What is the meaning of Jeremiah 31:34? No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother The verse opens with a sweeping change in how people relate to God. Throughout Israel’s history, priests, prophets, and parents carried the responsibility of passing on God’s commands (Deuteronomy 6:6-7; Malachi 2:7). Here, the LORD promises a day when that model is transformed. • The promise does not diminish the value of biblical teaching today (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 18:11). • It anticipates a covenant in which every believer has direct, Spirit-enabled access to God (Joel 2:28-29; 2 Corinthians 3:6). • The shift points forward to Pentecost, when the Spirit was poured out on all flesh, eliminating the old barriers of age, gender, and status (Acts 2:16-18). Saying, “Know the LORD,” Under the old covenant, calling someone to “know the LORD” meant urging him to enter covenant obedience (1 Samuel 2:12; Hosea 4:1). In the new covenant, that external appeal is no longer necessary in the same way. • Jesus fulfills this cry by perfectly revealing the Father (John 14:7-9). • The Gospel calls people to repentance (Acts 17:30), but once they believe, the knowledge of God is internal, not merely instructional (2 Corinthians 4:6). Because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD The promise is comprehensive and personal. • “All” includes every genuine participant in the new covenant—no second-class citizens (Galatians 3:28). • “Least” to “greatest” erases social hierarchies that often defined religious life in Israel (James 2:1-5). • Cross references emphasize this universal knowledge: Isaiah 54:13 “All your children will be taught by the LORD,” and John 6:45 “They will all be taught by God.” • The indwelling Spirit is the means (Romans 8:15-16; 1 John 2:27). He illuminates God’s Word so every believer can know Him personally (Psalm 119:18). For I will forgive their iniquities This line reveals the foundation of the entire promise: forgiveness. • Sin once blocked intimacy with God (Isaiah 59:2). Removing that barrier opens the way for direct knowledge. • The new covenant is sealed in Christ’s blood, “poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28; Ephesians 1:7). • Forgiveness is total, not partial, freeing believers from guilt and condemnation (Romans 8:1; Colossians 2:13-14). And will remember their sins no more God’s pledge goes beyond pardoning; He chooses never to bring the sins up again. • Psalm 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” • Micah 7:19 “You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” • Hebrews 10:17 quotes this very phrase and links it to the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ. • God’s “forgetting” is covenantal: He treats us as righteous because our sins are covered by Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). summary Jeremiah 31:34 promises a new covenant in which God forgives sin so completely that He never recalls it, and He personally fills every believer—young or old, obscure or renowned—with firsthand knowledge of Himself. By Christ’s atoning death and the indwelling Spirit, the need for mere external instruction is surpassed by an internal, living relationship with the LORD for all who trust Him. |
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