What are the old and new covenants?
"MY COVENANT"
The next point is to recognise
that the purpose of these covenants was consistent. It was "to be God to you
and your descendants after you" (Gen 17:7).
ADAM AND ISRAEL
Consider Israel. God
made known his covenant to Israel and the people were given the choice
of life or death (Deut 30:15-20), and to be fruitful and multiply (Lev 26:9), just as Abraham was (Gen 22:15-17),
and also David (Jer 33:20-22). However, the majority were
deceived and also led astray.
GALATIANS 4: THE COVENANTS
REVEALED IN AN ALLEGORY
ABRAHAM, A TYPE OF GOD THE FATHER
HAGAR: THE OLD COVENANT
So who are Hagar's children,
born into slavery? They are children born according
to the flesh:
SARAH: THE NEW COVENANT
The sons of the free woman
are the sons of promise, just as Isaac was:
Rom 9:6-8 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are
not all Israel who are of Israel, 7 nor are they all children because
they are the seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called."
8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the
children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. THE SONS OF THE SLAVE PERSECUTE THE SONS OF THE FREE
The children born of the world
are by nature wrathful (Eph 2:3). As such, the falsely-religious are
jealous of the sons who are free, and, inspired by Satan, seek to destroy
them (Matt 23:34-36; 24:9-12,24; 25:1-3; Jn 8:37-47).
SONS OF THE SLAVE ARE CAST OUT (Gal 4:30)
John 8:35 "And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides
forever." And is finalised when all
evil-doers are destroyed in the lake of fire:
MOSES AND THE RENEWAL OF
THE COVENANT
And so we read in Deut 5:2-3
of the renewed covenant that the Lord made with those who survived.
(Is this why the giving of the commandments is given twice - once after
the exodus, and then again in the "new law"?).
NEW COVENANT BASED ON BETTER
PROMISES?
Heb 7:11 and 7:18-19 contrast
one priesthood that was weak, and through which perfection could not be attained,
with another priesthood which had a better hope (of being made perfect),
and which provided access to God.
In the new covenant the people
would be perfect in their obedience because the law would be internalised
(Heb 9:14). The something "better" that
God has foreseen for us and the faithful of old is therefore the "being made perfect"
(Heb 11:39-40). Therefore, the better promises
of the new covenant are that the people are perfected in it, and have access
to God the Father through Jesus Christ (Heb 6:18-20; Heb 10:19-22). That's why it is a better covenant - not because the covenant has changed,
but because the people have.
SUMMARY
The new covenant is being offered
to those called now and will be made with sons born of God's will and with
His nature, at the resurrection to eternal life.
God did not deny ancient Israel
His Holy Spirit - they resisted it (Act 7:51). In Elijah's time there
were 7000 who had not bowed their knee to Baal (1Kg 19:18). There
has always only been a remnant that has responded to the calling of God
(Rom 9:27). This remnant was called, but most were deceived and led astray.
Is it any different today (Matt 22:14)? The
covenant itself is perfect, was instigated by God and is unchangeable (Heb
6:17-18).
There is nothing new under
the sun (Ecc 1:9). The new covenant is to restore things to the way
they always should have been:
1 Chr 16:15-18 Remember His covenant forever, The word which He commanded, for a thousand
generations, 16 The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath
to Isaac, 17 And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel for an
everlasting covenant, 18 Saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan
As the allotment of your inheritance,"
Does God call us into a different
type of relationship to that to which He called ancient Israel?
Did God offer ancient Israel
a covenant that was second-best?
Why is the new covenant better
than the old covenant?
To start with, I want to briefly
revise some points I made in a sermonette on the Covenants about a year ago.
The Bible consistently refers to these covenants
as "My covenant".
Gen 17:7 "And
I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after
you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you
and your descendants after you."
Psalm 78:10 calls it the covenant
of God. Luke 1:72 calls it His (that
is God's) holy covenant, and Romans 11:27 calls it "My" covenant.
(See also Gen 6:18; 9:9; 17:2;
Ex 6:4; 19:5; Lev 26:9; 1Kg 11:11; Ps 50:16; 89:28,34; 132:12; Isa 56:4,6;
59:21; Jer 11:10; 33:20-25; Ezk 16:60-62; Hos 8:1; Heb 8:9).
The covenant with Israel had
the same purpose (Lev 26:12; Zec 8:8).
This is also God's desire
for the church:
2 Cor 6:16 And
what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple
of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them And walk among
them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people."
So here our calling is described
in the same terms. And when the New Jerusalem comes God will make
all things new (Rev 1:5):
Rev 21:3 And
I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people.
God Himself will be with them and be their God."
WHO IS UNDER THE OLD COVENANT?
The old covenant applies to
most of mankind. Christ's death redeems all those who are called
(no matter what nation they are from) from transgressions under the first
covenant.
Heb 9:15 And
for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death,
for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that
those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
The whole earth is under a
curse because mankind has transgressed the everlasting covenant.
Isa 24:4-6 The
earth mourns and fades away, The world languishes and fades away; The haughty
people of the earth languish. 5 The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants,
Because they have transgressed the laws, Changed the ordinance, Broken
the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore the curse has devoured the earth,
And those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the
earth are burned, And few men are left.
Rousas Rushdoony, in his book
"The Institutes of Biblical Law", says:
"...all men and nations
are inescapably tied to God's covenant, whether as covenant keepers or
covenant breakers. God's covenant is the 'everlasting covenant' with
all men. Man's relationship to that covenant may change from blessings
to curses, but the covenant remains........Man is inescapably tied to God
on God's terms, His covenant or law. Although an elect people is
the witness to that covenant, its witness must be on the claim of God and
His covenant on all peoples without exception."(pg 694)
This is the old covenant -
the everlasting covenant that man has broken.
God created man to live with
Him within the context of a relationship defined by His covenant.
Consider Adam. God made known
the relationship he wanted with Adam. Under what covenant was Adam? He was offered the tree of life,
which we know is symbolic of eternal life. He was given the choice of
life or death, to be fruitful and multiply, to take of the Holy Spirit (Gen 2). However, he was deceived and
led astray by Satan and his own lusts.
Gal 4:22-31
For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman,
the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born
according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, 24 which
things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount
Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar; 25 for this Hagar
is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and
is in bondage with her children; 26 but the Jerusalem above is free,
which is the mother of us all. 27 For it is written:
"Rejoice, O barren, You who do not bear! Break forth and shout, You who
are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children Than she who
has a husband." 28 Now we, brethren,
as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29 But, as he who was born according
to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit,
even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? "Cast
out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be
heir with the son of the freewoman." 31 So then, brethren, we are not
children of the bondwoman but of the free.
Gal 4:22 "For
it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other
by a freewoman."
So Abraham's household is
a parable of the covenants.
Gal 4:23-25 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and
he of the freewoman through promise, 24 which things are symbolic. For
these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth
to bondage, which is Hagar; 25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia,
and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children;
Hagar represents the old covenant.
Remember, Hagar lived 400 years before God made his covenant with Israel,
so the old covenant is greater in its scope than ancient Israel.
She was Egyptian (Gen 16:1-3), and thus represents the world. She
corresponds to current Jerusalem, which is also to be called Egypt (Rev
11:8). The covenant was made known at Mt Sinai, where the law
was written on tablets of stone. It revealed the condemnation that
they (and all men) were under (2Cor 3:7,14).
John 8:34 Jesus
answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a
slave of sin."
All of mankind has a heart
of stone, that rejects the word of God. All men need a new heart
(Ezk 36:26). The mind of man is blinded to the old covenant (2Cor
3:14). All mankind is the offspring
of Adam, who was the son of God (Luke 3:38). Thus, Hagar and Ishmael
represent offspring of God from the world. Such children are strangers
and foreigners (Eph 2:19), not belonging to the household of God.
God says He calls his sons
out of Egypt, out of the world (Matt 2:15):
Gal 4:23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and
he of the freewoman through promise
Sarah represents Mt Zion (Heb
12:22-23), the heavenly Jerusalem, which comes after Christ's return (Rev
21). She represents the church. Just as the law came out of
Mt Sinai written on tablets of stone, so too the law comes out of Zion
(Mic 4:2), to be written on tablets of hearts of flesh (Jer 31:33; 2Cor
3:2).
Gal 4:26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.Gen 17:19 "Then God said: "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall
call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting
covenant, and with his descendants after him."
All who have been redeemed
from slavery and now belong to Christ are the children of the promise (Jn
8:36; Gal 3:29).
So:
Just as ancient Israel was
tested to see if the people would be faithful to the covenant, before they were
given the promises (which they failed to receive because of unbelief [Heb 3:12-4:11]), so too those being offered the covenant (2Cor 3:6) are
being tested to see if they will be faithful to the covenant before they
receive the promises and enter the rest of God (Heb 4:9).
Gal 4:29 "But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who
was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now."
If the sons of the slave (who
don't know they are actually slaves [Jn 8:33]), see the promises of God
to His sons, they will think they belong to them (Jn 8:41). How will
they interpret the promises? They will interpret them according to
their own natures - carnally and physically. When the sons of the
free woman see the same promises of God they will interpret them according
to the Spirit that God has given them (1Cor 2:11). Who will therefore interpret
the promises correctly?
When it comes time for the
sons of promise to inherit, the sons of the slave are cast out:
Gen 21:10 "Therefore she said to Abraham, "Cast out this bondwoman and her son;
for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with
Isaac.""
This begins at Christ's return
(Ps 105:43-45; Jer 16:15-16; 30:3):
Ezek 20:33-38 "As I live," says the Lord GOD, "surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched
arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you. 34 "I will bring
you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you
are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury
poured out. 35 "And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples,
and there I will plead My case with you face to face. 36 "Just as I pleaded
My case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I
will plead My case with you," says the Lord GOD. 37 "I will make you
pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;
38 "I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress
against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but
they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the
LORD.
Rev 21:7-8 "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and
he shall be My son. 8 "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers,
sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their
part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second
death."
Therefore the old covenant
vanishes when there are no more human beings born of the flesh (Heb 8:13),
when the new heavens and new earth are created (Rev 21:1-4,7), and so the
new covenant is consummated in God's new creation, with sons and daughters
who will not sin.
At Mt Sinai the Lord entered
into his covenant with Israel (Ex 20-24). Its law was written on
tablets of stone, which were the work of God (Ex 24:12; 32:15-16).
Because of Moses' delay in coming down from the mountain, the people
were led astray into making gods for themselves to worship (Ex 32:1-6).
Moses interceded with God
not to destroy them (Ex 32:7-14). Moses broke the tablets of the
covenant (Ex 32:19) and destroyed the idol (Ex 32:21-24). There was
a separation of the people, and the idolaters were slain (Ex 32:25-29).
Moses again went up to the
Lord to ask forgiveness for their sins. The Lord declared that those
who had sinned against him would be blotted out from the book of life (Ex 32:33). Notice this: people in ancient Israel could be blotted out of the book
of life. There is one everlasting covenant. There wasn't a
physical covenant with ancient Israel and a spiritual covenant with the
church. God didn't offer them an inferior covenant. Good news
came to them just as it did to us (Heb 4:2). Many are called, few
are chosen. There was a remnant then and there is a remnant now.
All who sought the Lord had
to go to the tent of meeting outside the camp (Ex 33:7, cf Heb 13:13). Moses pleaded for God to show him his ways so that he could know him and
find favour (Ex 33:13). Moses was told to cut two tablets of stone
(symbolic of the circumcision of our hearts?) as at first, and the Lord would write
the same words on them - i.e., the renewed covenant was the same as the
first (Ex 34:1)
If the covenant itself is
unchangeable (Heb 6:17-18) and everlasting, how can it be said in Heb
8:6:
"But as it is, Christ has
obtained a ministry which is as much more excellent than the old as the
covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises."?
What are these better promises?
Heb 9:9 and 10:1 and 4
confirm that through the old law those who drew near could never be made
perfect.
Contrast this with the priesthood
of Jesus Christ (Heb 10:14) under which those who draw near are perfected. This is also the point that
Heb 8:8-12 makes.
The two covenants are but
different aspects of the one everlasting covenant.
The old covenant, as revealed
in ancient Israel, was the broken covenant and so brought condemnation,
being cut off from God and bondage to sin. The ritual laws revealed
that sinfulness, uncleanness and separation from God. The old covenant
revealed man's separation from and antagonism against God (2Cor 3). Adam (and mankind) was barred from the tree of life (Gen 3:24). The
old covenant was faulted, not because the covenant itself was imperfect,
but because the people were imperfect and unfaithful (Heb 8:7-9).
Acts 3:19-26
"Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out,
so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20
"and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 "whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things
(the restoration of the everlasting covenant), which God has spoken by
the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. 22 "For Moses truly said
to the fathers, 'The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like
me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says
to you. 23 'And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet
shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.' 24 "Yes, and all the
prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have
also foretold these days. 25 "You are sons of the prophets, and of the
covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your
seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.' 26 "To you first,
God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning
away every one of you from your iniquities."