Jeremiah predicted a 'new covenant' involving the Messiah and the forgiveness of sin

Bible passage: Jeremiah 31:31-34
Prophet: Jeremiah
Written: Sometime between 626-586 BC

This article is contributed by Ray Konig, the author of Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Prophet, Jesus the Miracle Worker, and 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies.

By Ray Konig
Published: April 26, 2024

The prophet Jeremiah lived about 2,600 years ago, during a time when the land of Israel was being punished with destruction and exile, because the people had turned away from God and had broken their covenant with him.

That covenant, which is known by Christians as the old covenant, was given to the Israelites by Moses about 3,400 years ago. It included the Ten Commandments and various rules and regulations, as explained in the Old Testament, which became the basis for the religion of Judaism.

Even though the people had turned away from God, God promised to one day restore the exiles to their homeland and give them a new covenant, one that could never be broken:

31 “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

32 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 covenant of mine they broke, although I was a husband to them,” says Yahweh.

33 “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says Yahweh: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

34 They will no longer each teach his neighbor, and every man teach his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh;’ for they will all know me, from their least to their greatest,” says Yahweh: “for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34, WEB)

We know this covenant involves the Messiah because of the way that the prophecy begins. It begins with the phrase Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, -- this is the exact same phrase, within the underlying Hebrew text of the Old Testament, that Jeremiah uses when he predicts the arrival of the promised Messiah in Jeremiah 23:5.

Phrases like Behold, the days come, are used by the prophets in the Old Testament to point to the era of the promised Messiah. Jeremiah himself uses a phrase like this again in Jeremiah 33:15.

With this in mind, that this is a phrase that points to the promised Messiah, we can see that Jeremiah 31:31-34 is a prophecy that involves the Messiah and the forgiveness of sins, which is present in verse 34, when God says, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Jesus is the fulfillment of this promise. He is one person in history who has introduced a "new covenant," which is now celebrated among hundreds of millions of people (Christians) throughout the world.

The New Testament book of Hebrews, in chapter 8, quotes Jeremiah 31:31-34 and applies it to Jesus, as the Messiah and as the mediator of the new covenant. This new covenant is based on grace rather than the laws of the Old Testament.

This prophecy is discussed in more detail in Jesus the Messiah