Jeremiah 31:31-33 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when 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 lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
As I traveled across the U.S., I occasionally came across individuals who didn’t believe that Israel and the Jewish people were relevant to God’s redemptive plan. Amazed, I would show them this passage in Jeremiah foretelling how God would make a ‘New Covenant’ with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah! This scripture, an Old Testament foundation for our entire New Testament, was addressed to the two houses of Israel, yet its fulfillment in the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) was received by only a (significant) remnant of them, at His first coming.
The apostle Paul, however, unequivocally affirms that this initial remnant of saved Israel carried the Messianic revelation to the entire world and that revelation would eventually be returned to the Jewish people in full measure;
For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.” [Romans 11:25-27]
And interestingly, Israel’s future inheritance in the New Covenant is highlighted as well by ancient rabbinical commentary on Jeremiah 31:31-32;
“When the time of the advent of the Messiah will be near, then the blessed God will say to him: ‘With him I will make a new covenant. And this is the time I will acknowledge Him as my son, saying ‘This day have I begotten thee.’ [Midrash Tehelim, 3:4]
Indeed ancient rabbis saw in this scripture that the new covenant was connected to Psalm 2 and would be ushered in by the Messiah, who would be God’s own son…..hmmm.
Another ancient rabbinical commentary on Jeremiah 31:31,32 says, “He will sit and expound the new Torah (teaching or instruction) which He will give through the Messiah.” [Midrash Talpiot 58a]
So the testimony of Yeshua, the Son of God, came through the Tenach (Old Testament), Moses, the Prophets and Psalms, which are the scriptures of the Jewish people, and is even supported by rabbinical commentaries. In addition, the entire New Testament (with the possible exception of Luke) was written by Jews. This people, blessed of God in so many ways, and chastened accordingly for their disobedience, is still quite relevant to God’s plans. His “gifts and callings are irrevocable” [Romans 11:29].
God is not finished with Israel or the Jewish people. And thank and praise Him for the faithfulness of that promise, because if He remains faithful to such a disobedient nation, He will also remain faithful to all those called and chosen through the revelation of Israel’s Messiah…you and me.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Thousands of people all over the world will celebrate Pesach (Passover) tonight, commemorating the day the Angel of Death passed over the Israelite slaves in Egypt, sparing their firstborn because the blood of a lamb was applied on their doorposts. Many believers in Yeshua (Jesus) also recognize this as the day that Messiah was crucified, offering Himself as the perfect Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, which reconciled man to His Maker, and restored them to close relationship.
Tomorrow night, thousands will begin celebrating the feast of Pesach (Passover), the day we remember God’s merciful redemption of the Jewish people from Egypt. When the final plague struck Pharoh and the Egyptians in Exodus, those who were spared were the ones who applied blood to their doorposts as God warned. Interestingly, the blood that God required them to apply then was the blood of a spotless, unblemished lamb.
In the parable of the unmerciful servant, the servant mistakenly thought that he could demand justice from another servant all the while asking mercy for himself from the king. When the king found out about this servant’s awful behavior, he became enraged and said to him “You wicked servant, I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to; couldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?”
There are two kinds of birds that roam the desert: vultures and hummingbirds. The vulture thrives on a diet of rotting meat. He flies overhead searching for traces of leftover carcasses from slow-footed critters eaten by wild animals who’ve already had their fill.
In Biblical Hebrew, the verb tenses are not like our “past”, “present”, and “future” – there are only two: “perfect” and “imperfect”. The “imperfect” tense is that which is not yet, not done, or not completed. The “perfect” is that which is done, complete and finished.
In 2nd Samuel Chapter 9 we read of the story of King David and Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan and the grandson of the first king of Israel, King Saul. After Jonathan’s death, David went forth to show kindness to Saul’s house. Mephibosheth had become lame at the young age of five — he had lived his entire life as a cripple.
The burglar froze in place, allowing the woman to call the police and report the burglary calmly. When the police arrived and detained the man, the officer curiously asked him, “Why did you stop when she cited scripture?” The burglar, still shaken, replied, “Scripture? I thought she said she had an ax and two .38s!”