Jeremiah 31:31-34 - In our Old Testament lesson, God promises a new covenant of forgiveness. Here is a corrective to Ecclesiastes, which says there is nothing new. God makes a new covenant. Note that man has nothing to do with it. God has the idea and He proposes the new covenant. This is evidence of God’s grace in giving His people another chance to be His people. What is new about it? It is new in that the covenant will be made with the individual rather than with the nation as a whole. It is new in that each will instinctively know God rather than learning of God through teaching.
God calls Himself a husband of His people. It infers a marriage between God and His people. This is the meaning of covenant. It is a personal connection between God and His people. Like a marriage, they belong to each other and enjoy a oneness in love and loyalty. It is expressed in God’s words, “I will be their God and they will be my people.” Sin breaks the marriage relationship for sin is disloyalty to God. Thus, it was necessary to have a new covenant.
In the scriptures knowledge is more than cognition, as one would know a fact. To know God is to enter an association with Him in a covenant. Thus, one cannot be taught to know God. It is an act of commitment and an entering into union with God. Thus, everyone will instinctively know God
For blessing on the Word – Lord God,
bless Your Word wherever it is proclaimed. Make it a word of power and peace to
convert those not yet Your own and to confirm those who have come to saving
faith. May Your Word pass from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip,
and from the lip to the life that, as You have promised, Your Word may achieve
the purpose for which You send it; through Jesus Christ, my Lord.[1]
[1] Collect for blessing on the Word, Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis
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