Jeremiah 32:40

My Notes

What Does Jeremiah 32:40 Mean?

God promises the ultimate covenant — everlasting, irrevocable, and internally secured: and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

I will make an everlasting covenant (berit olam — a covenant without end, permanent, without expiration) — the covenant is eternal. Not temporary. Not renewable. Not subject to the conditions that broke the Sinai covenant. Everlasting — lasting as long as God lasts, which is forever. The making is God's: I will make. The initiative, the terms, and the guarantee are entirely divine.

That I will not turn away from them (lo ashub me-achareihem — I will not turn from behind them, I will not withdraw my following) — God's commitment: he will not turn away. Not conditional on their performance. Not dependent on their consistency. He will not turn. The divine fidelity is absolute: God binds himself to not withdrawing. The covenant guarantee is God's own refusal to leave.

To do them good (leheitiv otam — to cause good to them, to benefit them) — the purpose of the not-turning-away: good. God stays in order to bless. The presence is purposeful: I remain so that I can continue doing you good. The good is the ongoing activity of a God who will not leave.

But I will put my fear (yirah — reverence, awe, the trembling awareness of God's holiness) in their hearts — the second guarantee. God addresses the human side of the covenant: I will put. The fear of God — the internal condition that prevents departure — is placed in the heart by God. The people do not generate the fear themselves. God puts it there. The same God who guarantees he will not leave also guarantees they will not leave — by placing the fear in their hearts that prevents the departure.

That they shall not depart from me (lo yasuru me-alai — they will not turn aside from me) — the result: the people will not depart. Not because they are perfect. Because the fear God planted prevents the turning. The bilateral security is complete: God will not turn from them (divine guarantee). They will not depart from him (human guarantee, divinely produced). Both sides of the covenant are secured by God.

The verse describes the most secure covenant imaginable: everlasting in duration, God-guaranteed in fidelity (he will not turn), God-guaranteed in the human response (he puts the fear that prevents their turning). Both the divine side and the human side are God's work. The covenant cannot be broken because the one who makes it secures both ends.

Reflection Questions

• 1.What makes this covenant 'everlasting' in a way the Sinai covenant was not — and what secures the permanence?
• 2.How does God guaranteeing both sides (he will not turn, they will not depart) eliminate the failure point of every previous covenant?
• 3.What does God 'putting his fear in their hearts' describe about the internal transformation that prevents departure?
• 4.How does this bilateral divine security change the way you understand the permanence of your relationship with God?

Devotional

I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Everlasting. No expiration. No renewal clause. No conditions that, if violated, terminate the agreement. The covenant God makes here is the one that lasts — permanently, irrevocably, for all of eternity. The making is God's. The permanence is God's. The guarantee is God's.

I will not turn away from them, to do them good. God commits: I will not leave. I will not withdraw. I will not turn away — not because of their faithfulness but because of mine. The purpose: to do them good. The staying is for blessing. God remains in the relationship to continually, persistently, permanently benefit the people he has covenanted with.

I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. And here is the staggering second guarantee: God secures not just his side of the covenant but yours. I will put — the fear that keeps you from departing is not your production. It is God's implantation. He places the reverence inside your heart that prevents the turning he just promised he would never do himself. Both sides of the covenant are God-secured: he will not turn from you, and you will not depart from him — because the fear he put in your heart holds you in place.

The security is bilateral and both sides are divine. God guarantees his faithfulness (I will not turn). God guarantees your faithfulness (I will put my fear in their hearts). The covenant cannot be broken — not because you are strong enough to keep it but because God secures both ends. His commitment holds one side. His fear in your heart holds the other. The result: an everlasting covenant that neither party exits — because the one party who could guarantee both sides has done so.

This is the most secure promise in the Bible. Every other covenant depended on human faithfulness for the human side — and human faithfulness always failed. This covenant is different: God handles both sides. His not-turning and your not-departing are both his work. The everlasting is guaranteed by the one who secures every dimension of the agreement.

You are in this covenant — if you are in Christ. The everlasting holds. The not-turning-away is active. The fear in your heart is the evidence. And the security of the arrangement is not in your grip on God. It is in God's grip on both sides of the covenant.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture