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Jeremiah's New Covenant, part 3

Jeremiah 31:6 says,

⁶ For there will be a day when watchmen on the hills of Ephraim call out, “Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.”

If this had been fulfilled while under the Old Covenant, it might have been fulfilled literally in the old land. But under the New Covenant it must be fulfilled in a way that is consistent with the “better country” that Abraham sought in Hebrews 11:16.

Ephraim means a double portion of fruit. It prophesies of the birthright holders to whom was due the double portion of the inheritance. More specifically, it refers to those who are fruitful in the way that God intended from the beginning.

Recall that the birthright originally included the authority to “rule” the earth (Genesis 1:26) and the responsibility to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). Ultimately, we bear fruit by giving birth to the sons of God, which, at the present time, are said to be “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Hope is expectation. When we were begotten by the Holy Spirit, we were expecting a child to be born after it matured to full term.

We are begotten through Passover; we develop and mature through Pentecost; we are birthed through the feast of Tabernacles.

So what Jeremiah refers to as “watchmen on the hills of Ephraim” paints a New Covenant picture of fruitful overcomers in the image of Christ who function as watchmen to the world. Their message is “let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.” Zion was the house of David, who was a type of Christ. But Jeremiah says that going to Zion is going “to the Lord our God.” Under the New Covenant, this is a reference to Jesus Christ.

Moreover, Zion under the Old Covenant was another type and shadow of greater things under the New Covenant. Likewise, there are two Jerusalems. Zion was the seat of authority in the earthly Jerusalem, while Sion is now the seat of authority in the heavenly Jerusalem. Sion is Mount Hermon (Deuteronomy 4:48), situated above Caesarea Philippi. It is the place where Jesus was transfigured and where God made the pronouncement: “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 17:4).

If we intend to be the sons of God, we must follow Christ to Mount Sion. We no longer will find Him at Mount Sinai (as under Moses), nor at Mount Zion (as in the time of David). In fact, we will not find Him at a geographical location in Mount Sion. All of these physical locations were types and shadows of something greater. We go to Sion by faith.

Hebrews 12:22 KJV says,

²² But ye are come unto mount Sion and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels.

The NASB alters this from Sion to Zion, no doubt thinking that it refers to the seat of authority in the earthly Jerusalem. But the verse itself contradicts this, for it equates Sion with “the heavenly Jerusalem.” If our belief system causes us to go to the earthly Jerusalem to rally around Christ, we will wait forever, because He is on a different mount and in a different city. Under the New Covenant, the overcomers (“watchmen”) are issuing the call to go up to Mount Sion, where we can meet “the Lord our God” and be called the sons of God.

Save Your People

Jeremiah 31:7 says,

⁷ For thus says the Lord, “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise and say, ‘O Lord, save Your people, the remnant of Israel’.”

This is a word to “Jacob,” because it looks back to Jacob’s wrestling match with the angel. Esau and his army were coming to kill Jacob, but God delivered him. Scripture does not tell us how God changed Esau’s mind so quickly. We do find more details in the book of Jasher. It tells us that the angels of God appeared as waves of armed warriors who met Esau on the road. Esau was impressed and, of course, frightened. By the time Esau actually met Jacob, he was thoroughly intimidated and welcomed his brother with open arms.

In the same way, God is delivering the modern Jacobs who have overcome and have been given the name Israel. Jeremiah’s proclamation is directed toward “Your people, the remnant of Israel.” God’s people are those who rely upon God’s oath, rather than their own. These have made the transition in their thinking from the Old Covenant to the New. Hence, they are no longer Jacob but Israel.

This is a prophecy of the second coming of Christ, which will see the fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles, wherein the overcomers will be changed into the image of Christ. The overcomers will not include the entire church. It is but a “remnant,” that is, the remnant of grace (Romans 11:1-7). In the story of Elijah, there were just 7,000 in this remnant (Romans 11:4), out of millions of biological Israelites.

The same is true today. God is raising up a remnant within the church, and these will reign with Christ in the millennial age to come (Revelation 20:6). For further information about this, see my book, The Purpose of Resurrection.

Returning to God is not Zionism

Jeremiah 31:8, 9 says,

⁸ Behold, I am bringing them from the north country, and I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth. Among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and she who is in labor with child, together; a great company, they will return here. ⁹ With weeping they will come, and by supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk by streams of waters, on a straight path in which they will not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.

The “north country” refers to the place where the Assyrians relocated the lost tribes of Israel. To bring them from the north country refers to the end of their exile. But because they were not to return to the old land but to a “better country” (Hebrews 11:15, 16), it is clear that this is not fulfilled by modern Zionists, who attempt to fulfill prophecy in an unlawful and carnal manner. He is bringing “the remnant of Israel” back to God, regardless of where they are throughout the nations. To “return” is to turn again to God, as we see in Jeremiah 4:1,

¹ “If you return, O Israel,” declares the Lord, “then you should return to Me. And if you will put away your detested things from My presence, and will not waver…”

Again, in regard to the “good figs” who submit to the judgment of God, we read in Jeremiah 24:7,

⁷ I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God; for they will return to Me with their whole heart.

This is a reference to the few who were willing to submit to King Nebuchadnezzar and go into captivity outside the land of Israel. This was about heart repentance and about becoming God’s people through the second (New) Covenant in Deuteronomy 29:1, 12, 13. Those who repent are a tiny minority.

The Remnant in Isaiah

Isaiah too speaks of the remnant of Israel that was to return to God. His oldest son was Shear-jashub, “the remnant will return.” His name was prophetic. Isaiah 8:18 says,

¹² Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

The prophecy of his name is seen in Isaiah 10:21, 22,

²¹ A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. ²² For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant within them will return; a destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.

Paul tells us in Romans 11:1-7 that only the remnant will actually receive the promises of God. This remnant, Paul says in Romans 11:7, is “chosen,” while “the rest are hardened” (i.e., blinded). So being a Jew or an Israelite of the so-called lost tribes does not necessarily mean that one is chosen as “My people.” God’s chosen people are those who share the faith of Abraham, believing that Jesus Christ is the One that Abraham knew and “rejoiced to see” (John 8:56).

The notion that all Jews are God’s chosen people on account of having a genealogical gene from Abraham is nonsense. Only the remnant carries the promise of God, and this is based on their faith. The same is true with being an Israelite whose ancestors were exiled to Assyria and who never returned to the old land.

Those Israelites included the tribe of Ephraim, which carried the birthright with them into captivity. When God divorced Israel (Jeremiah 3:8) and scattered them among the nations, He leveled the playing field. They became ex-Israelites in the dispersion, and the only way to regain the name Israel was by faith in Jesus Christ. The same is required for all non-Israelites as well.

Zionism attempts to counterfeit the true return through an Old Covenant belief system that rejects Jesus as the Messiah.

So when God tells the prophet, “I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn” (Jeremiah 31:9, this does not mean that all Israelites are sons of God, nor does it mean that the original tribe of Ephraim is God’s firstborn. The path to sonship is set forth in John 1:12, 13,

¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, ¹³ who were born [begotten], not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

The Old Testament concept of Israel or Ephraim being God’s firstborn son (Exodus 4:22) always required faith in God. It is superseded by the better covenant under which men must have faith also in Jesus Christ, who was sent to fulfill God’s promise of salvation and redemption.