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JEREMIAH 31:31-34
- "The New Covenant in Jer. 31:31-34 refers to God renewing his covenant
first when the Jews came out of Babylonian captivity. To put the law
in their hearts refers to Jer. 17:1. God's law would replace the sin
in their heart. There is no reference to the Old Law and the New Law,"
(Jim Puterbaugh, Tape on the Covenant, 2-6-95).
- "Indeed, Jeremiah's famous new (renewed) covenant of 31:31-34, first
prophesied in about 593 B.C., was realized about 60 years later when
God's people in the houses of Judah and Israel, to whom the covenant
oracle was specifically addressed, returned from Babylonian exile,"
(Stanley Paher, TEC, 78).
- Note Homer Hailey's comments in "God's Eternal Purpose and The Covenants",
pp. 194 -- while the new may contain many parts of the old, it is A
DIFFERENT one.
- 1. "New" covenant.
- "In Hebrew "hadash" means "new, new thing, fresh."
- In Greek "Kainos" and "neos" -- "kainos" means "in the sense
that what is old has become obsolete, and should be replaced
by what is new. In such a case the new is, as a rule, superior
in kind to the old...the new covenant or declaration (Jer. 31:31...Heb.
8:8)" (A & G, p. 395. "New, which as recently made is superior
to what it succeeds" (Thayer, p. 317). It means new in kind.
- "The common Greek words are kainos and neos, the first used
regularly to emphasize qualitative newness and the later chronological
newness in the sense of modernity or youthfulness" (ZPEB, p.
4415).
- Of "neos," Vine says, "...signifies new in respect of time,
that which is recent (III, 110)." In the New Testament writings
each time reference is made to the New Covenant or Testament
it is kainos, new in kind with one exception. In Hebrews 12:24,
it is neos, new in time, which will be discussed in its proper
place.
- Lk. 22:20 -- "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, even
that which is poured out for you." cf. Mt. 26:27-28 -- new in kind!
- The covenant God made with Israel when He brought them out of Egypt
was not a "renewed" covenant even though many of its principles were
the same as before Sinai.
- God says through Jeremiah that the new covenant was "not according
to the covenant" He made with them at Sinai (31:32,33).
- Puterbaugh's interpretation will not fit the context of Jer 31, and
it stands in direct opposition to Heb. 10:16-18, "...now where remission
of these is (sins, v. 17), there is no more offering for sin." When
the Jews returned from Babylonian captivity they continued to make sacrifices
for sins with blood of animals
- No post-exilic prophet quoted Jeremiah's prophecy as being fulfilled
-- not one every referred to a "new covenant" as being in effect after
Israel's return from captivity.
- Haggai 2:5 -- "according to the word I covenanted with you when
you came out of EGYPT -- notice that reference to the covenant was
EGYPT not BABYLON.
- Ezra 10:2, 3 -- "let us make a covenant...and let it be done
according to the law," (cf. Deut. 7:3). What law? Was this a part
of the "renewed covenant"? Would this apply to marriages today?
- Mal. 2:4 -- "That My covenant with Levi may continue" (not the
new covenant). "Profaning the covenant of the fathers" (not the
new covenant), v. 10
Questions Covering "Jeremiah 31:31-FF"
- From the reading of the quotations in the book of Hebrews, of which
covenant do you think Jeremiah prophesied?
- How would you refute the argument that Jeremiah 31:31-ff, is a prophecy
about the return of Judah from Babylonian captivity?
- Did the Israelites continue to offer sacrifices for sin after they
returned from Babylonian captivity?
- In the Hebrew writer's quotation from Jeremiah 31:31-ff as it appears
in ch. 10:16-18, He makes reference to the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ
for the atonement for sin. What is the significance of his statement
in v. 12 and v. 14 -- "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God...For by one offering
he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified"?
- Remember that Ezra was written after the Israelites came back from
Babylonian captivity. In Ezra 10:2, 3, Shecaniah said, "We have trespassed
against our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the
land; yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing. Now therefore
let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such
as are born of them, according to the counsel of my Lord, and of those
that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according
to the law." He makes reference to Deuteronomy 7:3.
- About what law is he speaking?
- Was this a part of the "renewed covenant"?
- If the Jews return from Babylonian captivity is the time of the
new covenant of which Jeremiah spoke and Shecaniah makes reference
the putting away of their foreign wives according to the law, why
would this not apply to marriages today?
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