Old Testament Commentary - Jeremiah 31

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 31 In the last days, Israel shall be gathered—Ephraim has the birthright as the firstborn—The Lord will make a new covenant with them, to be inscribed in the heart— Them shall they all know the Lord.	In the last days, Jesus Ephraim shall gather Israel by the order of his power and priesthood and by and in those who are his brethren of Ephraim—It is Ephraim who has the birthright as the firstborn and it is the Firstborn of God who is of Ephraim and thus in compliance of all righteousness of that birthright— The Lord Jesus of Ephraim will make a new covenant with those who are of Ephraim in the restoration of all things, to be inscribed in the heart—Then Ephraim shall come to know the Lord their God.	*Ephraim My Firstborn*
1 AT the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the ^afamilies of Israel, and they shall be my people. 2 Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. 3 The LORD hath appeared ^aof old unto me, saying, Yea, I have ^bloved thee with an everlasting ^clove: therefore with lovingkindness have I ^ddrawn thee.		4^a Moses 3:4-5; Abr. 5:4-5 ^b TG Jesus Christ—Jehovah 5^a TG Nature, Earth ^b TG Spirit Creation ^c TG Creation ^d TG Man, Physical Creation of ^e Moses 3:5
4 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry. 5 Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things. 6 For there shall be a day^a, that the ^awatchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to ^bZion unto the LORD our God^a.	6^a there shall be a day That 'day' is 'our day', the latter-days or the last days. This is the despensation of the fulness of times, and the restoration and gathering of Israel is well on its way. Often such references as this and those which speak of 'that day' or 'at that day', do have refence to the latter-days and this fulness of times. 6^a let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God This is the gathering missionary call of our time. 'Let us go up to Zion'. Zion is the restored kindom of God upon the earth. It is his retored church and gospel established now and here to gather Israel and prepare for the Second Coming of the Lord.	4^a Moses 3:4-5; Abr. 5:4-5 ^b TG Jesus Christ—Jehovah 5^a TG Nature, Earth ^b TG Spirit Creation ^c TG Creation ^d TG Man, Physical Creation of ^e Moses 3:5
7 For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, ^asave thy people, the remnant of Israel. 8 Behold, I will bring them from the ^anorth country, and gather them from the ^bcoasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither. 9 They shall come with ^aweeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble^a: for I am a ^bfather to Israel, and ^cEphraim is my ^dfirstborn^b. Speaking As the Father In all things does Jehovah, the Firstborn Son, perform in the stead of the Father pertaining to this second estate. Now in this respect one must consider if Jehovah is here speaking from the perspective of the Father. Is this in fact a declaration of the true ancestry of the Messiah, in that it is Ephraim, the descendant of the house of Ephraim, who is identical with the 'Firstborn' of the Father. Of course in a dualistic sense it could be both Jehovah speaking as the Father and stating Jesus to be the Firstborn and of Ephraim as well as it being a statement that in various manners and ways Jehovah is also to be considered the Father, and that Ephraim, who is the seed of the promise of the fathers, that covenant line, is his firstborn. Now if one considers the perspective of the Jews who have imagined the Messiah to be not one but two persons, Messiah ben David and Messiah ben Joseph; one comes to understand that in this chapter of Jeremiah 31, the Jews do see but an actual application to the Messiah, Messiah ben Joseph in their minds. But if the Jews are correct and this is an application to the Messiah, then the statement that 'Ephraim My Firstborn' is a direct appellation to the fact that Jesus is rightfully and legally of Ephraim. (See Messiah ben David ~ Messiah ben Joseph)	9^a I will cause them to wald by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble How reminiscent is this relative to Lehi's dream of the tree of life. Therein the Lord leads Lehi along a strait and narrow path which leads by a river of water until Lehi arrives, not having stumbled along the way, at the tree of God love, the tree of life. 9^b Ephraim is my firstborn. The significance of this confirming statement by the Lord cannot be over emphasized. The 'Covenant of God', the 'Covenant of the Firstborn', that patriarchal order of the priesthood, promises and blessing of God to man, is here being stated as being conveyed through the 'firstborn' of the covenant and that the birthright is Israel and of the Covenant of Abrham, is to be established in and through Ephraim.	4^a Moses 3:4-5; Abr. 5:4-5 ^b TG Jesus Christ—Jehovah 5^a TG Nature, Earth ^b TG Spirit Creation ^c TG Creation ^d TG Man, Physical Creation of ^e Moses 3:5
10 ¶ Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, *He that scattered Israel will ^agather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth* his flock^a*. 11 For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ^aransomed him from the hand of him that was* stronger than he.	*10^a He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth* his flock** When one comes to understand and accept that Jesus Christ was of Ephraim, it become quite clear, significant and pointed that Jesus of Ephraim, that is 'Ephraim' did scatter Israel. And it will be that same 'Jesus Ephraim' who will gather Israel. And while we do follow in the footsteps of Christ, as being also of Ephraim, in the work of the latter-day gathering, it is in truth by and in the power of the Son of God, Ephraim, His Priesthood Order, by which that gathering is taking place.	4^a Moses 3:4-5; Abr. 5:4-5 ^b TG Jesus Christ—Jehovah 5^a TG Nature, Earth ^b TG Spirit Creation ^c TG Creation ^d TG Man, Physical Creation of ^e Moses 3:5
12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not ^asorrow any more at all. 13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their ^amourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. 14 And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my ^agoodness, saith the LORD.
15 ¶ Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in ^aRamah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. 16 Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be ^arewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. 17 And there is hope ^ain thine ^bend, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.
18 ¶ I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: ^aturn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God. 19 Surely ^aafter that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. 20 Is Ephraim my dear son? is he ^aa pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD. 21 Set thee up waymarks, make thee ^ahigh heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.
22 ¶ How long wilt thou go about, O thou ^abacksliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man. 23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness. 24 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks. 25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul. 26 Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.
27 ¶ Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass, that like as I have ^awatched over them, to ^bpluck up, and to ^cbreak down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I ^dwatch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD. 29 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour ^agrape, and the children's teeth are set on edge. 30 But every one shall ^adie for his own ^biniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
31 ¶ Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a ^anew ^bcovenant with the house of ^cIsrael, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the ^acovenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 33 But this shall be the ^acovenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my ^blaw in their inward parts, and write it in their ^chearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all ^aknow me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD; for I will forgive their ^biniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
35 ¶ Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the ^asun for a light by ^bday, and the ^cordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: 36 If those ^aordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. 37 Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.
38 ¶ Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be ^abuilt to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner. 39 And the measuring ^aline shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath. 40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be ^aholy unto the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.