This morning I had a delightful time in Jeremiah 31 being reminded not only of God's faithfulness, but also of his unconditional, unilateral and unchangeable covenant with the nation of Israel.Jeremiah 31:35-37 35 Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name: 36 "If this fixed order departs From before Me," declares the LORD, "Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever." 37 Thus says the LORD, "If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For all that they have done," declares the LORD.
I firmly am convinced, most wholeheartedly, that God's covenant that He made with Abraham was not bilateral - that is, that both parties agreed to enter into the covenant. Rather, Genesis 12 is clear (at least, to me) that it was God who made the covenant with Abraham (Gen 15 even speaks of it happening while Abraham was in a deep sleep)...
Genesis 12:2-3 2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."
Genesis 15:12-13, 18 12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years ... On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:
I find great hope in verses such as these for a number of reasons:
1) It reveals to me God's unchanging and unfailing faithfulness. He will never (and can never) break his promises. He is a faithful God (Deut 7:9).
2) It reveals to me God's plan is still in effect for national, ethnic, Jewish Israel. There is no way around it. I have never heard a satisfactory response by those that hold to supercessionism (that is, that the church replaced Israel and is now the new Israel) to the crystal clear passage (at least, to me) in Jeremiah 31:35ff.
3) It reveals to me God's desire for me to continue to aggressively share the gospel with everyone - including the Jewish people. For God still has a great number of these precious people who will one day acknowledge Him as Messiah.
