Commentary - Jeremiah 31:38-40

Bird's-eye view

After delivering the high-water mark of Old Testament prophecy, the promise of the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31-34), Jeremiah concludes the chapter with what might seem like an anticlimax, a detailed description of Jerusalem's future city limits. But this is no mere surveyor's report. This is a tangible, bricks-and-mortar picture of what the New Covenant looks like on the ground. God is not interested in abstract spiritualities; His salvation takes up space. This prophecy describes the expansion and, more importantly, the total consecration of the City of God. It is a vision of the Church, the New Jerusalem, which will expand to include and sanctify places that were once considered unclean or common. This city, rebuilt for Yahweh, is a city that will never again be uprooted, because it is the blood-bought possession of Jesus Christ, the one who makes all things new.

The detailed boundaries, from the Tower of Hananel to the valley of dead bodies, are not given to us so that we might one day draw an accurate map of a future millennial Jerusalem. They are given to show the nature and scope of Christ's kingdom. It is a kingdom that grows, that pushes its boundaries outward, and that consecrates the profane. The places of death and refuse are brought within the holy city, demonstrating that the gospel of grace is a gospel of glorious transformation. What was once outside the camp, a place of uncleanness, is now made holy to the Lord. This is the story of the Church, which is built from the ruins of the old and expands to fill the whole earth.

Outline

Context In Jeremiah

These verses come at the very end of the "Book of Consolation" (Jeremiah 30-33), a section overflowing with promises of restoration and hope for God's people after the judgment of exile. The immediate context is the glorious promise of the New Covenant in verses 31-34, where God promises to write His law on the hearts of His people and forgive their sins completely. Our passage, then, is not a jarring shift from the spiritual to the physical, but rather the necessary outworking of it. A people with new hearts needs a new city. A forgiven people needs a secure and holy home. Jeremiah is showing his hearers that God's covenant promises are not ethereal hopes, but will result in a transformed and permanent reality on earth. This prophecy looks past the immediate return from Babylon, which was only a shadow and a type, to the true restoration brought about by the Messiah, when the true and lasting City of God, the Church, would be established.

Verse by Verse Commentary

v. 38 “Behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when the city will be rebuilt for Yahweh from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.

Jeremiah begins with a familiar prophetic announcement, "Behold, days are coming." This phrase signals a decisive intervention by God in the future. This is not a human rebuilding project; it is a divine declaration. Yahweh Himself is the one declaring it and, therefore, the one guaranteeing it. The city will not just be rebuilt, but it will be rebuilt "for Yahweh." The dative here is crucial. This is not for the glory of a restored Davidic king, or for the national pride of Israel. The city's entire purpose and orientation will be for God's glory. This is the fundamental characteristic of the New Covenant community, the Church. It exists not for itself, but for the Lord. The boundaries mentioned, from the Tower of Hananel in the northeast to the Corner Gate in the northwest, describe the northern wall of Jerusalem. This rebuilding starts with the city's defenses, but as we will see, this new city's true defense is the promise of God Himself.

v. 39 The measuring line will go out farther, straight ahead to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah.

Here we see the principle of gospel expansion. The "measuring line," an instrument of planning and possession, doesn't just restore the old boundaries, it goes "out farther." The kingdom of God is not a reclamation project, seeking only to recover what was lost. It is a conquering kingdom, always advancing. The line goes out "straight ahead," indicating a confident, direct, and divinely ordained expansion. The locations of Gareb and Goah are uncertain to us now, but their meaning in the prophecy is clear. They represent territory that was previously outside the city walls. The New Jerusalem, the Church, is defined by this kind of outward growth. It pushes into pagan territories, into Gentile lands, claiming them for Christ. The measuring line of the gospel is still going out farther today, straight ahead, claiming new ground for the Lord.

v. 40 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 Yahweh; it will not be uprooted or pulled down anymore forever.”

This is the most stunning part of the prophecy. The expansion of the city incorporates the "whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes." This is likely the Valley of Hinnom, a place associated with pagan child sacrifice and later used as the city's garbage dump, a place of perpetual burning. It was, in short, the most defiled and cursed place imaginable, a veritable type of hell. And Jeremiah says this place will be brought within the city and be made "holy to Yahweh." This is the gospel in miniature. God does not just build His Church out of polished stones. He takes the garbage dump of humanity, the places of death and defilement, and He consecrates them. He makes them holy. The blood of Christ is a detergent of infinite power. There is no person, no place, no sin so foul that it cannot be cleansed and made holy to the Lord. This new city is not holy because it excludes the unclean, but because it incorporates and transforms the unclean. The promise concludes with the ultimate statement of security: it will "not be uprooted or pulled down anymore forever." The city rebuilt by Nehemiah was pulled down by the Romans. The physical city of Jerusalem has been uprooted time and again. This promise must therefore refer to that city against which the gates of hell cannot prevail, the Church of Jesus Christ, which is secure in Him forever.

Application

First, we must see that God's covenant promises are never merely spiritual; they have feet. They result in a visible, expanding, and holy community in the world. The New Covenant is not just about an internal feeling of forgiveness; it is about building a city. We are the citizens of this city, and our lives, our families, our churches are the bricks and mortar. We are called to live as though we belong to a holy city, a city rebuilt for the glory of God.

Second, the principle of expansion should define our outlook. The measuring line is still going out. We should be confident, bold, and moving "straight ahead" with the gospel. The mission of the Church is not to hunker down behind the old walls, but to push the boundaries of the kingdom into every corner of the world and every sphere of life. We are not playing defense. We are on offense, and the gates of hell will not withstand our advance.

Finally, we must be defined by the glorious grace that makes the unclean holy. The Church is not a museum for saints, but a hospital for sinners. We ourselves are Exhibit A of this principle. We were all, in our own way, a valley of dead bodies and ashes. But God, in His mercy, has brought us inside the city and declared us "holy to Yahweh." This should produce in us a profound humility and a radical willingness to extend that same grace to others. We must never forget that the ground at the foot of the cross is level, and that the city of God is filled with former residents of the garbage dump. And because this city is His work, it is eternally secure. It cannot be uprooted. It cannot be pulled down. Forever.