Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of Jeremiah Chapter 31
Metaphysically Interpreting Jeremiah 31:1-26
31:1At that time, saith Jehovah, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
31:2Thus saith Jehovah,
The people that were left of the sword
found favor in the wilderness;
even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
31:3Jehovah appeared of old unto me,
saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love:
therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
31:4Again will I build thee, and thou shalt be built,
O virgin of Israel:
again shalt thou be adorned with thy tabrets,
and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
31:5Again shalt thou plant vineyards
upon the mountains of Samaria;
the planters shall plant,
and shall enjoy the fruit thereof.
31:6For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the hills of Ephraim shall cry,
Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion
unto Jehovah our God.
31:7For thus saith Jehovah,
Sing with gladness for Jacob,
and shout for the chief of the nations:
publish ye, praise ye, and say,O Jehovah,
save thy people,
the remnant of Israel.
31:8Behold, I will bring them from the north country,
and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth,
and with them the blind and the lame,
the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together:
a great company shall they return hither.
31:9They shall come with weeping;
and with supplications will I lead them:
I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters,
in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble;
for I am a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my first-born.
December 18, 1949: Jer. 31:3
In what does loving-kindness originate? In divine love, which is eternal. “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”
Metaphysically Interpreting Jeremiah 31:27-30
31:27Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. 31:28And it shall come to pass that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant, saith Jehovah. 31:29In those days they shall say no more,
The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children's teeth are set on edge.31:30But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
Metaphysically Interpreting Jeremiah 31:31-37
31:31Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 31:32not 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 a husband unto them, saith Jehovah. 31:33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: 31:34and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Jehovah: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.31:35Thus saith Jehovah,
who giveth the sun for a light by day,
and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night,
who stirreth up the sea, so that the waves thereof roar;
Jehovah of hosts is his name:
31:36If these ordinances depart
from before me, saith Jehovah,
then the seed of Israel also shall cease
from being a nation before me for ever.31:37Thus saith Jehovah:
If heaven above can be measured,
and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath,
then will I also cast off all the seed of Israel
for all that they have done, saith Jehovah.
May 26, 1929: Jer. 31:29-34
The prophet Jeremiah says that certain laws will be operative in “those days”. What do “days” represent in Scripture? In Scripture “days” represent states of consciousness. The creative days in the first chapter of Genesis are not literal days, but are the activity of Divine Mind expressing through its faculties. For example, the first day of Genesis is the realization of “light,” intelligence, and its separation from darkness or non-intelligence. “And God called the light Day.” And the second day’s creation was the “firmament,” faith. The third day was the creation of dry land, representing the formative power of mind.
What does the prophet say shall be the prevailing law in the state of consciousness in which these inherent principles are unfolded? The prophet states the law of sequence: The person who originates a cause shall reap the effect. “Every one shall die for his own iniquity.”
In this state of consciousness does man come under the race thought of heredity? No. It is set forth in verse 29: “In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
What do Christian metaphysicians understand by the “new covenant” which Jehovah makes with the “house of Israel, and with the house of Judah”? The new covenant is man’s exact agreement with the inner law of Spirit, as contrasted with the outer chaotic movement of the mind. When man’s thought begins to function from the inner light of Christ mind, his consciousness is related directly to God, and he comes under a new and higher activity of the mind and the body. In the Scripture this is called the “grace and truth” which came through Jesus Christ.
Is the transition from the Mosaic dispensation to the Christian dispensation sharp and clear-cut? No. The significance is that a person passes from mortal darkness (Egypt) into mixed thoughts (the wilderness) where spiritual and material consciousness both are active. There is where the great majority of Christians in this day find themselves. They are following the light in faith and trust, as Jehovah says in verse 32, “in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.” A writer in Unity recently recommended this good thought for such persons: “I place myself and all my affairs lovingly in the hands of the Father.”
How is the law of Jehovah put into man’s inward parts and how is it written upon the heart? A realization of the fundamental truth that man’s Source is spiritual instead of material quickens and enlarges one’s spiritual consciousness. The heart, or love of God, is stirred into action when man finds that he is inspired from within. From his spiritual center man is moved; not from the impact of thought from without but from the urge of original ideas from within. Jesus said, “I speak not of myself [the outer consciousness]: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”
September 14, 1930: Jer. 31:27-34
What was the nature of the message of Jeremiah to the children of Israel? The message of Jeremiah was a call to repentance for having transgressed God’s law. He told the children of Israel that their sensuous living would end in disaster and desolation unless they repented.
When man begins to take notice of his religious convictions and determines to follow the Christ standards, what results? When man sets about to follow his religious convictions the Christ within him begins the preparation of remolding his mental concepts. The thought of flesh heredity begins to give way. In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
Explain the passage, “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” When faith in spiritual truth becomes established in man, he gains clarity of vision. Eventually he discovers the truth of divine law in his own heart. Not only does he see that the power to discern Truth is inherent in his mind; he sees that it can be set into action and made to express his divine nature. By understanding the law of his own being, man becomes a free agent.
December 11, 1949: Jer. 31:29-34
Does an unfavorable hereditary background excuse a person who acts contrary to the requirements of the divine law? No, each person is responsible for his own thoughts and conduct. The divine law is no respecter of persons, and each one must obey it or pay the penalty of his disobedience.
What is the covenant that Jehovah makes with the person who enters into spiritual consciousness (the house of Israel)? The divine law is to be revealed to each heart. “I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it.”
What are “those days" which must go before the making of the new covenant? They are the various stages of enlightenment through which a person must pass before the divine law becomes a truly inward thing.
What kind of faith in God will prove enduring? Faith in God as the Spirit of truth within the heart of man and as that same Spirit immanent in the universe.
Transcribed by Tracie Louise on 11-26-2013
