Jeremiah 31:35 - Meaning and Application

Wonderful things have been promised in the verses just before this about the gospel church, the church of Christ, to which the Jewish church after the exile would at last give way. All those promises will find their full and final fulfillment there. But can we trust these promises? Yes. Here they are confirmed, and we are given the strongest possible assurance that the blessings in them will last.

The main truth secured here is this: as long as the world stands, God will have a church in it. The church may sometimes be brought very low, but it will rise again, and its place will be restored. It is built on a rock, and the gates of hell will not defeat it. To strengthen our faith, God points us to two great facts, the making of the world and the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

First, the making of the world, and the firmness and lasting order of it, show the power and faithfulness of the God who has taken responsibility for establishing his church. He who made all things at the beginning is God (Hebrews 3:4), and he is still the one who keeps all things in order now. The steady glory of the natural world should encourage us to trust God’s promise that the glory of grace will continue too, because that promise is as sure as the waters of Noah (Isaiah 54:9).

Look at the glories of nature, and see how happy those are who have this God, the God of nature, as their God forever. Notice the steady and regular movement of the heavenly bodies. God is the first mover and highest ruler of them. He gives the sun as light by day (Jeremiah 31:35). He not only made it that way at first, but still keeps it that way. The sun’s light, heat, and all its influence keep depending on its Creator. He gives the fixed laws of the moon and stars for light by night. Their movements are called ordinances because they are regular and ordered, and because they are arranged under God’s rule. See Job 38:31-33.

Notice also how God governs the sea and checks its proud waves. The Lord of hosts divides the sea, or, as some read it, settles the sea when its waves roar. He rules it and keeps it under control. When it is most restless, God holds it within limits (Jeremiah 5:22), and soon makes it calm again. We should praise God not only for keeping the heavens in their regular course, but also for restraining the sea when it moves wildly.

Notice the vastness of the heavens and the endless spread of the sky. He must be a great God who rules over such a great world. The heavens above cannot be measured (Jeremiah 31:37), yet God fills them.

Notice too the mystery of the part of creation where we live and know best. The foundations of the earth cannot be searched out beneath, because the Creator hangs the earth on nothing (Job 26:7). We do not know how its foundations are fixed (Job 38:6).

Notice finally how firm and unmovable all these things are (Jeremiah 31:36). These orders cannot pass away from before God. He keeps all the hosts of heaven and earth always in view, along with all their movements. He has established them, and they remain, because they are all his servants (Psalm 119:90, Psalm 119:91). The heavens are often covered with clouds, and the sun and moon are often darkened. The earth may shake, and the sea may be stirred up. Yet they all keep their place. They are moved, but not removed. In all this we must recognize the power, goodness, and faithfulness of the Creator.

From this we can also be sure of the blessings of the kingdom of grace. We may be fully confident that the seed of Israel will not stop being a nation, for spiritual Israel, the gospel church, will be a holy nation, a special people (1 Peter 2:9). When Israel according to the flesh is no longer a nation, the children of promise are counted as the true seed (Romans 9:8). God will not cast off all the seed of Israel, not even for all they have done, though they have done very wickedly (Jeremiah 31:37). He would be right to cast them off, but he will not. Though he cast them out of their land and brought them low for a time, he will not cast them away forever. He does cast off some, but not all. Paul seems to point to this when he asks, “Has God cast away his people?” and answers, “God forbid” (Romans 11:1). At that very time, there is still a remnant, enough to keep the promise true that God will not cast off all the seed of Israel, even though many destroy themselves by unbelief.

This faith can be helped by a few clear thoughts. First, the God who has taken charge of preserving the church is almighty. He upholds all things by his powerful word. Our help is in his name, who made heaven and earth, and therefore can do anything. Second, God would not take such care of the world unless he meant to gain glory from it. And how would he do that except by securing a church for himself in it, a people who will be to him for a name and a praise? Third, if the order of creation still stands because it was well fixed at the beginning and needs no change, then the way of grace will continue just as steadily, because it was also wisely established at the start. Fourth, the one who has promised to preserve a church for himself has already shown himself faithful to the word he spoke about the stability of the world. He who was true to his covenant with Noah and his sons, because he made it an everlasting covenant (Genesis 9:9, Genesis 9:16), will certainly not be false to his covenant with Abraham and his seed, that is, his spiritual seed, for that too is an everlasting covenant. Even what they have done wrong, though they have done much, will not overturn the gracious purpose of that covenant. See Psalm 89:30 and following.

Second, the rebuilding of Jerusalem, which was then in ruins, and its enlargement and strengthening, would be a pledge of these greater things God would do for the gospel church, the heavenly Jerusalem (Jeremiah 31:38-40). The days will come, though they may take a long time to arrive, when Jerusalem will be rebuilt completely and will be as large as before. Its borders are described here by the places through which its outer line would run. Nehemiah’s wall, which began near the tower of Hananeel, mentioned here (Nehemiah 3:1), was no doubt built to cover the ground meant in this prophecy, though we cannot be sure about every place named here, like the gate of the corner and the hill Gareb.

When Jerusalem is rebuilt, it will be set apart for God and his service. It will be built for the Lord (Jeremiah 31:38), and even the open spaces and nearby fields will be holy to the Lord.

It will no longer be defiled by idols as it was before. Instead, God will be praised and honored there. The whole city will be like one temple, one holy place, just as the new Jerusalem is, which has no temple because the whole city is a temple.

Built by the promise of God, it will not be pulled up or torn down ever again. That is, it will last a very long time. The new city, from the return from exile to its final destruction, lasted about as long as the old city lasted from David’s time to the captivity. But this promise is fulfilled fully in the gospel church.

The gospel church is the spiritual Israel, so God will not cast it off. It is also the holy city, so all human power cannot pull it up or tear it down. It may lie in ruins for a time, as Jerusalem did, but it will recover, survive the storm, and succeed in God’s purpose. The gates of hell will not prevail against it.