In our study of the book of Isaiah we learned much about the blessing that will be the portion of the children of Israel when reestablished by God’s power in the land of Palestine. What we find in that way in Jeremiah’s prophecies has a special interest to the believer because of the time the message was given, namely, when the times of the Gentiles (Luke 21:2121Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. (Luke 21:21); Rom. 11:2525For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. (Romans 11:25)) were beginning: and God’s earthly people were just about to be (or were already being) transferred to Babylon as the captives of the first great Gentile power.
It was given to Jeremiah, as perhaps to no other prophet of the Old Testament, to tell of the love of God for Israel; this is the more striking because of the then state of the people—so bad that they were being cast out of the land that was their inheritance. It is the knowledge of the love of God, without cause and without measure (declared in the Old Testament and marvelously proved in the New), that draws forth the believer’s adoration and praise. Had it not been for His love, all without a single exception, would be in nature’s darkness and under condemnation, but “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16). Precious truth!
Verse 1: “At the same time” is really “At that time,” referring to chapter 30; “all the families of Israel” takes in the lost ten tribes who are yet to be brought back and united with Judah. Verse 2 is also future, for the true reading is “when I go to give him rest”; it speaks, we believe, of the ten tribes and the way God will deal with them before bringing them into the land of their forefathers. (See Ezek. 20:35-88.)
Verse 3: The marginal reading “from afar” should be taken instead of “of old”. “The Lord (Jehovah) hath appeared from afar unto me”; the people were in heart far indeed from Him. In accents of infinite tenderness, nevertheless, He addresses them— “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. I will build thee again, etc.” Why should love be thus felt and expressed by God for a people so wayward? we may ask; yet we need only consider that the Gentile world is at least equal with Israel in departure from the living God. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” as says Romans 3:28,28Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. (Romans 3:28) which adds: for all that believe: “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Because of His love, which nothing can turn away from its objects, utterly unworthy in themselves, He, with lovingkindness, draws them to Himself. Perhaps you beloved reader, have resisted Him in seeking to draw you to Himself. Yield yourself, if yet unsaved, to that loving Saviour; if now a child of God, to that compassionate Father who seeks to bless you; and taste to the full that everlasting love of which Jeremiah witnessed to the children of Judah twenty-five centuries ago.
Verses 5-6: “Samaria” and “Ephraim” both speak of the former home of the ten tribes; note the positive assurance in these verses, telling of what God in sovereign mercy will do.
Verse 8: “the coasts of the earth” means the uttermost parts of the world. Verse 9: Why is Ephraim called Jehovah’s first-born? Gen. 41:51-5251And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house. 52And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. (Genesis 41:51‑52) shows that Manasseh was the elder, Ephraim the younger of Joseph’s sons; yet in Genesis 48 Ephraim is given the firstborn’s blessing. A number of scriptures may be referred to in seeking the answer to the question, but we shall here refer only to Deut. 33:13-17,13And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, 14And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon, 15And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, 16And for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren. 17His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh. (Deuteronomy 33:13‑17) Psa. 108:7, 87God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth. 8Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver; (Psalm 108:7‑8) and Ezek. 37:15-19,15The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, 16Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: 17And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. 18And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these? 19Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. (Ezekiel 37:15‑19) bearing in mind that both Judah and Joseph are used in the Word of God to foreshadow Christ—one as possessor of the title to reign upon earth and the other as the once rejected, now exalted Kinsman, revealing Himself as their abundant Blesser when Israel is at extremity. Ephraim then, whose name means “double fruitfulness”, stands for the reborn nation of Israel in the passages referred to. As to what Ephraim was, historically, in the land of promise, the prophets speak with one voice and that of condemnation; but in Jer. 31 The blessed prospect through mercy of God, and not the dreadful past, is in view.
Verse 10: God has not forgotten Israel, and the nations will learn it to their astonishment and bewilderment and sorrow. He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd does his flock. In verses 12-14 is shown what the Millennium will bring to those who are spared through the judgments to be poured out on the earth at the Lord’s appearing; fulness of blessing in earthly things together with the joy of the ransomed. Satan; the deceiver, will be confined then, and all of Israel at least, will be children of God by faith. What a change that day will bring, from the times in which we are living! But for the Christian there is a prospect far more entrancing (Phil. 3:2020For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: (Philippians 3:20)).
The language of verse 15 is figurative, speaking in the main of sorrows not yet experienced by the children of Israel. Ramah was in the land of Benjamin; Rachel was the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, dying when the latter was born. The town (which Rachel never saw) was five miles north of Jerusalem, on the road over which the Jews were led on their journey to Babylon as Nebuchadnezzar’s prisoners (see chapter 40:1). Rachel’s name is no doubt used here because she was Joseph’s mother and the beloved wife of Jacob; Ramah’s position just outside of Jerusalem is suggestive in view of the fearful judgments which have since swept over the capital, and the more terrible scenes to be enacted there in the last days. This passage is quoted in Matt. 2:17-1817Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, 18In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. (Matthew 2:17‑18) in connection with the slaughter of the little ones in and near Bethlehem—a fulfillment, but not the final one, of this Scripture.
The prophetic view here is, however, chiefly of the Millennial peace when bloodshed shall have stopped (verse 10). Then “Rachel” shall wipe away her tears, for the joy of the ransomed will fill the land of Israel.
“And there is hope for thy latter-end, saith Jehovah, and thy children shall come again to their own border” (JND).
The spiritual awakening of the lost ten tribes is taken up in verses 18-19. Where are these Israelites today? We cannot venture to offer an opinion; they are hidden so effectually that no one is able to identify them among the nations, though many vain efforts have been made. When the day dawns for their reappearance, and their journey to the land of their forefathers occurs, the mystery will be solved.
In verse 20 we have God’s promise (affecting to the Christian heart) of mercy upon the long-banished ten tribes; in verse 21, their homeward way is to be made plain; “make thee signposts” (translated “high heaps”); and He calls them to return.
Verse 22 is also addressed to Ephraim which is spoken of as a woman—symbolic of weakness—overcoming a man: thus is shown the character of their return to Palestine,—the very expression of weakness, yet by God’s intervention, overcoming every effort of the nations to hinder their way there.
Verses 23-30 are of absorbing interest, telling of God’s deep concern over the blessing of His earthly people when they reach the land that once was, and will again be, their home. No more will they suffer because of the waywardness of their forefathers (verses 29-30).
Verses 31-37: The covenant of Sinai (Ex. 19-20) was broken in the wilderness; there were however unconditional promises to Abraham 130 years earlier (Gen. 12:1-31Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: 2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 12:1‑3)), and to David about 450 years after the covenant of Sinai (2 Sam. 7:10-1610Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, 11And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house. 12And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. 13He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. 14I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: 15But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. 16And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. (2 Samuel 7:10‑16)); if the hope of Israel was founded on the covenant of law, all would be over with them. See, however, Lev. 26:4242Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. (Leviticus 26:42); Isa. 55:33Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. (Isaiah 55:3) and Jer. 33:19-2119And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying, 20Thus saith the Lord; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; 21Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. (Jeremiah 33:19‑21).
Our chapter brings out the foundation of Israel’s future blessing—a new covenant which goes far beyond all that preceded it, in that it involves new birth; all who come under it will be born again. Without this immense boon, it is impossible to enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:55Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3:5)); it brings eternal life and the true knowledge of God, besides being the foundation for every other blessing which He has been pleased to bestow on those who trust in Him, whether of the past, the present, or future dispensations. The new covenant with Israel will be wholly of God:
“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....they shall all know Me, from the least.... to the greatest.... for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.”
The references in the New Testament to this future covenant with Israel are numerous; however in almost half the cases the translators have written “testament” where the original Greek word justifies “covenant”. This passage in Jeremiah is quoted in Hebrews 8, and referred to in chapters 9 and 10 of that Epistle. The Lord Jesus in instituting the memorial supper (Matt. 26:2828For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (Matthew 26:28); Mark 14:2424And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many. (Mark 14:24); Luke 22:2020Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. (Luke 22:20); 1 Cor. 11:2525After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. (1 Corinthians 11:25)) said, “This is My blood of the new covenant....” Christians are in the good of the covenant without being under it.
Verses 38-40 speak of what will evidently be a large addition to Jerusalem— “to Jehovah”; it is not possible now to trace the places mentioned, but the children of Israel will see the promise fulfilled in Millennial days.