“‘If you will return, O Israel,’ declares the LORD, ‘Then you should return to Me. And if you will put away your detested things from My presence, and will not waver,and you will swear, “As the LORD lives,” in truth, in justice and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him they shall glory'” (Jer 4:1-2).
Jeremiah’s allusion to one of the most important promises in Scripture is unmistakable. His specific citation of the phrase, “and the nations will bless themselves in him” (or perhaps, “and the nations will be blessed in him”), is a nearly verbatim reuse of Genesis 22:18: “and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”
Paul was not attempting to retroactively insert Yeshua into a promise that had nothing to do with the Messiah. Rather, he was reading this promise through the interpretive lenses he had inherited from the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings.
But it’s not only THAT Jeremiah alludes to the promise—it’s HOW he alludes to the promise that is especially significant. God is clearly the speaker in Jeremiah 4:1–2 (evident by the use of the first-person pronoun “Me” in v. 1), and Israel are those to whom God is speaking (evident by the second-person verbs in v. 2). Less clear, however, is the identity of the “him” in the citation of the promise: “The nations shall bless themselves in him.” This clearly cannot refer to Israel. And though it is possible, it is highly unlikely that God is referring to Himself in the third person.
So who is “him”? It’s worth taking a closer look at the passage Jeremiah is citing: “And your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen 22:17–18). Based on the wording of the promise, the “him” in Jeremiah 4:2 most likely refers to the “seed” who will possess the gate of his enemies, and through whom all nations will be blessed. According to Jeremiah’s citation, the “seed” in the promise is not collective Israel but an individual seed. The seed who conquers his enemies’ gate, therefore, must be a reference to the “seed of the woman” who will vanquish the serpent (Gen 3:15).
Jeremiah’s interpretation of the promise is not only consistent with other messianic interpretations of this promise in the Torah and the Writings (Num 24:7–9; Ps 72:17), but is also incredibly Pauline. Here we find one of many examples where the Old Testament’s interpretation of the Old Testament vindicates the New Testament’s interpretation of the Old Testament. Paul was not attempting to retroactively insert Yeshua into a promise that had nothing to do with the Messiah. Rather, he was reading this promise through the interpretive lenses he had inherited from the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings.
“Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as referring to many, but rather to one, ‘And to your seed,’ that is, Messiah” (Gal 3:16).
