August 10, 2025
Teacher: Paul Mermilliod
Jeremiah 31:31-37
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, [32] not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. [33] For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [34] And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
[35] Thus says the LORD,
who gives the sun for light by day
and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the LORD of hosts is his name:
[36] “If this fixed order departs
from before me, declares the LORD,
then shall the offspring of Israel cease
from being a nation before me forever.”
[37] Thus says the LORD:
“If the heavens above can be measured,
and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,
then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel
for all that they have done,
declares the LORD.”
BIG TRUTH:
GOD IS THE COVENANT MAKER AND KEEPER
Deuteronomy 4:31
For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.
Deuteronomy 7:9
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,
Jeremiah 31:31-33
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah… For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Big Idea:
God’s covenant is an everlasting commitment of Himself to His people.
- Creation Covenant: A promised son who will defeat Satan. (Gen 3)
- Covenant with Noah: Promise of life. (Gen 9) (Sign: Rainbow)
- Covenant with Abraham: Promise of a land, a people, and a son. (Gen 12, 15, 17) (Sign: Circumcision)
- Covenant with Israel: Promise of deliverance and a land. (Exod 6) (Sign: Passover)
- Covenant with David: Promise of a son on an everlasting throne. (2 Sam 7; 1Chron 17) (Sign: Temple)
Genesis 17:4-7
[4] “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. [5] No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. [6] I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. [7] And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.
Big Idea:
God’s people failed to keep His covenant.
Jeremiah 31:32
… my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 11:10
They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers.
Jeremiah 2:13
for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
Big Idea:
God promises a new covenant.
- The new covenant makes the old obsolete. (31:32)
- The new covenant promises new hearts. (31:33)
- The new covenant reconciles us to God. (31:34)
- The new covenant provides forgiveness of sin. (31:34)
Isaiah 54:7-8
[7] For a brief moment I deserted you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.
[8] In overflowing anger for a moment
I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,”
says the LORD, your Redeemer.
Jeremiah 32:38-41
And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. [39] I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. [40] I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. [41] I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.
Ezekiel 16:59-60
“For thus says the Lord GOD: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, [60] yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant.
Hebrews 8:6-7, 13
But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. [7] For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second… [13] In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Ezekiel 36:26-27
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. [27] And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
2 Corinthians 3:3-6
And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. [4] Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. [5] Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, [6] who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
John 3:3
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:18, 21
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation… [21] For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Ephesians 1:7
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
Big Idea: God keeps His promises and people through Jesus.
Ephesians 2:12-13
remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. [13] But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Matthew 26:27-28
And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Talk About It
- What does it look like to be a faithful voice of truth in our generation?
- What are the potential outcomes when we choose to faithfully speak the truth?
- Has holding fast to God’s truth ever cost you something?
- How have faithful voices of truth impacted your life for good?
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