Below are OT Passages that
describe or foreshadow the New Covenant God promised to Israel in Jeremiah
31. Note that time phrases are highlighted in
bold green letters.
Note also that this list of allusions
to the New Covenant in the Old Testament is not intended to be exhaustive.
NEW COVENANT
IN DEUTERONOMY 30:3-6
Deuteronomy 30:3
"So it shall be
when
all of these
things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set
before you (the final fulfillment of the "curse" will come about
during the three and one-half year period that Jesus
declared would be "The Great Tribulation" = "The time
of Jacob's Distress" Jeremiah 30:7 (cp Great Tribulation in Mt
24:15,21, Indignation Da 11:36, Is 26:20, Time of distress Da 12:1),
see also the chart on the seven year period that immediately precedes
Messiah's return =
Daniel's Seventieth Week -- see
Great Tribulation,
see
Timeline of Jewish & Gentile
History according to Daniel) and you call them to mind in all nations where the LORD your God has
banished you (the Jews today are dispersed throughout the whole world),
(See related in depth study of
Daniel 9:24;
25;
26;
27)
Deut 30:2 and you return to the LORD your God and obey Him with all
your heart
(because they have a new heart from the New Covenant!) and soul according
to all that I command you today, you and your sons
Deut 30:3
then
(when Messiah returns) the LORD your God will restore you from captivity,
and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples
where the LORD your God has scattered you.
Deut 30:4 If your outcasts are at the
ends of the earth, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from
there He will bring you back (including those in the so-called 10 lost
tribes that went into captivity in Assyria in 722BC).
Deut 30:5 And the LORD your
God will bring you into
the land ("The
Land" which was promised forever
{Ge 13:15} to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He
will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers (in May, 1948 the
nation of Israel was miraculously reborn {witness this incredible story
for yourself in the DVD
Israel - A Nation Is Born} but this
is only a partial fulfillment of the Deuteronomy 30:1-6 prophecy. The
perfect fulfillment will occur in the 1000 year or
Millennial Reign of the Messiah - see
map of Israel in the Messianic age).
Deut 30:6 Moreover
the LORD your God will circumcise your
heart
and the
heart of your
descendants (a reference to the New Covenant God revealed
more clearly some 800 years late by Jeremiah in Jer 31:31, 32, 33, 34. The fulfillment of this prophecy parallels
Rev 19:11, 12, 13, 14, 15ff
[see notes] -
Paul described this in Romans 11:25, 26, 27 - see notes
Ro 11:25;
26;
27)
when Messiah returns at the end of the 3.5 year
Great Tribulation
and brings His chosen people, those Jews who have received a "heart
transplant" into their promised
land,
the land
of Israel, to possess it in during the 1000 year Millennium thus bringing
about the fulfillment of Jehovah's covenant promises to Abraham), to love
the LORD your God with all your
heart and with all your soul,
in order that you may live. (chay = Hebrew for "To have life" = this has
always been the Father's heart for Israel. See his desire and charge in
Deuteronomy 30:19, 20)
NEW COVENANT
IN PSALMS
PSALM 105:8
Psalm 105:8 He has remembered
His covenant
forever, The word which He commanded to a thousand generations,
Spurgeon comments on Psalm
105:8 in Treasury of David...
He hath remembered his covenant for
ever. Here is the basis of all his dealings with his people: he had
entered into covenant with them in their father Abraham, and to this
covenant he remained faithful. The exhortation to remember (Ps 105:5 -
See Spurgeon's note)
receives great force from the fact that God has remembered. If the Lord
has his promise in memory surely we ought not to forget the wonderful
manner in which he keeps it. To us it should be matter for deepest joy
that never in any instance has the Lord been unmindful of his covenant
engagements, nor will he be so world without end. O that we were as
mindful of them as he is.
The word which he commanded to a thousand generations. This is only an
amplification of the former statement, and serves to set before us the
immutable fidelity of the Lord during the changing generations of men. His
judgments are threatened upon the third and fourth generations of them
that hate him, but his love runs on for ever, even to "a thousand
generations." His promise is here said to be commanded, or vested with all
the authority of a law. It is a proclamation from a sovereign, the firman
of an Emperor whose laws shall stand fast in every jot and tittle though
heaven and earth shall pass away. Therefore let us give thanks unto the
Lord and talk of all his wondrous works, so wonderful for their
faithfulness and truth.
John Calvin comments on Psalm
105:8 that...
s a long series of years had elapsed
between the promise and the performance, the prophet uses the word
"remember," intimating that the Divine promise does not become obsolete by
length of time, but that even when the world imagines that they are
extinguished and wholly forgotten, God retains as distinct a remembrance
of them as ever, that he may accomplish them in due season.
PSALM 106:45
Psalm 106:45 And He remembered
His covenant
for their sake, And relented according to the greatness of His
lovingkindness.
Spurgeon comments on Psalm
106:45 in Treasury of David...
And he remembered for them his
covenant. The covenant is the sure foundation of mercy, and when the whole
fabric of outward grace manifested in the saints lies in ruins this is the
fundamental basis of love which is never moved, and upon it the Lord
proceeds to build again a new structure of grace. Covenant mercy is sure
as the throne of God.
And repented according to the multitude of his mercies. He did not carry
out the destruction which he had commenced. Speaking after the manner of
men he changed his mind, and did not leave them to their enemies to be
utterly cut off, because he saw that his covenant would in such a case
have been broken. The Lord is so full of grace that he has not only mercy
but mercies, yea a multitude of them, and these hive in the covenant and
treasure up good for the erring sons of men.
PSALM 111:9
Psalm 111:9 He has sent
redemption to His people; He has ordained His
covenant
forever; Holy and awesome is His name.
In Treasury of David Spurgeon
comments on God's covenant
in Psalm 111:9...
He hath commanded his covenant for
ever. His divine decree has made the covenant of his grace a settled and
eternal institution: redemption by blood proves that the covenant cannot
be altered, for it ratifies and establishes it beyond all recall. This,
too, is reason for the loudest praise. Redemption is a fit theme for the
heartiest music, and when it is seen to be connected with gracious
engagements from which the Lord's truth cannot swerve, it becomes a
subject fitted to arouse the soul to an ecstasy of gratitude. Redemption
and the covenant are enough to make the tongue of the dumb sing. (Spurgeon's
Note)
In Morning and Evening
Spurgeon has the following comments on Psalm 111:9...
The Lord’s people delight in the
covenant itself.
It is an unfailing source of
consolation to them so often as the Holy Spirit leads them into its
banqueting house and waves its banner of love.
They delight to contemplate the
antiquity of that covenant, remembering that before the
day-star knew its place, or planets ran their round, the interests of the
saints were made secure in Christ Jesus.
It is peculiarly pleasing to them to
remember the sureness of the covenant, while meditating upon “the
sure mercies of David.” They delight to celebrate it as “signed, and
sealed, and ratified, in all things ordered well.”
It often makes their hearts dilate with
joy to think of its immutability, as a covenant which
neither time nor eternity, life nor death, shall ever be able to violate—a
covenant as old as eternity and as everlasting as the Rock of ages.
They rejoice also to feast upon the
fulness of this covenant, for they see in it all things provided for
them.
God is their
Portion,
Christ their Companion,
The Spirit their Comforter,
Earth their lodge, and
Heaven their home.
They see in it an inheritance
reserved and entailed to every soul possessing an interest in its
ancient and eternal deed of gift.
Their eyes sparkled when they saw it as
a treasure-trove in the Bible; but oh! how their souls were gladdened when
they saw in the last will and testament of their divine Kinsman, that it
was bequeathed to them!
More especially it is the pleasure of
God’s people to contemplate the graciousness of this covenant. They
see that the law was made void because it was a covenant of works and
depended upon merit, but this they perceive to be enduring because grace
is the basis, grace the condition, grace the strain, grace the bulwark,
grace the foundation, grace the top stone.
The
covenant is...
a treasury of wealth,
a granary of food,
a fountain of life,
a store-house of salvation,
a charter of peace,
and a haven of joy.
NEW COVENANT
IN ISAIAH
ISAIAH 32
Isaiah 32:15-20
Until
the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high (the New Covenant, cf
God giving them His Spirit in Ezekiel 36:26), and the wilderness
becomes a fertile field and the fertile field is considered as a forest.
16
Then
justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness will abide in the
fertile field. 17 And the work of righteousness will be peace, and the
service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. 18
Then
my people will live in a peaceful habitation, and in secure dwellings and
in undisturbed resting places; 19 And it will hail when the forest comes
down, and the city will be utterly laid low. 20 How blessed will you be,
you who sow beside all waters, Who let out freely the ox and the donkey.
ISAIAH 43
Isaiah 43:25
"I, even I, am the one who wipes out (blots out so as to eliminate
the record of) your transgressions for My own sake;
and I will not remember your sins." (These promises are fulfilled in the
New Covenant - see Jeremiah 31:34 below)
ISAIAH 54
Isaiah 54:9
"For this is like the days of Noah to Me; when I swore that the waters of
Noah Should not flood the earth again. So I have
sworn that I will not be
angry with you, Nor will I rebuke you. (This oath is reflected in the
terms of the New Covenant promised to Israel and Judah)
10 "For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake (the
unshakeable nature of God's oath in the New Covenant), but My
lovingkindness (hesed is God's loyal, faithful love which is
often used in the context of covenant) will not be removed from you, and My
covenant of peace
will not be shaken," Says the LORD Who has compassion on you.
11 "O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, Behold, I will set
your stones in antimony, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires.
12 "Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies, and your gates of
crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones.
13 "And all your sons will be taught of the LORD (this is one
of the promises of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:34); and the well-being of
your sons will be great.
14 "In righteousness you will be established. You will be far from
oppression, for you will not fear; and from terror, for it will not come
near you." (This idyllic description is fulfilled for the nation of Israel
during the 1000 year reign of Messiah, the Messianic Age, the Millennium)
ISAIAH 55
Isaiah 55:3
"Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen (second time He told them to
"listen" = this is important!), that you may live (in contrast to
that described in Isaiah 55:2); and I will make
(cut) an everlasting
covenant with you
(cp Heb 13:20-note), according to the faithful
mercies shown to David. (NET Bible renders this verse "Then I will make
an unconditional covenantal promise to you, just like the reliable
covenantal promises I made to David" -- this "covenant" the New
Covenant, although note that some feel it is a reference to the Davidic
Covenant = 2Sa 7:16.
The NET Bible rendering allows for this to be a reference to both of these
covenants)
4 "Behold, I have made Him a Witness (in context this is
the Messiah) to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples.
5
"Behold, you (redeemed Israel
composed of Jews who have
entered the New Covenant by grace through faith) will call a nation you do
not know, and a nation which knows you not will run to you, because of the
LORD your God, even the Holy One of Israel; for He has glorified you."
ISAIAH 59
Isaiah 59:20 "And a Redeemer will come to Zion
(Paul described this in Romans 11:25; 26; 27 - see notes
Romans 11:25;
26;
27), and to those who
turn from transgression in Jacob," declares the LORD.
21 "And as for Me,
this is My
covenant with them," says the LORD: "My Spirit which is
upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart
from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth
of your offspring's offspring," says the LORD, "from now and forever."
ISAIAH 61
Isaiah 61:1
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me
(MESSIAH), because the LORD has anointed Me to bring good news (THE
GOSPEL) to the afflicted. He
has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives,
and freedom to prisoners;
2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD (MESSIAH'S FIRST COMING), and the day of vengeance of
our God (MESSIAH'S SECOND COMING); to comfort all who mourn,
3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of
ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise
instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of
righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
4
Then (after
the return of the Messiah and during the Millennium, the 1000 year reign of Christ)
they will rebuild the ancient ruins. They will raise up the former
devastations, and they will repair the ruined cities, the desolations of
many generations.
5 And strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, and foreigners will be
your farmers and your vinedressers.
6 But you (BELIEVING ISRAEL) will be called the priests of the LORD. You will be spoken of as
ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, and in their
riches you will boast.
7 Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, and instead of
humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they
will possess a double portion in their land. Everlasting joy (BENEFIT OF
THE EVERLASTING NEW COVENANT) will be
theirs.
8 For I, the LORD, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; and
I will faithfully give them their recompense, and
I will make an
everlasting covenant
(New Covenant - cp Heb
13:20-note) with them.
9 Then their offspring will be known among the nations (GENTILES), and their
descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize
them because they are the offspring whom the LORD has blessed.
NEW COVENANT
IN EZEKIEL
(See Table above for Ezekiel 11 and
Ezekiel 36)
Ezekiel 16:60 "Nevertheless, I
will remember My
covenant
with you
in the days of your youth (most
probably a reference to the Abrahamic Covenant since it was everlasting
and God's favor was bestowed without merit on those who entered it - His
remembrance in the present context is clearly an act of undeserved lovingkindness), and I will
establish an everlasting
covenant (this is the New Covenant
- cp Heb 13:20-note) with
you. 61 "Then
(in the Millennial Kingdom) you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive
your sisters, both your older and your younger; and I will give them to
you as daughters, but not because of your covenant. 62 Thus
I will
establish My
covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD
(the same promise of the New Covenant outlined by Jeremiah in Jeremiah
31:31, 32, 33, 34) 63 in order that
you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth anymore because
of your humiliation, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done
(because of the New Covenant which as Jesus explained "is My blood of the
covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness [Greek word aphesis
means an action causing
a separation = a secular legal term meaning to cancel a debt] of sins."
Mt 26:28) " the Lord GOD
declares.
Ezekiel 18:30 ""Therefore
I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct,"
declares the Lord GOD. "Repent and turn away from all your transgressions,
so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. 31 Cast away from
you all your transgressions which you have committed, and make yourselves
a new
heart and a new spirit!
(referring to the New Covenant) for why will you die, O house of Israel?
(This is a clear invitation from Jehovah to sinful Judah to repent ["cast
away"] and enter the New Covenant [by grace through faith] for it was the
only means provided for sinful man to obtain a brand new spiritual
heart.
It was unnecessary for them to die in their sins [and then to die the
second death in the Lake of fire] when they could turn from their
transgressions and unto the New Covenant, as God had promised
earlier in Ezekiel 11:19, 20,
and truly live, not just physically but spiritually). 32 "For I
have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies," declares the Lord GOD.
"Therefore, repent and live."
Ezekiel
20:33-40
foretells the future judgment of the
Jews, who are still alive at the termination of the Great Tribulation,
recording
"As I live," declares the Lord GOD,
"surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath
poured out (refers to the Great Tribulation, a time of purifying when 2/3's
of Israel will not come through the fire), I shall be king over you. And I
shall bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you
are scattered (predicts a worldwide regathering of Israel, a regathering we
have been witnessing since the birth of the nation of Israel in May, 1948),
with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out;
and I shall bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I
shall enter into judgment with you face to face. As I entered into
judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt
(alluding to the judgment in which most of the Jews who came out of Egypt
were not allowed to enter into the Promised Land of Canaan because of
unbelief), so I will enter into judgment with you," declares the Lord
GOD.
"And I shall make you pass under the rod
(By means of the judgments during the Great Tribulation judgments, the
rebellious Jews who refuse to believe in Messiah will be purged out, but 1/3
will be regenerated, the so-called faithful
remnant),
and I shall bring you (God Himself engineers this spiritual transaction,
which speaks of His grace and mercy) into the bond of the covenant
(an allusion to the New Covenant not the Old Covenant of Law - cf
Jer 31:31-34)
and I shall purge from you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I
shall bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will not enter
the land
of Israel (part of the 2/3's who are purged. Walvoord states "This
is to be interpreted as a judgment of physical death, and they will be
raised from the dead at the judgment of the great white throne after the
millennium to participate in the destiny of all the wicked."). Thus you will
know that I am the LORD. (The Jews who are regenerated will turn away from
seeking to establish their own righteousness and will seek the righteousness
of God through Jesus the Messiah and that will bring about their national
regeneration. It is going to be a new nation, a regenerate nation that will
enter the Millennial Israel under King Messiah. Notice that the description
given does not mention any resurrection from the dead and it may be assumed
in view of the fact that regathering is a prerequisite to the judgment that
this applies only to the living Israelites in the world at the time of the
second coming.)
"As for you, O house of Israel," thus
says the Lord GOD, "Go, serve everyone his idols; but later, you will surely
listen to Me, and My holy name you will profane no longer with your gifts
and with your idols. For on My holy mountain, on the high mountain of
Israel," declares the Lord GOD, "there the whole house of Israel, all of
them, will serve Me in
the land;
there I shall accept them, and there I shall seek your contributions and the
choicest of your gifts, with all your holy things. (Ezekiel
20:33-40) (See related study
The
Millennium 2)
Ezekiel 37:21
"And say to them,
'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from
among the nations (THE GENTILES) where they have gone, and I will gather them from every
side and bring them into
their own land
(FULFILLING THE PROMISE TO ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB); 22 and I will make
them one nation in
the land,
on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and
they will no longer be two nations, and they will no longer be divided
into two kingdoms. 23 And they will no longer defile themselves with their
idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their
transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in
which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people,
and I will be their God (THE PROMISE OF THE NEW COVENANT). 24 And My
servant David will be king over them (LITERALLY THIS READS "DAVID" AND THE
MOST NATURAL INTERPRETATION IS DAVID IN HIS RESURRECTED BODY OF COURSE
WILL RULE OVER ISRAEL IN THE MILLENNIUM AND MESSIAH WILL OF COURSE BE OVER
HIM. SOME THINK THIS REFERS TO MESSIAH THE SON OF DAVID WHO WILL CLEARLY
REIGN OVER ALL PEOPLES FROM JERUSALEM), and they will all have one
shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances, and keep My statutes, and
observe them. 25 "And they shall live on
the land
that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they
will live on it, they, and their sons, and their sons' sons, forever; and
David My servant shall be their prince forever. 26 "And
I will
make (cut) a covenant of peace (this is God's New Covenant with
Israel) with them; it will be an everlasting
covenant
with them (cp Heb 13:20-note).
And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in
their midst forever. 27 "My dwelling place also will be with them
(THIS IS THE PROMISE OF THE NEW TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM DURING THE MILLENNIUM
WHICH IS DESCRIBED BEGINNING IN Ezekiel 40:5
through
Ezekiel 48) and I
will be their God, and they will be My people. 28 And the nations
(GENTILES) will
know that I am the LORD who sanctifies (SETS APART, MAKE HOLY) Israel, when My sanctuary is in
their midst forever."
NEW COVENANT
IN JEREMIAH
Jeremiah 24:7
'And I will
give them a
heart
to know Me (NEW HEART
IN THE NEW COVENANT), for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I
will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole
heart.
Jeremiah
31:31
"Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
32 not like the covenant which I made
with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of
the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband
to them," declares the LORD.
33 "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel
after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them, and
on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be
My people.
34 "And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his
brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know Me, from the
least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will
forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
35 Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day, And the fixed
order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea
so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name:
36 "If this fixed order departs From before Me," declares the LORD, "Then
the offspring of Israel also shall cease From being a nation before Me
forever."
37 Thus says the LORD, "If the heavens above can be measured, And the
foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all
the offspring of Israel For all that they have done," declares the LORD.
38 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when the city shall be
rebuilt for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.
39 "And the measuring line shall go out farther straight ahead to the hill
Gareb; then it will turn to Goah.
40 "And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the
fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward
the east, shall be holy to the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, or
overthrown anymore forever."
Jeremiah 32:39
and I will
give them one
heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for
their own good, and for the good of their children after them. 40
"And I will make (cut) an
everlasting
covenant
(NEW COVENANT-cp Heb 13:20-note)
with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will
put the fear of Me in their
hearts so that they will not
turn away from Me.
41 "And I will rejoice (translated "delight" in
Dt 28:63
WHERE HE DELIGHTED TO DO THEM HARM
BECAUSE OF THEIR DISOBEDIENCE) over them to do them good, and I will
faithfully plant them in this land with all My
heart
and with all My soul.
42 "For thus says the LORD, 'Just as I
brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on
them all the good that I am promising them.
43 'And fields shall be
bought in this land of which you say, "It is a desolation, without man or
beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans."
44 'Men
shall buy fields for money, sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in
the land
of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the
cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the
cities of the Negev; for I will restore their fortunes,' declares the
LORD."
Jeremiah 50:4
"In those days and at that time,"
(AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF THE MESSIAH)
declares the LORD, "the sons of Israel will come, both they and the sons
of Judah as well; they will go along weeping as they go, and it will be
the LORD their God they will seek.
5 "They will ask for the way to Zion,
turning their faces in its direction; they will come that they may join
themselves to the LORD in an
everlasting
covenant
(NEW COVENANT - cp Heb
13:20-note) that will not be forgotten.
NEW COVENANT
IN HOSEA
Hosea 2:18
"In
that day (what day? When
Messiah returns in Revelation 19:11, 12, 13, 14, 15ff to fulfill all His promises
to Israel) I will also make (cut) a covenant
for them with the beasts of
the field, the birds of the sky, and the creeping things of the ground.
And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from
the land, and will
make them lie down in safety.
19 "And I will betroth (engage for matrimony and in the Ancient
East was equivalent to and as binding as the actual marriage
vow) you to Me
forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in
righteousness and in justice, in lovingkindness (His loyal love
reflecting His unswerving commitment - a covenant word) and in compassion
(tender affection),
20 And I will betroth (Don't miss the repetition of betroth which
speaks of the intensity of the Father's love for and desire to restore His
"wife" Israel - in Jer 31:32 JEHOVAH
DECLARED "I WAS A HUSBAND TO THEM") you to Me in faithfulness.
Then you will know (this word
speaks of an intimate knowing even as a husband would be intimate with his
wife) the LORD (this is the New Covenant God promised to Israel in
Jeremiah 31).
21 "And it will come about
in that day
(TIME OF THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF MESSIAH -see
Millennium) that I will respond," declares the
LORD. I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,
22 And the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine, and to the
oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.
23 "And I will sow her for Myself in
the land. I will also have compassion
on her who had not obtained compassion, and I will say to those who were
not My people, 'You are My people!' (here the New Covenant promises are
prophetically spoken to the Jews for in their rebellion they were not
God's holy people. In the New Testament Paul takes this same verse and applies
it not to the unbelieving Jews but to the unsaved Gentiles in Romans 9:24,
25, 26
(See notes
Ro 9:24;
25;
26)
as does Peter in 1Pe 2:10 (note), both quoting from Hosea 2:23) And
they will say, 'Thou art my God!'" (Glory!!!)
NEW COVENANT
IN ZEPHANIAH
Zephaniah 3:9
"For
then
(when Messiah returns to defeat the kings and nations gathered against Him
in
Revelation 19) I will give to the peoples purified lips,
(for as Jesus explained the lips reflect the
heart
condition declaring in Matthew 12:34
"You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For
the mouth speaks out of that which fills the
heart") That
all of them may call on the name of the LORD, To serve Him shoulder to
shoulder. (Read the verses that follow Zephaniah 3:9 describing the Millennial reign
of Messiah. Fascinating!)
NEW COVENANT
IN ZECHARIAH
Zechariah
12:10
"And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, (in the New
Covenant, compare God cleansing them from all their filthiness in Ezekiel
36:25
and giving them His Spirit in Ezekiel 36:26, 27) so that they will look on
Me
(their Messiah)
Whom
they have pierced and they will mourn for
Him,
as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over
Him,
like the bitter weeping over a first-born.
Zechariah 13:1
"In that day
(what day? when Messiah returns at the end of the Great Tribulation) a
fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.
Zechariah 13:8-9
"And it will come about in all
the land,"
Declares the LORD, "That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; but
the third will be left in it (part of the spiritual "remnant"
of national Israel). 9 And I will bring the third part through the fire,
refine
them as silver is refined, and
test
them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them;
I will say, 'They are My people,' And they will say, 'The LORD is my God.
(This is one of the aspects of the New Covenant in Jer 31:33)"
><> ><> ><>
THE NEW COVENANT
INAUGURATED
&
RATIFIED
An understanding of the internal work (in
their heart, metaphorically speaking)
that was clearly spoken of in the Old Testament Scriptures helps one
understand what Jesus meant when he addressed the "externally clean"
but hypocritical Pharisees...
You blind Pharisee,
first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the
outside of it (without
heart
cleansing, the external is a lie, a spiritual "facade") may become clean
also. (Matthew 23:26)
In the Gospels Jesus' inauguration of
the New Covenant effectively terminated the Old Covenant
(see Hebrews 8:13-note;
cp Mark
7:19; Ro 10:4; 14:14). At the last Passover Jesus' announced that the New
Covenant in His blood would be inaugurated by the shedding of His blood.
The actual inauguration and ratification of the New Covenant
occurred on the Cross when He suffered and shed His blood -- the blood of
the New Covenant.
