What do Jeremiah 31:35-36 teach about whether God will ever cast off Israel?
Jeremiah 31:35–36 teaches that God will never cast off Israel. He points to fixed ordinances—the sun, moon, stars, and sea—as sure as creation itself. If those natural laws could depart or heaven be measured and earth’s foundations searched out, only then would Israel cease as a nation. Since that cannot happen, God will not cast them off.
Les teaches that Jeremiah 31:35–36 is God’s own guarantee that He is not through with the chosen nation Israel. The passage presents the Creator, the Lord of hosts, who gives the sun for light by day and the ordinances of the moon and stars for light by night, who divides the sea when its waves roar. God then says that if those ordinances—these laws of nature and science—depart from before Him, then the seed of Israel would also cease from being a nation before Him forever. He adds that if heaven above can be measured and the earth’s foundations searched out beneath, then He would cast off the seed of Israel for all they have done. Les emphasizes that this cannot be done, so God will never cast Israel aside. The problem was their rejection and crucifixion of Messiah, after which God raised up Saul of Tarsus, Paul, sent primarily to the Gentiles. Individual Jews can still be saved during the age of grace, but the church must not be mixed with Israel in the tribulation, because that period is God’s dealing with Israel, not the church.
Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances 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:
If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
More Questions
What does Jeremiah 31:35-36 mean about Israel ceasing to be a nation?
According to Jeremiah 31:35-36, Israel will remain a nation before God forever because her continuance is tied to the fixed ordinances of nature: only if the laws of the sun, moon, and stars depart, or heaven can be measured and the earth's foundations searched out, would God cast off the seed of Israel.
Is God done with Israel because they rejected and crucified their Messiah?
God is not done with the nation Israel; those who say He cast Israel off when their Messiah was crucified do not know their Bibles, because Scripture is adamant that He is still going to come back and fulfill the covenant promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Why will God never cast off Israel or let Israel cease as a nation?
God will never cast off Israel or let Israel cease to be a nation, because Israel's continuation is tied to the impossible removal of the fixed ordinances of nature and to the impossible task of measuring heaven and searching out the foundations of the earth.