Jeremiah 31-3: The New Covenant

In Jeremiah 31:31-34, God makes a New Covenant with the Israelites. This “New” Covenant was made immediately before the Babylonians conquered Judah. God wanted to give hope to the Israelites because He knew that they weren’t going to turn back to Him before the Babylonians destroyed them. This covenant’s promises build upon those of previous covenants, promising not only that God would send a Messiah but also that God would dwell in people’s hearts before and after the coming of the Savior.

Jeremiah prophesied to the Judahites in hopes of averting their impending destruction by turning them back to God. He had to prophesy before and during the exile, but he only saw one righteous king during his life, Josiah. Jeremiah really did not want God to destroy Judah and he feared the same fate as the 10 northern tribes, so he kept preaching God’s message to
The Covenant of Grace, like the New Covenant, was unconditional. It promised that a Savior would come to restore things and that the offspring of Eve would come to defeat and destroy all evil. The Abrahamic Covenant was made with Abraham and would be passed on to all his offspring. His children would be made into a holy nation, which is important because even though God was destroying what was left of the 12 tribes, He would ensure that Israel would be restored. In the Davidic Covenant, God said that the Messiah would come from the line of David to reign forever. This, like the Abrahamic Covenant gave more hope that God would raise Israel up again. In the times of the Mosaic Covenant, the people followed laws in order to receive the promises from God. In the New Covenant, God says the people would no longer have to rigidly follow the laws. Instead, He would write the Law in their hearts. This is significant because when people followed the Law, they’d think of God and have Him in their