Jeremiah 31:31-34 describe the New Covenant, while
verses 35-37 talk about the everlasting nature of the covenant. This was God’s
commitment to His people to save and keep them. In verses 38-40 is God's
promise of rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. After dealing with His people in
Babylon, God promised that the ruin of Jerusalem would be rebuilt. The
landmarks and boundaries of the new city are laid out and described in these
three verses.
According to verses 38b-40, the city would stretch
from “…the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. The measuring line will go out
farther straight ahead to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah. And the
whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as
the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be
holy to the Lord.” Here we see the formerly defiled places such as the “whole
valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes’ purified. And Jerusalem would once
again become the set apart city of the Lord and not be destroyed or overthrown
forever.
Physically, Nehemiah and those who returned from
the Babylonian captivity rebuilt Jerusalem. More detail can be seen in Nehemiah
3. However, more than the physical Jerusalem, we know that there would be a
spiritual fulfillment of this promise.
In Hebrew 12:18-24, we see a reference to the
heavenly Jerusalem. It is called the City of the Living God. We cannot get away
from the idea that the author was referring to the church, the assembly of
God’s people. It’s here that the promise of the presence of God can be
experienced. The believers of Christ, the firstborns of God, have come to this
city already. This suggests that everyone wanting to enter this new city must
acknowledge God as Father, for He has no grandchildren. Everyone who joins the
church must come through Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant. Jesus Himself
promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. She will
stand forever. Let us live responsibly as members of this rebuilt Jerusalem.
Let us sink our roots deeply here and live for the praise of His glory.
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