Seder 108: Jeremiah 31:18-34---Israel's Restoration and the New Covenant

 Chapters 30-33 of Jeremiah have been called the Book of Consolation.  At a time just before the fall of Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah to the Babylonians (Jer 32:1-2) in around 586 BC , God gave Jeremiah a message of hope for the future of Israel, promising restoration for both the northern tribes of the House of Israel and the southern tribes of the House of Judah. 

The northern kingdom---symbolized by Ephraim, its leading tribe---had already fallen to Assyria in 722 BC.  The repentance of those tribes in exile is pictured in Jer 31:18-19. "You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf," Ephraim says.  The language here is reminiscent of Hosea 4:16, where Hosea declares, "Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn."  

God responds with compassion for Ephraim (Jer 31:20), expressing sentiments similar to those of Hosea 11:8-9.  "I will surely have mercy on him, declares the Lord."   

The prophecy goes on to say that God will restore both the northern and southern tribes from exile.  The promise of a new covenant with Israel and Judah comes in Jer 31:31-34.  Commentators Walter Kaiser and Tiberius Rata call this passage "the apex of biblical theology for both Testaments."  They note that while this is the only time the prophets  use the term "new covenant," the same basic promise is repeated, with varying language, in a number of prophecies:

• "everlasting covenant"---Jer 32:40; 50:5; Isa 24:5; 55:3; 61:8; Ezek 16:60; 37:26.
• "new heart and a new spirit"---Ezek 11:19; 18:31; 36:26; Jer 32:39 LXX.
•  "covenant of peace"---Isa 54:10; Ezek 34:25; 37:26.
• "a covenant" or "my covenant"---Isa 42:6; 49;8; Hos 2:18-20. 

Like the Sinai covenant, the new covenant involves God's Torah or instruction (v 33).  In terms of its content it is more a "renewed" covenant" than a "brand new" covenant.  Verses 32-34  explain how the new covenant will be different from the Sinai covenant:  many Israelites had not kept the Sinai covenant, but they universally would obey the new one, because God would write his Torah on the hearts of the people.   

This covenant is made with the house of Israel and house of Judah (v 31).  The first participants were Jesus' Jewish disciples (Luke 22:20; Acts 2), but people from all nations were soon added as "wild olive shoots" grafted into the olive tree of Israel (Rom 11:17).