The Promised Land (Psalm 37; Jeremiah 31-33) | Worship Service

Welcome to Kootenai Community Church. Would you please stand as we begin our service this.

Morning with our call to worship from the book of Isaiah chapter 40 verse 3 through 5. A voice is calling prepare the way for Yahweh in the wilderness make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low and let the rough ground become a plain and the rugged terrain a broad valley.

Then the glory of Yahweh will be revealed and all flesh will see it together for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken. This morning let's begin our worship service by singing together angels we have heard on.

High. So I'll call your attention to a couple of announcements in the bulletin.

Regarding fellowship dinners if you would like to sign up for a round of the fellowship dinners the details for that are in your bulletin so pay attention there. And then tonight is a children's youth children's program here at the church starting at 6 p .m. so you can join us for that with some special music and program that Rachel Gordon has put together for us.

That's tonight at 6 right here in the sanctuary. And then two things I mentioned a couple weeks ago that as long as we're doing a study in Psalm 37 that the book on Psalm 73 which deals with the same subject the prosperity of the wicked.

That's on 50 off. So these are five dollars. We ran out of them that day. If you didn't get a copy and wanted some they're restocked out there. And then also in your newsletter for the month of December Paul Taylor wrote the column there on the Star of Bethlehem and he has made his book available on the Star of Bethlehem Bethlehem Star for five dollars.

So each one five dollars. Buy them together. Special deal ten bucks. And you can get them both out in the foyer. You went to school in Clark Fork you know. That's a good deal. Ten bucks a special take advantage of that if you went to school in Clark Fork.

This is a book. This is a book all right. This is the time for peace and goodwill toward men. So turn your Bible to Psalm 140. Please Psalm 140. And we'll read this entire Psalm all 13 verses. And I'll ask you to stand with me as we pray.

Psalm 140 and Prayer for Protection

Psalm 140. Rescue me O Lord from evil men. Preserve me from violent men who devise evil things in their hearts. They continually stir up wars. They sharpen their tongues as a serpent. Poison of a viper is under their lips.

Keep me O Lord from the hands of the wicked. Preserve me from violent men who have purpose to trip up my feet. The proud have hidden a trap for me and cords. They have spread a net by the wayside. They have set snares for me.

I said to the Lord you are my God. Give ear O Lord to the voice of my supplications. O God the Lord the strength of my salvation. You have covered my head in the day of battle. Do not grant O Lord the desires of the wicked.

Do not promote his evil device that they not be exalted. As for the head of those who surround me. May the mischief of their lips cover them. May burning coals fall upon them. May they be cast into the fire into the deep pits from which they cannot rise.

May a slander or not be established in the earth. May evil hunt the violent man speedily. I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted and justice for the poor. Surely the righteous will give thanks to your name.

The upright will dwell in your presence. We stand with me as we pray. Let's bow our heads. Our father. We give you our thanks and our praise for your good and kind providence over us your people. We thank you that in your good grace you have saved us that you have redeemed us by the work of your son.

And it is for that purpose that we gather here each and every Lord's Day to celebrate afresh the salvation that we have in Christ. To find our hearts renewed and strengthened by your word strengthened by our fellowship with one another encouraged by the unity that we share in your son.

We gather together given opportunities to serve one another and encourage one another. And you continue to feed us from your word and by your spirit and by your good hand. And we thank you for that. We pray that our fellowship together our unity together our love for one another may be sweet may be encouraging and may feed our souls.

We thank you for your word and what you have revealed in your word about your protection and provision and your promises to the righteous. We thank you that we live in a world that is surrounded by wickedness and submerged in wickedness.

We are surrounded by the wicked. We know that you have a purpose for that that we would be a light and a testimony to them calling them out of and away from their deeds of darkness and out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of your son.

We know that you have a purpose in that and sanctifying us your people and preparing us for lives of ministry and serving us serving and preparing us for the glory that is to come. And so we pray that you would strengthen our hearts and encourage us together and be glorified through our worship and our fellowship and our time here together.

May you be honored by the words of our mouth the meditation of our hearts and may you be pleased with the offering of worship that we give to you our great.

God and King amen to five through eight. Have this way of thinking in yourselves.

Which was also in Christ Jesus who although existing in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself by taking the form of a slave by being made in the likeness of men being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross.

The Humility of Christ in Philippians 2

And we turn now to the book of Psalms to Psalm 37. Psalm 37. And let's begin with.

A word of prayer before we jump in jump into our text my father. We come to your word aware that we are dependent always upon your spirit and upon your grace and upon your teaching to understand the depth and the significance of what is revealed in your word.

And we want to read your word and understand your word not just on a superficial level but with an understanding that is given by the and granted by the Spirit of God who wrote this book help us to understand what is written here in the way that the Spirit would intend and the original audience would have understood it.

We pray that you would encourage our hearts together as we spend this time in your word. Sanctify us by your word and pray that you would conform us to the image of Christ. Fix through our time here. Fix our hope and our affections upon the grace that is to be revealed to us at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the glory that awaits those who are yours in your son.

We ask in his name. We come out of verses 9 through 11 of Psalm 37. We've covered the first eight verses which describe the peace that God gives to the righteous. We're picking it up now this morning at verse 9.

So read with me 9 through 11. For evil doers will be cut off but those who wait for the Lord they will inherit the land. Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more. You will look carefully for his place and he will not be there.

But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity. These three verses constitute the second section of this psalm that we are looking at seeing another thing that God gives to the righteous namely a promise of a glory and a grace that is to come.

You see it in verse 9. The righteous will inherit the land. Verse 11 the humble will inherit the land and this promise of a land that is to come and the inheritance in that land is the central promise of this entire psalm.

There are a number of promises in the psalm but this one is repeated in various ways throughout the psalm. You see it mentioned in verse 3. The land mentioned in verse 3 trust in the Lord and do good.

Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Just notice there that they were already living in this land and they were to live there and to enjoy the allotment that God had given to them and to and to cultivate faithfulness meaning that they were to live faithfully in the land that God had given to him.

That's verse 3. There's a command there to dwell on the land. But then the rest of the references to the land in this psalm all our references to inheriting the land and I'm just going to let you just want your eyes to sort of glance at each of these references as we work our way through them.

Look at verse 9 evildoers will be cut off but those who wait for the Lord they will inherit the land. Verse 11 the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity. Look at verse 22 but those for those who are blessed by him will inherit the land but those cursed by him will be cut off.

Verse 29 the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. Verse 34 wait for the Lord and keep his way and he will exalt you to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off you will see it.

So there are six references there to the land. And one way of dividing this psalm is to break the psalm up around the references to the land in all of these verses that you have just looked at that's one way of dividing the psalm in the passage that concerns us for this morning or at least will briefly is in verses 9 and 11 you see that it is mentioned twice.

And I want you to notice something about the structure of verses 9 through 11. Notice in verse 9 there's a promise regarding the wicked in the first line of that verse and then there is a promise regarding the righteous in the second line of the verse evildoers will be cut off and those who wait for the Lord they will inherit the land.

And then notice that verse 10 elaborates on the promise or the statement regarding the wicked in the first line of verse 9. Verse 10 says. Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more and you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there.

So all of verse 10 is an elaboration on the statement in the first phrase of verse 9. And then verse 11 elaborates on the second line of verse 9. But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

So now the question is this. What is this that is being promised. What was the land promise. What is it referring to what is intended by this promise. Is it symbolic. Is it metaphorical. Who enjoys this.

Has this already happened. Is this going to happen in the future. And if so what is it going to look like. Will we share in this. Or is this something that was just for the Jews just for Israel. How should we understand this promise now.

Because or since I should say this promise of the land is mentioned all the way through this psalm it would behoove us at the beginning of this psalm to sort of make the case and frame an understanding of what the author has in mind with all of these references throughout the rest of the psalm that way we're just sort of lay the groundwork for this and build a foundation of what is this land promise.

So we can understand that. And then we can just refer back to this sermon over the course of the next couple weeks however long it takes us to work through the rest of the psalm as we sort of refer back to what what again was the land promise.

So that's what we're doing today. Now as you might suspect there are a number of different ways that the promise of the land was interpreted. I'm going to give you four possible interpretations. Four of what I think are five and I'm going to briefly critique each one of these.

First some people could suggest that this land promise refers to the Israelites entering the land under Joshua entering the land under Joshua that the righteous would inherit the land now. If that is the case then that means that all of the promises that are mentioned in Psalm 37 have already been fulfilled even in David's day.

But it can't be referring to Joshua coming into the land and conquering the land since this was written 400 years after that. And all of the references to this are yet future events. They will inherit the land the wicked will be cut off.

So I don't really think it is referring to what happened in Joshua's day. It can't be something past since it is promising something that is yet future. And you notice from verse 3 that the people to whom David was writing in his day are commanded in verse 3 to dwell in the land meaning they were already there was already a reality for them.

Second some have suggested that the references to the land here in the psalm are merely references or promises of security and provision security and provision. In other words they are symbolic of God's protection of the nation of the righteous and sort of metaphors or similes a symbol of God's provision in the land his abundant provision in the land and his protection of the Jews in the land.

In fact this is John Calvin's interpretation of the verse. He says this quote. Now keep in mind Calvin wrote in longer sentences than we are used to thinking today this would never you could never get this in one tweet.

So I'm gonna give you the this I'll kind of briefly pause to explain what it is the Calvin is saying. Moreover Calvin says this quote. Moreover I have just now and on several other occasions stated the sense in which this everlasting habitation upon the earth which is here promised to the righteous is to be understood.

Namely that although they are surrounded by the troubles and changes which occur in this world yet God preserves them under his wing and although there is nothing lasting or stable under heaven yet he keeps them in safety as if they were sheltered in a secure haven.

That was one sentence. Now what Calvin is saying is that the sense in which we are to understand this everlasting habitation of the earth that is promised is simply to be understood as God preserving the righteous under his wing and keeping them in safety.

Calvin goes on to say this. And finally they enjoy in addition to this that inward peace of mind which is better than a hundred lives and which is therefore justly regarded as a privilege surpassing in value and importance all others.

Period. Close quote. Now I don't disagree with Calvin that God protects his people or the God provides for his people or gives peace of mind to his people or graciously blesses his people. In that way don't object to that at all but he's simply saying that the the land promises a prim promise of God's preservation of God's safety and provision for them in the land and that this is a promise that God would give them peace of mind.

So it's simply a symbol for God's provision protection and peace. Now I would suggest to you that if that is what the psalmist meant the psalmist could have said that. In other words he could have said God is our refuge he is our protector he is our shield.

In fact other psalms do say that don't they. You can drop your book of Psalms open to almost any psalm and read it and you will see a psalmist referencing those very things. So if that's what the psalmist intended if that's what David meant by the promise of the land he could have been far clearer than he was.

Other passages do say that. But this psalm describes them dwelling in the land and inheriting it forever. A third possible interpretation is that this promise was that they would live in the land for the duration of their lives and that as long as they were not unfaithful and were not wicked that they would not be expelled from the land like they were in Babylon.

In other words the promise is to the righteous God will let you live in the land but if as a nation or as a people you turn from the Lord then he will kick you out of the land just as he did 400 years after the psalm was written when the Jews disobeyed and they were kicked out of the land and exiled in Babylon.

In other words their obedience would secure their time in the land and they would not be driven out in exile. Some people say that that's what is being promised here except they were in the land and they were commanded to live there and if that's what it is referring to then the wicked would have enjoyed the exact same blessing since the wicked were prospering at this time.

And if this is just a reference to them not suffering under exile then the wicked could live alongside of the righteous and live and dwell in the land and enjoy the same promise. In other words that interpretation nullifies the promise because the wicked then get to enjoy the same thing that is to stay within the national borders of Israel and live in that land.

The wicked in fact prospered in that same land and died and were never driven out until 400 years later when Babylon came in and and drove the entire nation out. And in fact it would turn the promise on its head.

Since 400 years later when the wicked were rebellious and the nation did rebel there were there was a remnant of righteous in the land and they were actually driven out of the land. Weren't they Shadrach Meshach Abednego Jeremiah Daniel.

They were all exiled from the land. And so what does this promise mean to them. If we're just talking about dwelling in the physical land of Israel they were righteous men who are in fact were not allowed to dwell in the land and live in it in peace and safety since they were exiled along with of the rebellious Jews of their day.

Fourth it has been suggested that this is a promise that the righteous will joy enjoy success in the land. In other words the righteous will enjoy the prosperity in the land and delight themselves in the abundant prosperity of the land that is provided.

But in fact the wicked were having the same success. Verse 7 says. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way. In other words the wicked were prospering.

So if this is just a promise that the righteous will prosper then what do we do with the fact that the wicked were prospering in the land as well. This seems to be a suggestion. This seems to be a promise that there is coming a something that the wicked do not enjoy.

In other words whatever is intended in this promise it cannot be something that the wicked also enjoyed and experienced. Whatever the land promise is it cannot be something that the wicked enjoyed or experienced.

Since throughout the psalm the distinction is made between the righteous and the wicked and the promises that the wicked will be cut off and the righteous would inherit this thing. So the wicked are cut off and they are no more and the righteous inherit the land.

In other words the wicked don't get this thing that is promised which means that it cannot refer to just living in the land of Israel within the national boundaries since the wicked enjoyed that it can't be referring to simply prosperity in the land at that time since the wicked were enjoying that some have suggested that it's possibly speaking of heaven.

I don't think it excludes heaven. I think heaven is part of the fulfillment of this promise not all of the fulfillment of this promise but it is part of it. But that interpretation would understand to land simply to be a picture of ultimate heaven.

But if that is true then referring to it as the land seems a bit confusing at best and misleading at worse. If the author wanted to describe heaven he could have said heaven. There was language for that like ASAP uses in Psalm 73 verse 25 when he says whom am I in heaven.

But you and besides you I desire nothing on earth. So this is referring to heaven. If the land promise is referring to heaven then it seems the author could have just said the righteous are promised heaven and left it at that.

But there's actually no place in the psalm where the land is equated with heaven. So it can't be that the Jews knew what this meant. The psalmist uses the term land six times in the psalm to describe a promise something that the righteous would receive that the wicked will be cut off from and never received.

The promises are yet to be realized even in David's day regarding the land. So it means that in David's day when he wrote Psalm 37 there was something to happen to the land something about the land promise that was yet to be fulfilled that the wicked would never enjoy.

That can't be physically dwelling inside the national boundaries. It has to be something beyond that something greater than that because the wicked would be cut off. Let's look for a moment at the features of the promises all the way through Psalm 37.

We're just going to observe and go back to each one of these six references and just observe. Look what it is that is promised. And then we're going to jump into another Old Testament passage to say what was it being.

What was the land promise describing what was. What did the author have in mind. Let's begin at verse 3 Psalm 37 3 trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell on the land and cultivate faithfulness. Now does this reference to the land refer to heaven.

Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Is the author describing heaven in verse 3 dwell in heaven and cultivate faithfulness. Do good and trust in the Lord in heaven is that what he's describing verse 3 is not describing heaven.

That's obviously they were not in heaven. He's not commanding the saints who are in heaven to dwell in heaven. And so I would suggest you that it is hermeneutical gymnastics of the worst sort to suggest that the reference to land in verse 3 has a completely different meaning than the reference to the land in the rest of the psalm.

You can't seriously suggest that the reference to the land in verse 3 refers to the physical land of Israel the actual real estate in the Middle East promise to Abraham and his descendants. But that every subsequent reference to the land in the rest of the psalm refers to a spiritual reality not a physical one and to heaven and not actually the land of Israel.

Psalm 37 verse 9 says. Evildoers will be cut off. But those who wait for the Lord they will inherit the land. So the wicked don't get this. They're removed they're cut off. Look at verse 11. The humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

So whatever the promise is it involves not the wicked but the righteous enjoying and delighting themselves. Same word used as in verse 4 where it says delight yourself in the Lord. It involves the righteous delighting themselves reposing themselves lavishing themselves in abundant prosperity.

Look at verse 32 or 22. For those blessed by him will inherit the land but those cursed by him will be cut off. Now there's the land is for those whom God blesses and those whom God curses have no part no part or portion in the land.

Verse 29 the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. So this possession whatever it is is meant here is a possession that is an everlasting and eternal a forever possession not one that ends when you die not one that can end.

If the if the wicked rebel and you are cast out of the land this is an ongoing eternal everlasting possession they will dwell in it forever. So this can't be referred to just this life. Verse 34. Wait for the Lord and keep his way and he will exalt you to inherit the land.

When the wicked are cut off you will see it. So this inheriting of the land involves an exaltation for the righteous so it can be spiritual. It can't be a metaphor it's not symbolic of something else he's describing here actually inheriting the land of Israel in a state or a condition that they did not yet enjoy now other than the command.

In verse 3 every reference describes something that is future. You'll notice it then it's used nine times. This will happen. This will happen this will happen. There's a phrase that describes the future condition of this nine times in the in the psalm and verse 3 is the only place where it is a command and not promising something future.

So while they lived in the land along with the wicked there is a future land promise for the righteous that involves an eternal dwelling abundant prosperity exaltation and the complete removal of the wicked from the land.

This land then is not a spiritual reality but the very land that they lived on and the very land that they called their own given to them by Yahweh that is what they were to dwell on and cultivate faithfulness while they look forward to the fulfillment of a promise and a condition of that land that was yet to come.

So now that we've sort of laid out the parameters of what is promised in Psalm 37. Turn now back. Turn now forward. I should say to another Old Testament book Jeremiah the book of Jeremiah chapter 31.

We're going to spend the rest of our time this morning in Jeremiah 31 because we want to understand what did the Jews what were they promised what did they understand the blessing of the land to refer to.

We're going to actually spend the rest of our time in Jeremiah 31 32 and 33. And you're going to wonder if you can cover that much scripture like on one Sunday how come you can't do that every Sunday.

It's not because we're not going to go into detail but there's just so much there to read and to take in because there are three chapters there that deal with this reality. So today we're going to look at those three chapters Jeremiah 31 32 33.

And then next Sunday we're going to come back to Psalm 37 and work our way through verses 9 through 11. Now Jeremiah wrote this after David in Psalm 37. One of the reasons that I chose to go to the book of Jeremiah was simply to to establish some promises that came not during the time of David and not before the time of David but something that actually happened after the time of David toward the close of the Old Testament era.

As you're talking about Jeremiah writing for 500 years BC but 400 years after David. So you have Joshua conquering the land several centuries go by. David writes the psalm describing the blessing of this land that is to come four more centuries go by and Jeremiah starts talking about this land and the promise that God has made concerning this land.

So we're going after David's time after the time that God gave the covenant to David which I'm just going to read it so you can be reminded of what God promised to David. In 2nd Samuel chapter 7 verse 11 the Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you when your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers.

I will raise up your descendant after you who will come forth from you and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me when he commits iniquity I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men.

But my loving-kindness shall not depart from him as I took it away from Saul whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall endure before me forever. Your throne will be established forever now.

That's the promise that God made to David a fast-forward 400 years to the time of Jeremiah. And you are approaching the end of the Davidic kingdom. The Davidic monarchy the the kingdom is in ruins. The the house of David and the kingdom of Israel was a hollowed out shell of its former self.

The nation was in ruins. They had committed iniquity and God was judging them for their sin. And God had promised to set a descendant on David's throne and that David's house David's kingdom and his rule would reign would exist and and continue through that son forever.

An everlasting kingdom is promised to the descendant who would take David's throne. And yet in Jeremiah's day the question was if the house of David is broken down and Israel is about to be invaded by Babylon as Jeremiah was prophesying and they were going to be destroyed.

And that was the end of the Davidic monarchy. Then what do we do with God's promises to David that said he would establish his throne forever. You see the dilemma. God promised this to David and yet here's what we see with our eyes.

This is coming to an end. Have the promises of David failed. That by the way is the issue that the psalmist wrestles with in Psalm 89 where he asked himself that very question what do we do with the promises of God to David.

And the psalmist goes back again and again to this foundational truth. God promised it to David. He swore this to David he will keep his word. Don't understand how it's going to happen. Don't understand how this is going to unfold.

But that's where we stand. We have to stand there because God has promised it. So Jeremiah 31 is the Lord speaking to Jeremiah telling him about a new covenant that is to come now. There are some who would say that the establishment of the new covenant and the passing away of the old covenant means that the people to whom the promises of David were given that that has changed and that now those promises are fulfilled in us the church in a different way than what was promised.

What we're going to see in these next three chapters and most of the passages that are in here is that there is no way that you can interpret those promises to anybody other than national Israel. It was made to national Israel.

And therefore God is going to keep his word to the Jews just as he said he would do it because that is what God does. He keeps his word. So Jeremiah 31 let's pick it up. At verse 31 we're going to read through this.

I'll stop periodically to make some comments. I want you to observe some things that tie in with Psalm 37 as we work our way through it. Verse 31 behold days are coming declares the Lord when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah not like the covenant which I made with their fathers and the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

My covenant which they broke although I was a husband to them declares the Lord. I want you to notice there that he contrasts the new covenant with the Mosaic covenant the one that was made at Sinai when he brought them out of Egypt.

And he says this new covenant is not like that one. The new covenant is an unconditional covenant. It's not conditioned upon their obedience like the Mosaic covenant was. And the Mosaic covenant did not have promises of land attached to it.

It had promises attached to the nation that stipulated their dwelling in the land and their worship in the land. And now in Jeremiah's time they were being punished as a nation for their disobedience to that former covenant.

And so now on the brink of the destruction of the nation by Babylon coming in and judging them God says I'm gonna make a new covenant. With whom. With Gentiles. No with different peoples. No with Israel.

This covenant is with the nation of Israel. Verse 33. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days declares the Lord I will put my law within them and on their heart I will write it and I will be their God and they shall be my people.

They will not teach again each man his neighbor and each man his brother saying know the Lord. For they will all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.

I will remember no more. So this covenant involves redemption forgiveness the payment of sin the forgiving of iniquity. It also involves everyone with whom this covenant is made at this time that fulfills this.

They will all know me. In other words all of the participants of the new covenant they know God. You do not have unbelievers in the new covenant. You don't have children who are in the new covenant who are unbelievers.

You don't have pagans attached to the church were part of the new covenant. They're not inside the new covenant. Everybody in the new covenant knows the Lord. This is one of the things that makes it superior to the Mosaic Covenant.

In the Mosaic Covenant you had a nation full of people most of whom could be pagans and not Yahweh worshipers at all whose disobedience would bring judgment and chastisement upon the nation. But in the new covenant everyone in the new covenant knows the Lord its superior covenant.

This covenant does not involve setting aside national Israel. It is in fact a covenant with national Israel. The new covenant a covenant with national Israel. Jeremiah 31. Verse 35. Thus says the Lord who gives the Sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night who stirs up the sea so that it wave its waves roar.

The Lord of hosts is his name. And this is what he says. Verse 36. If this fixed order departs from before me declares the Lord then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before me forever.

Thus says the Lord if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out below then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done declares the Lord.

So how certain is the fulfillment of this promise. It is absolutely certain because Israel's national existence is guaranteed by God until his word to national Israel is fulfilled. National Israel was promised things that require their existence.

And therefore Israel will never cease to be there promised a future Davidic kingdom a future king a place and a future in the land. And even though they were being exiled are right on the edge of being exiled in Jeremiah writes this.

God gives them a promise regarding the land. Verse 38. Behold the days are coming declares the Lord when the city will be rebuilt for the Lord from the tower of Hananel to the corner gate the measuring line will go out farther straight ahead to the hill goreb.

Then it will turn to goa and the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron to the corner of the horse gate toward the east shall be holy to the Lord.

It will not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever. These are the promises that relate to the rebuilding of the nation and the city. And notice that there are specific geographical features that are mentioned in the text.

Specific geographical features of the land are mentioned in the text. Now the Covenant is introduced in chapter 31 but its details are repeated and elaborated on over the course of the next two chapters.