Study Questions

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Jeremiah was a priest and a prophet. His ministry began around 626 BCE and concluded sometime after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. Jeremiah served five kings near the end of the Kingdom of Judah. Contemporaries of Jeremiah include Ezekiel, Obadiah, Habakkuk, and his friend and secretary Baruch.

The name Jeremiah means “The Lord throws.” When we hear the name Jeremiah, we are reminded that God is “throwing down” with the sinful nations of the world. God “hurled” Jeremiah at Judah. Jeremiah lashed out against the sins of God’s people. Jeremiah rebuked idolatry. He condemned the disgusting practice of child sacrifice. He challenged false prophets. Jeremiah was considered a traitor for advising Judah to submit to the conquering Babylonians. His message was quite unpopular, but it was ultimately sound political advice.

Jeremiah is remembered as the “weeping prophet.” He was a timid man made strong and courageous by the Holy Spirit. Jeremiah was brutally honest in his frustration with God. He wants God to take responsibility for the wicked “You have planted them, and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit. You are always on their lips but far from their hearts. (Jeremiah 12:2). Jeremiah accused God of tricking him “You are to me like a deceptive brook, like a spring that fails” (Jeremiah 15:18). Jeremiah implores God, “Do not be a terror to me; you are my refuge in the day of disaster” (Jeremiah 17:17). Jeremiah prays for vengeance on those who tossed him in a pit, “So give their children over to famine; hand them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives be made childless and widows; let their men be put to death, their young men slain by the sword in battle” (Jeremiah 18:21). Tradition tells us that Jeremiah was stoned to death in Egypt after the fall of Jerusalem.

Some of Jeremiah’s prophecies came true in his lifetime (16:15, 20:4, 25:11, 27:19-22, 29:10, 34:4-5, 43:10-11, 44:30, 46:13). Other prophecies awaited fulfillment in the distant future (23:5-6, 30:8-9, 31:31-34, 33:15-16). This week we concentrate on Jeremiah 31:31-34, the highpoint in Jeremiah’s theology and one of the most compelling passages in the whole Bible. Walter Brueggemann says, “This oracle of promise is the best known and most relied upon of all of Jeremiah’s promises” (A Commentary on Jeremiah, 291). This prophecy has come true in part, but not in full. We are still waiting for Jesus to make the Word of God come alive in all people at the end of the age.

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah” (Jeremiah 31:31).

In today’s scripture, God takes the initiative to start over with a new covenant. This is the only place in the entire Old Testament that speaks of a new covenant that will replace the old covenant. God offers fresh grace, bestowing promises freely on those whom he called his people, binding to them together in his love.

1. God’s people were guilty of worshipping false gods. What are the idols that tempt people today?
2. God’s people sacrificed their own children to the detestable Canaanite gods. What parallels do you see in contemporary society?
3. What biblical commandments do you think are hardest for modern people to keep?
4. Jeremiah looked forward to a new covenant of grace for Israel and Judah. Jesus extended the new covenant to all people. If we believe in Jesus, we can participate in this fresh start. Take a moment to privately confess your sin to God.

“It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord (Jeremiah 31:32). 

The old covenant that Moses announced at Mount Sinai was resisted again and again until it was fractured beyond repair. The people could not successfully keep up their end of the bargain by obeying the Ten Commandments. God speaks as a husband wounded by his wife’s unfaithfulness.

1. Fractured relationships are hard to repair. God demonstrated unimaginable mercy by offering a fresh start to his estranged love. How does this inform our own need to offer our loved ones a new beginning?
2. What are some examples of how you have received divine forgiveness?
3. What are some examples of how you have granted human forgiveness?

“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people (Jeremiah 31:33).

The new covenant will not be resisted because it will be written on human hearts and inserted into human brains. God was not offering another external rule that will be resisted, but a way of life that will now be embraced. God will provide a new identity in his love. All inclination to resist will fade away. Transformed people will have transformed hearts.

1. How has this prophecy come true in your own relationship with Jesus?
2. How are we still waiting for the complete fulfillment of this promise?
3. What will the world look like when everybody has the law written on their hearts and minds?

No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).

When Jeremiah’s promise is completely fulfilled, I will be out of a job. When Jeremiah’s promise is completely fulfilled, there will be no more need to gather in small group Bible studies. Jeremiah’s promise has already been fulfilled in Jesus Christ, but not completely. We are still waiting for the great and wonderful day when Jesus will transform us completely by the love of God.

1. How do we know Jesus today?
2. How will we know Jesus in the kingdom come?
3. How do we stay fresh in the teaching and forgiveness of God?
4. Close together with the Lord’s Prayer. Notice how Jesus taught us to pray by emphasizing Jeremiah’s themes of new life, forgiveness, and intimacy with God.