June 14, 2024

Passage Read: Jeremiah 29-32
Meditation Verses: 32:38-41

Thought

In the previous chapter, God tells of the new covenant He will make with the house of Israel, they He will put His law in their hearts, that all will know Him and no longer need anyone to teach them about Him. Here He mentions again making an everlasting covenant with His people, to do good to them and to put the fear of Him in their hearts so they never turn away from Him. He promises to give them one heart and one way that they may fear Him always, for their own good and the good of their children after them. Both times speak of a significant change in the hearts of His people.

Application

Either this is the new covenant that God made with His people or there is yet another covenant coming, perhaps for only the Jews. If it is the New Covenant inaugurated by Jesus, then all those who truly believe should have a new fear of the Lord that also imparts to us an understanding of the law of the Lord and a drive to obey it. If this is for the Jews at another time, then it has nothing to do with us. Or perhaps the fulfillment of the covenant promise, the transformation of heart, doesn't occur till Christ returns and our new creation is completed. There is so little fear of God among those who claim to believe, and still so much teaching that has to be done, that this covenant doesn't seem to have come or doesn't seem to have been fulfilled. Something isn't lining up.