Week 11: Written on the Heart (Jeremiah 31:31–34 with Ezekiel 36:24–28)

The Big Idea

Israel has broken the covenant over and over, and now they are losing everything. Into that darkness, God promises a new covenant. He will write his law on their hearts, give them a new heart and his own Spirit, forgive their sin, and remember it no more. The problem was never God's faithfulness. It was the human heart, and God promises to fix that from the inside.

Before You Read

Jeremiah prophesied in Jerusalem in the years leading up to its destruction by Babylon (about 587–586 BC). Ezekiel was a priest carried off to Babylon in an earlier wave of exiles; he prophesied there. Both men watched the covenant people face the very curses the covenant had warned about. The temple was burned, the king was taken away, and the land was lost. Yet both prophets also spoke astonishing hope. Ezekiel 16 is a painful chapter describing Israel as an unfaithful wife, but it ends (vv. 59–63) with God saying he will remember his covenant and establish an everlasting one, even though Israel broke theirs. God keeps covenant from his side when his people have not kept it from theirs.

Read

Read Jeremiah 31:31–34 and Ezekiel 36:24–28 slowly, twice, once aloud. Then read Ezekiel 16:59–63. Listen for every "I will."

Observe

1. In Jeremiah 31:31, what does God say is coming? With whom will it be made?
2. According to verse 32, what will this new covenant not be like? What happened to the old one, and who broke it?
3. What image does God use for his relationship with Israel in verse 32?
4. In verse 33, where will God put his law? What relationship does he promise?
5. In verse 34, what will no longer be necessary, and why? Who will know the LORD?
6. What two things does God promise to do with sin at the end of verse 34?
7. In Ezekiel 36:24–28, list every "I will." What does God take away, and what does he give?
8. In Ezekiel 16:59–63, what has Israel done, and yet what does God say he will remember and establish?

A Word to Notice

Zakar (zah-KAR), to remember, shows up here in two surprising directions. In Ezekiel 16:60, God says he will remember his covenant, even though Israel despised the oath and broke it. As we saw in Week 4, God's remembering means acting on a commitment he has already made. But in Jeremiah 31:34, God says he will remember their sin no more. God does not suffer memory loss. Rather, he chooses not to act on their sins, not to hold them against his people. The same covenant God who remembers his promise refuses to remember their guilt. That is the heart of the new covenant: a God who holds fast to his word and lets go of our record.

Interpret

1. Jeremiah says the old covenant was broken even though God was a husband to his people. Why does God use marriage language? What does that tell us about how he experienced Israel's unfaithfulness?Consider: Covenant is not a cold legal arrangement. God speaks as a faithful husband betrayed. Israel's sin was not just rule-breaking; it was relational unfaithfulness. That makes his promise of a new covenant even more remarkable.

2. The law was written on stone tablets at Sinai. What changes when God writes his law on the heart?Consider: God's standards don't disappear. What changes is where they live. Instead of an outside rule people fail to keep, God's will becomes the desire of a renewed heart. Ezekiel adds that God's own Spirit will cause his people to walk in his ways.

3. Why would everyone knowing the LORD, from the least to the greatest, be a mark of the new covenant?Consider: In the Old Testament, prophets, priests, and kings had special roles in knowing and mediating God. The new covenant promises a personal, relational knowing of God for every one of his people, not just the leaders.

4. In Ezekiel 36, God gives a new heart and his Spirit. Why are both needed?Consider: A new heart replaces what was hard and dead. God's Spirit lives within to empower that heart to follow him. The new covenant is God doing on the inside what the old covenant could command but could not create.

5. Cross-reference: Look back at Deuteronomy 30:6 (from Week 3). How does that verse foreshadow what Jeremiah and Ezekiel promise here? Then read Hebrews 10:15–18. How does Hebrews apply Jeremiah 31?Consider: Moses already promised that God would circumcise the hearts of his people. Jeremiah and Ezekiel describe how. Hebrews quotes Jeremiah 31 to show that in Christ, sins are truly forgiven and no further sacrifice is needed. (How exactly these promises to Israel relate to the church is something Bible-believing Christians discuss carefully; this study does not try to settle that question.)

Apply: Let the Text Read You

• God says the problem was never his faithfulness, but the heart. Do you see your own heart as something God needs to change, or something you need to try harder with? What's the difference?
• God refuses to remember the sins of his covenant people. Are there sins God has forgiven that you keep remembering, rehearsing, or punishing yourself for?
• God promises his people will know him personally. Do you know God, or mostly know about him? What would help you know him more?
• Is your obedience to God more like keeping rules written on stone, or like living from a heart he has changed? Be honest. Where are you hard, and where are you soft?

Pray

LORD, I need more than rules. I need a new heart. Take away what is stone in me and give me a heart of flesh. Put your Spirit within me and write your ways on my heart. Thank you for remembering your covenant and for choosing not to remember my sin. Amen.

For Groups (optional)

• Discussion starter: Think of a time someone chose not to hold your mistake against you. What did that do to your relationship?
• Some in your group may struggle to believe they are fully forgiven. Spend time on Apply question 2 and read Psalm 103:10–12 together.
• If your church celebrates the Lord's Supper soon, point out that next week's passage brings this promise to the table.

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Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.