but if you read it as a normal communication you should not come cup with such a crazy idea. I have been a believer 47 years, have read many many books and never have seen such a concept as you are romoting. Do you think God hid it for thousands of years until you made the scene? Your claim is not grammatically, contextually or linguistically possible. You take two euphemisms to describe a future time and spin them to say something they simply do not and come up with two new covenants.
It isn't that interesting to me that you have never heard what I am proposing because I have come to understand that ideas have inertia, especially ideas that have been around a long time. Certain concepts of the Christian faith were hashed out early in church history and once an "official" conclusion is reached, the concept gains a certain amount of weight. And unless someone brings that concept back under examination, it remains unexamined and take as granted. Now, since the opening question seeks to understand the New Covenant, then we are obligated to temporarily put aside our preconceived religious concepts and examine the associated passages afresh.
First you did not show it from the text, but from your opinion of what the text says. Quite simply, Scripture verses do not stand alone. There is so much writing in the prophets about "those days" and "after those days".
Again, I ask you to be fair. We all give our opinions about what the text says. You speak as if you aren't doing that yourself. :)
With regard to the fact that prophets other than Jeremiah speak about "those days" and "after those days" is of little interest, because our concern is what Jeremiah intends to say in Jeremiah 31:31-34. We understand his reference to the "coming days" in the larger context of the entire chapter. The reason why many of the prophets speak in terms of "coming days" is due to the fact that Israel has been taken captive by Assyria and Judah is about to be taken captive into Babylon. Here in chapter 31 of Jeremiah, we hear Rachel crying for her children because, in her view, God has broken his promise to her and her children will be no more. The Lord comforts her, telling her that her children will return to the land; and God will bless her there once again. The Lord punctuates his word to Rachael, and ultimately, his people, with the phrase "Behold days are coming . . ."
For instance, Jeremiah, beginning in verse 27, speaks about the era after the exile, the era after the return. During that time the Lord will cause a population explosion so that Rachael's children will multiply greatly. Rachael mourned because she was convinced that her children were "no more." But God promises her that her children will be greatly multiplied.
In verse 29, the Lord speaks about that same time period, when the people will take responsibility for their own iniquity. (This is important, because it speaks to an essential element of the New Covenant.)
In verse 31, Jeremiah repeats the phrase "Behold days are coming . . .", which he has already established as the time after the exile when the people return from Babylon to the land of Judah. During that time, which is the time when Jesus walked the earth, The Lord made a New Covenant with the house of Judah and the house of Israel. Both Jesus and Paul understand the New Covenant in terms of individual salvation, based on faith in the blood of Jesus. Although Jeremiah doesn't specify this aspect of the New Covenant, this aspect is the sum and substance of the New Covenant according to all the New Testament authors.
Paul described himself as the minister of the New Covenant, which indicates that the New Covenant was already in effect, a covenant God made during the days after the return from exile. Jesus says that his blood, i.e. his death, burial, resurrection and ascension inaugurated the New Covenant, which is not only made with the houses of Israel and Judah, but as God revealed later, is made with all those who have the faith of Abraham.
More later . . .
A more simplified understanding is that there is a day coming when God will make a new covenant with Israel. Then keeping this passage in it s context and not mystically applying it to some other thing that is not mentioned anywhere else in the bible we see this:
Jeremiah 31:31-34
King James Version
31 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:
32 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:
33 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.
34 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.
1. Yes the days are coming when God makes a new covenant with all Jews!
2. this covenant will be different than the one Israel did not keep
3. After those days! Keeping it in its context- we refer back to its nearest point of reference- and that is the days when God starts a new covenant with Israel!
4. After He makes the covenant with Israel- the results or benefits to the Jews is this:
a) god puts His Law in their hearts
b) Israel will once again be His people and He will be their god
c) there will be no need for teaching- for all will know the Lord form the least to the greatest.
d) God will forgive Israel's iniquity and no longer remember all their sins.
5. those benefits will be realized in the millennial kingdom.
Here we do agree concerning the Jews. I do not believe the new covenant is fulfilled or even in effect yet.
We both agree that Jeremiah 31 speaks about the Millennial Kingdom. But I take issue with your "simplified" version. (No insult is intended. I like and very much appreciate your summary.)
In order for our discussion to move forward in productive manner, let me articulate the difference in our views with a focus on verse 33.
“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares Yahweh, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."
Whereas you include this announcement as part of the New Covenant, I note that Jeremiah speaks of a time "after those days." After what days? Isn't Jeremiah speaking about an era subsequent to the era specified in verse 31? When Jeremiah says, "Behold days are coming . . ." he speaks about the post-exilic era, during which time God made a new Covenant with the house of Judah and the house of Israel in the blood of Jesus. Then Jeremiah speaks of an era subsequent to that when he says, "after THOSE days" indicating the post-exilic period, after the post-exilic period God will make another covenant with Israel. This is where your summary fits in well, I think.
