“The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.  It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD.  But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.”—Jeremiah 31:31-34

“And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,’ [the Holy Spirit] also adds, ‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’  Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.”—Hebrews 10:16-18

I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.  I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.  YHWH’s covenants and laws have taken on many forms throughout history.  In the time of Naamah, Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel, covenants were “cut” between YHWH and a patriarch, with a sign from above and an altar built on Earth.  Presumably the content of the covenant was shared orally from person to person, descendant to descendant.  In the time of Miriam and Zipporah, YHWH first wrote the law directly with a finger on stone tablets.  So, the fingerprint of God was physically on the stone.  Moses quickly broke these tablets because of the disobedience of the Israelites.  After another set was made, they were placed within the “ark of the covenant.”  This was an ornate box carried around on poles, and only the high priests had access to it.  YHWH physically traveled with the ark and the Israelites during this period, in pillars of fire and smoke.  Sometime after this the law was written on scrolls.  It was lost at various moments in Israelite history, only to be found and read aloud to all by people like Ezra.

It was probably scrolls such as these that Jesus was found studying in the temple when he snuck away from his parents as a child.  Just yesterday I was having a front porch conversation with Prince and Samson, two youths who have befriended me, about whether or not Jesus could read and whether or not that mattered.  The conclusion we came to was that he probably could read based on this studying in the temple and on the verse about him writing in the dirt.  The other conclusion, though, was that it did not matter.  For, the covenant, the law, and the prophets were passed from generation to generation via oral tradition.  Even if Jesus could not read, he could have been just as learned in the tradition of his people by listening to the stories of his parents and of the village elders.  Proverbs and parables have been passed on in just this way here in Zambia.  

The next discussion on the porch pushed the heart of the matter even further.  What of those who cannot hear or see or talk?  Without turning to the Bible at all, we collectively agreed that what truly matters in terms of our relationship with God is in our hearts and minds.  God knows our hearts and minds.

These two passages then take the porch conversation deeper.  God has written the covenant and law in our hearts and our minds.  Jeremiah and the author of Hebrews had the revelation that just as YHWH wrote directly on the first tablets, YHWH has directly touched each and every one of our hearts and minds. 

What exactly does this mean for us?

For one, as in the time of the great wandering in the wilderness, God is journeying with us in person.

Secondly, God’s covenant and law reside within us in a way that we can understand according to our individual contexts.  It thus also will take different manifestations based on context.

Thirdly, the covenant and law are based both in our hearts and our minds.  Rationalism has no priority over emotion, and vice-versa.  We are to listen to the Holy Spirit in the fullness of who we are.

Fourthly, God’s covenant and law transcend the barriers that we put up based on ability, race, class, sex, sexuality, gender, nationality, citizenship, education, and incarceration status.

Finally, the covenant and law are no longer negotiated between a patriarch or ‘hero’ and God.  Instead, God is in direct relationship with each and every one of us.

We Christians believe that Jesus of Nazareth embodied a new covenant, meaning that Creation became a New Creation and that all of us are new creations.  We Christians believe that Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled the law and made it perfect, meaning that we ought to look at the lived action of this human being and apply it to our own lives in our own contexts.

You should already look at all humans with awe because they are created in the image and likeness of God.  Now you should add to that awe, because they also carry the covenant and the law in their very essence.