How is the new covenant in Jeremiah 31 different from the covenant God made with Israel's fathers?
Jeremiah 31 says the new covenant is not according to the covenant God made with Israel’s fathers when He brought them out of Egypt. That earlier covenant was the Law, and they broke it. In the new covenant, God puts His Law in their inward parts, writes it in their hearts, forgives their iniquity, and remembers their sin no more.
Les explains that this covenant is not the Law but a different one. The covenant made with their fathers was the one given when God took them by the hand to bring them out of Egypt, and they broke it, although God was a husband unto them. In the new covenant, God will put His Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts; He will be their God, and they shall be His people. They shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD, for they shall all know Him, from the least unto the greatest, because He will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more. Les connects this to Zechariah: a surviving remnant, one-third, will realize Jehovah is their God, recognize Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah, and God will call them My people once again. He does not call them that today, but He will then. Les notes this is Israel’s future, but only a remnant; the rest will be cut off and die, as Zechariah says.
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Not according to the covenant 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:
More Questions
Who is the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31 made with?
The New Covenant described in Jeremiah 31 is made with the house of Israel, and it will be fulfilled for the nation of Israel.
What is the New Covenant described in Jeremiah 31:33?
The covenant Jeremiah describes — God putting His law in their inward parts and writing it in their hearts, so He will be their God and they shall be His people — is the New Covenant.