What is the New Covenant “Law” in Jeremiah 31:33? Femi Adeyemi

What is the New Covenant “Law” in Jeremiah 31:33? _{Femi Adeyemi}

Some biblical scholars have regarded the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31–34 as one of the most profound and captivating verses at the highest point of the Old Testament Scriptures, due to the nature of the promises. The predominant promises are inclusion of (a) genuine spirituality (“I will put My Law within them, and on their heart I will write it”), (b) intimate fellowship between Israel and Yahweh (“I will be their God, and they shall be My people”), (c) universal knowledge of God on the part of Israel (“they will all know Me”), and (d) absolute forgiveness of sin (“I will forgive their iniquity”) (312).

The richness of the text also indicates its predominance over any previous prophetic predictions. Due to the nature of the promises, Stewart claims that the covenant possesses unique features, distinguishing it as a one-of-a-kind agreement. In his own words, “It is the high-water mark of the Old Testament and the supreme achievement of Hebrew religion” (313). I could not have said it any better than this. The covenant also shows how God is going to confront Israel in the near context on account of his covenant relationship with Israelites in salvation history.

The New Covenant in Jeremiah does not seem to be a unique prophecy for some scholars. Despite this, these scholars argue that each feature of the New Covenant was already present in the Mosaic Covenant. Therefore, they represent a renewed form of the Mosaic Covenant, which Kaiser argues should be referred to as a “renewed covenant.”

The varying references from the Old and New Testaments to the New Covenant Law have widened the gap in our understanding of the text. The author of this journal is simply addressing the relationship of the New Covenant to Israel and not its relationship to church-age believers. To understand Jeremiah’s perspective in the text, it is important to emphasize the diverse application of the Law. Are the references to “Law” here indicating the Pentateuch legislation, the Ten Commandments, or the Deuteronomic Law as a whole? Alternatively, is the text advocating for a New Torah that transcends and invalidates the old Torah, or does it propose a combination of both the old and new laws?

John Calvin holds a view regarding the New Covenant Torah (Law) that is embraced by most covenant theologians after him: the “newness” he previously mentioned pertains only to the form, not the substance.¹ God provides no hint of another Law; it is the same Law, but only differs in form.

But this is not the case for all theologians. Although von Rod agrees with Calvin and advocates that Jeremiah never quashed in whole or in part what God revealed at Sinai, others believe that the New Covenant is the termination of the Old Covenant as a result of the miserable failure of Israel to comply with the covenant made at Sinai. Therefore, they argue that God could not have envisioned the same failing old covenant with his people. Bennett affirms that Jehovah will rule by the influence of His Spirit in the hearts of men. He will engrave and instill His divine Law in the hearts of people. Thus, the New Covenant differs in context from the Mosaic and Sinaitic Covenants, and it annuls the notion of a “renewed covenant.”

Moreover, the New Covenant in Jeremiah is the “new” or “fresh” covenant, which cannot be overlooked. As a new covenant, it is not a continuation of the Mosaic Covenant. In other words, the New Covenant Law is in contrast to the Mosaic Covenant and “not in continuum with it” (320). For this reason, it voids certain instructions of the Mosaic Covenant in light of the perfect forgiveness of sin. Significantly, Jeremiah refers to fresh commandments from God rather than referring to the Mosaic Law. And this New Covenant Law will be obeyed completely, and the Old Covenant will be abolished. Thus, the New Covenant Law will guide the Israelites in the future millennial age.

Yet, from my vantage point, the journal raises numerous questions that require answers. And it is also understandable that this kind of short journal cannot cover the whole doctrinal debate. Still, the exploration of the journal review reveals the context behind the meaning of the New Covenant Law. The author has done such a critical analysis of the text in Hebrew and Greek to bring forth the proper interpretation of the text. The suspicion of whether Jeremiah 31 was addressing the Mosaic Covenant or the Sinaitic Covenant is no longer lingering in confusion.

There were, however, some Hebrew and Greek words used in the journal, which will make readers somewhat disappointed. The author’s targeted readers seem to be only the Biblical scholars and students of biblical studies who are proficient in the biblical languages. There are many places where the author has used those foreign alphabets. If he had used the English transliteration of the Greek or Hebrew words in parentheses, a layman as well as Christians in general would benefit from this journal.

Works Cited

Adeyemi, Femi. “What is the new covenant “law” in Jeremiah 31:33?” Bibliotheca sacra 163.651 (2006): 312-321. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials. EBSCO. Web. 2 Feb. 2009.

Footnotes:

1. John Calvin, Commentaries on the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah and Lamentations, vol. 4, trans. John Owen (Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1850; reprint, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1950), 4:131-32 (italics his); and idem, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. Ford Lewis Battles (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1971), 2.10.2. ↩︎