Mourning Turned to Joy// Matthew 2:16–18
1“At that time,” declares Yahweh, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be My people.”
2This is what Yahweh says:
“The people who survived the sword
found favor in the wilderness
when Israel went to find rest.”
3Yahweh appeared to us in the past, saying:
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have drawn you with loving devotion.
- JER 31:3[NOTABLE]God's love does not run out, even after His people ran away.
- JER 31:3[NOTE]EVERLASTING LOVE. The Hebrew word behind loving devotion is chesed, God's loyal love that keeps its promises.
4Again I will build you, and you will be rebuilt,
O Virgin Israel.
Again you will take up your tambourines
and go out in joyful dancing.
5Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria;
the farmers will plant and enjoy the fruit.
6For there will be a day when watchmen will call out
on the hills of Ephraim,
‘Arise, let us go up to Zion,
to Yahweh our God!’”
7For this is what Yahweh says:
“Sing with joy for Jacob;
shout for the foremost of the nations!
Make your praises heard, and say,
‘O Yahweh, save Your people,
the remnant of Israel!’
8Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north
and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
including the blind and the lame,
expectant mothers and women in labor.
They will return as a great assembly!
9They will come with weeping,
and by their supplication I will lead them;
I will make them walk beside streams of waters,
on a level path where they will not stumble.
For I am Israel’s Father,
and Ephraim is My firstborn.”
10Hear, O nations, the word of Yahweh,
and proclaim it in distant coastlands:
“The One who scattered Israel will gather them and keep them
as a shepherd keeps his flock.
11For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob
and redeemed him from the hand that had overpowered him.
12They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion;
they will be radiant over the bounty of Yahweh—
the grain, new wine, and oil,
and the young of the flocks and herds.
Their life will be like a well-watered garden,
and never again will they languish.
13Then the maidens will rejoice with dancing,
young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
and give them comfort and joy for their sorrow.
14I will fill the souls of the priests abundantly,
and will fill My people with My goodness,”
declares Yahweh.
15This is what Yahweh says:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
mourning and great weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
- JER 31:15[PROPHECY]Rachel weeping in Ramah for her children who are no more → MT 2:16-18
- JER 31:15[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → MT 2:18
- JER 31:15[NOTE]RAMAH. Rachel, mother of Joseph and Benjamin, weeps for her children taken away. Matthew 2:18 quotes this verse about Herod's killing of the babies in Bethlehem.
16This is what Yahweh says:
“Keep your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears,
for the reward for your work will come,
declares Yahweh.
Then your children will return
from the land of the enemy.
17So there is hope for your future,
declares Yahweh,
and your children will return
to their own land.
18I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:
‘You disciplined me severely,
like an untrained calf.
Restore me, that I may return,
for You are Yahweh my God.
19After I returned, I repented;
and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief.
I was ashamed and humiliated
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
20Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me,
a delightful child?
Though I often speak against him,
I still remember him.
Therefore My heart yearns for him;
I have great compassion for him,”
declares Yahweh.
21“Set up the road markers,
put up the signposts.
Keep the highway in mind,
the road you have traveled.
Return, O Virgin Israel,
return to these cities of yours.
22How long will you wander,
O faithless daughter?
For Yahweh has created a new thing in the land—
a woman will shelter a man.”
- JER 31:22[PROPHECY]Born of a virgin (a woman compassing a man) → MT 1:18-20MEDIUM
23This is what Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “When I restore them from captivity, they will once again speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities: ‘May Yahweh bless you, O righteous dwelling place, O holy mountain.’ 24And Judah and all its cities will dwell together in the land, the farmers and those who move with the flocks, 25for I will refresh the weary soul and replenish all who are weak.”
The New Covenant// Hebrews 8:6–13
26At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been most pleasant to me.
27“The days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and of beast. 28Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, to demolish, destroy, and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares Yahweh.
29“In those days, it will no longer be said:
‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the teeth of the children are set on edge.’
- JER 31:29[DEMONIC]No more shall they say 'fathers ate sour grapes' — every one for his own iniquity
30Instead, each will die for his own iniquity. If anyone eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will be set on edge.
31Behold, the days are coming, declares Yahweh,
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
- JER 31:31[PROPHECY]God would make a new covenant, write His law on hearts, and remember sins no more → LK 22:20; HEB 8:8-12; HEB 9:15; HEB 10:16-17; HEB 12:24
- JER 31:31[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → HEB 8:8-12
- JER 31:31[NOTE]THE NEW COVENANT. The longest Old Testament passage quoted in the New Testament, Hebrews 8:8 to 12. See the Big Question The New Covenant.
32It will not be like the covenant
I made with their fathers
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of the land of Egypt—
a covenant they broke,
though I was a husband to them,”
declares Yahweh.
33“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, declares Yahweh.
I will put My law in their minds
and inscribe it on their hearts.
And I will be their God,
and they will be My people.
- JER 31:33[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → HEB 10:16-17
34No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother,
saying, ‘Know Yahweh,’
because they will all know Me,
from the least of them to the greatest, declares Yahweh.
For I will forgive their iniquities
and will remember their sins no more.”
35Thus says Yahweh, who gives the sun for light by day, who sets in order the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—Yahweh of Hosts is His name:
36“Only if this fixed order departed from My presence,
declares Yahweh,
would Israel’s descendants ever cease
to be a nation before Me.”
37This is what Yahweh says:
“Only if the heavens above could be measured
and the foundations of the earth below searched out
would I reject all of Israel’s descendants
because of all they have done,”
declares Yahweh.
38“The days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when this city will be rebuilt for Me, from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39The measuring line will once again stretch out straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn toward Goah. 40The whole valley of the dead bodies and ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east, will be holy to Yahweh. It will never again be uprooted or demolished.”