19th Sunday After Pentecost. October 16th, 2022. Series

Jeremiah 31:27-34, Psalm 119:97-104, Genesis 32:22-31, Psalm 121, 2 Timothy 3:14-17, 2 Timothy 4:1-5, Luke 18:1-8

A). BEHOLD THE DAYS ARE COMING.

Jeremiah 31:27-34.

“Behold, the Days are Coming.” This is a recurring motif in Jeremiah (cf. Jeremiah 23:5; Jeremiah 30:3; Jeremiah 31:27; Jeremiah 31:31; Jeremiah 33:14-15). There is a certainty about it because it is a declaration of the LORD.

The time of ‘affliction’ (Jeremiah 31:28) was drawing to a close, and it was a time to rebuild. The LORD was about to plant anew both Judah and Israel, and re-people the land and give them sustenance (Jeremiah 31:27).

The prophet’s specific commission from the LORD was

(a) ‘to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down,’

(b) ‘to build, and to plant’ (Jeremiah 1:10).

The time for plucking up and pulling down is over. Now the LORD is at last introducing a season of building and planting (Jeremiah 31:28).

Here there is an end to defeatism, and a facing up to individual responsibility (Jeremiah 31:29-30; cf. Ezekiel 18:2; Ezekiel 18:32b).

The price for past sins has been paid. (For us, that would be by the blood of the Cross of Christ!) A new age beckons, and new opportunities, both for the individual and the community.

In Jeremiah 31:31, the LORD is declaring a new covenant. As he develops the theme, Jeremiah will tell us that this will be an everlasting covenant (Jeremiah 32:40); whereas Ezekiel will add that it will be a covenant of peace (Ezekiel 37:26).

It will be a new covenant “with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah” (Jeremiah 31:31). The picture is that of a reunited kingdom. Within two to three verses, we are no longer looking at a fragmented kingdom, but at one “house of Israel” (Jeremiah 31:33). The ten northern tribes are no longer ‘lost’ (cf. Jeremiah 50:4-5)!

Although it was ratified by blood (Exodus 24:6-8), the people were unable to keep the Mosaic covenant (Jeremiah 31:32; cf. Hebrews 8:7-9). So, the LORD is here introducing a “new” covenant, rendering the ‘old’ obsolete (Hebrews 8:13). The new covenant, too, will be ratified by blood. The blood of Jesus!

Thus, we see Jesus, raising the cup in the Upper Room. ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you’ (Luke 22:20). When Jesus’ side was pierced as He hung on the Cross, there flowed out blood and water (John 19:34).

This new covenant was so much superior to the old, that now the LORD would write His laws upon the hearts of the people (Jeremiah 31:33). This internalising of the otherwise impossible law points forward to the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Ezekiel 36:27). No longer is God’s law written upon tables of stone, but upon human hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3)!

Furthermore, the promise is made, “and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33; cf. Ezekiel 11:19-20; Revelation 21:3).

The internalisation of the covenant is seen, too, in the redundancy of teachers (Jeremiah 31:34; cf. 1 John 2:27)!

The LORD says, “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sins will I remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). ‘For this is my blood of the new covenant,’ says Jesus, ‘which is shed for many for the remission of sins’ (Matthew 26:28).

B). O HOW I LOVE YOUR WORD.

Psalm 119:97-104.

Psalm 119:97. The Blessed man avoids the walk of the ungodly, the stance of sinners and the seat of the scornful. ‘But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in His law does he meditate (both) day and night’ (cf. Psalm 1:1-2). A similar dichotomy is found in Psalm 119:113 - ‘I hate vain thoughts: but Your law do I love.’

Here at the very centre of a Psalm ABOUT God’s word (under several pseudonyms), “O how I love!” (Psalm 119:97a) expresses the intensity of that attachment. This is not the wishy-washy love of sentimentality but is totally practical. It is a love which makes us want to worship the LORD, and which delights in the study of His word (cf. Psalm 119:48).

It is a love which sets a high value on God’s word (cf. Psalm 119:127). It is a love which is our response to the loving kindness of the LORD (cf. Psalm 119:159). It is a love which brings peace and stability (cf. Psalm 119:165), and which excites us to obedience (cf. Psalm 119:167).

If I love my wife, I will want to spend time with her. If I love God, I will want to spend time with Him. If I love God’s word, I will want to spend time reading, studying and meditating upon it (Psalm 119:97b).

Psalm 119:98. In the New Testament we are told that ‘we wrestle not against flesh and blood’ (cf. Ephesians 6:12). If we meditate upon God’s word, it makes us “wiser than our enemies.” So, ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom’ (cf. Colossians 3:16).