The New Covenant and Israel's Future

Now we go to Jeremiah 31. Just keep reading; don't worry about chapter breaks. Right at the beginning, it tells you to read it consistently. This is where the new covenant is, my friends. The new covenant is not first mentioned in Matthew 27. The new covenant is mentioned in Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 36, and Isaiah 59 and 60. Everything must be prophesied before Yeshua could fulfill it. The new covenant is right here in Jeremiah 31.

At the very beginning of chapter 31, it tells everyone to read this consistently with Jeremiah 30. "At the same time," meaning at the same time as the time of Jacob's trouble. It's a continuing prophecy: the seven years, and then the new covenant. The new covenant is the millennial kingdom. We are not living in the new covenant, but we are all saved by the new covenant, the blood of the Lamb, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, forgiveness of sins, etc. But we are not literally living in the new covenant because the Jewish people have not received Yeshua as their Savior. When we read the prophecy, it must be about the Jewish people receiving Yeshua, and then the one new body and the one new man. It cannot just be a bunch of Gentiles. It must be the remnant of the Jews and the remnant of the Gentiles, both parties. Right now, we have the remnant of the Gentiles coming, and the remnant of the Jews coming as well. But there will be a great redemption of the Jewish people, and a great restoration of the Jewish people at the very end when they call upon Him.

Let's read this consistently with the time of Jacob's trouble, and you will see what we are talking about. "At the same time of Jeremiah 30, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people." My friends, that is not the case right now. They are not believers in Yeshua the Messiah, so they are not His people right now, and He is not their God. That must happen before all this comes to fruition. "At the same time of the time of Jacob's trouble, after that I will be the God of the families of all of Israel, and they shall be my people." This is after the seven years of Jeremiah 30. "For thus says the Lord, the people who survive the sword found grace in the desert, Israel, when I went to give Him rest." Yeshua says to flee to the mountains at the three-and-a-half-year mark of the tribulation in Matthew 24. So, the people who survived the sword because they fled to grace in the desert, Mount Sinai, Petra, Israel, when the Lord went to give them rest. "The Lord has appeared to me of old, saying, 'Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, with lovingkindness, I have drawn you again. I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel.'" When He calls them "virgin of Israel," it means they are clean, they are saved. He is not calling them harlots or prostitutes anymore. He is calling them "O virgin of Israel," meaning they are cleansed, they are believers. "Again, I will build you up, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel. You shall again be adorned with your tambourines and shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice. You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria. The planters shall plant and eat them as ordinary food. For there shall be a day when the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim, 'Arise, and let us go up to Zion to the Lord our God.'" That has not happened yet; He is not on this earth, He is not on Zion yet. They did not do that at the first coming. But there shall be a day, the day of the Lord, when they will arise and say, "Let us go up to Zion to Yeshua, the Lord our God," at the millennial kingdom.

"For thus says the Lord, Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations, and proclaim, give praise, and say, 'O Lord, save Your people, the remnant of Israel.' Behold, I will bring them from the far north country and gather them from the ends of the earth." This is second coming events. "Among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child, the one who labors with child together. A great remnant shall return there through Yeshua." (Jeremiah 23). "They shall come with weeping and with supplications. I will lead them." Zechariah 13 and 12 say there will be mourning for the pierced one, for the ones whom they have pierced. Jeremiah is confirming that in Jeremiah 31. "They shall come with weeping and with supplications. I will lead them. I will lead them. Yeshua. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of the waters in a straight way in which they shall not stumble. For I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd does his flock.'" (Jeremiah 23). "For the Lord has redeemed Jacob and rescued him from the hand of a stronger one than he. Therefore, they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, streaming to the goodness of Adonai, for wheat and new wine and oil, for the young of the flock and the herd. Their soul shall be like a well-worked garden, and they shall sorrow no more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together, for I will turn their mourning to joy." This is the second coming events, the millennial kingdom. "I will comfort them, and I will make them rejoice rather than sorrow. I will satisfy the soul of the priest with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, says the Lord."

"Thus says the Lord, A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children because they are no more. Thus says the Lord, Refrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. This is hope in your future, says the Lord, that your children shall come back to their own border. I have surely heard Ephraim bemooning himself. You have chastised me, and I was chastised like an untrained bull. Restore me, and I will return, for you are the Lord my God. Surely after my turning, I repented, and after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh. I was ashamed, yes, even humiliated, because I bore the reproach of my youth. Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him. I will surely have mercy on him, says the Lord. Set up signposts, make landmarks, set your heart towards the highway, the way in which you went. Turn back, O virgin of Israel, turn back to these your cities. How long will you gad about, O you backsliding daughter? For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth: A woman shall encompass a man. Israel. They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and its cities, and I will bring back their captivity. The Lord bless you, O home of justice, and mountain of holiness, and there shall dwell in Judah itself, and all of its cities together, farmers and those going out with flocks. For I have satisfied the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul. After this, I awoke and I looked around, and my sleep was sweet to me. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. And in those days they shall say no more, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.' But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge."