Unpacking Jeremiah 9:23-24: Boast in Knowing God

Understanding God’s Call in Jeremiah’s Time

Jeremiah 9:23-24 comes at a time when Judah is collapsing, not because of a lack of smart leaders, strong armies, or money, but because the people have stopped truly knowing God.

God speaks through Jeremiah to a nation that trusted in human wisdom, military power, and wealth - yet ignored His call to live with love, justice, and honesty. The phrase 'Thus says the Lord' indicates a direct divine message rather than Jeremiah’s opinion, and it echoes Jeremiah 1:5 where God says, 'Before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.' This shows Jeremiah’s message concerned not only one country’s crisis but God’s heart for all people.

When God says He delights in steadfast love, justice, and righteousness, He is calling His people back to what He has always valued - knowing Him for who He is rather than merely performing religious duties.

Boasting in What Truly Matters

At its heart, this prophecy isn’t about predicting a distant future event but preaching a life-changing message to people who had lost their way - calling them to stop trusting in themselves and start truly knowing God.

God tells them not to boast in wisdom, might, or riches - things Judah had in abundance but used for selfish gain. These were real sources of pride: wise counselors, strong warriors, wealthy merchants. But God says those things fade and can even lead us away from Him. Instead, He flips the script: the only thing worth boasting about is knowing Him - the God who is defined not by power or wealth but by steadfast love, justice, and righteousness.

The Hebrew word *hesed* means loyal, never-giving-up love - the kind that sticks with you no matter what. *Mishpat* is justice, especially for the poor and oppressed, and *tsedaqah* is righteousness, living in a way that makes relationships right again. These are the very things God says He delights in, echoing Exodus 34:6-7 where He reveals Himself as 'merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.'

This is not merely a call to moral living. It is an invitation to relationship - knowing God deeply, as a friend knows a friend, which the Hebrew word *yada* describes. Jesus later says in John 17:3, 'And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent,' showing that knowing God is not about facts but personal connection. This promise stands firm, but it depends on turning back to God. And it points forward to a future where love, justice, and righteousness finally win - fulfilled in Christ, the promised King who rules not by might, but by mercy.

Boasting in the Cross: How God’s Wisdom Turns the World Upside Down

The call to boast only in knowing God is more than a spiritual ideal; it overturns how we naturally measure success and worth.

In 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, Paul reminds the believers in Corinth that not many of them were wise by human standards, not many were powerful or of noble birth. Yet God chose the foolish, the weak, and the lowly to shame the strong and the wise, so that no one could boast in His presence. He quotes Jeremiah’s spirit when he writes, 'Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord,' showing that true honor comes not from status, brains, or bank accounts, but from belonging to God.

Paul goes even further, grounding this reversal in the cross of Christ - 'Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.' To the world, a crucified Messiah looked like weakness and folly, but in God’s economy, it became the ultimate display of strength and wisdom. This fulfills Jeremiah’s vision: the Lord who delights in steadfast love, justice, and righteousness is revealed most clearly not in a throne room, but on a Roman cross. Jesus, though rich, became poor. Though powerful, He served. Though wise, He was crucified as a criminal. Yet in that very act, He embodied the love and righteousness God has always valued.

So when Jesus says in John 17:3 that eternal life is knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent, He ties knowing God directly to Himself. The knowledge Jeremiah called for - deep, personal, life-changing - is now found in Christ. And this transforms how we live: not chasing applause, but pursuing God, whose love and justice will one day fill the earth.

The Promise Fulfilled and Still Unfolding

This prophecy corrects a nation’s priorities and unfolds across the entire story of Scripture, pointing to Christ and the future hope we still await.

Paul picks up Jeremiah’s words directly in 1 Corinthians 1:31 when he writes, 'Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord,' showing that the cross has redefined glory, making human pride meaningless before God’s grace. The same spirit echoes in Jeremiah 23:6, where God promises a future king whose name will be 'The Lord is our righteousness,' a promise fulfilled in Jesus, the righteous Branch who brings salvation.

Jesus Himself said in Matthew 5:17, 'Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them,' showing that He is the living embodiment of the steadfast love, justice, and righteousness Jeremiah described. In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus announces His mission by quoting Isaiah: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,' fulfilling the very heart of God’s character revealed in Jeremiah.

The full knowledge of God that Jeremiah foresaw is now spreading through the New Covenant, just as he prophesied in Jeremiah 31:34: 'They shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord.' No longer limited to priests or prophets, this personal knowing of God is available to everyone who trusts Christ. Yet we still live in the 'already and not yet' - we know God now in part, but one day we will know Him fully. The world still groans with injustice, and love often seems weak, but God’s delight in steadfast love, justice, and righteousness will one day fill the earth completely.

So while Jesus has inaugurated God’s kingdom, we still wait for its final fulfillment - when every trace of evil is gone, every wrong made right, and God’s people dwell in a new creation where knowing Him is the very air we breathe. This promise keeps us from boasting in temporary things and fuels our hope: one day, the only thing anyone will boast about is knowing the Lord, because His glory will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

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