Old Testament Scriptural Selections and Commentary

Jeremiah, Selections from chapters in the Teacher's Manual

Gospel Doctrine Class, Sunday School Lesson #42

"I Will Write It in Their Hearts" Jeremiah 31:33

Reference: Old Testament Gospel Doctrine Teacher's Manual, (2001), 198-200

Reference: The Old Testament Made Easier, Part Three, David J. Ridges

            From the Old Testament Teacher's Manual: "… although Jeremiah had few messages of hope for the people of his day, he foresaw a time of hope during the latter-day gathering of Israel. This lesson discusses Jeremiah’s prophecies of the great latter-day gathering that we are participating in today."

            The purpose of this lesson: "To encourage class members to participate in God’s great latter-day work and to have his law written in their hearts."

Jeremiah foresees the latter-day gathering of Israel

            The story of Israel's Exodus from Egypt has been told many times in the scriptures including by Jeremiah and other Old Testament prophets.  In the fifth book of Moses called Deuteronomy, chapter 4, the heading states: "Moses exhorts the children of Israel to keep the commandments, to teach them to their children, and to be exemplary before all nations—They are forbidden to make graven images or worship other gods—They are to witness that they have heard the voice of God—They will be scattered among all nations when they worship other gods—They will be gathered again in the latter days when they seek the Lord their God—Moses extols the mercy and goodness of God to Israel" (LDS edition, 1979, Bible, Old Testament, p. 258).  Moses and the story of Israel's flight from Egypt is one of the greatest stories told in the Bible.

            Now, Jeremiah's is seeing in vision the gathering of Israel in the latter days. 

Jeremiah 16: 14-16 - "Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;  15 But, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. 16 Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks."

"Elder LeGrand Richards said that the fishers and hunters described in Jeremiah 16:16 are missionaries of the Church" (quoted in the Teacher's Manual; Conference Report, Apr. 1971, 143; or Ensign, June 1971, 98–99).

Matthew 4:18-19 - "And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.  19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Jeremiah 23:3-8 - "And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.  4 And I will set up shepherds [priesthood and Church leaders, Teacher's Manual] over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord. 5 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David (from David's lineage, see footnote 5a) a righteous Branch, and a King [Christ] shall reign  [in the Millennium-see footnote 5d] and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; 8 But, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land."

God will write his law in the hearts of his people

            From the Teacher's Manual: "The children of Israel relied on Moses to receive revelation for them during their sojourn in the wilderness." But Moses wrote in Numbers 11:29, the following: "And Moses said unto him [Joshua], Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!" 

            Now Jeremiah prophesies of the covenant the Lord will make with Israel in the last days.  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:  32 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 [the Law of Moses; Ridges, p. 345]; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:  33 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.  34 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 [in the millennium, see footnote 34a] 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."

Ezekiel 11:19-20 - "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: 20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God."

Hebrews 8:10 - "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people."

            "Jeremiah prophesied that 70 years after the people of Judah would be taken captive into Babylon, they would return to their homeland and once again live in harmony with God" (OT Teacher's Manual) (see Jeremiah 29:10-14). 

Jeremiah 29:10 - "For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place."

Jeremiah 29:12-14 - "Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.  13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 14 And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive."

Supplemental Study from Jeremiah

Now is the time to repent

            From the Teacher's Manual: "The Lord’s mercy is always extended to those who repent. However, people who postpone repentance may find it increasingly difficult to repent."

President Joseph F. Smith taught: “The man with accumulated and unforgiven wrong behind him may find all retreat cut off and his condition in the world hopeless; and he who recklessly cuts off every opportunity of retreat by the neglected evils of the past is most unfortunate. The daily practice, then, of seeking divine mercy and forgiveness as we go along, gives us power to escape evils” (quoted in the Teacher's Manual; Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [1939], 374).

Jeremiah prophesied of the devastating future the unrepentant people of Israel of his day will endure. But they refused to listen and had to suffer Babylonian destruction and captivity. 

Jeremiah 6:13-15 - "For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.  14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly [moral corruption, superficially, Ridges, p. 245), saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.   15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord."

Jeremiah 7:23-24 -  But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. 24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

Jeremiah 8:5-6; 12 - "Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return [repent].  6 I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.

12 "Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the Lord."

Jeremiah 17:23 - "But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction."

Hearkening to the words of the prophets

Jeremiah 7:13 - "And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, and I spake unto you [Judah], rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not."

Jeremiah 25:3-4 - "From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the Lord hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.

 4 And the Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear."

Jeremiah 26:4-5 - "And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, 5 To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them but ye have not hearkened."

Jeremiah 32:33 - "And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction."

Repeating the sins of previous generations

            From the Teacher's Manual - "Jeremiah warned the Jews of his day that the sins they committed were the same sins for which past generations had been severely punished."

Jeremiah 11:3-4 - "And say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, 4 Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt."

The importance of trusting in God

            In the following scripture, comparison is made between people who trust in man and people who trust in God.

Jeremiah 17:5-8 - "Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. 6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. 7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.  8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."

False prophets

            From the Teacher's Manual: "Zedekiah was a king who wanted prophets to tell him what he wanted to hear. Consequently, many false prophets promised that Jerusalem would not fall."

Jeremiah 28:1-2 - "…Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake [falsely] unto me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,  2 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon."

Jeremiah 37:19 - "Where are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land?"