¹⁰ “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

Relying heavily on quotations from the Old Testament, the writer of Hebrews (both here and in the previous verse) quotes Jeremiah 31:32-33. A good understanding of the entire book of Jeremiah is helpful. In brief, Jeremiah is called the “Weeping Prophet,” and for good reason. Filled with emotion, he writes passionately concerning Israel’s apostasy and warns of God’s impending judgment. The northern kingdom (properly called “Israel”) had already fallen, and it was only a matter of time before the southern kingdom (called “Judah”) fell also. (You will remember that the kingdom of Israel had divided during the reign of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam – 1 Kings 12). The die was cast and Babylon was soon to take God’s people into captivity. Jeremiah prophesied both before the captivity, and also during the captivity. So he saw up close the results of Israel’s unfaithfulness.

In the midst of those unfortunate and tumultuous times, Jeremiah received the prophecy now quoted in Hebrews. It was good news, for the future. A message of hope in the midst of complete defeat and disconsolation. God would someday make a new covenant with His people. They failed that original one, given at Mt. Sinai, the Law of Moses. But the new one would not be one that they could fail at – because it would be an unconditional one.

This new covenant, as Jeremiah conveyed it, was unilateral in that everything was on God’s side. This is like the covenant with Abraham that likewise was unilateral in Genesis 15, where God promised a son and that the blessing promised him would pass to that son. The promise of blessing came before the Law of Moses, and this new covenant comes after the Law of Moses.

Now we know from other Scripture that the new covenant would become fully effective at the set up of a new kingdom, beginning with the second coming of Christ. That new kingdom period we call the millennial reign of Christ (see Rev 20:2, 7). While the universal knowledge of God (in the next verse – Jer 31:34) for the nation of Israel awaits that time, believers now individually have His law stamped on our hearts and minds—that is how the writer of Hebrews applies this verse. We know instinctively and more acutely God’s will and desires for us. It is etched in our spiritual DNA, implying a new birth. We now have confidence that we are His and He is ours.

Lord, thank You for changing me on the inside, so my desires now line up with Yours. I am a new, changed person from who I once was, all because of You.