The first blessing of the new covenant that Israel will receive at the time of the restoration is in the first part of verse 33: “This is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares Jehovah: I will put My law in their inward parts and write it upon their hearts.” A law that can be put into people and written upon their hearts must be a law of life. This law itself must be a life. Otherwise, it could not be put into men. Furthermore, this law will be written upon men’s hearts, indicating that it will spread from the center of their being, their spirit, to the circumference, their heart. Thus, this law must be God’s life, the divine life, and God’s life is God Himself. The first blessing of the new covenant is that God will put Himself into His chosen people as their life, and this life is a law.
The second blessing of the new covenant is also in verse 33: “I will be their God, and they will be My people.” For God to be their God implies a great deal. This means that He will be known by His people, understood by them, apprehended by them, and lived by them. It also means that God’s people will be constituted with Him to be utterly one with Him.
The third blessing of the new covenant is that “they will no longer teach, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for all of them will know Me, from the little one among them even to the great one among them, declares Jehovah” (v. 34). This word indicates that at the time of the restoration, the people of Israel will know God to such an extent that they will not need anyone to teach them.
This is the principle of knowing God through the function of the divine life, the eternal life within man. Eternal life has a special function, and this function is to know God (John 17:3). To know God, the divine person, requires the divine life with its function. Eventually, there will be no need for outward teachings, for Israel will know God by the function of the divine life.
The new covenant has another aspect of blessing: “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jer. 31:34). The sin and iniquity of God’s people are great problems, but Christ has dealt with them. Before Jeremiah spoke of the new covenant, he spoke concerning Christ as the righteous Shoot of David, the One whose name will be called Jehovah our righteousness (23:5-6). This One has accomplished redemption; He has taken away our sin. “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). He has solved the problem of sin, and now in Him we have been justified by God, and God has forgiven our iniquity and our sin. Since we have been justified, no obstacle or frustration can keep us from having fellowship with God or prevent Him from dispensing Himself into us. Furthermore, God will remember our sin no more. When Jehovah makes the new covenant with Israel, there will be communication, fellowship, between Israel and God.
Jehovah promised to bring the city of Jerusalem recovery and healing and cause its people to be healed. He said that He would reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth and would turn the captivity of Judah and Israel and build them up as in former times. He also promised that He would cleanse them from their iniquity, by which they had sinned against Him and forgive all their iniquities, by which they had sinned and transgressed against Him (Jer. 33:6-8). Jehovah also promised that Jerusalem “will be a name of gladness and a praise and a glory to Me before all the nations of the earth, who will hear of all the good that I am about to do for them; and they will fear and tremble because of all the good and because of all the peace that I am about to provide for it” (v. 9). In addition to being a promise concerning Jerusalem, this is also a picture of today’s church life.
There will be heard in the city of Jerusalem the voice of gladness, the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, the voice of the bride, and the voice of those who say, “Praise Jehovah of hosts, for Jehovah is good, for His lovingkindness is forever” (v. 11). Jehovah will turn the captivity of the Holy Land.