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\u201cBehold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord\u201d (Jeremiah 31:31,32).<\/p>\n
THESE ARE WORDS THAT ARREST OUR ATTENTION. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord.<\/em> This expression, \u201cthe days are coming,\u201d echoes many similar phrases throughout the prophetic writings, such as \u201cin that day,\u201d \u201cin those days,\u201d and \u201cin the latter days.\u201d These refer to the arrival of a new age, one to be inaugurated when the Messiah (or \u201cChrist\u201d) came. Familiar with the great texts like Jeremiah 31, the Jews in the time of the Roman Empire were stirred by fervent expectations \u2014 and when John the Baptist began preaching, matters grew even more intense (Luke 3:15).<\/p>\n But notice in Jeremiah 31 that God said He would make \u201ca new covenant\u201d (v.31). It would be new in two senses: first, it would replace the agreement at Sinai, and second, it would be \u201cnot like\u201d (v.32) the previous covenant. By God\u2019s design, it would be different in kind, a covenant differing in its basic nature from the older one.<\/p>\n Tragically, God had to point out that the people of Israel had not kept their part of the old covenant: \u201cthey broke [it], though I was their husband\u201d (v.32). Their breaking of the covenant was not the only reason for its replacement, for even had Israel kept it, the Mosaic law was an interim arrangement, one that played a preparatory role in God\u2019s plan to provide salvation for all (Galatians 3:24-26). But even so, Israel\u2019s unfaithfulness to the Mosaic covenant is sad \u2014 and the warning to us today should be clear (Romans 11:22).<\/p>\n When the time came for the new covenant to become a reality, it was offered first to the Jewish people. Only later were the Gentiles included, when the final dimension of God\u2019s eternal plan was ready to be put into place. But it was a distinct privilege for Israel \u2014 as the family of Abraham, the physical vessel God used to bring the Messiah into the world \u2014 to be the first in line to receive the new covenant, the gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16). But thanks be to God, the invitation is now for all of us. May we accept it obediently, gratefully, and faithfully \u2014 trusting God as our Savior.<\/em><\/p>\n Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n
Let me hide myself in thee.
(Augustus M. Toplady)<\/p>\n