Jeremiah 31:31-34

Jeremiah 31:31-34 “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

The question then becomes how exactly do we become a part of the House of Israel?

• Deuteronomy 30:19 “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live”
• Matthew 5:18 “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
• Joshua 24:15 “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
• Ruth 1:15-16, 22 “And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law. And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: 22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.”

From this account we see that the heart of the believer is followed by action. Here Ruth not only accepts the belief of YHWH she also acts upon those beliefs in the manner prescribed for the followers.

• Leviticus 24:22 “Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger (H1616 = guest or foreigner), as for one of your own country: for I am the Lord your God.”
• Numbers 15:15-16 “One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance forever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord. One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.”
• Numbers 15:29 “Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them. “
• Deuteronomy 31:12 “Gather the people together, men and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law:”
• Ephesians 2:19-20 “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God (1); And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone”

1. (by Hebraism, especially with G3588 “belonging to”) God, the Supreme Being, the Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Yahweh by name.

2. G40 = Holy (set apart by Yahweh God unto himself and apart from the world) Holiness is intrinsic to Yahweh alone, and He works it in those who fear Him and diligently choose to cooperate with Him and His workings. Though one may indeed act upon his command to be holy, he alone can ascribe one as Holy.

We can see by the actions of the Canaanite woman and Ruth that the submission to YHWH’s authority followed by assimilation into the teachings both were made a part of the nation called Israel.

Malachi 3:6a  ^“For I am the Lord, I change not.”

When will the people today realize that they are called to the same submission and assimilation?