Let’s read those verses. Jeremiah 31:31-34 says, “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Jeremiah, chapters 30-33 are prophetic words of hope and deliverance from the Lord to His earthly people, the nation of Israel. Some of these prophesies have already been partially realized, such as Jeremiah 30:3, “For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.” This was partially fulfilled when the Israelites returned from captivity in Babylon. However there is a great fulfillment yet to be realized. Most of these wonderful prophesies have yet to be fulfilled. Jeremiah 30:7 is a direct reference to the seven-year Tribulation Period. That says, “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.”

Jeremiah 31:31-34 teaches of a new covenant with Israel. Under the Mosaic Law, many things were conditional. Such an example is Leviticus 26:3-4, “If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.” The new covenant emphasizes what the Lord will do, not what man must do. Three times in verse 33, the Lord says, “I will”. The basis of this new covenant is the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus. We read in Hebrews 9:15, “And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” This new covenant will take place during the Millennial, or thousand year, reign of the Lord on the earth. It is during this time that universal knowledge of the Lord will exist.

Although the complete fulfillment of this prophesy awaits the return of the Lord Jesus to the earth, we still enjoy the privileges of the new covenant. Our salvation is by unconditional grace, not by conditional servitude. Through faith in Christ Jesus, we are His people. Upon repentance and confession of our sins, the Lord remembers them no more! How gracious and merciful is our God to love, bless and care for people such as we! (161.6)