He Gave Us Prophets: The People Of The CovenantSample

New Covenant: Jeremiah 31:31-37

Of course, we would be remiss if we do not mention that Old Testament prophets were also aware of a covenant that was still in their future. I have in mind here the new covenant, which God made through Christ. What were the main concerns of this new covenant? The new covenant may be characterized by one word: fulfillment. All the promises given to God’s people in the earlier covenants with Abraham, Moses, and David, were to be realized in the period of the new covenant. The people of God would be numerous and inherit the entire earth as their land. The law of Moses will be written in the heart and obeyed from the heart. The Son of David, the great Son of David, will reign on the throne forever. 

How were the prophets influenced by this new covenant? Well, the Old Testament prophets longed for the day of this grand covenant. For example, Jeremiah spoke of the new covenant in Jeremiah 31:31: 

“The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.” 

Jeremiah predicted that in the days after Israel’s exile, God would renew His covenant in dramatic ways. The prophet Ezekiel spoke of this future covenant as well. In 34:25 and 26 we read these words in Ezekiel: 

I will make a covenant of peace with them and ... I will bless them. 

Old Testament prophets ministered as God’s emissaries in anticipation of the great end-time covenant to come. And as we learn about Old Testament prophets, we’ll see them anticipating this New Testament covenant time and again. 

The covenants that God established with Israel guided the Old Testament prophets in all that they did. They understood that God had a special role for the nation of Israel and that the covenants with Abraham, Moses, and David, and even the new covenant, guided Israel in that special role. And so when prophets ministered to God’s people, they ministered within the confines of these special covenants God had made with His people.