Jeremiah 31: 1 – 40
Sour Grapes
1 “At the same time,” says the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.” 2 Thus says the LORD: “The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness—Israel, when I went to give him rest.” 3 The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore, with lovingkindness I have drawn you. 4 Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned with your tambourines and shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice. 5 You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria; The planters shall plant and eat them as ordinary food. 6 For there shall be a day when the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim, ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.’?” 7 For thus says the LORD: “Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations; Proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O LORD, save Your people, The remnant of Israel!’ 8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the ends of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and the one who labors with child, together; A great throng shall return there. 9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble; For I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn. 10 “Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd does his flock.’ 11 For the LORD has redeemed Jacob and ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he. 12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, streaming to the goodness of the LORD—For wheat and new wine and oil, for the young of the flock and the herd; Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden,
And they shall sorrow no more at all. 13 “Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old, together; For I will turn their mourning to joy, will comfort them, and make them rejoice rather than sorrow. 14 I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the LORD.” 15 Thus says the LORD: “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” 16 Thus says the LORD: “Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; For your work shall be rewarded, says the LORD, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. 17 There is hope in your future, says the LORD, that your children shall come back to their own border. 18 “I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself: ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, like an untrained bull; Restore me, and I will return, for You are the LORD my God. 19 Surely, after my turning, I repented; And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh; I was ashamed, yes, even humiliated, because I bore the reproach of my youth.’ 20 Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still; Therefore, My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the LORD. 21 “Set up signposts, make landmarks; Set your heart toward the highway, the way in which you went. Turn back, O virgin of Israel, turn back to these your cities. 22 How long will you gad about, O you backsliding daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth—A woman shall encompass a man.” 23 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I bring back their captivity: ‘The LORD bless you, O home of justice, and mountain of holiness!’ 24 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all its cities together, farmers and those going out with flocks. 25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.” 26 After this I awoke and looked around, and my sleep was sweet to me. 27 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD. 29 In those days they shall say no more: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ 30 But everyone shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge. 31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when 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 lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” 35 Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, and its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name): 36 “If those ordinances depart from before Me, says the LORD, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.” 37 Thus says the LORD: “If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says the LORD. 38 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that the city shall be built for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 The surveyor’s line shall again extend straight forward over the hill Gareb; then it shall turn toward Goath. 40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the LORD. It shall not be plucked up or thrown down anymore forever.”
If you describe someone's attitude as ‘sour grapes’, you mean an attitude in which someone disparages or pretends to despise something because they cannot have it themselves. It is also used to describe the behavior of somebody who pretends that something they cannot have is of little value or interest.
Look around at others and remember that many of their attitudes were the same thing we displayed. We wanted our Holy God’s blessing regardless of His ways. It does not work like that. He Is our Supreme Creator and Ruler and what He has pointed out to us in His Holy Word is not things to frustrate us but to help us.
When we finally surrendered to Him – we won. We came humbly to our God seeking Him through a repentive heart and in His loving open arms He welcomed us. Thank you, our Holy and Merciful God El Shaddai.
This is the prophecy and promise our Holy Father God gives the remnant of the Israelites as we will learn in this chapter.
1 “At the same time,” says the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”
The assured word of YHWH, was that YHWH would be God of all the families of Israel (an all-inclusive description taking in both Israel and Judah) and they would be His people. It would be true in the inter-testamental period of all who returned to the land from all the tribes of Israel, coming with a new trust in YHWH, and was seen also as true by the exiles who remained in ‘the dispersion’. God was having re-established Himself as the God of His people.
The reference back to the old deliverance from Egypt confirms that we are to see in what follows a reference to the whole of Israel. While at certain points Jeremiah will especially be emphasizing the people of the northern kingdom, that is because he wishes to emphasize that they are included in YHWH’s saving activity. It might otherwise have been thought that they were excluded. But as with Isaiah Jeremiah sees the two nations as one. Both are returning. Indeed, Israel will so much be one with Judah that they will once more seek to Zion (verse 12).
2 Thus says the LORD: “The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness— Israel, when I went to give him rest.”
Current Israel are paralleled with the Israel that came out of Egypt. Those who were left from the sword (i.e. had escaped from the swords of Pharaoh’s advancing troops) had found favor in the wilderness’ ‘Found favor’ is a typical Exodus phrase relating to YHWH being with His people (Exodus 33.16), and the tenses of the verbs employed also support the idea. In verses 2-3 perfects are used, while in verse 4 we have the imperfect, ‘again I will build you’. The use of the phrase ‘in the wilderness’ further supports a reference to the Exodus.
The reference to ‘escaping from the sword’ was deliberately to make the parallel with the Babylonian and Assyrian exiles. These exiles were truly those who had escaped from the sword which had devoured their fellow-countrymen. And these exiles too are often portrayed as returning through the wilderness (Isaiah 43.19-21; 48.21). The aim in both cases was to ‘give them rest’ or ‘cause them to settle’. This is the opposite of Deuteronomy 28.65 where they would ‘find no rest’, and indicates a reversing of the curse. So they too will be delivered as Israel had been of old. It is probable therefore that at this stage ‘Israel’ is intended to include all the tribes as it did in the wilderness.
3 The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore, with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
The ‘me’ here is Israel. YHWH had appeared to them at Sinai and declared His covenant love, a love which is now revealed as an ‘everlasting love’, a never-failing love. But it is apparent immediately that it is not a love which overlooks sin (His chastening would still go ahead). It is a love which perseveres and expects them to truly repent and respond to Him as He draws them to Himself in accordance with that covenant. For in the end that love will finally be revealed in those who truly believe.
We may also translate ‘from afar’, with the idea that He has heard from Heaven and has arrived in His covenant love to act on Israel’s behalf.
4 Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned with your tambourines and shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.
Because of His redeeming and saving work they will again (as they were of old) be ‘built And they will again (as they used to do in better days) wear their musical instruments, and will go forth dancing as those who ‘make. This light-hearted joy would be a feature of the deliverance. The ‘tabret’ was an ancient kind of tambourine made up of a metal ring containing bells.
Note the reference to Israel/Judah as the ‘virgin of Israel’. The idea is of her restoration to her original purity, no longer a spiritual adulterer but a seeker after YHWH.
5 You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria; The planters shall plant and eat them as ordinary food.
That the deliverance of the exiles from the northern kingdom is very much in mind (although not to the exclusion of Judah) comes out here in the reference to Samaria. They will ‘again’ plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria (those once ruled from Samaria), they will plant and subsequently enjoy their fruit because they will be under YHWH’s protection once again. This enjoyment of fruit is more significant than at first appears for the fruit of the vineyard could not be eaten until the fifth year. Thus, it is an indication of permanence. ‘The mountains of Samaria’ are once again, therefore, to be a part of Israel/Judah.
6 For there shall be a day when the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim. ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.’?”
But this new Israel will be one which is again united with Judah, for the cry of the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim (probably a parallel phrase to ‘the mountains of Samaria) will be, ‘Arise you, and let us go up to Zion, to YHWH our God’.” They will again join in the regular religious feasts at the Temple at one with Judah. The schism would have been healed. (Thus Judah will also be back there and the Temple will have been rebuilt). Their hearts will all be set on YHWH.
There is a reference here to the special watchmen in Israel who observed the phases of the moon so that they might know the timing of the feasts of YHWH, both the day of the new moon (which commenced the ‘month’ - the moon period) and the day of the full moon which commenced the seven day feasts. It also determined the date of the Passover. It was thus ‘the watchmen’ who called the people to the feasts.
In striking contrast to the present state of the exiles we now have a glorious picture of restoration, but one that is then immediately and deliberately set in contrast to a flashback to the weeping figure of Rachel weeping over the condition of her children (31.15). This is a reminder of the pattern found in 30.5-11 and 30.12-17. Deliverance may be coming, but it is to be remembered that it is out of the deserved misery of the present. Nor must the fact be overlooked that they must return with responsive weeping because they are repentant over their sins (verse 9), and this even though it will later be followed by a call to ‘weep no more’ (31.16). Deliverance was not to be on easy terms. It was clearly considered important that it be recognized that their deliverance would arise from despair and weeping, and must be accompanied by repentance and weeping. They are not being rewarded for good behavior, but are being, as it were, lifted out of the pit which they have deliberately dug for themselves and into which they have fallen. They must therefore respond accordingly. When God delivers and ‘brings salvation’ it always results in repentant hearts and changed lives. His righteousness is both imputed and imparted (Isaiah 61.10). On the other hand that must not take away from the glory of that deliverance which is the result of God’s sovereign love (verse 3).
7 For thus says the LORD: “Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations; Proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O LORD, save Your people, The remnant of Israel!’
This call may be addressed to those who had said, ‘Zion for whom no one cares’ (30.17). Or simply as addressed to the nations more generally (verse 10). Or as addressed to the ‘remnant of Israel’. Whichever way it is they are called on to sing with gladness for Jacob (Judah/Israel), and to shout with triumph on behalf of ‘the chief of the nations’, a title applied to Israel in Amos 6.1, but equally applicable to Judah. Note the acknowledgement that once again Israel and Zion are the chosen of YHWH. Thus these ‘singers and callers’ are to publish abroad their desire for YHWH to save His people, and are to praise YHWH concerning it. Their cry is to be, ‘O YHWH, save your people, the remnant of Israel’. It underlines the fact that now someone does care about Zion.
It is noteworthy that, as always, it is ‘the remnant’ of Israel who are to be saved (Isaiah 6.13), the repentant ones who respond to YHWH’s call. There is never any suggestion that Israel will be saved. Many indeed would have been absorbed into the nations among whom they dwelt, while other would have lapsed into unbelief and despair, or been killed. But from among them would come those who believed. It was they who would be saved.
8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the ends of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and the one who labors with child, together; A great throng shall return there.
Israelites are to be gathered from the north country to which the Assyrians had taken them, and from the uttermost parts of the earth (see Isaiah 11.11), and it will include the weak and helpless, the blind, the lame, the pregnant woman and the woman in labour. The road will be made so easy for them that such conditions will not matter. They will return as ‘a great company’, (in other words a good quantity will return), but clearly in equally great weakness. Weakness was to be no bar to travel for YHWH would be with them. It was the time for which many of them had been waiting and now it was here, and they were not going to miss it. Those who came would be those who were the most zealous for YHWH, establishing the nation in readiness for the arrival of the coming Shoot of David.
9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble; For I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.
But when they returned it was to be in repentance, weeping as they came. There could be no restoration without repentance. That the primary reference is to repentance comes out in the combination with ‘supplications’. Compare also verse 16 where they are to cease weeping because of their deliverance. It was thus not seen as weeping for joy. They are rather seen as seeking the face of YHWH in tears. Of course, we need not necessarily wholly exclude the idea of their also weeping for joy (see Ezra 3.12-13), for repentance and joy in the end go together. Joy follows repentance. But we cannot exclude the idea of repentance. That is the first requirement for their return as has been made apparent earlier.
And they would make continual supplications to YHWH as He led them in the way, just as they had in the wilderness after leaving Egypt. It would be a new Exodus. But they would not thirst because He would lead them by rivers of water, and they would not stumble because the way would be made straight. For He would be like a Father to them, and they would be His first-born.
Ephraim was the one chosen by YHWH over Manasseh (Genesis 48.19), and was a name later applied to the northern kingdom, and then as here to all Israel. It can thus signify ‘My chosen one’. The phrase is reminiscent of ‘Israel is My son, My firstborn’ in Exodus 4.22.
10 “Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd does his flock.’ 11 For the LORD has redeemed Jacob and ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he.
The call again goes out to the nations, as in verse 7, and to the isles across the sea, declaring what YHWH is doing for His people. YHWH is now like a shepherd to His people. He Who had scattered them, would now gather them and lead them forward, safely kept under His protecting hand. For YHWH has proved His might. He has ransomed ‘Jacob’ (Judah/Israel) and redeemed him from the hands of those who were stronger than he (compare Psalm 35.10). Assyria and Babylon may have seemed stronger, but they would perish. Israel would, however, go on in God’s purposes.
The idea behind ransom and redemption was of a kinsman redeemer who himself would sacrifice of his own in order to assist the setting free of a kinsman. For YHWH too there would be a price to pay.
12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, streaming to the goodness of the LORD— For wheat and new wine and oil, for the young of the flock and the herd; Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, and they shall sorrow no more at all.
An idyllic picture is drawn of the future. They will return to Zion, and there they will sing on its ‘height’, its holy mount. And they will flow like a river into YHWH’s goodness (i.e. into YHWH as He is in His goodness). The grain, new wine and olive oil will flourish as they flow into it as part of the goodness of YHWH, and the flock and the herd will abundantly produce their young. Their own inner lives will be like a watered garden full of life and vitality, and they will sorrow no more. The watered garden was the ideal of luxury and fruitfulness, never running dry because its owner could always afford water.
13 “Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old, together; For I will turn their mourning to joy, will comfort them, and make them rejoice rather than sorrow.
All sorrow will be over. All will join in the dancing. The virgin, the young man and the old together will rejoice in the dance. There is no reason for excluding the males from the dance. It would be remembered that David danced before YHWH when the Ark was brought safely into Jerusalem. Perhaps that is in mind here. Their mourning will be turned into joy, and YHWH will comfort them and make them rejoice from their sorrows.
14 I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the LORD.”
Both priests and people will be satisfied in YHWH. To be satisfied ‘with fat’ is to have the best of provision. The fat was the best of the sacrifice, and was sacred to YHWH. It was not partaken of by the priests. It therefore here means receiving the very best and is not a direct reference to sacrifices. The provision of YHWH will thus be abundant, and His goodness overflowing. And this is on the assured word of YHWH.
In a deliberate contrast to the joy and exultancy of the previous verses, Jeremiah now returns to the anguish of the current situation. In a very short (one verse) passage we are reminded again of the chastisement that must precede the blessing. The future is bright, but the present is not. The present is ‘Rachel’ weeping for her children because ‘they are not’.
15 Thus says the LORD: “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.”
There would appear here to be a play on ideas. ‘Ramah’ (‘height’) is thus suggestive of ‘Rachel’ standing on ‘a height’ looking towards the north as her children disappear over the horizon. And just as ‘Jacob’ represented the people of Israel/Judah, so we may see ‘Rachel’ as doing the same here. The picture is of the remnant of Israel/Judah, and all their buried ancestors in the land, mourning over those who have gone into exile.
But why should Rachel be introduced? It was probably precisely because Jeremiah wanted to see in this a reference to ancient Ramah, a site which was unquestionably near the place where Rachel died in sorrow in child birth. And as she died she called her son ‘Ben-oni’, ‘son of my sorrow’ (Genesis 35.18). Thus, Rachel’s sorrow was especially related to Benjamin, and to this area. We could even describe this as ‘the time of Rachel’s sorrow’. Rachel was Jacob’s wife, and she was buried after dying in childbirth ‘on the way to Bethlehem’
This ancient Ramah in Benjamin was a stopping place between Bethel and Bethlehem in Gibeon and Beeroth in the tribal area of Benjamin (Joshua 18.25). It was near Jerusalem (which was on the border of Benjamin) and Gibeah (Judges 19.13). This may be supporting the ancient tradition that Rachel was buried near Ramah, (on the basis of which tradition a tomb was in more modern times (15th century AD) built there after the Muslim style, as a memorial of her). This pathetic picture may well therefore be intended to include the idea of Rachel weeping from her resting place, where she had once grieved over Benjamin, as she sees what has now happened to her present seed and to the seed of Jacob. Once again she is in sorrow because of Benjamin. Interestingly her sons can be seen as representing both Ephraim (who was the son of her own son Joseph) and Judah (who were united as one people with Benjamin her son), and it should be noted that in Psalm 80.2 it is the Rachel tribes, Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh (the ‘children’ of Rachel) who represent the whole of Israel/Judah. On the other hand, she did, of course, also have other sons by her handmaid who would certainly in those days have been seen as genuinely her sons. We cannot therefore see Rachel as just weeping over Ephraim. She is weeping over the whole of Israel/Judah.
Ramah was also the place where the captives were gathered to be taken into exile (40.1), which may also possibly help to explain why ‘Rachel’ was seen as weeping there, but if that was the prime reference we would expect mention of Ramah before this in order to make the reference clear, and we would have expected the article (found in 40.1). On the other hand everyone knew that ancient Ramah was near the place where Rachel had died in sorrow, so that the very hint of ‘ramah’ would draw attention to it. What is, however, most important is that her weeping is depicted as unceasing (she refuses to be comforted), because the land is empty and her children are no longer there. She refuses to be comforted because her children ‘are not.’ That is the essence of the verse.
As already mentioned, Ramah is in Benjamin (Joshua 18.25), and on the border with Judah, and so she is not to be just weeping for the northern kingdom. Benjamin and Judah too are gone. And Rachel has, as it were, been left alone, bereft of all her children, either by slaughter or by exile. The only thing that can comfort her will be the return of her children. But yet that has not happened. The days of hope that lie ahead must first be preceded (especially for the few remaining in Judah and Benjamin, if Rachel is seen as representing them), by days of mourning and weeping for a people far away. Matthew later sees the return from exile as not really satisfying her sorrow when he contemplated in his day what Israel had become, and so he saw the sorrow of the bereaved women of Bethlehem as significant when Another Who represented Israel and was one of Rachel’s ‘children’ would be exiled to Egypt, escaping from the slaughter of other children, only later to return from exile (Matthew 2.17-18). He was thus seen by Matthew as representing exiled Israel (see Matthew 2.15-17) and therefore as fulfilling this prophecy.
The call now comes to the weeping ‘Rachel’ to cease her weeping, because her activity has been rewarded. Her children would return from the land of their enemies to within their own borders, giving hope for the future. For they have returned in repentance acknowledging the chastisement of YHWH, and YHWH is ready to receive them as His beloved children.
16 Thus says the LORD: “Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; For your work shall be rewarded, says the LORD, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. 17 There is hope in your future, says the LORD, that your children shall come back to their own border.
In context the words are spoken to Rachel who was weeping for her children, whoever she was seen as representing. Her weeping is seen as being duly rewarded, on the sure word of YHWH. Her mourning and repentance will succeed. For she is assured that eventually (in around fifty years’ time) her children will come from the land of the enemy. She therefore has hope for her later days. And there would indeed have been some alive when the exiles returned who had been left as a remnant in Israel/Judah and could be seen as ‘Rachel’. They would see their hopes fulfilled at their ‘latter end’. And this on the sure word of YHWH. For their ‘children’ would come again to their own border within their lifetime.
18 “I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself: ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, like an untrained bull; Restore me, and I will return, for You are the LORD my God.
Ephraim is now pictured as bemoaning herself, and calling on YHWH, accepting that it is He Who has chastised them. That is why they have been chastised (the repetition emphasising the fact). They admit to being like a calf unaccustomed. either to the yoke or to service or to both, who needed to be chastened. And they thus call on YHWH as their God to ‘turn them’ (bring them to repentant response), for it is only if He does it that it will be successful. They recognize their own inability to save themselves (the first essential for conversion).
‘Ephraim’ may here refer to the repentant among the exiles of the northern kingdom, or more probably to the repentant among all the exiles both north and south. Either way the important lesson is that it was those who had repented who were now acceptable among YHWH’s people, those who had accepted that what had happened to them had happened as the chastening of YHWH. It is the remnant who repent and return, not the whole of Israel. Thus it is an Israel within Israel. This Israel within Israel is the constant theme of the Old Testament. They are ‘the holy seed’ (Isaiah 6.13). It will finally issue in the large remnant who will respond to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith forming the new nation of Israel in the time of Jesus and the Apostles (Matthew 21.43).
We must remember that we only learn the worst of what happened among the returnees precisely because it was that that had to be rebuked. We can compare how in the Book of Judges it is the periods of failure of which we have details, not the periods of success marked by the words ‘then the land had rest for -- years’
19 Surely, after my turning, I repented; And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh; I was ashamed, yes, even humiliated, because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
We have here His people’s confession. Having been turned through YHWH’s chastening they have repented. Having been instructed by YHWH’s chastening, they have smitten their thighs in shame and anguish. They have been ashamed and confounded because they are bearing the reproach of their younger days. And they have humbled themselves before Him.
20 Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still; Therefore, My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the LORD.
YHWH’s response is one of love, the response of a father to a repentant wayward child. The questions are intended to be answered with a ‘yes’. Yes, ‘Ephraim’ (Israel/Judah) is His dear son. Yes, ‘Ephraim’ is His darling child. While He may have to speak against him and criticize him, even bring him, as it were, before the justices (fathers of the sub-clan as signifying the heavenly court?), He still earnestly remembers him as His son. Israel is not entirely cast off. And so YHWH’s heart yearns for his return to true sonship, with full willingness to have mercy upon him. This was the purpose of his arraignment. And this is the assured word of YHWH.
21 “Set up signposts, make landmarks; Set your heart toward the highway, the way in which you went. Turn back, O virgin of Israel, turn back to these your cities.
When a king or a wealthy man was going on a journey in those days, with his retinue, especially to an unknown country, there were those who could be sent ahead to set up indicators along the best road so that the way ahead would be smooth. Alternately it might signify pioneers who left the road marks for those who followed. And they were to return by the way in which they went, the shortest route.
22 How long will you gad about, O you backsliding daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth—A woman shall encompass a man.”
For there is no longer any need for them to be going hither and thither among the nations, as a backsliding daughter (the opposite of a virgin of Israel) powerless to help herself, for YHWH has done a new thing in the earth. He has enabled ‘the woman’ (virgin Israel), in every case in different parts of the world, to gain primacy over ‘the he man’, those who were in authority over them. With rare exceptions such an idea was inconceivable in those days, for women were very much dependent on men. But it will happen now for in each place of captivity the virgin daughter of Israel will ‘surround’ the man, the nations, the stronger than she (31.11), who had taken possession of her, like a victorious army surrounds a city. The weak and defenseless virgin of Israel will gain primacy over the strong who seek to override her, bringing them into submission so as to obtain her release.
It is in fact quite possible in this regard that there was a popular proverb declaring, ‘A man will encompass a woman’, indicating man’s superiority. If that be so, it is now turned tipsy turvy, as Israel/Judah, YHWH’s ‘virgin’, causes the nations to yield to her desire for freedom.
23 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I bring back their captivity: ‘The LORD bless you, O home of justice, and mountain of holiness!’
Once the exile is over and YHWH has brought His people back to the land they will once again look to Mount Zion and exult in the presence of YHWH among them. The exile will have accomplished its purpose. They will rejoice in Him, and He will be their all, ‘dwelling’ on His holy mountain However, as in 50.7 it is YHWH Himself Who is the ‘habitation of righteousness’, designated as such by the nations, The thought would be that as they look to the holy mountain they ‘see’ Him dwelling there as ‘the habitation of righteousness’.
There can be no doubt that initially this would be the idea which would take up the minds of the returned exiles as they rejoiced at being back in the land but it represented true worship. And they even set about building a Temple. Its foundations were laid. But the hardships of their lives began to press in on them so that they took their eyes off YHWH and His holy mountain and began to concentrate on more mundane things.
This is ever man’s tendency. The glorious vision is lost in the hard practicalities. It was then that they neglected the restoration of the Temple (Haggai 2.9), with its consequent effect on their own spiritual lives.
24 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all its cities together, farmers and those going out with flocks. 25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.”
The spotlight now turns on returned Judah. Once again they will dwell in the land in safety and their restored cities will dwell there too, along with the farming communities and the shepherds. It is an idyllic picture combining civilization and strength, safety and security, with pastoral pursuits. God’s people will be made up of all types, and all will be satisfied in soul, and replenished at heart. For He will be to them all that they need. Outwardly at least they will appear to be as they should have been from the beginning.
26 After this I awoke and looked around, and my sleep was sweet to me.
And on this delightful thought Jeremiah awoke from his prophetic dream and saw its fulfilment as one day becoming reality. And it made his sleep sweet to him. The bitterness of the past was, at least for the present, behind him.
YHWH’s promise is that He will, once the time is ripe, sow the land with men and animals so that they will grow and multiply and fill the land, after which He will build and plant so as to establish His people in the land. The miracle of the restoration of Israel/Judah in the land is often only too easily overlooked by those who think only in terms of ‘the end times. There was still a long time to go before the end times would be even a whisper on the horizon. Meanwhile YHWH would re-establish His people in an empty land to such an extent that by the time of Jesus both Judaea and Galilee would be well populated and relatively prosperous.
27 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast.
The land of promise, (‘the house of Israel and the house of Judah’), is pictured as a fertile field waiting to be resown. And YHWH’s promise is that He will Himself be the Sower, and will sow it with human and animal life so that it will once more be populated by men and by animals, as a land should be unless it is a desert. The description of His activity as sowing indicates that the process will be a gradual one. The seed will be sown, and the grain will grow gradually, being resown again and again.
28 And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD.
And just as He had previously watched over them to pluck and break them down, to overthrow them and destroy them because of their sinfulness, He will now act in the opposite way to build them up and to plant them, and this in accordance with the sure word of YHWH. The assumption is being made that they are now seeking Him. This description was in accordance with His promise from the commencement of Jeremiah’s ministry (1.10) and other previous promises (18.9). Israel and Judah would once more be planted in the land as those who now sought YHWH with all their hearts. And as at the beginning, YHWH would be ‘watching’ over His word to perform it (1.12).
This re-establishment of His people in the land was very necessary if His other promises were to be fulfilled. From this people and this land would develop the whole of God’s plans as first Jesus Christ came and fulfilled the work of salvation, and then as He established a Jewish remnant and sent out Jewish missionaries to take His message to the world. But beyond it we may see the settlement of God’s people in the eternal kingdom. For that is the end to which all else is aiming.
29 In those days they shall say no more: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
In the future the situation would be such that everyone would be responsible for his own sins. The nation would no longer be judged as a nation any more. No longer would the well know proverb be cited that, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” Everyone would be responsible for himself. They would no longer be able to throw the blame for what was happening to them onto their fathers. The implications of this, if fathomed, were quite huge. It was indicating the ‘secularisation’ of the state which was no longer seen as responsible to God as one whole.
30 But everyone shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
For in future judgment was to be an individual thing. It was the one who sinned who would die (compare Ezekiel 18.4, 20). It was the one who ate sour grapes whose teeth would suffer for it. We might ask how this fits in with the warning that the sins of the fathers would be visited on their children to the third and the fourth generation? The answer is not difficult. They would be so because those generations would sin as well in a similar way because of the influence of their forebears. But the way was always left open for repentance, at which point the law would cease to apply. God is always depicted as ready to respond to men’s repentance. Even the Jerusalem of Zedekiah’s day could have been saved by true repentance, as many examples from the past indicate (compare 1 Kings 1.27-29; Jonah 3.10).
God’s covenant is a covenant which is instituted by one party to the agreement as the result of the giving of a benefit, to which the other parties, who have received the benefit, are then bound to comply. But the state of Judah at this time was such that it was clear that the old covenant made at Sinai had failed. As the writer to the Hebrews points out, the assumption was being made here that the old covenant was insufficient for its purpose (Hebrews 8.7-8). It could show men how to live, but it could not enable them to live in accordance with its requirements. YHWH had made with them His first covenant as their Deliverer and Redeemer looking for a faithful response. But, it was an ‘outward covenant’ made with men whose hearts had not changed, and as a result, apart from at rare times, they had continually failed in that response and had demonstrated that no amount of gratitude or miracles would make them obedient to YHWH.
Now therefore the time was coming when YHWH would provide them with a new covenant. And He would write the covenant in their hearts in such a way that they would want to obey it and would desire to do His will. In the words of Philippians 2.13, He would ‘work in them to will and to do of His good pleasure’. And the result was to be that many would in that day come to know Him and respond to Him. And when would that day come? ‘The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ’ (John 1.17).
The necessity for such a covenant brings out how central the covenant was in YHWH’s dealings with His people. Judgment had come on them because of their failure to observe the covenant. Murder, adultery, idolatry, blasphemy were all breaches of the covenant and were constantly cited as reasons for judgment. And each of these required the death penalty. Thus, nothing in the covenant as it then was could save them. The covenant could not even provide offerings that would provide expiation and atonement for such offences, as it could in the case of lesser offences. (As David makes clear in Psalm 51, only the mercy of God could do that). Thus, if His people were to be restored it had to be by means of a covenant that worked and lifted them above such things.
31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when 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 lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.
YHWH declares that in days to come, at the time determined by Him, He would make a new covenant, a new binding agreement, with Israel/Judah. It would not be like the old covenant because that had failed miserably, and it had failed even though He had not failed them, but had been like a true husband to them. He had redeemed them from Egypt, wooed them to Himself in the wilderness, and bound them to Himself by covenant (had ‘married’ them) at Sinai, and had from then on acted as a husband on their behalf. But despite that they had rejected Him and had preferred other lovers and had deserted Him (see Hosea 1-3). And although time and again they had come to renew that covenant, seemingly genuinely, it had never been with more than a transient response (Thus He had ‘recognized’ (humanly speaking) that that covenant was insufficient. What was needed was the miracle of the transformation of their hearts and lives. That alone could solve the problem.
33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
YHWH describes the content of the new covenant that He will make with them It will consist of ‘instruction’ (torah - law) which He will put in their inward parts and write in their hearts. It will such that it will become a part of them. Using Paul’s terminology, it will be written on their hearts by the Spirit of the living God (2 Corinthians 3.3). And then He will again be their God, in a different sense from previously because He will be personally involved in their lives, and furthermore, because of the Spirit’s work within, they will in turn truly be His obedient people, fully responsive to Him. It is important to recognize here that ‘heart’ for the Israelite, like ‘inward parts’, signifies mind and will as well as emotion. The law will be written in their minds and wills and thoughts. To quote Paul again, they will have ‘the mind of the Spirit’ (Romans 8.7). They will be ‘minded’ doing His will by the Spirit. In Jesus’ own citation from Isaiah 54.13, ‘they will all be taught of God’ (John 6.45)
The result will be that there will be no need of anyone to teach them to know Him, because they will all know Him, from the least to the greatest. They will be Spirit enlightened. If they were to ‘know God’ this would be essential for ‘no one comprehends the thoughts of God apart from the Spirit of God’ (1 Corinthians 2.11). It will be a part of what He has implanted within them (Isaiah 61.3). The Lord Jesus tells us that it will be His own work, for ‘no one knows the Father but the Son, and those to whom the Son pleases to reveal Him’ (Matthew 11.27). Furthermore, to truly know God, is to be known by Him (Galatians 4.9).
Such will be the new relationship that He will forgive their iniquity and no more remember their sin. There could be no such experience of God unless sin were truly dealt with. It is not that He will ‘forget’ their sin. It is that He will thrust it from His mind. He will deliberately and positively no more remember it. It will be forever gone, not to be dredged up again. As far as they would be concerned this forgiveness would be on the basis of the necessary offerings and sacrifices, but as Isaiah 53.5-6, 10 makes clear, it would finally be consequent on the Servant of YHWH, as representative of His people, offering Himself as a guilt offering (compare Mark 10.45).
In these words, we have a clear outward revelation of what must always have been true in the hearts of true believers, otherwise they would not have persevered as believers. But this is the first time that it has been spelled out. It was, however, intrinsic in such prayers as ‘create in me a new heart, O God, and put a new and right Spirit within me’ (Psalm 51.10) and ‘teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good Spirit lead me on a level path’ (Psalm 143.10). Without such an experience, known in the New Testament as ‘birth from above’ or ‘birth of the Spirit’ (John 3.3-6), there could have been no salvation for anyone, for no man could save himself or do this work within himself. It had to result from the ‘circumcision of the heart’ by YHWH (4.4. To put it in Paul’s words, ‘if any man be in Christ Jesus he is a new creation. Old things are passed away. Everything has become new’ (2 Corinthians 5.17).
The writer to the Hebrews makes clear that it is these very promises which are central to Christian experience (Hebrews 8.8-13). It is because Christ has, through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without blemish to God, and has thereby become the Mediator of the new covenant, that we can enjoy such an experience (Hebrews 9.14) through the working of the Spirit of God. It is this which was lacking in the teaching of the Rabbis, and in the teaching of all who believe in salvation by doing good things.
There was, of course a sense in which ‘those days’ came at the time of the return from exile. Many of those who returned did so because of God’s working in their hearts, otherwise they would not have come. Much of their activity was ‘not by power, nor by might but by My Spirit, says YHWH’ (Zechariah 4.6). What happened at that time was earthshaking (Haggai 2.21). But it did not result in a fully transformed nation. That awaited the coming of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ Himself, when large parts of the nation were stirred and a ‘new nation’ was formed which replaced the old (Matthew 21.43), the Israel within Israel (Romans 9.6). And that nation went out to transform lives in all parts of the world. It was that that began the complete fulfilment of this prophecy. There is now no other true nation of Israel other than the one then formed, the body of believers who responded to the Messiah. This promise is not given to those who call themselves the nation of Israel in Palestine. For while, of course, many of them could partake in it by responding to Jesus Christ, there is no guarantee that they will do so (although we can hope that it will be so). The ‘all Israel’ who will be saved are the Israel within Israel, the elect, and they include all true believers.
And yet even this cannot be seen as the final fulfilment of these words, for I have been in many churches, and learned of many more, and have never found one where all the people (or even some of the people all the time) were fully like this. It is rather the ideal which is in process and is coming. Indeed we must ask, when will we be like this, living in such total obedience to His will? And when will we fully know God? And the answer can only be, ‘in the new heaven and the new earth’. Thus, as always this is a prophecy which will be fulfilled in stages. (It will certainly not be fulfilled in the Millennium which, will according end up with almost everyone following Satan).
YHWH demonstrates the certainty of His actions regarding His people by comparing His activity on their behalf in terms of the giving of the sun as light during the day, and the giving of the moon and the stars to give light by night, and with His continual stirring up of the sea so that its waves roar. These were phenomena known to all as a regular and common occurrence. They were His ordinances, what He decreed. And it is only if these permanent and sure things fail that ‘the seed of Israel’ will cease to be a nation before Him. It will be certain because He has ordained it, and it will be certain because of His working.
But we should note here the phrase used, ‘the seed of Israel’. The point is not that the nation of Israel will survive in its present form, but that some of their seed will always be a nation before Him. And in the next passage we have a similar emphasis, when He guarantees that He will not cast off ‘all the seed of Israel’ (verse 37). Some will not be cast off (and therefore others will). Jesus Christ made quite clear that this new ‘nation’ would be composed of His Jewish followers and their converts (Matthew 21.43). While the true church, composed of all true believers, survives, then that seed of Israel and that new nation will continue (1 Peter 2.9), for they ARE the true Israel, the actual physical continuation of Israel as described in God’s terms.
Strangely some take these words as applying to the whole nation of physical Israel, but if they had so applied it could only signify that YHWH had failed in His promises. Nothing is more certain than that the people of Israel as a whole have not through time experienced this activity of YHWH. Otherwise how different history would have been. Some have experienced it, by a true heart response to God, and then to His Messiah, but they have always been in the minority. Nor need we look for a revival in modern Israel which will bring this about. There is no suggestion that He will do so. For such a revival has already taken place in Israel, and it took place in 1st century AD. Those were the ‘coming days’ in which this occurred. So to whom should we see it as applying? The answer can only be, ‘to the seed of Israel’, ‘the remnant of Israel whom He will bring to Himself’, the ‘holy seed’ of Isaiah 6.13, the ‘seed of Abraham’ (Galatians 3.29). And this remnant of Israel, who experienced precisely what is written here, were to be found in the Apostles who followed Jesus, and to those multitude of Jews who followed them to true faith in Christ. The 1st century AD was the time when it really came into fulfilment, and when Jews flocked to their Messiah as never before or since, forming a large Jewish church. They were the ones who responded to the new covenant offered by Jesus in Luke 22.20; 1 Corinthians 11.25. And it was in their hearts that He wrought His new work (Acts 13.48; 2 Corinthians 5.17; James 1.18; 1 Peter 1.3). They were His new ‘congregation’ of Israel (Matthew 16.18), His new nation (Matthew 21.43), the true Vine (John 15.1-6), His olive tree (Romans 11.17-28, compare Jeremiah 11.16).
They were not initially expecting a huge influx of Gentile converts into their midst, for who could have foreseen it (except, of course, God)? But this was quite in accord with Jewish ideas, and in accordance with the prophets (Isaiah 42.6) Indeed it had always been the case that all who truly responded to God, whether homegrown or foreign, could become a part of the covenant. It happened to the foreign servants of Abraham, it happened to the mixed multitude of Exodus 12.38 at Sinai, it happened to all who sought to become a part of Israel through the years (Exodus 12.48). Thus they all ‘became Israel’, and saw themselves as descendants of Abraham from then on. We too ‘become Israel’ when we respond to Christ and are circumcised with His circumcision made without hands (Colossians 2.11), and become descendants of Abraham (Galatians 3.29). Thus the Israel which God here guaranteed would continue ‘for ever’, is the true Israel of God (Galatians 6.16), the ‘Israel within Israel’, the ‘congregation of true believers’.
35 Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, and its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name):
Three things are cited as being given by YHWH which are constant and unchanging to such an extent that they could ‘always’ be relied upon; the giving of the sun for a light by day; the ordinances of the moon and stars by night; and the regular storminess of the seas. No one could ever have imagined their ceasing to occur. They were one of the few certainties of life. And they were all given by the One Whose Name was ‘YHWH of hosts’ (of the hosts of heaven and of the hosts of waves).
36 “If those ordinances depart from before Me, says the LORD, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.”
And the ceasing of ‘the seed of Israel’ from being a nation before Him was as impossible a thought as the cessation of the ordinances concerning sun, moon, stars and waves. And this was so on the certain and sure prophetic word of YHWH. The phrase ‘the seed of Israel’ carefully avoids suggesting that all Israel as a nation is in mind. It is rather stressing that some of Jacob/Israel’s seed will always be a nation acceptable in His sight (‘before Him). This is, of course, a necessary result of the promises made to the Patriarchs. And as we have seen it was fulfilled, and is still being fulfilled, in the fact that those who believe in Christ, forming His new, elect, holy nation (Matthew 21.43; 1 Peter 2.9), are either physically of the seed of Jacob/Israel, or spiritually so. This way of looking at things was no different from the inter-testament Israel, (or indeed the Israel of Sinai) large numbers of whom were not physically related to Jacob. Their ‘descent’ was due to their response to the covenant. And it is seen here to be a part of YHWH’s ongoing purposes, as much so as was the continuation of sun, moon, stars and waves
The suggestion that ‘not all the seed of Israel will be cut off’ was an indication that some would be. And in the circumstances in which Jeremiah found himself that was a certainty. That was why such severe judgment had come on the two nations. It was because they had been cut off from God’s mercy. The expectation was of a portion of Israel who would continue before God. In the words of Jesus, ‘fear not, little flock, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingly Rule’ (Luke 12.32). Here was the ‘new nation’ spoken of in Matthew 21.43. Its eventual fulfilment took place in the foundation and growth of the true congregation of believers in Jesus Christ.
37 Thus says the LORD: “If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says the LORD.
The likelihood of God failing in His promise to Jacob/Israel was as tiny as the likelihood that the Heavens could be measured, or the foundations of the earth searched out. Neither is remotely possible to man. Until that has happened we can be sure that some of the seed of Israel (although not necessarily the outward nation of Israel) will continue. For while many would be cast off, not all would be so. That casting off was declared by Jesus when He spoke of the ‘true Vine (John 15.1-6), ‘My congregation (of Israel)’ (Matthew 16.18) and a ‘new nation’ (Matthew 21.43); and in His forecasting of God’s judgment on the temple (Mark 13), and it was described by Paul in terms of the Israel within Israel (Romans 9.6), and the branches broken from the olive tree. But the physical seed continued in the Apostles and their followers, and hosts of converted Jewish Christians ‘world-wide’, and the spiritual seed continues in all Who are His.
The first thing that was to happen ‘in coming days’ was the restoration of YHWH’s people in the land, where they would be planted and built up (31.27-30). The second thing to happen was YHWH’s giving of a new law written in the heart, something which while we can experience it in part now awaits final fulfilment in the everlasting kingdom (31.31-34). The third is now described and it is the establishing of a new Jerusalem which is completely holy to YHWH. This prophecy too would find its gradual completion. It would be partly fulfilled in the days of Haggai, Zechariah and Nehemiah as a city and Temple were built which were dedicated to YHWH (with the result that it began to be seen as ‘the holy city’ - Nehemiah 11.1, 18; Isaiah 52.1; Daniel 9.24). It will be even more fully fulfilled in YHWH’s new Temple on earth consisting of His people (2 Corinthians 6.16-18), and His new Temple in Heaven to which His earthly people continue to look as they come to Him in prayer (Hebrews 10.19-25), which are both part of the new Jerusalem in Heaven (Galatians 4.22-30; Hebrews 12.22), and it will find its final fulfilment in the new Jerusalem which consists of those who enter His everlasting kingdom to dwell in the very presence of God forever. It is only this last Jerusalem that can be wholly pure and last forever (Revelation 21.1-22.5). The detailed description, apart from the full purification of the Valley of Hinnom which remained as a rubbish dump, may mainly have in mind the initial restoration of Jerusalem, and is described in 6th century BC terms, but the final concept has in mind the eternal future.
Sitting here in the twenty first century we look back over a long period of history since Jeremiah’s day, and try to fit his prophecy into what has happened since. But that was not Jeremiah’s aim or insight. He was not trying to give a detailed description of the future of Jerusalem as such. He was trying to provide assurance to the people of the future rebuilding of Jerusalem (something which in the event would happen a number of times), but in the end picturing an ideal Jerusalem where God would dwell with His people in total perfection, expressed by him in terms of the purifying of the ‘uncleanness’ part of the Jerusalem area which had the vilest of reputations. One day, he was saying, there would be the perfect setting for the people of God, a setting which would be free of any kind of ‘uncleanness’. And in vision he, as it were, sees its rebuilding.
38 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that the city shall be built for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 The surveyor’s line shall again extend straight forward over the hill Gareb; then it shall turn toward Goath. 40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the LORD. It shall not be plucked up or thrown down anymore forever.”
But in the initial physical phase it was to be built according to precise specifications, and it is quite clear that in vision Jeremiah sees a new Jerusalem arising out of the ashes of the old, based mainly on what he knows of that city. Initially it was to be very much a city on earth. Thus he ‘sees’ the rebuilding as commencing at the Tower of Hananel, a tower in the north wall of the city (Nehemiah 3.1) and moving on from there to the Corner Gate at the north-west corner. Then he ‘watches’ as the measuring line goes on to the hill Garob, presumably on the westward side, from the Corner Gate. The hill Garob (the lepers’ hill. The idea of incorporation of the leper area into the new Jerusalem is significant. All will be made holy. He ‘saw’ it then ‘turnabout unto Goah’, ‘the pool of the heifers’ but presumably indicating south-westward, leading on to the area of the Valley of Hinnom to the south-east, and the horse gate in the south east corner. The east would be determined by the Kidron valley. Jeremiah’s description of ‘the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the sacrificial ashes, and all the countryside (fields) to the brook Kidron, to the corner of the horse gate toward the east’, brings out the significance of what is happening. All the unclean parts were to be cleansed and incorporated within the city, and the whole was to be ‘holy to YHWH’. The valley described was the site which was the epitome of ‘uncleanness’ (which was where the bodies of children sacrificed to Moloch were buried). It has already been vividly described as an area of judgment and was also where the city rubbish dump was found. But he ‘saw’ all this area as now having been purified. Indeed he ‘saw’ the whole new city as an ‘ideal city’, made holy to YHWH for ever.
The ‘coming days’ will thus result in the rebuilding and replanting of His people; will for these same people have the consequence of a new obedient heart within; and will result in the final perfect state of total holiness to YHWH in the new Jerusalem, which will occur in the new Heaven and the new earth.
