Jeremiah 32:36-44--They Shall Be My People; I Will Be Their God

Jeremiah 32:36-44
English Standard Version

They Shall Be My People; I Will Be Their God
36 “Now therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence’: 37 Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. 38 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.

42 “For thus says the LORD: Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them. 43 Fields shall be bought in this land of which you are saying, ‘It is a desolation, without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ 44 Fields shall be bought for money, and deeds shall be signed and sealed and witnessed, in the land of Benjamin, in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb; for I will restore their fortunes, declares the LORD.”

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There would have been no section divisions between yesterday's text and today's text.  It is true that Israel and Judah had been rebellious and deserved every bit of discipline and punishment that the LORD was giving to them, but there is still hope here.  The LORD is going to disperse the people throughout the nations, but He is also going to bring them all back together again.  They will dwell together in unity, peace and safety (though they are together as a nation now, there is neither peace nor safety, so I believe this is speaking of another time in the future during the Millennial reign of Jesus).  They will once again be the LORD's and He will be theirs.  They will be single-minded in their devotion to the LORD--to fully obey Him in all things.  They will obey all of the Words of His Covenant for their own sakes and for the sakes of their children.  He will make an everlasting covenant with them (notice that it is not simply a renewal of the Old Covenant, but completely different--it's the covenant we just talked about in Jeremiah 31:31 and following).  This speaks for the transforming power of the New Covenant to change the heart and the nature of those under that covenant.  It also is an eternal, unbreakable covenant, but as we mentioned before, it is not an outside-in, but an inside-out covenant.  The Law was an external force that was never going to be able to fix the issues of sin, it could only reveal them and cause the people to see their need for this better covenant that would both take away sin and make them new.  The  LORD will be please to once again bless His people and the Promised Land that He has prepared for them as He will pour out on us every blessing that belongs to His Son as we will be His Bride and co-heirs with Him.

The LORD will not break His promises to His people.  He has promised good things to them, and He will deliver those good things, but it is going to take a transformation for that to happen.  There is a need for a better covenant, because the Israelites were never going to earn the blessings of the Old Covenant.  Am I saying that the Old Covenant is somehow gone?  No.  It is still there, and it still shows people their need for repentance and that they can never be righteous enough on their own to earn God's blessings and favor.  However, we cannot focus on that covenant now that we have the New Covenant.  No one should turn back to the Old when they have the New (see the book of Galatians and the book of Romans for more on this). 

Now the LORD gets to answering Jeremiah's question about why the LORD had him purchase land right before the siege of the city.   It was a sign to the people that they would return and that property would once again be bought and sold.   The LORD would restore more than the city of Jerusalem, but all the surrounding land and villages and towns.  It would all be returned to the people that the LORD had promised it to in the days of Moses and Joshua.  Last, but not least, the LORD promises to restore their futures.  They may feel like a people with no future, no home, and no hope, but the LORD promises all that will change one day when He causes them to return to the Land and He will once again bless them, keep them, be gracious to them, turn His face towards them, and give them peace.