Jeremiah 31

1 "At that time I will be the God of all of the tribes of Israel," announces the Lord. "And they will be my people."

2 The LORD says, "Some of my people will live through everything their enemies do to them. They will find help in the desert. I will come to give peace and rest to Israel."

3 The LORD appeared to us in the past. He said, "I have loved you with a love that lasts forever. I have kept on loving you with faithful love.

4 I will build you up again. Nation of Israel, you will be rebuilt. Once again you will use your tambourines to celebrate. You will go out and dance with joy.

5 Once again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria. Farmers will plant them. They will enjoy their fruit.

6 There will be a day when those on guard duty will cry out. They will stand on the hills of Ephraim. And they will shout, 'Come! Let's go up to Zion. Let's go up to where the LORD our God is.' "

7 The LORD says, "Sing with joy because the people of Jacob are blessed. Shout because the LORD has made them the greatest nation. Make your praises heard. Say, 'Lord, save your people. Save the people who are left alive in Israel.'

8 I will bring them from the land of the north. I will gather them from one end of the earth to the other. Even those who are blind and those who can't walk will be among them. Pregnant women and women having their babies will be among them also. A large number will return.

9 Their eyes will be filled with tears as they come. They will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water. I will lead them on a level path where they will not trip or fall. I am Israel's father. And Ephraim is my oldest son.

10 "Listen to my message, you nations. Announce it on shores far away. Say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather them. He will watch over his flock like a shepherd.'

11 I will set the people of Jacob free. I will save them from those who are stronger than they are.

12 They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion. They will be joyful because of everything I give them. I give them grain, olive oil and fresh wine. I give them the young animals in their flocks and herds. Israel will be like a garden that has plenty of water. And they will not be sad anymore.

13 Then young women will dance and be glad. And so will the men, young and old alike. I will turn their sobbing into gladness. I will comfort them. And I will give them joy instead of sorrow.

14 I will satisfy the priests. I will give them more than enough. And my people will be filled with the good things I give them," announces the Lord.

15 The LORD says, "A voice is heard in Ramah. It is the sound of crying and deep sadness. Rachel is crying over her children. She refuses to be comforted, because they are gone."

16 The LORD says, "Do not sob anymore. Do not let tears fall from your eyes. I will reward you for your work," announces the Lord. "Your children will return from the land of the enemy.

17 So I am giving you hope for the years to come," announces the Lord. "Your children will return to their own land.

18 "I have heard the groans of Ephraim's people. They say, 'You corrected us like a calf you were training. And we have been trained. Bring us back to you, and we will come back. You are the LORD our God.

19 After we wandered away from you, we turned away from our sins. After we learned our lesson, we beat our chests in sorrow. We were full of shame. What we did when we were young brought dishonor on us.'

20 Aren't the people of Ephraim my dear children? Aren't they the children I take delight in? I often speak against them. But I still remember them. So my heart longs for them. I love them with a tender love," announces the Lord.

21 The LORD says, "Put up road signs. Set up stones to show the way. Look carefully for the highway. Look for the road you will take. Return, people of Israel. Return to your towns.

22 How long will you wander, you people who are not faithful to me? I will create a new thing on earth. A woman will guard a man."

23 The LORD who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, "I will bring them back from the place where they were taken. The people in Judah and its towns will say once again, 'Holy temple in Jerusalem, may the LORD bless you. Sacred mountain, may he bless you.'

24 "People will live together in Judah and all of its towns. Farmers and shepherds will live there.

25 I will give rest to those who are tired. I will satisfy those who are weak."

26 When I heard that, I woke up and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant.

27 The LORD announces, "The days are coming when I will plant the nation of Israel and Judah again. I will plant it with children and young animals.

28 "I watched over Israel and Judah to pull them up by the roots. I tore them down. I crushed them. I destroyed them. I brought horrible trouble on them. But now I will watch over them to build them up and plant them," announces the Lord.

29 "In those days people will no longer say, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes. But the children have a bitter taste in their mouths.'

30 Instead, everyone will die for his own sin. The one who eats sour grapes will taste how bitter they are.

31 "A new day is coming," announces the Lord. "I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel. I will also make it with the people of Judah.

32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their people long ago. That was when I took them by the hand. I led them out of Egypt. But they broke my covenant. They did it even though I was like a husband to them," announces the Lord.

33 "This is the covenant I will make with Israel after that time," announces the Lord. "I will put my law in their minds. I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God. And they will be my people.

34 A man will not need to teach his neighbor anymore. And he will not need to teach his friend anymore. He will not say, 'Know the Lord.' Everyone will know me. From the least important of them to the most important, all of them will know me," announces the Lord. "I will forgive their evil ways. I will not remember their sins anymore."

35 The LORD speaks. He makes the sun shine by day. He orders the moon and stars to shine at night. He stirs up the ocean. He makes its waves roar. His name is The LORD Who Rules Over All.

36 "Suppose my orders for creation disappear from my sight," announces the Lord. "Only then will the people of Israel stop being a nation in my sight."

37 The LORD says, "Suppose the sky above could be measured. Suppose the foundations of the earth below could be completely discovered. Only then would I turn the people of Israel away. Even though they have committed many sins, I will still accept them," announces the Lord.

38 "A new day is coming," announces the Lord. "At that time Jerusalem will be rebuilt for me. It will be rebuilt from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.

39 The measuring line will reach out from there. It will go straight to the hill of Gareb. Then it will turn and reach as far as Goah.

40 "There is a valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown. That whole valley will be holy to me. The side of the Kidron Valley east of the city will be holy to me. It will be holy all the way to the corner of the Horse Gate. The city will never again be pulled up by the roots. It will never be destroyed."

Jeremiah 31 Commentary

Chapter 31

The restoration of Israel. (1-9) Promises of guidance and happiness; Rachel lamenting. (10-17) Ephraim laments his errors. (18-20) The promised Saviour. (21-26) God's care over the church. (27-34) Peace and prosperity in gospel time. (35-40)

Verses 1-9 God assures his people that he will again take them into covenant relation to himself. When brought very low, and difficulties appear, it is good to remember that it has been so with the church formerly. But it is hard under present frowns to take comfort from former smiles; yet it is the happiness of those who, through grace, are interested in the love of God, that it is an everlasting love, from everlasting in the counsels, to everlasting in the continuance. Those whom God loves with this love, he will draw to himself, by the influences of his Spirit upon their souls. When praising God for what he has done, we must call upon him for the favours his church needs and expects. When the Lord calls, we must not plead that we cannot come; for he that calls us, will help us, will strengthen us. The goodness of God shall lead them to repentance. And they shall weep for sin with more bitterness, and more tenderness, when delivered out of their captivity, than when groaning under it. If we take God for our Father, and join the church of the first-born, we shall want nothing that is good for us. These predictions doubtless refer also to a future gathering of the Israelites from all quarters of the globe. And they figuratively describe the conversion of sinners to Christ, and the plain and safe way in which they are led.

Verses 10-17 He that scattered Israel, knows where to find them. It is comfortable to observe the goodness of the Lord in the gifts of providence. But our souls are never valuable as gardens, unless watered with the dews of God's Spirit and grace. A precious promise follows, which will not have full accomplishment except in the heavenly Zion. Let them be satisfied of God's loving-kindness, and they will be satisfied with it, and desire no more to make them happy. Rachel is represented as rising from her grave, and refusing to be comforted, supposing her offspring rooted out. The murder of the children at Bethlehem, by Herod, ( Matthew 2:16-18 ) , in some degree fulfilled this prediction, but could not be its full meaning. If we have hope in the end, concerning an eternal inheritance, for ourselves and those belonging to us, all temporal afflictions may be borne, and will be for our good.

Verses 18-20 Ephraim (the ten tribes) is weeping for sin. He is angry at himself for his sin, and folly, and frowardness. He finds he cannot, by his own power, keep himself close with God, much less bring himself back when he is revolted. Therefore he prays, Turn thou me, and I shall be turned. His will was bowed to the will of God. When the teaching of God's Spirit went with the corrections of his providence, then the work was done. This is our comfort in affliction, that the Lord thinks upon us. God has mercy in store, rich mercy, sure mercy, suitable mercy, for all who seek him in sincerity.

Verses 21-26 The way from the bondage of sin to the liberty of God's children, is a high-way. It is plain, it is safe; yet none are likely to walk in it, unless they set their hearts towards it. They are encouraged by the promise of a new, unheard-of, extraordinary thing; a creation, a work of Almighty power; the human nature of Christ, formed and prepared by the power of the Holy Ghost: and this is here mentioned as an encouragement to the Jews to return to their own land. And a comfortable prospect is given them of a happy settlement there. Godliness and honesty God has joined: let no man think to put them asunder, or to make the one atone for the want of the other. In the love and favour of God the weary soul shall find rest, and the sorrowful shall find joy. And what can we see with more satisfaction than the good of Jerusalem, and peace upon Israel?

Verses 27-34 The people of God shall become numerous and prosperous. In ( hebrews 8:8 hebrews 8:9 ) , this place is quoted as the sum of the covenant of grace made with believers in Jesus Christ. Not, I will give them a new law; for Christ came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it; but the law shall be written in their hearts by the finger of the Spirit, as formerly written in the tables of stone. The Lord will, by his grace, make his people willing people in the day of his power. All shall know the Lord; all shall be welcome to the knowledge of God, and shall have the means of that knowledge. There shall be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, at the time the gospel is published. No man shall finally perish, but for his own sins; none, who is willing to accept of Christ's salvation.

Verses 35-40 As surely as the heavenly bodies will continue their settled course, according to the will of their Creator, to the end of time, and as the raging sea obeys him, so surely will the Jews be continued a separate people. Words can scarcely set forth more strongly the restoration of Israel. The rebuilding of Jerusalem, and its enlargement and establishment, shall be an earnest of the great things God will do for the gospel church. The personal happiness of every true believer, as well as the future restoration of Israel, is secured by promise, covenant, and oath. This Divine love passes knowledge; and to those who take hold upon it, every present mercy is an earnest of salvation.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 31

This chapter is connected with the former, respects the same times, and is full of prophecies and promises of spiritual blessings; of the coming of Christ; of the multiplication of his people, and the increase of their joy; of the conversion of the Gentiles; of the covenant of grace; and of the stability of the saints. It begins with the principal promise of the covenant, confirmed by past experience, of divine goodness, and with a fresh declaration of God's everlasting love, Jer 31:1-3; an instance of which would appear, in planting vines or churches in Samaria, the metropolis of Ephraim or the ten tribes, under the ministry of the apostles, the watchmen, on Mount Ephraim; whereby the Israel of God would be built, beautified, and made to rejoice, Jer 31:4-6; yea, it would be matter of joy to all that heard of it; since, notwithstanding distance and other difficulties, a great number should come to Christ, and to his church, drawn by the Father's love to them, and as owing to the relation he stands in to them, Jer 31:7-9; redemption out of the hands of Satan, and every spiritual enemy, must be published among the Gentiles; which would cause great joy, and give great satisfaction to the priests and people of the Lord, expressed by various metaphors, Jer 31:10-14; and though, upon the birth of the Redeemer, there would be an event, which might tend to damp the joy of saints on account of it, the murder of the infants at Bethlehem; yet some things are said to encourage faith, hope, and joy, and to abate sorrow and weeping, Jer 31:15-17; Ephraim's affliction, and behaviour under it, his repentance and reception, are recorded, Jer 31:18-20; backsliding Israel are called upon to return, in consideration of the birth of the Messiah, Jer 31:21,22; the happy and flourishing estate of the people of God is promised; all which were made known to the prophet by a dream in the night, Jer 31:23-26; and fresh promises are made, that the Lord would do them good, and not punish the children for their fathers' sins, but everyone for their own, Jer 31:28-30; and then an account is given of the new covenant of grace, as distinct from the old, and of the articles of it; the inscription of the law in the heart, spiritual knowledge of the Lord, and remission of sin, Jer 31:31-34; then follow assurances of the everlasting continuance of the true Israel and church of God, Jer 31:35-37; and the chapter is concluded with a promise of rebuilding the city of Jerusalem, and of the holiness of it, and of its abiding for ever, Jer 31:38-40.