Commentary - Jeremiah 31:35-37

Bird's-eye view

In this magnificent conclusion to the New Covenant promise, the prophet Jeremiah records God's own sworn oath. The Lord anchors the certainty of His covenant faithfulness to Israel in the very fabric of the created order. He essentially says, "If you want to know how likely I am to abandon my people, just go and try to stop the sun from rising, or attempt to measure the cosmos with a yardstick." The steadfastness of God's governance over the natural world, what He calls His "statutes" for the sun, moon, and seas, becomes the collateral for His promise to preserve the "seed of Israel" as a nation before Him forever. This is not a promise based on Israel's performance; in fact, it is a promise made in full view of their failures. It is a unilateral declaration of grace, grounded entirely in the character of Yahweh of hosts, the God who rules all things.

The promise finds its ultimate fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ, the true seed of Abraham and the greater Israel. The "nation" that will never cease to be is the new covenant community, the Church of the living God, into which believing Jews and Gentiles are incorporated. Therefore, this passage is a profound statement of the eternal security of the people of God. Our standing is not as precarious as the shifting sands of our own obedience, but as fixed as the foundations of the earth and as constant as the celestial bodies in their courses.

Outline

Context In Jeremiah

These verses are not a standalone oracle. They function as the divine signature and unbreakable seal upon the glorious promise of the New Covenant, which was just articulated in Jeremiah 31:31-34. The context is the "Book of Consolation" (Jeremiah 30-33), a section of profound hope delivered in a time of profound darkness, with the Babylonian exile looming. After promising a new covenant where the law would be written on the heart and sins would be forgiven completely, the natural question would be, "Can this promise be trusted?" Judah had broken every previous covenant. Why should this one be any different?

God answers that question here by shifting the basis of security from the people's faithfulness to His own. He underwrites the promise with His own sovereign power over creation. The covenant is not secure because Israel will get their act together; it is secure because Yahweh keeps the planets in their orbits. This provides the ultimate assurance to a broken people that God's plan of redemption will not, and cannot, fail.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 35 Thus says Yahweh, Who gives the sun for light by day And the statutes for the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; Yahweh of hosts is His name:

The declaration begins with the highest possible authority: Thus says Yahweh. This is not Jeremiah's opinion or a hopeful speculation. This is a direct word from the self-existent God. He immediately identifies Himself by what He does, which is to govern the cosmos. He is the one who gives the sun for light. This is not a one-time act of creation, but a continuous, present-tense giving. Every sunrise is a sermon on the faithfulness of God. He then speaks of the statutes for the moon and stars. The celestial bodies are not running on their own steam; they are following divine ordinances, fixed laws established by their Creator. This is the language of a king who rules his domain with absolute authority.

He is also the one who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar. God is not a deist who wound up the clock and walked away. He is actively involved in the mightiest and most chaotic forces of nature. The sea does not roar on its own; He stirs it. This is a picture of immense power. And to cap it all off, He gives His name: Yahweh of hosts. This is the covenant name of God, coupled with a title that means He is the commander of all the armies of heaven. He is the Lord of all powers, seen and unseen. This is the God who is about to make a promise. The foundation of the promise is the character of the one promising.

v. 36 “If these statutes are removed From before Me,” declares Yahweh, “Then the seed of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.”

Here is the first of two impossible conditions. God sets up a hypothetical. If these statutes are removed from before Me. If you can somehow manage to knock the sun out of the sky, if you can persuade the moon to abandon its orbit, if you can cancel the laws of physics that govern the universe, then, and only then, will the second part of this statement come true. God is making the security of His people co-extensive with the stability of the entire created order.

And what is the promise? Then the seed of Israel also will cease from being a nation before Me forever. As long as creation stands, the people of God will stand. Now, we must ask the question the New Testament requires us to ask: who is this "seed of Israel"? While dispensationalists want to apply this exclusively to the modern political state of Israel, the Bible identifies the ultimate seed of Abraham as Christ Himself (Gal. 3:16). And all who are in Christ are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise (Gal. 3:29). The Church is not a replacement of Israel, but rather Israel in its full bloom, the fulfillment of all that Israel was meant to be. This promise, therefore, is for the new covenant people of God, the Church, which is the one holy nation that will endure before God forever (1 Pet. 2:9).

v. 37 Thus says Yahweh, “If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also reject all the seed of Israel For all that they have done,” declares Yahweh.

Just in case the first analogy was not sufficient, God provides another. Again, it begins with the divine authority, Thus says Yahweh. He doubles down on the assurance. If the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out below. He challenges man to perform an act of omniscience. Go, measure the universe. Find its edges. After you have done that, plumb the depths of the earth and map out its foundations. When you have completed these impossible tasks, then you can begin to worry that God might reject His people.

And here is the gospel punchline. God says He would only do this for all that they have done. This is breathtaking. God is not making this promise because He is unaware of Israel's sin. He is making it in full knowledge of their rebellion, idolatry, and covenant-breaking. Their sin is precisely the reason they deserve to be rejected. But God's promise is not based on their deserving, but on His grace. His commitment is not conditioned on their performance but on His character. This points directly to the cross of Christ, where God dealt with "all that they have done" by placing it upon His own Son, in order to maintain His promise and preserve His people. The security of the believer does not rest in his own hands, but in the hands of the God who cannot lie and whose power is as vast as the heavens themselves.

Application

The central application of this text is assurance, pure and simple. In a world of chaos, political upheaval, and personal failure, the believer's security is not in question. Our salvation, and the ultimate triumph of God's Church, is not dependent on our grip on Him, but on His grip on us. And His grip is as firm as His governance of the entire universe.

When you are tempted to doubt God's love for you because of your repeated sins, remember that He made this promise in full view of "all that they have done." Your sin is not a surprise to Him, and it has been fully dealt with in the New Covenant, sealed by the blood of Christ. When you look at the state of the world and fear for the future of the Church, look up at the sun by day and the stars by night. As long as they remain in their courses, the people of God are secure.

This truth should not lead to laziness, but to doxology and confident obedience. Because we are secure, we are free to serve God without fear, to take risks for the gospel, and to live as children of the King whose promises are more certain than the rising of tomorrow's sun. Our God is Yahweh of hosts, and His Word does not fail.