“For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Isra’el after those days,” says Adonai: “I will put my Torah within them and write it on their hearts; I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Jeremiah 31:32(33)
I heard a loud voice from the throne say, “See! God’s Sh’khinah is with mankind, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and he himself, God-with-them, will be their God.” Revelation 21:3
Three words came to me as I read Jeremiah 31: return, repentance, relationship. This chapter continues the message from Chapter 32 that Jeremiah was to pen down on a scroll about the reversal of Israel’s exile. One of the most beautiful verses in the Bible, in my opinion, is found within Jeremiah’s words to the exiles. From a distance Adonai appeared to me, [saying,] “I love you with an everlasting love; this is why in my grace I draw you to me.” Jeremiah 31:2(3) When I was most distant from Him, He still loved me with that everlasting love. When I returned and repented, it was through is grace I was drawn to Him. In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he said, “Or perhaps you despise the riches of his kindness, forbearance, and patience; because you don’t realize that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to turn from your sins.” Romans 2:4 I am so thankful that Adonai is a God of kindness, patience, and long-suffering and that He extends that to me each day. Before his death, Joshua told the Children of Israel, “Therefore fear Adonai, and serve him truly and sincerely. Put away the gods your ancestors served beyond the [Euphrates] River and in Egypt and serve Adonai! If it seems bad to you to serve Adonai, then choose today whom you are going to serve! Will it be the gods your ancestors served beyond the River? Or the gods of the Emori, in whose land you are living? As for me and my household, we will serve Adonai!” Joshua 24:14-15 Drawing near to Adonai and serving Him is a choice that we must make very day. When you wake up in the morning, do you choose to serve Him or the gods of this world? Do you submit your will to Him, or walk in the flesh and your own will? Each day is the day of salvation, each day is new in Him, each morning He will awaken us to great and mighty things if we draw near to Him.
Return
They will come weeping and praying as I bring them back. I will lead them by streams of water on smooth paths, so that they won’t stumble. For I am a father to Isra’el, and Efrayim is my firstborn son.” Jeremiah 31:8(9)
The first line of this verse is specific to my own life, as I have shed more tears at the feet of Yeshua this year than I think I ever have in my life. Each time I turn on praise and worship music and sing praises to Him, I cry. I can’t make it through a single song without crying. Each time I spend time in prayer, pouring out my heart or just spending time in His presence, I cry. Each time I watch The Chosen, I cry at some point during each episode. There are times as I am writing, I cannot see the screen of my laptop due to the tears. When He brought me back to Him, and as He brings me back to Him each morning, it is with weeping and praying because for the first time I have this overwhelming knowing in my spirit how much greater He is than I ever realized. He is so much holier and righteous than I can imagine. He is so wonderful and precious, and He LOVES ME! How can the king of universe love me on an individual basis? Think about how much space is out in space, stars and galaxies, universes, and planets. How HUGE is that and how small am I, and He loves me with that everlasting love. It’s unfathomable, it’s humbling, and I want my heart to ever be broken and loving before Him. The next line brings to mind some very specific verses from the Psalms.
He has made me lie down in grassy pastures; he leads me by quiet water. Psalm 23:2
Your word is a lamp for my foot and light on my path. Psalm 119:105
My help comes from Adonai, the maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip – your guardian is not asleep. No, the guardian of Isra’el never slumbers or sleeps. Psalm 121:2-4
How beautiful to know that the King of Glory, who never sleeps leads us by quiet waters. Not raging, frothing waters that are dangerous, but still waters in which we can quench our thirst. That His word lights up that path making it smooth, showing us the way to walk and the direction to go so that we do not get off course, caught up in brambles and thorns. That He watches over us, never sleeping so that we will not stumble or slip. As someone who loves to hike, the visuals provided here are overwhelming. We have crossed streams that have rushing water as well as quiet, still water and of course the quiet waters are easier to cross. We have been on many paths that we have ventured off to find a geocache or to make an “easier” cut through and I cannot say how many cacti, thorns, brambles, thick weeds and more that we have struggled through. We have been caught by nightfall before getting off a trail and have tripped on many tree roots and rocks as we tried to make our way down the path. It is the same with our walk in Him. When we venture off the path, try to cross where the water is rushing, or walk the path in the dark without His light, we will stumble, we will fall, we can be scraped by the thorns the enemy has laid to ensnare us. But when remember that Yeshua is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, that He is the Light of the world, that He is the Living Water, and we choose to follow Him, to walk the path He has set before us and drink of His waters, that rivers of living water will flow from us, bringing life to every area of our lives.
Repentance
[17(18)] “I hear Efrayim bemoaning himself: ‘You disciplined me, and I took your discipline like a young ox not used to a yoke. Let me return, and I will return, for you are Adonai, my God. [18(19)] Yes, I turned away; but later I repented. When I had been made to understand, I struck my thigh in shame and remorse, bearing the weight of the disgrace acquired when I was young.’” Jeremiah 31:17(18)-18(19)
Thinking about repentance took me back to an earlier blog post, a word study on the word Dwell (Yashab), in the Tabernacles collection. “In its original spelling, shin and bet spell the word shoov, which means repent or return. Shin again is teeth or consume, and Bet a house, so when we put these images of what the letters mean together, we find this word means ‘destroy the house’ or ‘leave nothing behind’. I was taught repent means to turn around and go the other way. However, when we look at what the Hebrew says about it, it is more than going the opposite direction. It means to destroy the old house we lived in, along with everything in it. I pictured in my mind a house catching on fire and everything within consumed. With the old house destroyed, I cannot go back to it because it no longer exists.”
Repentance is one of those words that we really don’t like to talk about. We like to hide it in the corner and make ourselves believe that we okay, that when we prayed the sinner’s prayer repentance was something that we wouldn’t have to deal with again. The only problem is, if we still fall into sin after salvation, repentance had better be a part of our lives continually. [8] If we claim not to have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [9] If we acknowledge our sins, then since he is trustworthy and just, he will forgive them and purify us from all wrongdoing. [10] If we claim we have not been sinning, we are making him out to be a liar, and his Word is not in us. 1 John 1:8-10 Repentance is a vital part of our walk. In Acts chapter 3, Peter said, [19] “Therefore, repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be erased; [20] so that times of refreshing may come from the Lord’s presence; and he may send the Messiah appointed in advance for you, that is, Yeshua.” Acts 3:19-20 We have an incredible promise for when we are tempted to sin. “No temptation has seized you beyond what people normally experience, and God can be trusted not to allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear. On the contrary, along with the temptation he will also provide the way out, so that you will be able to endure.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 The battle against temptation and sin is a spiritual one and it is through Yeshua that we have the victory. [3] For although we do live in the world, we do not wage war in a worldly way; [4] because the weapons we use to wage war are not worldly. On the contrary, they have God’s power for demolishing strongholds. We demolish arguments [5] and every arrogance that raises itself up against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey the Messiah. [6] And when you have become completely obedient, then we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-6
Like the words in Jeremiah, “When I had been made to understand, I struck my thigh in shame and remorse, bearing the weight of the disgrace acquired when I was young.”, I feel that shame and regret, I feel that remorse for allowing myself to fall into the temptation and sin rather than using the spiritual weapons He has provided.
Relationship
[32(33)] “For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Isra’el after those days,” says Adonai: “I will put my Torah within them and write it on their hearts; I will be their God and they will be my people. [33(34)] No longer will any of them teach his fellow community member or his brother, ‘Know Adonai’; for all will know me, from the least of them to the greatest; because I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more.” Jeremiah 31:32(33)-33(34)
The Hebrew word of covenant is beriyth (ber-eeth). According to the Brown Driver Briggs Lexicon, in verse 32(33) its meaning is an alliance of friendship or a divine constitution or ordinance with signs or pledges. When we break down the letters themselves, we can take this word to an even deeper more personal meaning. Beriyth is spelled ברית. (Bet, Reysh, Yud, Tav) Bet and Reysh spell the word “bar” which means son, pure, and capable. According to Hebrew grammar rules, if the letter Yud is added as a suffix at the end of word, it becomes the possessive suffix that means “my or belonging to.” Combining the word “bar” with Yud makes the word bar-tee meaning “my son”. ברי (Bet, Reysh, Yud) The final letter Tav means a sign, mark, or cross. Spelled out, it is Tav and Vav תו. Vav is symbolized by the nail. When we put the meanings of these letters together, it means “the covenant established or the Cross and Nail”.
Bar = Son, pure, capable. Ee (Yud) = My. Tav = sign, Cross
Putting these meanings together, we see that covenant literally translates to “The Sign (Cross) of My Son”. (Letter meaning information from Hebrew Word Pictures by Dr. Frank T Seekins)
As Hebrew letters are also numbers, we can go even deeper still. Covenant has a numerical value of 612. Another phrase that equals 612 and ties directly to the line I will put my Torah within them and write it on their hearts is “the highways in their hearts”. Psalm 16:11 reads, “You make me know the path of life. In your presence is unbounded joy, in your right-hand eternal delight.” Yeshua, the Way (path or highway), the Truth (the Word or Torah) the Life (salvation through covenant). It all comes down to Him and is all about Him. Another word with the value of 612 is “wells”. Isaiah talked about the wells of yeshua (salvation) when he said, [2] “See! God is my salvation. I am confident and unafraid; for Yah Adonai is my strength and song, and he has become my salvation!” [3] Then you will joyfully draw water from the springs of Yeshua (salvation).” Isaiah 12:2-3 When we fast-forward from Isaiah to the book of John, we find Yeshua on the final day of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) at the water drawing ceremony stand and say, “If anyone is thirsty, let him keep coming to me and drinking! Whoever puts his trust in me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from his inmost being!” John 7:37-38 When you are in a relationship with someone, you don’t spend just one day with them, but you invest your time in them, you get to know them and let them know you. You cultivate that relationship by sowing into it. Our relationship with Yeshua is the same, and this is made clear with the words, “let him keep coming to me and drinking”. He wants to spend time with us every day. He wants to have a close relationship with us, and when we think about the price He paid to be able to have that type of a relationship with us, how could we not want to spend time with Him in that everlasting love. From a distance, while hanging on a cross, He said to each of us, “I love you with an everlasting love; this is why in my grace I draw you to me.” What an amazing love that reached across the spans of time to save us. To know that He called each of us by name and that we are His. There is no greater love than the love of Yeshua, there is no other name by which we can be saved. Return, repent, and embrace that relationship that He wants to have with you. It is personal, it is wonderful, it is amazing love coupled with amazing grace.
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