Jeremiah 31:36

36 If this fixed order departs from My presence- [this is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration- then also Israel's descendants will cease to be a nation before Me forever.^[a]

Jeremiah 31:36 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 31:36

If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord,
&c.] Of the sun, moon, and stars; should these leave their proper course, and not perform their several functions, or do the service appointed for them; should they desert their master, or disobey his orders, turn away from him, and pay no regard to the laws and rules he has set them: [then] the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before
me for ever;
but, as the former is impossible, so is the latter, The Jews ceased not from being a nation through their captivity in Babylon, nor through their destruction by the Romans; they continue a distinct nation and people to this day, though scattered throughout the nations of the world: though this rather refers to the spiritual Israel, the holy nation and peculiar people; Christ will have a seed to serve him as long as the sun and moon endure; his church shall continue to the end of the world; it is built on a rock; and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.

Jeremiah 31:36 In-Context

34 No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying: Know the Lord, for they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them"-the Lord's declaration. "For I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sin."

35 This is what the Lord says: The One who gives the sun for light by day, the fixed order of moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar- the Lord of Hosts is His name:

36 If this fixed order departs from My presence- [this is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration- then also Israel's descendants will cease to be a nation before Me forever.

37 This is what the Lord says: If the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below explored, I will reject all of Israel's descendants because of all they have done- [this is] the Lord's declaration.

38 "Look, the days are coming"-the Lord's declaration-"when the city from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate will be rebuilt for the Lord.

Footnotes

• [a]. Jr 33:18; 35:19