Some Thoughts on Jeremiah 31:27-34

The God who created the universe out of nothing is holy and mighty, entirely other than his creation or anything in it. Yet he is not aloof and distant, not by his nature or will. We may push him away; we may hide or run away; we may ignore, disobey, reject, or forget him. He still pursues us, with a persistent love. The Jewish people knew this well. When Jeremiah lived and prophesied (just before and after 600 B.C.), they lived amid war and threat of war from several nations vying for empires in the region. In this context, they proved unfaithful to God in many ways. Yet God – intimately, passionately – still pursued them. For he had called them into being and entered into a special relationship with them. They were his people; he was their God. Because of this, God repeatedly spoke to them to teach and shape them. With steadfast love, he guided them, sought their good, interceded for them, and even disciplined them. In turn, he desired their love and fidelity to him and his ways. All of this we see in this passage from the book of Jeremiah – chapter 31, verses 27-34 – in its repeated refrains and themes: the phrase, “says the Lord”; invocation of covenants; pithy agricultural metaphors for God’s acts; the intimate marriage metaphor for God’s relationship with them; issues of faithfulness, sin, and forgiveness; and God’s promises. Climaxing the passage is the great promise that God will restore his relationship with his people in a new, more intimate and transforming way. He will make himself known deeply within the hearts of all his people that all – not just a select few, such as the prophets – will know him personally and faithfully. This is the promise fulfilled in the gift of the Holy Spirit to followers of Jesus. This is the gift we receive, enjoy, and live out in God’s grace and power – deeply, intimately, in the core of our being and the shape of our life. In Jesus, God pursues us, forgives us, and renews us. Through the Holy Spirit, God writes himself into our hearts, that we would know and love him. The God of the universe is holy and mighty, but not aloof and distant. Faithfully, lovingly, he dwells within us. May we, faithfully, lovingly, dwell in him.