A New Deal

I cherish this part of God’s character and plan. 

In the book of Jeremiah, God has been pouring out his wrath on the Israelites for not honoring him.  It was a hard job for Jeremiah who was tasked to be a prophet on God’s behalf to tell the people that destruction and judgment were coming. 

In the middle of all of this seeming negativity, God says in Jeremiah 31:31-34 that he will make a new covenant with his people.  He states in verse 33 that he “will put his law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”  In the end of verse 34, he says, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”  This new covenant promise is something!  -Something different than the old covenant where God established the Law, which the people broke.  This time, he is going to write in on hearts.

In Ezekiel, he speaks of the same thing.  He says starting in chapter 36 verse 25, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.  And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.  And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.  You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.  And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses.  And I will summon grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you.  I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.”

There are several amazing things found here.  To me, it seems perfectly appropriate for an eternal, holy, all powerful God to hold all humanity accountable for not keeping His Law from the beginning.  We don’t deserve a new covenant.  We don’t deserve His writing anything on our hearts or causing us to walk in His statutes.  By making this promise ( not an offer ), he graciously provides another way for those of us who live under this new covenant.  What a debt we are in!  What love is this?  How do we serve such a gracious and merciful Being?

What about guaranteeing food, and not just food, but the abundance of it?  Fruit will grow on trees for His people?  He isn’t just going to create life in you, but He promises to provide for you so that you will be taken care of.  It seems to me that He really doesn’t have to do this.  Couldn’t He create spiritual life, and then let us strive after grain, and fruits?  That would still be a kind act from a loving God.  Our God doesn’t just love, he greatly loves His people.

Third, the language used is:  I will, I will, I will, I will.  There is no part of either passage indicating an offer or something that might happen.  He is stating a fact that something is going to happen, and He is going to see it through.  Verse 36 of the Ezekiel passage ends with, “I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which as desolate.  I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it.”

I am floored by His kindness, compassion, and desire to make these things happen for His people.  If these things were left to us, we would selfishly choose our own way (Romans 3:11).  It reminds me of 1 Samuel when the Israelites are begging God for a King to be like other nations, and Samuel rebukes them, and asks how they could do this great wickedness, and sin against God.  In chapter 12, the LORD sends thunder and rain, and the people admit their sin.  Samuel responds with: “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil.”

WHAT??

Shouldn’t we be terrified after doing evil?  Shouldn’t we be cast aside after the Old Covenant is broken by us?  Why should the Israelites not have feared God after their sin, and why is their a new covenant for us?

The answer is in verse 22 of Ezekiel 36.  Before all of these verses, and before any man chose anything, God’s plan was in motion.  Verse 22 says, “Thus says the Lord God, It is not for your sake O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name which you have profaned among the nations where you went.  I will vindicate the holiness of My great name…”  He is seeking to bring glory to His name through the salvation of His people.

May we do what we do every day for the same reason that God shows his gracious hand towards us:  To the glory of His great name.