16 "It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land ," declares the Lord , "they will no longer say , 'The ark of the covenant of the Lord .' And it will not come to mind , nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again . 17 "At that time they will call Jerusalem 'The Throne of the Lord ,' and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem , for the name of the Lord ; nor will they walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart . 18 " In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel , and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 3:16-18
Commentary on Jeremiah 3:12-20
(Read Jeremiah 3:12-20)
See God's readiness to pardon sin, and the blessings reserved for gospel times. These words were proclaimed toward the north; to Israel, the ten tribes, captive in Assyria. They are directed how to return. If we confess our sins, the Lord is faithful and just to forgive them. These promises are fully to come to pass in the bringing back the Jews in after-ages. God will graciously receive those that return to him; and by his grace, he takes them out from among the rest. The ark of the covenant was not found after the captivity. The whole of that dispensation was to be done away, which took place after the multitude of believers had been greatly increased by the conversion of the Gentiles, and of the Israelites scattered among them. A happy state of the church is foretold. He can teach all to call him Father; but without thorough change of heart and life, no man can be a child of God, and we have no security for not departing from Him.