◄ Jeremiah 31:20 ►
Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him," declares the LORD.
Study Bible
Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child?

Ephraim represents the northern kingdom of Israel, often called Israel after the division of Solomon’s kingdom. Though Ephraim had led the nation into idolatry and covenant rebellion, the Lord still regarded His people with the love of a father for a son. Israel’s sin had not erased God’s covenant purposes or His claim upon the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Pro 3:12 for the LORD disciplines the one He loves,…
Hos 11:1 When Israel was a child, I loved him…

Though I often speak against him, I still remember him.

The Lord’s judgments against Ephraim were righteous responses to persistent idolatry, injustice, and rejection of His word. Assyria conquered the northern kingdom in 722 B.C. and carried many Israelites into exile. Yet God’s remembrance means that He had not abandoned His covenant people. He remained committed to restoring a repentant remnant and bringing His scattered people back to Himself.

Psa 105:8 He remembers His covenant forever, the word…
Lev 26:42-45 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob…

Therefore My heart yearns for him;

God reveals His deep compassion toward those whom He disciplines. Divine judgment is never presented as indifference or cruelty; it serves God’s holy purpose of exposing sin and calling His people to return. Jeremiah 31 follows Ephraim’s confession of repentance, showing that the Lord receives the contrite and responds to those who turn back to Him.

Hos 11:8 How could I give you up, O Ephraim? How could I surrender…
1Ki 3:26 Then the woman whose son was alive spoke to the king…

I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD.

The Lord’s compassion assures Israel that exile will not be the final word. Jeremiah’s promise looks toward restoration from captivity, the reunification of Israel and Judah, and the new covenant in which God writes His law upon the hearts of His people. God’s mercy reaches its fullest revelation in Jesus Christ, through whom forgiveness, reconciliation, and the promised new covenant are secured.

Isa 54:7-8 For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion…
Psa 103:13 As a father has compassion on his children…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Ephraim
Represents the Northern Kingdom of Israel, often used as a symbol for the entire nation due to its prominence. Ephraim was one of the tribes of Israel, descended from Joseph's son.

2. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant-keeping God of Israel, who expresses His deep love and compassion for His people despite their rebellion.

3. Jeremiah
The prophet through whom God delivers this message. He ministered during a time of great turmoil and impending judgment for Judah.

4. Israel's Rebellion
The context of this verse is Israel's persistent disobedience and idolatry, which led to their exile.

5. God's Compassion
The event of God expressing His enduring love and compassion for His people, despite their waywardness.
Teaching Points
God's Unfailing Love
Despite our failures and sins, God's love for us remains steadfast. He sees us as precious and delightful, just as He did with Ephraim.

Divine Compassion
God's heart yearns for His people, demonstrating His deep compassion. This should encourage us to return to Him, knowing He is always ready to forgive.

The Call to Repentance
While God speaks against sin, His ultimate desire is for His people to repent and return to Him. This is a call for self-examination and turning back to God.

The Nature of God's Discipline
God's discipline is not out of anger but out of love, aiming to restore and bring us back into a right relationship with Him.

Hope for Restoration
No matter how far we have strayed, there is always hope for restoration because of God's enduring compassion and mercy.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding Ephraim's role in Israel's history help us grasp the depth of God's compassion in Jeremiah 31:20?

2. In what ways can we see God's heart for His people reflected in the Parable of the Prodigal Son?

3. How does recognizing God's unfailing love and compassion impact our response to His discipline in our lives?

4. What practical steps can we take to ensure we are continually returning to God, especially when we have strayed?

5. How can we apply the message of hope and restoration found in Jeremiah 31:20 to our personal lives and relationships with others?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Hosea 11:8-9
This passage also speaks of God's deep love and compassion for Ephraim, despite their sinfulness, highlighting God's reluctance to give them up.

Luke 15:11-32
The Parable of the Prodigal Son reflects a similar theme of a father's enduring love and compassion for a wayward child, mirroring God's heart for Ephraim.

Psalm 103:13-14
Illustrates God's compassion and understanding of human frailty, similar to His compassion for Ephraim.
Sermons
A Pattern Prayer for the PenitentC. M. Hardy, B. A.Jeremiah 31:18-21
A Pleasant ChildW. F. Morgan, D. D.Jeremiah 31:18-21
Chastisement Resulting in PenitenceRobert Hall, M. A.Jeremiah 31:18-21
DisciplineJ. Parker, D. D.Jeremiah 31:18-21
Ephraim Bemoaning HimselfJeremiah 31:18-21
Ephraim Bemoaning Himself; Or, the Penitent's RestorationA.F. Muir Jeremiah 31:18-21
Evangelical RepentanceJ. Hill.Jeremiah 31:18-21
God's Tender Mercy to the PenitentDean Vaughan.Jeremiah 31:18-21
Mercy to PenitentsTJeremiah 31:18-21
Presumptuous Sins Call for Profound RepentanceBp. Sanderson.Jeremiah 31:18-21
RepentanceJ. Foot, D. D.Jeremiah 31:18-21
Repentant EphraimF. Whitfield, M. A.Jeremiah 31:18-21
Sanctified AfflictionJ. Thorburn.Jeremiah 31:18-21
Sin the Reproach and Shame of YouthJohn Guyse, D. D.Jeremiah 31:18-21
Spiritual Way-MarksJohn Jones.Jeremiah 31:18-21
The Cause and Design of AfflictionJ. Leifchild.Jeremiah 31:18-21
The Contrite ComfortedF. Storr, M. A.Jeremiah 31:18-21
The Cry of the PenitentW. Hay Aitken, M. A.Jeremiah 31:18-21
The Divine Mercy to Mourning PenitentsPresident Davies.Jeremiah 31:18-21
The Inner Side of ConversionJeremiah 31:18-21
The Picture of a True PenitentW. G. Lewis.Jeremiah 31:18-21
The Repentance of the Truly ConvertedCanon Jelf.Jeremiah 31:18-21
The Stubborn Sinner Submitting to GodE. Payson, D. D.Jeremiah 31:18-21
To the PenitentG. Brooks.Jeremiah 31:18-21
People
Gareb, Jacob, Jeremiah, Rachel, Rahel
Places
Corner Gate, Egypt, Gareb, Goah, Horse Gate, Kidron, Ramah, Samaria, Tower of Hananel, Zion
Topics
Child, Compassion, Darling, Dear, Declares, Delight, Earnestly, Ephraim, Heart, Mercy, Often, Remember, Says, Speak, Surely, Though, Yearns
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 31:20

     1030   God, compassion
     1070   God, joy of
     1135   God, suffering of
     2218   Christ, Son of God
     5830   delight
     5895   intimacy
     5966   tenderness
     6109   alienation
     6232   rejection of God, results
     6233   rejection, experience
     6688   mercy, demonstration of God's
     7115   children of God
     8205   childlikeness

Jeremiah 31:18-20

     6734   repentance, importance
     8479   self-examination, examples

Library
What the Stable Creation Teaches
'If those ordinances depart from before Me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me for ever.'--JER. xxxi. 36. This is the seal of the new covenant, which is to be made in days future to the prophet and his contemporaries, with the house of Israel and of Judah. That new covenant is referred to in Hebrews as the fundamental law of Christ's kingdom. Therefore we have the right to take to ourselves the promises which it contains, and to think of 'the house …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

What the Immense Creation Teaches
'If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord.'--JER. xxxi. 37. In the former sermon we considered the previous verse as presenting the stability of creation as a guarantee of the firmness of God's gracious covenant. Now we have to consider these grand closing words which bring before us another aspect of the universe as a guarantee for another side of God's gracious …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

August the Twenty-First Satisfaction
"My people shall be satisfied with My goodness." --JEREMIAH xxxi. 10-14. And how unlike is all this to the feasts of the world! There is a great show, but no satisfaction. There is much decorative china, but no nutritious food or drink. "Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again." We rise from the table, and our deepest cravings are unappeased. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" We know. We have had a condiment, but no meat; a showy menu-card, but no reviving feast. Nothing but …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

God in the Covenant
But I have been thinking for the last two or three days, that the covenant of grace excels the other covenant most marvelously in the mighty blessings which it confers. What does the covenant of grace convey? I had thought this morning of preaching a sermon upon "The covenant of grace; what are the blessings it gives to God's children?" But when I began to think of it, there was so much in the covenant, that if I had only read a catalogue of the great and glorious blessings, wrapped up within its …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

The Two Covenants: their Relation
"It is written, that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondmaid, and one by the freewoman. Howbeit, the one by the bondmaid is born after the flesh; but the son by the freewoman is born through promise. Which things contain an allegory: for these women are two covenants." -GAL. iv. 22-24. THERE are two covenants, one called the Old, the other the New. God speaks of this very distinctly in Jeremiah, where He says: "The days come, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, not after the …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants

The New Covenant
"But this is 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. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."--JER. xxxi. 33, 34. ISAIAH has often been called …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants

Conversion of all that Come.
"Turn Thou me and I shall be turned." --Jer. xxxi. 18. The elect, born again and effectually called, converts himself. To remain unconverted is impossible; but he inclines his ear, he turns his face to the blessed God, he is converted in the fullest sense of the word. In conversion the fact of cooperation on the part of the saved sinner assumes a clearly defined and perceptible character. In regeneration there was none; in the calling there was a beginning of it; in conversion proper it became a …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Old Things are Passed Away.
…
John Newton—Olney Hymns

Whether the Active Life Remains after this Life?
Objection 1: It would seem that the active life remains after this life. For the acts of the moral virtues belong to the active life, as stated above [3738](A[1]). But the moral virtues endure after this life according to Augustine (De Trin. xiv, 9). Therefore the active life remains after this life. Objection 2: Further, teaching others belongs to the active life, as stated above [3739](A[3]). But in the life to come when "we shall be like the angels," teaching will be possible: even as apparently …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Waiting Faith Rewarded and Strengthened by New Revelations
'And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, and be thou perfect. And I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for Me, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A vision of Judgement and Cleansing
'And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. 2. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? 3. Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the Angel. 4. And He answered and spake unto those that stood before Him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him He said, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Perseverance in Holiness
May the King himself come near and feast his saints to-day! May the Comforter who convinced of sin now come to cheer us with the promise! We noticed concerning the fig tree, that it was confirmed in its barrenness: it had borne no fruit, though it made large professions of doing so, and it was made to abide as it was. Let us consider another form of confirmation: not the curse of continuance in the rooted habit of evil; but the blessing of perseverance in a settled way of grace. May the Lord show …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 35: 1889

Appendix xiv. The Law in Messianic Times.
THE question as to the Rabbinic views in regard to the binding character of the Law, and its imposition on the Gentiles, in Messianic times, although, strictly speaking, not forming part of this history, is of such vital importance in connection with recent controversies as to demand special consideration. In the text to which this Appendix refers it has been indicated, that a new legislation was expected in Messianic days. The ultimate basis of this expectancy must be sought in the Old Testament …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Conversion --Varied Phenomena or Experience.
We have spoken of the meaning of this term, inquired into the nature of the change, and noted its essential elements. We have also learned that there are some who do not need it because they are in a converted state, and that all who are not in such a state of Grace, do need conversion, regardless of anything that may or may not have taken place in the past. We inquire now as to the agencies or means by which this change is brought about. For it is a change which man can certainly not effect by his …
G. H. Gerberding—The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church

The Girdle of the City. Nehemiah 3
The beginning of the circumference was from 'the sheep-gate.' That, we suppose, was seated on the south part, yet but little removed from that corner, which looks south-east. Within was the pool of Bethesda, famous for healings. Going forward, on the south part, was the tower Meah: and beyond that, "the tower of Hananeel": in the Chaldee paraphrast it is, 'The tower Piccus,' Zechariah 14:10; Piccus, Jeremiah 31:38.--I should suspect that to be, the Hippic tower, were not that placed on the north …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

The King in Exile
'And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy Him. 14. When he arose, he took the young child and His mother by night, and departed into Egypt; 15. And was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

"We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. "
1 John ii. 1.--"We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." There is no settlement to the spirit of a sinner that is once touched with the sense of his sins, and apprehension of the justice and wrath of God, but in some clear and distinct understanding of the grounds of consolation in the gospel, and the method of salvation revealed in it. There is no solid peace giving answer to the challenges of the law and thy own conscience, but in the advocation of Jesus Christ, the Saviour …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Quotation in Matt. Ii. 6.
Several interpreters, Paulus especially, have asserted that the interpretation of Micah which is here given, was that of the Sanhedrim only, and not of the Evangelist, who merely recorded what happened and was said. But this assertion is at once refuted when we consider the object which Matthew has in view in his entire representation of the early life of Jesus. His object in recording the early life of Jesus is not like that of Luke, viz., to communicate historical information to his readers. …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Exposition of Chap. Iii. (ii. 28-32. )
Ver. 1. "And it shall come to pass, afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions." The communication of the Spirit of God was the constant prerogative of the Covenant-people. Indeed, the very idea of such a people necessarily requires it. For the Spirit of God is the only inward bond betwixt Him and that which is created; a Covenant-people, therefore, without such an inward …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Lord's Supper Instituted.
(Jerusalem. Evening Before the Crucifixion.) ^A Matt. XXVI. 26-29; ^B Mark XIV. 22-25; ^C Luke XXII. 19, 20; ^F I. Cor. XI. 23-26. ^a 26 And as they were eating, ^f the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread; 24 and when he had given thanks, { ^b blessed,} ^f he brake it, ^a and he gave to the disciples, and said, ^b Take ye: ^a Take, eat; this is my body. ^f which is ^c given ^f for you: this do in remembrance of me. [As only unleavened bread was eaten during the paschal supper, …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The First Covenant
"Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice, and keep My covenant, ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me."--EX. xix. 5. "He declared unto you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even ten commandments."--DEUT. iv. 13.i "If ye keep these judgments, the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant,"--DEUT. vii. 12. "I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, which My covenant they brake."--JER. xxxi. 31, 32. WE have …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants

Sanctification.
I. I will remind you of some points that have been settled in this course of study. 1. The true intent and meaning of the law of God has been, as I trust, ascertained in the lectures on moral government. Let this point if need be, be examined by reference to those lectures. 2. We have also seen, in those lectures, what is not, and what is implied in entire obedience to the moral law. 3. In those lectures, and also in the lectures on justification and repentance, it has been shown that nothing is …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

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