Episode 57 - Let's Make a Deal

Is the New Testament Church also the new covenant church? If so, are we required to abandon the old covenant? These questions define how you understand and apply scripture. True complicity in the new covenant comes through understanding the old covenant and its importance through the words and actions of Christ.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 2:24 Requirements of the Covenant
• 9:44 Covenantal Confusion
• 17:00 Do We Deny the Old Covenant
• 22:39 Closing

Transcript

Let's make a deal

Introduction

I've alluded in the past to the modern church calling itself a “New Testament”, or new covenant, church. I fear that we come to this position because we are too quick to abandoncontext and historical understanding of the New Testament text. Like most traditional statements, We need to pause and ask “why?” What does it mean to be of the new covenant?

Those in the Christian faith would never call themselves Old Covenant believers because that would mean a complete abandonment of Christ’s sacrifice and our salvation as Gentiles. So there seems to be this limbo, or tipping point, in our belief when it comes to the application of the Biblical covenants and their application to our faith.

Are we following the Occam's razor principle claiming to have two competing ideas and we prefer the simpler one? Are we trying to make a deal with God by saying that the ancient words which he gave the Jews, His chosen people, do not have an application in our lives and we’re just going to stick to the stuff we know?

Today we are going to try and answer this question and decide if we need to choose between covenants as Christians.

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So, is there a verse, or passage, in the Bible that lays out the requirements of the covenants and consequences for our failure to adhere to them?Why did Jesus announce a New Covenant to the disciple during the Last Supper (Luke 22:19-20)? What was wrong with the old one?Was Jesus instructing the disciples to ignore the Old Covenants?

Requirements of the Covenant

When we look into the teaching and theological implications of covenantal language, something we have to ask is, “Does Scripture lay out the requirements of the covenant and the consequences for failing to abide by them?”

Essentially, the covenant of God with His people was laid out like that of a bride and her husband. This point is very often lost in our modern church where the covenant of marriage is so often played down as conditional. However, the faithlessness of the bride carried with it certain consequences meted out by the husband, yet he never abandoned her.

The old covenant drew much of its language from the Law of Moses. The Law was given as a standard of righteousness for His people. It defined morality, corporate expectation, and hygienic guidelines for a people who were fleeting in their allegiance. But the main purpose of the Law was to reveal the character of God in His holines, perfection, and justice.

This agreement between God and the Israelites, detailed what was expected of them and the consequences of breaking the agreement. God promised to bless and protect them if they faithfully kept the law God gave them and they confirm that they will. Although God’s covenant with Abraham had not been conditional, this new covenant through Moses does include conditions. The most important takeaway from the Mosaic covenant is that it reveals everyone's sinfulness to them and exposes us to our need for a Savior. It is regarding this Mosaic Law that Jesus said in Matthew 5:17, that He did not come to abolish but to fulfill.

Up until the time of the Mosaic Covenant the Israelites lived under patriarchs Adam, Noah, and Abraham, all who lived in covenant with God and all who were justified by faith. They knew when they sinned, they knew the consequences, and they offered sacrifice accordingly. It is because of this that Cain was punished; he did not believe that his actions were sinful.

After their time in Egypt, two things happened; first, the religion of the Isrealites became watered down and they no longer lived under the leadership of those whom God had justified; second, there were a lot of them, so many that the pharaoh feared that they outnumbered the Egyptians. Clearly they needed a centralized point of reference regarding what was expected of them.

The Isrealites were given the Law because they asked God for it. In Exodus 19:3-6, we read that God offers the Isrealites personal relationship and universal priesthood when He says,“If you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Then in Exodus 20:18-19, they reject God’s offer and ask Moses to get laws for them to follow and act as a mediator so that they don’t have to deal with God directly. “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”

This brings us back to the theme of the unfaithful bride woven throughout Scripture. Numerous prophets came to the people of God and showed them their record of infidelity. Through the prophet Hosea, God warns His people that their infidelity is not hidden from Him and that they will be punished. In Hosea 1:2 God says, “Go, take for yourself a wife inclined to infidelity, and children of infidelity; for the land commits flagrant infidelity, abandoning the Lord.” And then three proclamations are made: First, the kingdom of Israel will come to an end (Hosea 1:4); second, God will not take pity on Israel or forgive them (Hosea 1:6); and third, they are no longer His people and He is no longer their God. (Hosea 1:9). God does promise to redeem Judah and there is a promise of a Savior given in these verses.

Later in Ezekiel, God reminds the Israelites of who they are and all He has done for them. In Ezekiel 16, they are told that they took all that was good and used it to prostitute themselves (16:16-17, 25-26, 28), they took the worship of the temple and offered it to other gods (16:18-19, 24), and sacrificed their children in obscene and abominable practices (16:20-21, 29). Worst of all these charges, God condemns them for forgetting their covenant (16:22, 59). The example of the adulterous wife finishes this chapter (16:30-58) and God details how they will be punished for breaking the covenant.

However, when we read Nehemiah 9:13-17, we hear two things; Nehemiah reminds them of why they were exiled and he reminds them of God’s faithfulness in keeping the covenant. "Then You came down on Mount Sinai, And spoke with them from heaven; You gave them just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments. "So You made known to them Your holy sabbath, And laid down for them commandments, statutes and law, Through Your servant Moses. "You provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger, You brought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst, And You told them to enter in order to possess The land which You swore to give them. "But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly; They became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments. "They refused to listen, And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; And You did not forsake them.”

The whole of the story in the Old Testament is unfolding the nature of God and the nature of man, the covenant between them and how God is faithful even though man is incapable of remaining covenantal, and the promise of the covenant because God knows His people.

The faithfulness of God is recorded in Romans 11:2, when the writer reminds us, “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.” But the mystery of the old covenant is revealed in Romans 11:11 when we read, “But by their wrongdoing salvation has come to the Gentiles,
to make them jealous.” But it is clear that we don’t understand the actual importance of the old covenant nor what role it plays in Christianity.

Covenantal Confusion

Regardless of how it is approached, one thing Christians seem to stumble on is why we are presented with a new covenant in Luke 22:20; what did Jesus mean when He said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” What was wrong with the old covenant?

To get an explanation of the new covenant we need to go back to the Old Testament prophets and read the words of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Jeremiah 31 is full of promises from God outlining His desire for Israel's future. I find Jeremiah 31:5 to be a foreshadowing of Jesus claiming to be the true vine in John 15:1-11, and the idea of Gentiles being grafted into the vine as recorded in Romans 11:14-27.  Jeremiah says, “Again you will plant vineyardsOn the hills of Samaria;The planters will plant And will enjoy them.” But it is in Jeremiah 31:31-34, where the new covenant is spelled out.

In Ezekiel 36:22-38, the new covenant is explained as well. God proclaims that He will enter into a relationship with His people once again. But He says that there will be a change in the covenant, it will be written on their hearts, they will be filled with the Spirit and the Law will cease to be just an external expression.The writers of the New Testament point this out repeatedly to new believers as a promise and a fulfillment of prophecy.

Ezekiel also records God’s promise that His people will be made new, cleansed from their sins, iniquities, and abominations. He promises to be in their midst in a way that they never experienced under the old covenant. Through the prophets, God shares a great hope to Israel in exile and promises to them – salvation.

In an effort to make the confusion between the covenants clear, the writers of Romans and Hebrews both address this. In Romans 3:10-20, Paul points out the difference of the Law being an external act of sacrifice and obedience, and becoming conscience of our sin because the Law is in us.

He begins by quoting David who says in twice in Psalms, “there is none who does good,not even one.” (Psalms 14:3b; 53:3b)

In 2 Corinthians 3:7-11, Paul compares the two covenants as letters engraved in stone, as opposed to the indwelling Spirit of God. He is reiterating the external and internal aspects of the two covenants.

John de Hoog, Lecturer in Hebrew and Old Testament at the Reformed Theological College in Geelong, Victoria writes, “The old covenant came with glory, but the Israelites were unable to endure the glory because of their rebelliousness. The superiority of the new covenant lies in the fact that the glory mediated by it can be experienced by the Corinthians because of the new spiritual life that has been worked in them by the Spirit.” https://rtc.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/06-de-Hoog-Paul-Moses-and-the-New-Covenant-Reviewed.pdf

The writer of Hebrews reminds us that the new covenant was always God’s intention. The portions of the old covenant which we see as flaws and drawbacks were not mistakes. They were included by God, to help us understand the new covenant was needed. Hebrews 8:7 says, “For if that first covenant had been free of fault, no circumstances would have been sought for a second.”

We tend to dwell on the curses associated with the old covenant such as disease, infertility, and defeat in war. Leviticus 26:14–39, lists these curses and how a sevenfold punishment would follow if the Israelites didn’t keep the covenant.But we need to be reminded of two things: First, the old covenant contained blessings like the ones mentioned in Deuteronomy 28: 3-6; victory in battles against enemies, long life, wealth, numerous descendants, and fertile soil.Second, the Scriptural teaching that God is "slow to anger", is proven by the patience of the Lord shown through the experiences of the Isrealites in Exodus 34:6, and Numbers 14:18, as well as the ministry of Jonah (Jonah 4:2). 

Paul presents the differences in the covenants by expanding the death to life motif. We see this fleshed out in Ephesians 2:14-18, where Pauls says, “For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the hostility, which is the Law composed of commandments expressed in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two one new person, in this way establishing peace; and that He might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the hostility. And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.”   

As I read through the life of Christ I begin to see His miracles of raising the dead as being examples to the Jews of moving from the old covenant to the new. Each instance brings us a glimpse of what the new covenant means. When Jesus raised a ruler's daughter in Matthew 9:23–25, He was saying that we don't deserve the covenant. In the story of the widow's son in Luke 7:11–17, Jesus clarifies we can’t earn it either. Lazarus, the friend of Jesus whom He raised to life in John 11:38–44, clearly expresses that our salvation is not guaranteed through association either. Finally, I think of the thief who hung on the cross beside Jesus in Luke 23:39-43, and I remember that salvation through the new covenant is an unwarranted gift.

The book of Hebrews really is the source when it comes to understanding the differences between the old and new covenants. The writer details all the prophecies and promises made to the Israelites up to the point when Jesus was crucified. Hebrews 9:15, says, “Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.”

The word therefore means we need to read all the argument which come before this statement.Since the audience of this letter was originally persecuted Jewish Christians. The writers is sure to remind them that following Christ is not an abandonment of their Jewish roots. Rather, it is a fulfillment of that heritage. Through Christ, the old covenant is abolished and we are drawn to Him, called to receive salvation, the eternal inheritance.

Do We Deny the Old Covenant

So, should we ignore the old covenant? And maybe to clarify the questions, are we as Christians expected to obey all the Laws of Moses? In Hebrews 8:13, we read,  “When He said, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.” As Christians we are often accused of mixing out fabrics or breaking dietary laws, but does it really matter?

Some commands we are happy with and follow them daily, but others we choose to ignore. It’s almost like we are making a deal with God to accept some obedience in exchange for ignoring some disobedience. I see it as being the scale analogy where our goodness outweighs our badness.

“When Paul discussed “the law,” he was often concerned with the entire law of Moses, and he wrote that Christians were not under the authority of that law. Our obligation to obey God is defined by a different law, a spiritual law, which in some cases overlaps Old Testament laws but in other cases supersedes them.” https://archive.gci.org/articles/the-old-covenant-and-the-law-of-moses/

Is our following of the old covenant Laws arbitrary? One of the things about the Bible we need to remember is to read it according to its covenantal development. Paul argues in Galatians 5:14, that we are no longer under the law of Moses but under the Law of Christ; and the Law of Christ is the Law of love.

Thomas Schreiner, of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, asks, “How do you summarize what the law's about ethically? It's about loving God and loving your neighbor. And then both Jesus and Paul and other New Testament writers unpack what that love is. What does love look like? Well, if you love, you honor your father and mother. If you love, you don't steal. If you love, you don't murder and you don't commit adultery. So some of those commands from the Old Testament pass over. Some of those commands, they're still required for today. But they're not required because they're part of the Old Covenant. They're required because the New Testament indicates that they're part of the law of Christ.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm_-BPFVIgc

The general concept people have of the Old Testament is the law and of the New Testament is love. But love is key all through the Bible, which is why Jesus said in Mark 12:29-31, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Do you want to know what love looks like? Well, there are 39 books which cover about 1500 years of Jewish history. That’s a good place to start. Why? Because that is what Jesus was working with when He announced the new covenant, and everyone around Him had a basic understanding of what He was teaching.

Greg Hershberg, a Messianic Rabbi in the US, talked with One for Israel about his encounter with Christ; and he says, “I saw the eastern sky open up, and I saw somebody come out of that eastern sky and descend. His face shone like the sun and his clothes were as white as light; and He pressed Himself up against me and the first thing He said was, “I love you.” And I remember crying for a really long time. My wife says maybe it was about 20 minutes, and I looked back and it wasn't tears of joy, and it wasn't tears of pain, it was like a sanctification, it was like a cleansing. Here two punk kids from the Bronx, go to Israel on their honeymoon to party and we come back Born Again, saved, knowing Yeshua as our Messiah.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T_05GikkFU

His description of experiencing God echos the words of Jeremiah, and they echo the words of Christ, and they describe the working of the new covenant in the life of a child of God. In Ezekiel‬ ‭39‬:‭29‬ ‭God says, ‬‬“I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the people of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
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There is an argument that the old covenant is obsolete and I believe the writer of Hebrews would agree, because he wrote in Hebrews 8:13 “He (God) has made the first (covenant) obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.” The early church struggled with this because some felt that the new covenant did away with ceremonial purity. During the The Council of Jerusalem described in Acts 15, Peter, Paul, and James agreed that keeping the church together took precedence over keeping the law.

Writer, author, and podcaster Amy Hall says, “The decision wasn’t pragmatic; it was theological. They weren’t giving up ceremonial purity in order to have unity. In fact, their point was that they could have unity because they already had ceremonial purity in Christ.”
https://www.str.org/w/why-is-the-old-covenant-obsolete-

The morality of the old covenant carries over, but the terms have changed to our benefit. Unity, love, and salvation for all who believe. The need for blood sacrifice is gone, the ceremonial purity comes through Jesus the perfect priest. And death has been replaced with life eternal.

Closing

Would it be better if we as Christians referred to ourselves as “people of the covenant” as the Jews do? After all, the new covenant is the fulfillment of the old covenant and the promise of God has been broadened to include all those created in His image. Are we required to decide which laws we follow and which we will break? 

No, Jesus said that there are only two laws, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27) 

We are people of the new covenant, yes, but only because of the promise of the covenant which came before it.