# 03 2016 Devotional Jer. 31; 33 The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God by memorizing selected passages of Scripture. Further, to view the passage in context and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.
Jeremiah 31:33
“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time. 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.”
Jeremiah preached repentance and obedience to God, Judah was to submit to Babylon. They did not repent nor did they submit and they were taken into exile as Jeremiah prophesied. Chapter 31 is about restoration, renewal and new beginnings.
The birth of Jesus was the new beginning “after that time”, the Kingdom of God came near, so near that Jesus tells us that the Kingdom is in our hearts. Is that what Jeremiah was talking about? Yes and No! The new covenant is like the old one; the covenant of Jesus’ blood is as covenants past, Abraham believed God and was considered righteous, we believe in Jesus and we receive His righteousness. Really? Righteousness is not easily understood and even harder to achieve but by the grace of God we do achieve it through faith. The Kingdom is more than salvation, larger than the church, larger than the physical earth, larger than the universe, they reflect the Kingdom but all is not reconciled to Christ, not yet. That will happen in history and it already has happened in God’s timeless dimension; God is in the ever present (Phil.2:9-11). Praise Him!
We look at verse 33, God’s proclamations begins in verse 31 and ends in verse 34. It sounds much like the end of time: v. 34a, “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.” The end began with Jesus’ birth, God’s proclamation applies to all true believers today. The Kingdom of God in our hearts by the workings of the Holy Spirit and teaches us God’s law , writes His precepts, and His will on our hearts. By His Spirit God walks with us and guides us as we follow Jesus and strive to be like Him. Therefore, we are His people and He is our God. Jeremiah’s prophecy in Ch. 31 ends with God’s grace: “for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” Thanks be to the God of our salvation!
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