not discard his natural laws, he has no intention of abandoning his chosen people. His faithful love and promises for his people would endure, despite the terrible judgments about to come against them.
31:38-40 These points mark the boundaries of restored Jerusalem in the days of Nehemiah. Gareb and Goah are unknown places. The valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown probably refers to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, where children were sacrificed in pagan. worship. The temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, so this prophecy that Jerusalem would never be destroyed again was to be fulfilled much later. Many years after Jeremiah's prophecy, the apostle John had a vision where he saw the new Jerusalem coming down from God (Revelation 21). In the day when this is fulfilled, safety will not even be an issue. God will create a new community where every hope will be fulfilled under his righteous rule.
Taken from Life Application Study Bible - Third Edition - (NIV)