Jeremiah 31:36 seems to support the notion that modern Israel is still a nation in God’s sight—and perhaps still in a covenant relationship with him. But this seems to conflict with the teaching of the New Testament and the early Christian writers. How should I understand this passage? – Douglas Jacoby
Yes, you read right. This was my own question, and something I’ve thought about deeply in the past few years. But for some reason things really came into focus a few weeks ago, and I wanted to share with you what I’ve learned.
The best-known “new covenant” passage in the Old Testament is Jer 31:31-34, which is quoted starting in Hebrews 8:8. (See also Luke 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25; 2 Cor 3:6; also Heb 8:13; 9:15; 12:24.) It reads:
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.
“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. :For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Jer 31:31-34).
But then the problematic continuation of this prophecy:
“This is what the Lord says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the Lord Almighty is his name: Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,” declares the Lord, “will Israel ever cease being a nation before me” (Jer 31:35-36).
In O.T. times Israel was both a political nation and a community of faith. In our N.T. times, the church is a community of faith but definitely not a political entity. So, what kind of nation is referred to in this prophecy?
Those who believe that modern ethnic or cultural Jews are in some sort of covenant relationship with God are mistaken, in my opinion. Many of my thoughts are laid out in my series on whether Christians are obligated to follow the Old Testament (see bulleted suggestions below).
The apostle Paul, after reasoning in Galatians the Christians are not justified by the Law of Moses. When he speaks of “the Israel of God” (Gal 6:16), he is referring to the entire church, whether from a Gentile or a Jewish background. (Not all commentators agree.) Consider also Peter’s words, which are even less ambiguous:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy (1 Pet 2:9-10).
This is not a passage referring to the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Peter is referring to all followers of Christ. We are “a holy nation.” Not a political body, but a spiritual “nation.” It follows then that political Israel / Palestine is not a nation in God’s sight—no longer a covenanted people. Not to say the Lord does not yearn for us to reach the members of all world religions. In this respect the modern Jews are certainly loved by God, even if they are no longer God’s nation.
For further consideration:
- Q&A 1499: Israel or Palestine? Being clear on terms.
- Messianic Judaism (book): Explores the question of to what extent Christians should observe Torah.
- Messianic Judaism audio—12 talks, with notes, on which the book was based.