Two things mark these first two chapters of the Book of Consolation, one having to do with content and the other with style. Most of the dozen or so prophecies in this section deal with the Northern Kingdom, as is clear from the names of people and places in the text. Many scholars believe that Jeremiah wrote most of these prophecies, though not all of them, earlier in his ministry, probably during the reign of King Josiah (627-609 B.C.), when the Babylonian invasion was not so threatening. Others believe Jeremiah wrote them shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem (cf. 32:1; 33:1).393
Stylistically, most of the prophecies in this section are poetical. In contrast, all of them in the next section (chs. 32-33) are in prose. The form of composition as well as the content evidently guided the writer and or editor(s) as they put the book in its final form.
30:1-2 The Lord instructed Jeremiah to write all the messages that He had given to the prophet in a book.
30:3 There needed to be a permanent record of these predictions since the people rejected the Lord's words. When He restored the fortunes of Israel and returned the people to their land the book would vindicate His faithfulness. It would also vindicate His predictions of judgment to come.
30:4 This oracle concerns all the Israelites, those of both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.
30:5-6 A time of great terror, dread, and unrest was coming. Men would behave as though they were in labor; they would hold themselves in pain as women do when they are about to give birth. This is a picture of powerlessness and panic.
30:7 A coming time would be the worst Jacob had ever experienced or would ever experience. This anticipates the Tribulation in which Israelites will suffer more greatly than they ever have or ever will (cf. 46:10; Isa. 2:12-21; 13:6; 34:1-8; Ezek. 30:3; Dan. 9:27; 12:1; Joel 1:15; 2:1-2, 11; Amos 5:18-20; Mic. 1:2-5; Zeph. 1:2-3:8; Zech. 14:1-8, 12-15; Matt. 24-25; Rev. 6-18). Perhaps the Lord referred to His people here as Jacob because the patriarch Jacob experienced many extreme distresses. However, the Israelites would not perish in this distress because the Lord promised them deliverance, both physical and spiritual (cf. Zech. 12:10-13:1).
30:8-9 At that time Yahweh would set His people free from all those who restrained and enslaved them (cf. Exod. 7:16). The Israelites were not slaves in Assyria or Babylon. This points to a future deliverance (cf. Ezek. 34:23; Hos. 3:5). Instead they would serve their God and David their king, whom the Lord would raise up for them. This probably refers to a successor to David rather than King David himself (cf. 23:5; Isa. 55:3-5; Ezek. 34:23-25; 37:24-25; Hos. 3:5).394
"The Targum, though interpretative, is correct in identifying this ideal King as Messiah, the son of David.' Among the Jews the name David came to be used of royalty, much as Pharaoh, Caesar, or Czar, but only in the highest and final sense."395
"They [verses 8-9] deal with the whole people of Yahweh in messianic times."396
In view of later revelation, we know that this successor to David is Jesus Christ (Luke 1:69; Acts 2:30; 13:23, 34, 38).
30:10 The Lord promised to save His people from afar and their descendants from the land of their captivity. Therefore they should not fear or be dismayed. The Israelites would return to their land where they would enjoy lasting peace and security. This will happen in the Millennium.397
30:11 The Lord would chasten His people with punishment for their sins, but He would not destroy them completely. He would, however, completely destroy the nations that had oppressed them in their captivity (cf. 46:27-28; Isa. 41:8-10; 43:1-6; 44:2-5).
"These passages cannot refer to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, for the Davidic monarchy was not restored after that date and the Jews were not saved out of it, but were killed by the thousands and many were carried away."398
30:12-15 Yahweh had inflicted His people with a wound from which they could not recover because they had sinned greatly. No one could intercede effectively for them because the Lord had determined to punish them. Israel's political allies had forsaken her and would not help her. Even crying out would not help them.
30:16 Nevertheless, the Lord would turn the hostility of Israel's enemies back on themselves and punish them with the punishment they had inflicted on His people.
30:17 He would restore the Israelites to health and heal their wounds (cf. Isa. 53:5). Part of the reason for His salvation would be the nations' charge that Yahweh had forsaken His people.
30:18 Yahweh promised to restore Israel's tribal fortunes (cf. Num. 24:5-6), to have compassion on His peoples' towns and homes, and to rebuild Jerusalem and the royal palace there.
30:19 Thanksgiving and merrymaking would mark the people. The Lord would increase their numbers and honor them.
30:20 Their children would be secure and happy, as they were before God judged the people. The people as a whole would again be stable, and the Lord would punish their oppressors.
30:21 Their leader would be one of them, not a foreign ruler who imposed his rule on them. The Lord would draw this leader to Himself, would call Him to His place of service. Approaching Yahweh was a priestly prerogative, so this verse may hint at the future ruler's priestly as well as His kingly function (cf. Ps. 110:4; Zech. 6:13).
"The ruler will need no mediator. Thus he will be greater than even David and Solomon. Like Melchizedek he will have a dual role. No man can take to himself the office of priesthood (cf. Heb 5:4). In fact, it was dangerous for even a king to do so (cf. Jeroboam in 1 Kings 12:26-33; 13:1-6; and Uzziah in 2 Chron 26:16-20). . . . Here is a reiteration of the promise to restore the Davidic line (cf. v. 9). . . . The Targum, though interpretative, is correct in its rendering Messiah shall be revealed to them out of their own midst.'"399
30:22 Israel and Yahweh would again be in covenant relationship as people and God (cf. 7:23; 11:4; Gen. 17:7; Exod. 6:7; Lev. 26:12; Deut. 7:26; Isa. 35; Ezek. 36:28).
30:23-24 The Lord's wrath would break forth on the wicked like a severe storm. It would not slacken until the Lord accomplished all His purpose (cf. 23:19-20). Therefore the carelessly sinful should feel no false sense of security from these promises of future pardon.
The people did not understand this prophecy fully when the prophet first gave it, but they would in the far distant future. Similarly, God told Daniel to seal up his prophecy because it was not time for His people to understand it yet (Dan. 12:4, 9).
31:1 At that future time, the Lord would establish an intimate relationship between Himself and all the families of His people (cf. Gen. 17:7; Zech. 12:11-14). He would finally achieve what His people had always frustrated by their sins.
This verse concludes the material in chapter 30 and serves as a heading for chapter 31. All of chapter 31 describes the national restoration of Israel.400
31:2 When the Israelites would seek rest from the attacks of their enemies (cf. 6:16; Exod. 33:14; Deut. 3:20; Josh. 1:13, 15; 22:4; Isa. 63:14), they would find it in the wilderness (cf. 2:2; Rev. 12:14-16).401They will find refuge in the wilderness in the Tribulation, as they did following the Exodus (cf. Exod. 14:5-23; 33:14; Num. 14:20). But Israel's ultimate rest will occur in the Millennium when they rest in the Promised Land.
31:3 Assurance of future salvation rests on Yahweh's eternal commitment and His loving election of Israel (cf. Exod. 19:5-6; Deut. 7:9). He had loved it "from afar"in the wilderness following the Exodus, and He would love it "from afar"in the Exile. "Love"and "faithfulness"are both strong covenant terms.
"It is the LORD's constant commitment to Israel that bridges the generations and makes restoration possible."402
31:4 The Lord would rebuild His people into a nation that was His uniquely. He would see her just as appealing as in the time she departed from Egypt, like a virgin. Joy and rejoicing would return to the Israelites who would, however, first experience a silencing of their joy in exile (7:34; 16:9; 25:10).
31:5 They would return to Samaria and resume their agricultural pursuits, which the Lord, not Baal, would bless with fertility.
31:6 Watchmen in the Northern Kingdom would again summon their fellow countrymen to make pilgrimages to God's chosen city, Jerusalem, to worship Him there. Since the kingdom divided, the northern Israelites worshipped at Bethel and Dan, not at Jerusalem. Thus a reunited Israel is in view.
Verses 4-6 picture God's restoration of Israel as a time of renewed joy (v. 4), peace and prosperity (v. 5), and renewed commitment to Yahweh (v. 6).
"This restoration reverses at least six aspects of the judgment suffered by Israel and Judah: no resting place in exile, a nation torn down, celebrations silenced, vines and plants uprooted, watchmen announcing the invading conqueror, and the temple destroyed. The poem also introduces an Israel transformed from a desperate adulteress (4:30) to a joyful maiden on her way back to God."403
31:7 In the future the Israelites would sing joyfully among the chief nations where they dwelt. They would call on Yahweh to save the remaining remnant of His people. Calling on Him to do this would praise Him because He promised to save them (cf. Isa. 11:11; 28:5).
31:8 A great number of Israelites of all types would return to the Promised Land from all over the world, not just from the north where they went into Assyrian and Babylonian captivity. The disadvantaged as well as the able-bodied would come, even pregnant women and those about to give birth. If the Lord would bring even these dependent types of people back, there was hope for all (cf. Isa. 35:5-6).
31:9 They would return weeping tears of repentance and praying for the Lord's favor. He would lead them back tenderly, as a father deals with his firstborn son (cf. Exod. 4:22; Deut. 32:6; Luke 15:11-32), and make the trip refreshing, pleasant, and safe.
31:10 The nations also needed to hear that Yahweh would regather the flock of people that He had scattered, namely, Israel.
31:11 The Lord would purchase His contrary people and set them free from those strong enemies who would hold them captive, as He did earlier in the Exodus (cf. Exod. 6:5; 15:13, 15; Deut. 7:8; 9:26; Isa. 35:8-10; 43:1; 44:22-23; 48:20).
31:12 Back in Zion the Israelites would rejoice greatly over the change that Yahweh had made in their condition. They would enjoy all types of bounty (cf. Isa. 58:11), and they would never languish again. The food and drink mentioned were staples in the Israelite diet. This must refer to eschatological blessing, since the Jews are presently languishing.
31:13-14 All ages of people would celebrate because the Lord would change their mourning and sorrow into comfort and rejoicing. The priests would enjoy great abundance of blessing, and all the people would find satisfaction in the Lord for His goodness.
Verses 12-14 may be referring to the eschatological banquet that will occur on earth at the beginning of the Millennium (cf. Isa. 25:6-10). Then the Israelites will appreciate Yahweh as their father (v. 9), shepherd (v. 10), redeemer (v. 11), and king (v. 12).
31:15 The Lord described the Israelite mothers, under the figure of Rachel, weeping for their children who had died because of the Assyrian invasion.404Rachel was the mother of Joseph, the father of Ephraim and Manasseh, and Benjamin and so represented all the Israelites, from the north and the south. Ramah was a town about five miles north of Jerusalem that stood in Benjamin near the border between Israel and Judah. The exiles stopped at Ramah, and undoubtedly wept there, on their way to exile in Babylon (40:1).
"Rachel's life story sets her apart from the other Israelite ancestors. She alone had only a grave and never a home in the promised land (Jer 30:3). She died on the way' (Gen 35:19), and her last words express her sorrow (Gen 35:18). Not every mother will give up her own life for her child's (e.g., Jer 19:9; Lam 2:20; 4:10; 2 Kgs 6:28-29). Rachel's death in childbirth makes her deeply credible as an example of the profound extent of a mother's love. Rachel is a mother who does not forget her children (cf. Isa 49:15)."405
31:16-17 The Lord comforted "Rachel"by assuring her that her children would return from exile. All the work she had expended on them was not in vain. There was hope for their future.
31:18 Yahweh heard Ephraim, the people of the Northern Kingdom, acknowledging that He had chastened them like an untrained calf. They cried out to Him to restore them because He was their God.
31:19 Ephraim repented and felt humiliated and ashamed of his previous youthful rebellion against the Lord. Slapping one's thigh, an onomatopoeic expression in Hebrew, was a common expression of remorse in ancient Near Eastern culture (cf. Ezek. 21:17).406
31:20 Yahweh still regarded the people of Ephraim as His dear son and delightful child. Even though He had rebuked him, He still remembered and yearned for him. He would surely have mercy on these people (cf. Hos. 11:1-4, 8-9).
31:21 The special object of Yahweh's love, Israel (cf. v. 4), should give attention to returning to the Promised Land (cf. Isa. 35; 40:3-5, 11; 41:18-20; 42:16; 43:1-7; 44:3-4; 49:9-13).
31:22 Israel had wandered from the Lord long enough, as a wayward daughter. He would bring a new thing to pass, namely, Israel's repentance and return to the land. The last line of this verse may have been a popular proverb describing something very unusual and unexpected. Some interpreters, following Jerome, have taken it as a prophecy about Mary's conception of Jesus, but this seems unlikely. Others view it as just a figure expressing security, here of Israel's security back in the land. Perhaps the expression points to something amazing and hard to believe that would happen without being explicit about what it would be. Still other interpreters believe the woman represents Israel and the man Yahweh, the point being that the woman who had formerly departed from her Husband would cling to Him in the future (cf. 2:20-21; Hos. 1-3). I prefer this view. Another view is that the woman, Israel, will become aggressive and will cling to and overpower warriors among the nations who will oppose her.407
"Two things are new,' which have not been seen before in the land: (1) Faithless Israel, who is called a whore in chap. 3, will be taken back by God, even though such a thing is never done (3:1-2). (2) Mourning will be turned to joy."408
31:23 Instead of Judah being a target for cursing in the future, as she became because of the Babylonian exile, she would be a subject of blessing. She would become a place where righteousness dwelt, a holy hill.
31:24-25 Judah would experience great unity at that time because the Lord would satisfy the previously weary residents and refresh those who formerly languished.
31:26 Jeremiah awoke from the sleep in which he had received this encouraging revelation from the Lord feeling good. The revelation was positive, and it encouraged him. Perhaps since sleep is often symbolic of death (cf. Job 14:12; et al.), Jeremiah may represent Judah that awakens to new life.409
31:27 Days would come when the Lord would fill the Promised Land with people and animals once again. The land had become desolate because of the exiles.
31:28 As Yahweh directed the breaking down of His nation, so He would oversee its building up.
31:29-30 In that time of future blessing people would no longer repeat a popular proverb that said that the children were bearing the consequences of their fathers' sins. This proverb expressed a popular misconception (cf. Deut. 24:16; Ezek. 18:25). It blamed present trouble on past ancestors inordinately. In that day everyone would bear the consequences of his own actions. Justice would be obvious then whereas at present it did not seem to be operating. Whereas people do suffer for the sins of their ancestors to a limited extent (corporate responsibility), they much more consistently suffer for their own sins (individual responsibility).
Many commentators believe that Jeremiah's revelation of the New Covenant was his greatest theological contribution. They view it as the high point of the book, the climax of the prophet's teaching.
"The prophecy of Jeremiah marks a watershed in Hebrew religious and cultic life. From this point onwards there is a significant divergence between what has obtained in the past and what will characterize the future religious observances of Israel."410
31:31 In the future the Lord would make a new covenant with all the Israelites, specifically the Israelites who had inhabited the Northern Kingdom and those who had inhabited the Southern Kingdom (cf. 32:40; Ezek. 37:26; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25; 2 Cor. 3:6; Heb. 8:8-9:28).411
"The short passage which develops from the simple announcement in this verse is one of the most important in the book of Jeremiah. Indeed it represents one of the deepest insights in the whole OT."412
31:32 This New Covenant would be different from the Mosaic Covenant, which the Israelites consistently and inevitably broke in spite of Yahweh's faithful commitment to them. They had worshipped Baal (Heb. ba'al) even though Yahweh had been a faithful husband (Heb. ba'al) to them.
31:33 Instead of God's law being external to them, the Lord would write it on their heart (i.e., mind and will; cf. 17:1). He would do something for them that they could not do for themselves (cf. Deut. 30:5-6). Writing on the heart suggests the removal of written documents and merely human mediators. Having the Lord's word in the heart prevents sin and fosters obedience (cf. Deut. 11:18; Ps. 40:8; 119:11).
"It will become part of the nature of God's people; it will be instinctive. The core of the new covenant is God's gift of a new heart (cf. Ezek 36:25-27). Herein lies the sufficient motivation for obeying God's law."413
God would also enter into intimate relationship with His people as His covenant partners (cf. 7:23; 11:4; 24:7; 30:22; 31:1; 32:38; Deut. 31; Ezek. 11:20; 36:28). The old Mosaic Covenant being broken, a new relationship would begin.
"If the sheer grace of God's election of Israel as covenant partner was apparent in the first covenant making, how much more so in this promise following their history of unfaithfulness and rebellion (v 32)."414
Notice that Jeremiah revealed nothing about human responsibility under the New Covenant. That would come later with the teachings of Jesus Christ and the apostles.
31:34 All the Israelites, from the least to the greatest, would also know the Lord intimately, without having to be exhorted to do so.
"The verb knowhere probably carries its most profound connotation, the intimate personal knowledge which arises between two persons who are committed wholly to one another in a relationship that touches mind, emotion, and will. In such a relationship the past is forgiven and forgotten."415
They would know Him in this intimate way because He would forgive their sins and not bring them to memory or judgment any more. True forgiveness, in contrast to the covering of sin that the Old Covenant sacrifices provided, would make intimacy with God possible.
"The old covenant spoke of a great physical deliverance from Egypt through the blood of lambs and the power of God; the new covenant proclaims a great spiritual deliverance from sin and death through the efficacious blood of the Lamb of God and the power of God. The Passover Feast memorialized the first; the Lord's Supper memorializes the second."416
There are three basic views concerning the identity of the people with whom God would make this new covenant and when He would make it. One view is that God will make it with Israel alone when He resumes dealing with that nation as formerly, namely, in the Millennium (cf. Rom. 11). Another view is that God made it with the church alone, which advocates of this view (i.e., covenant theologians) say replaces Israel in God's plans, and he made it at the Cross. A third view is that God made it with Israel at the Cross, and the church somehow enters into its blessings.
I hold the third of these views. It seems to me that God made the New Covenant with Israel when Jesus Christ died on the cross (Luke 22:20). The church now operates under this covenant (1 Cor. 11:25; 2 Cor. 3:1-14; Heb. 8:8-12; 10:16-17).417However, Israel will enter into the blessings of this covenant, which God promised her, at the time of Israel's restoration, namely, at the second coming of Christ.418
This arrangement resembles one that is possible to set up in a Charitable Lead Unit Trust under the Internal Revenue Code of the United States. Suppose there was a vastly wealthy and generous philanthropist of the magnitude of a Bill Gates. As he prepared his will he bequeathed millions of dollars to various charitable causes that would benefit millions of people all over the world when he died. He also wrote into his will that when his only son reached the age of 21 he would inherit billions of dollars. When this man died, his son was only five years old, so for 16 years he did not enter into his father's inheritance. However as soon as the philanthropist died the millions of dollars he had bequeathed to charity went to work immediately to help many people.
This illustration shows how the church enters into the blessings of the New Covenant. When Christ established the Lord's Supper it was as though He notarized His will; it became official then. The will is the New Covenant. When He died His "estate"became available to those He chose to profit from it. Soon many people around the world, Jews and Gentiles in the church, began to benefit from the blessings of His death. However God's chosen people, His son Israel, will not enter into his unique inheritance until the appointed time, namely, the Millennium. Blessings for the church began almost immediately after Christ's death. Blessings for Israel will not begin until God's appointed time arrives.
Which blessings of the New Covenant does the church enjoy now and which are for Israel in the future? There are four promises in verses 33 and 34. The promise of having God's law written on the heart has been fulfilled to a limited extent. Christians do have an innate desire to please God because of the indwelling Holy Spirit's ministry, but we do not have the innate understanding of God's will that God promised here. Second, we have a unique covenant relationship with God as Christians, but it is not the same covenant relationship that God promised the Israelites here. Third, all Christians know the Lord to some degree of intimacy now, but we do not all have the depth of relationship with God that He promised the Israelites here. We still need teaching and teachers, but this will not be the case for Israel in the future. Fourth, Christians enjoy the complete forgiveness of sins, as the Israelites will in the future. So I would say we enjoy all these blessings to some extent, but not to the extent Israel will enjoy them in the future. We may enjoy the last promise just as the restored Israelites will. As the return from exile was a partial fulfillment of the promises of restoration, so the church's enjoyment of these blessings are only a partial fulfillment of what God promised Israel.419
The New Covenant is a branch of the Abrahamic Covenant. In the Abrahamic Covenant, God promised Abraham a piece of real estate for his descendants, an incalculable number of descendants, and blessing for his descendants and for all people through his descendants (Gen. 12:1-7; et al.). Deuteronomy 29-30, sometimes called the Palestinian Covenant, gave more information about the land God had promised to Abraham. The Davidic Covenant gave more information about God's promises regarding descendants (2 Sam. 7). The New Covenant revealed the particulars of the promised blessing (Jer. 31). Each of these later covenants relates to the Abrahamic Covenant organically; each is an outgrowth of it in the progress of revelation. In contrast, the Mosaic (Old) Covenant does not relate organically but "was added"(Gal. 3:19) to explain how the Israelites could maximize the benefits God had promised in the Abrahamic Covenant. Consequently when God terminated the Old Covenant it did not eliminate anything He had promised in the Abrahamic, "Palestinian,"Davidic, or New Covenants.
31:35 The Lord reminded His people that He was the one who controlled the course of nature, not Baal. It operated regularly and within His set limits, as He promised Noah it would (cf. Gen. 8:22; 9:8-17). The sun and moon do not vary from their positions, but the sea appears to operate chaotically, yet the Lord controls them all.
31:36 Future Israel would no more cease from being a special nation in God's sight than the fixed order of nature would cease.
31:37 If people could thoroughly explore the heavens above or the earth beneath, then the Lord would cast off future Israel because of her sins.
"Looking beyond national Israel for the fulfillment of this prophecy in the church, as a spiritual Israel, fails to grapple with the certainty of the statements in Jeremiah 31:36-37."420
31:38-39 In the future, Jerusalem would undergo rebuilding for the Lord. It would be built larger than it had been before its destruction by the Babylonians. The tower of Hananel was at the northeast corner of the city (Neh. 3:1; 12:39; Zech. 14:10), and the Corner Gate seems to have been on the northwest side of Jerusalem (2 Kings 14:13; 2 Chron. 26:9; Zech. 14:10). The locations of the hill Gareb and Goah are unknown, but they may have been on the west side since this would fill out the picture of the city.
31:40 The whole new, enlarged city would be devoted to Yahweh, and it would never experience invasion or overthrow again. The valley of the dead bodies probably refers to the Hinnom Valley to Jerusalem's south and west (cf. 7:31). The brook Kidron lay on Jerusalem's east side, and the Horse Gate stood at the southeast corner of the city wall and led out to the Kidron Valley. What had formerly been unclean land, full of dead bodies, would be holy to the Lord. The city's change in character would be even more remarkable than its change in size.
"Since a literal nation must have an actual geographical location in which to reside, it is now revealed that the capital, Jerusalem, will be rebuilt and expanded--yes, the very city that Jeremiah was before long to see destroyed by the Chaldean army."421
The description of rebuilt Jerusalem in Nehemiah's day does not coincide with this picture. Furthermore the temple that the restoration community rebuilt did not continue to exist (cf. v. 40); the Romans destroyed it in A.D. 70. That this is a description of a heavenly city is unlikely in view of the large amount of literal detail. Contextual considerations also demand an eschatological rebuilding of the city on the ancient site. Ezekiel 40-48 and Zechariah 2 and 14 also describe this future city.
