Jeremiah 31:31-34—“… a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah …”

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 (Jer. 31:31-34)

NOTE:

This Old Testament text is applied to the church in Hebrews 8, and yet Jeremiah was originally addressing “the house of Israel … and the house of Judah.”

Surely the apostle that wrote Hebrews was not a dispensationalist. “Spiritualizing” texts that are plainly addressed to “Israel” is a no-go for dispensationalism.

(I)

Prof. Herman C. Hanko

[Source: We and Our Children: The Reformed Doctrine of Infant Baptism (RFPA, 2004), pp. 28-29]

Here, God speaks emphatically of a covenant which he makes with the house of Israel. One could conclude based on the passage alone that the reference is to the nation of Israel, for it speaks of a covenant made exclusively with the house of Israel. But in Hebrews 8:6-13, Scripture speaks of the work of Christ our High Priest who fulfilled this passage in Jeremiah for the entire church of the new dispensation:

But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith 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 when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: and they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

Here, too, it is clear that “the house of Israel and the house of Judah” means the catholic church of the new dispensation and that the blessings promised to “the house of Israel and Judah” are perpetual.

-----------------------------------------------

(II)

More to come! (DV)