©Kris Gerbrandt
Chapter 31:35-40 (ESV) - Thus says the LORD,
who gives the sun for light by day
and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the LORD of hosts is his name:
“If this fixed order departs
from before me, declares the LORD,
then shall the offspring of Israel cease
from being a nation before me forever.”
Thus says the LORD:
“If the heavens above can be measured,
and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,
then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel
for all that they have done,
declares the LORD.”
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when the city shall be rebuilt for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be sacred to the LORD. It shall not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.”
Question to consider: What happened in AD 70 if the LORD promised Israel would not be plucked up anymore forever?
In yesterday’s passage, the LORD spoke of a new covenant He would make with the people of Israel where His Law would be written on their hearts, and their sins would be forgiven. Rather than having to teach their neighbor about the LORD and His Law like the LORD proclaimed through Moses in Deuteronomy 6, all would know the LORD. This wasn’t a statement of universalism. It was a statement that pointed out the proliferation of the Gospel.
It may seem confusing that I am applying this prophetic passage to the new covenant in Christ since the LORD finishes His word with a statement about them being a nation forever as sure as the sun rises and the heavens and depths are unsearchable. The LORD also promised that they would once again inhabit the land and never again be plucked up or overthrown forever. While they did come back to the land after seventy years in exile, there was also a definitive destruction of the city and temple in AD 70.
Obviously, there was a large gap between the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 and its restoration in 1948, and even though the Jews have existed over the last two thousand years, all of the ancestral records were lost at the fall of the temple. Was the LORD exaggerating? Did the LORD intend for a silent 2,000 year gap in His prophecy? When the LORD made the promise to David (2 Samuel 7:16), “Your throne shall be established forever,” was He speaking of some distant future?
The New Testament is clear that Jesus ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. Luke wrote a post-resurrection account of this ascension and proved Christ’s reign by the witness of the apostles and their ability to heal the sick and raise the dead in His name.
The writer of Hebrews declared that Jesus was ruling from the heavenly Jerusalem rather than a physical mountain like that of Moses (Hebrews 12:18-24). The writer of Hebrews also proclaimed the fulfillment of yesterday’s passage in chapter 8:6-13 in the New Covenant in Christ’s blood, and he described Christ serving us in the heavenly temple described in Ezekiel 40.
You may wonder why this new Jerusalem is in heaven rather than on earth, but Peter proclaimed in his first epistle, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5) It is kept in heaven where it remains undefiled and will be revealed in the last time.
I can definitively say that the New Testament authors are correct in their understanding because Christ was raised from the dead, and they were inspired by the Holy Spirit to bear witness to us. Without the resurrection of Christ, we are dead in our sins without an earthly temple to make atonement for them.
Dear heavenly Father, help us to receive a New Covenant understanding of the fulfillment of Your promises to Jeremiah so that we may rejoice in the imperishable things You have kept in heaven for us. Amen.