Verses

 

“Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the Lord; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord.” (Jeremiah 31:35-37 KJV)

 

"This is what the Lord says, He who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— The Lord of armies is His name: “If this fixed order departs from Me,” declares the Lord, “Then the descendants of Israel also will cease To be a nation before Me forever.” This is what the Lord says: "If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also reject all the descendants of Israel For everything that they have done,” declares the Lord." (Jeremiah 31:35-37 NASB)

Commentary

 

Jeremiah 31 as a whole is a picture of the national restoration of Israel. This focus on Israel is apparent from the beginning verse of this chapter as well as the previous chapter. Verse 1 states, “...saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people”(Jeremiah 31:1 KJV). Not only will Israel be God’s people but He has “loved thee [Israel] with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:3 KJV). Therefore, Jeremiah 31:1-3 provides the “why” of Israel’s restoration. Many question why Israel needs to be restored. Some say, “they rejected Christ therefore they are cast off.” Yet, this is not what God promises to the prophet Jeremiah. God will restore Israel “I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry” (Jeremiah 31:4 KJV). They will be built again and restored, not only because of God’s unconditional covenant with the patriarchs (The Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 26:3-4; Genesis 28:13-14), but because according to verse 3 of Jeremiah 31, God’s love for Israel is everlasting or eternal.

 

“How can this be?,” some might ask. “How can God still love Israel after they rejected Christ? And the evil they have committed?” These are good questions, but they are also usually rooted in our emotional nature and not our rational. Let us not forget that we all have committed evil and that none of us deserve the love of God. As believers, Christ died while we were sinners (Romans 5:8) and we didn’t deserve salvation, we were guilty prior to Christ’s atonement, we deserved death. Yet, through our sin, God still loved us (Romans 5:8). Israel is similar, Israel is not saved spiritually, as the church is a spiritual people and Israel is a physical people composed of ethnic Jews, descendants of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. Israel is elected to service, and God will restore them to a holy nation during the Millennium when Christ will reign over them (Jeremiah 31; Ezekiel 20; Zechariah 14; Revelation 19). This is all because of God’s love for Israel, His people chosen to servitude. 

 

Jeremiah 31:4-34 describes Israel’s restoration, and much time could be spent analyzing these verses for the nature of the restoration and its characteristics. However, I don’t believe that is necessary currently, as the main purpose for this post is to highlight the certainty and permanence of Israel’s restoration as promised by God which is a truth powerfully affirmed in Jeremiah 31:35–37. 

 

“Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name:” (Jeremiah 31:35 KJV)

 

Jeremiah 31:35 describes God’s sovereign power over creation. By referencing the sun, moon, stars, and the roaring sea, which are all elements of the natural world that humans cannot control, God is asserting His absolute authority and unchangeable nature. He is displaying His power and sovereignty to His audience by stating that He set the universe in motion.

 

“If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the Lord; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord.” (Jeremiah 31:36-37 KJV)

 

These verses condemn any teaching that Israel has been cast off and forgotten by God. Recall that earlier in Jeremiah 31 it states that Israel will be restored and this is because of God’s everlasting love to Israel. Here in verses 36-37, God makes that promise of everlasting love unbreakable and undeniable. He ties the existence of the physical nation of Israel to the existence of creation. These cosmic elements remain fixed and immeasurable, so too does God’s commitment to Israel. This is not conditional on Israel’s obedience or spiritual state, but it is rooted in God’s sovereign choice and eternal love.

 

Even in light of Israel’s failures, as it states in Jeremiah 31, “for all that they have done,” God declares that He will not cast them off. This is grace in its purest form: undeserved, unwavering, and eternal. Just as Romans 11:29 affirms, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance,” so too does Jeremiah 31:36–37 affirm that God’s promises to Israel are irrevocable.