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COVENANTS OF GOD (7)

“The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness’” (Jeremiah 31:3).

We are familiar with Jeremiah 31:31-34 announcing the new covenant that God will have with Israel, mainly because it is stated twice in the book of Hebrews. The new covenant as the author emphasizes is that Jesus is involved in a better covenant. Part of this new covenant is that they will “say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest” (31:34). We have emphasize this in a number of ways. One, we state that people will be able to make their own free choice to follow God rather than being born in a covenant and being taught that covenantal relationship as seen in the old covenant. Another way is that this is emphasizing a personal relationship with God, developing a closeness with God that is not seen in the alleged distance in the old. It will be helpful for us to see how Jeremiah uses the phrase, “to know the Lord.”

The historical context is important. Only the southern part of Israel, Judah and Jerusalem, are left after the Assyrian invasion. Judah is falling apart and Babylon is threatening as Jeremiah writes. He was a prophet for about forty years. As he wrote, the likelihood that God would rescue them decreased to the point that there would be no rescue. Their wickedness and unfaithfulness were their undoing, though false prophets tried to paint a different picture. After three Babylonian invasions, Judah would cease to exist in 586 B.C. In part, this situation led to the announcement of a new covenant by God.

The first use of knowing God is found in Jeremiah 9:23-24. It is a somewhat familiar text.

What we see here is something like a balance scale. On one side are three things that humans value; wisdom, strength and riches. On the other side are three things God values; kindness, justice and righteousness (1). We might be a little surprised by the list when we realize that God has given wisdom, strength and riches as good gifts. Wisdom can be defined as the experience of life that combines sharp insight and well-honed skills, with the ability to understand deeply and act accordingly. Strength is seen in physical vigor such as the eighty year old Moses had. Wealth was a blessing to such people as Job and David. Each of these can be good but they can also lead to evil if not properly controlled.

Why should we not boast in these things? Boasting means we take credit for the gifts God has given. It becomes a matter of pride and self-praise. Deuteronomy 8 is a warning to Israel not to forget what God had done for them. “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me’” (Deuteronomy 8:17). Likewise these gifts. Each of God’s good gifts can be turn to evil. Wisdom can become intellectual arrogance leading to folly. Strength can end up as violence, oppression and unjust power. Riches can lead to covetousness, greed and extravagance at the cost to the helpless.

On God’s side is kindness. This word is a strong word akin to agape’ and means a commitment within a relationship and to take on the costs and burdens for the sake of the others in that commitment. It is often translated unfailing love, loving kindness, and faithfulness. Ruth would be one example. Justice is the act of putting things right for those who are wronged through legal and even military action. Righteousness has the meaning of that which is straight and true. In human relationships it means fairness and compassion, making sure that the weak are upheld and the strong restrained.

The text states that God delights in these. This is an emotional response. God looks for such acts among His people and delights when we do them. Israel had failed in knowing the Lord in this way, by doing what is pleasing to Yahweh. It was part of the covenant relationship seen in each of the four covenants (see Genesis 18:18-19). We see this in the description that God gives of Himself in Exodus 34:6-7. “Israel was to walk in the way of the Lord in a world walking in the way of Sodom” (2).

The New Testament addresses the human position in several ways. In Corinth, they were looking at things from a worldly point of view. Paul contrasts the worldly ideas of wisdom, strength and riches with the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18-31). That was certainly a shock to a culture that valued those things. Likewise today. We see people place value in these things and then state that they are self-made people. If people want these things, then see how scripture presents them from God’s perspective. Wisdom is found by asking God (James 1:5). Strength is found in dependence on God in Christ (2 Corinthians 12:9-10; Philippians 4:13). Riches is found in God providing for us through contentment (Philippians 4:11-12, 19).

The second text in Jeremiah that helps us to understand what it means to know God comes from 22:13-17. Jeremiah prophesied under several kings and this text contrasted them. One would be the wicked Jehoiakim and the other the faithful Josiah. The first built a fine house but then is asked, “Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar?” (22:15). The second is seen in verses 15-16. “’Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is this not what it means to know me?’ declares the Lord.”

Look at the contrast: exploited workers, consumption, fraud, greed, bloodshed, violence, murder, oppression, and extortion. On the other side is righteousness and justice which God delights in and defending the poor and needy who God cares for. Josiah learned to know God, to know what God delights in and cares for by the discovery and implementation of the Law. His reforms brought about changes in society (see Deuteronomy 10:17-19 and 2 Kings 23:25).

To know God is not merely to obey some doctrines or teachings such as baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These are important but there is more. To know God means to practice what God delights in. Boasting is prohibited in such texts as Matthew 7:21-23, though we have not read it that way. Doing God’s will is not merely obeying some doctrine or tradition but rather, it is living such a radical lifestyle as seen in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). The New Covenant is God’s response to human sinfulness by dealing with it through Jesus Christ. As was true of each of the previous four covenants, the New builds on those. Keep in mind that the three promises given to Abraham; the blessings to all nations, the land, and righteous living; are found in the New. They have not been done away with.

This theme is picked up in a number of New Testament texts. In the parable of the sheep and goats, we see that those who fed the hungry, took care of the sick, visited the imprisoned, and clothed the naked, will be numbered with the sheep. Why? When we treat these people the way God wants them treated, we have also treated God the way He wants to be treated. Simply getting the right position on baptism, church organization, the plan of salvation, or any number of other topics isn’t enough if we do not know God the way He wants to be known: in how we treat others. James 1:27 tells us that acceptable religion is to look after orphans and widows and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. That are dangers of boasting in knowledge, power and fame contrasted with what pleases God. Both James 2:14-17 and 1 John 3:16-17 explains what faith and love are all about. How much have we missed this when we complain when a sister stands and walks across a pew to hand a communion tray to another or a brother prays to Jesus?

What then does it mean to know the Lord? To know Him is to know what pleases Him. It includes teaching what is right but it also includes doing what is right in relationship to others. What is interesting is that when Jesus said to love the Lord your God with all your being, and to love one’s neighbor as himself, He was quoting from Leviticus 19:18. Read through that chapter. There is another statement in the text: “Love them as yourself” (19:34). Who is he talking about? “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born.” Why? For you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” Who is my neighbor? The Samaritan who helps the injured Jew in the parable. How about the undocumented or illegal alien? Or how about street people? Or prostitutes? Or homosexuals? Paul says “And such were some of you” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

When we read Hebrews 8:8-12, and the writer says to know God, the above is what it means to know God. I don’t have everything worked out here, and there is much more that can be said, but this is a beginning point in which we need to understand the greater implications of knowing the Lord.

George B. Mearns

(1). Thoughts for this article come from Christopher J. H. Wright, Knowing God the Father Through the Old Testament, IVP, 2009.

(2) ibid., p. 142.