Tag: old covenant

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Exodus Devotions

Old covenant, new covenant

Old covenant, new covenant

Moses took half the blood and set it in basins; the other half of the blood he splattered on the altar.

He then took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people.

They responded, “We will do and obey all that the Lord has commanded.”

Moses took the blood, splattered it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you concerning all these words.” (Exodus 24:6-8)

Having taken communion yesterday, it’s hard not to think of Jesus’ words at the last supper.

This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. (1 Corinthians 11:25)

In a lot of ways, the old covenant was a covenant of grace. It brought an undeserving people into a relationship with God.

But in a lot of ways, it was an imperfect covenant.

It was built on promises by the people to obey God’s law, something they could never do perfectly. (Hebrews 8:7-9, 10:1-4)

Morever, even with the blood sprinkled on them, they could not draw near to God. Only Moses, the priests, and the elders could eat and drink in God’s presence.

And even then, only Moses could truly approach God on Sinai.

But the new covenant is not based on our efforts to keep God’s law. It’s not based on any vows we make to “be good.”

It’s based on Jesus’ work on the cross for us and his blood that he shed for us.

A blood that cries out, not for vengeance, as Abel’s did (Genesis 4:10), but a blood that cries out, “Father, forgive them.”

And because of Jesus, all of us can draw near to God, joyfully, boldy, and without fear. (Hebrews 10:19-22)

The writer of Hebrews sums up the difference between the Old and New covenant this way.

For you have not come to what could be touched, to a blazing fire, to darkness, gloom, and storm, to the blast of a trumpet, and the sound of words.

Those who heard it begged that not another word be spoken to them, for they could not bear what was commanded: If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.

The appearance was so terrifying that Moses said, I am trembling with fear.

Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels, a festive gathering, to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven, to a Judge, who is God of all, to the spirits of righteous people made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which says better things than the blood of Abel. (Hebrews 12:18-24)

That’s awesome to think about.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful.

By it, we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28-29)

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Jeremiah

A new covenant

Jeremiah

This is another one of my favorite passages.  As with Ezekiel, Jeremiah quotes a proverb that had become quite common among the Israelites,

The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.  (Jeremiah 31:29)

The idea again being that “We poor Israelites really didn’t do anything wrong.  We’re just suffering for our fathers’ sins.” 

But God makes clear that people wouldn’t suffer for their parents’ sins, but for their own. 

Yet the purpose of this passage is not so much to bring judgment, but to show God’s mercy.  He told the people,

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will plant the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the offspring of men and of animals. 

Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the Lord.  (Jeremiah 31:27-28)

Then God talked about a new covenant he would establish with the people.  He said,

“The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 

It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.

“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. 

“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.  No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. 

“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

This covenant was of course fulfilled in Christ. 

What was the difference between the old and new covenant?  The main difference between the two was that the first was a bilateral agreement, and the second a unilateral one.

In the first, God promised blessings if the people would obey him, and curses if they disobeyed him. 

Unfortunately, the people broke his covenant time and again, ultimately incurring the curses of the law.

But the second covenant’s purely a unilateral agreement.  There were no conditions the people had to follow.  Rather it was God that would do the work. 

Instead of relying on people to change their own hearts, God promised to change them from the inside-out.  That he would put his laws in their hearts and minds and that they would desire to obey him.

Another big difference was the access people would have to God. 

No longer would the people need priests or mediators to communicate to God for them, exhorting them to know the Lord.  Rather, everyone would have direct access to God. 

All of their sins would be paid for, and thus forgiven and forgotten.

That’s the new covenant.  More than that, it’s the good news that we proclaim. 

We don’t have to work to earn God’s favor anymore.  Rather, we have received his favor by his grace.  Now we can relax in our relationship with him, knowing he has already accepted us. 

Let us never take that for granted, however.  Rather, every day, let us show our love and gratitude for this great gift.

Categories
Exodus

Old covenant, new covenant

Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.” (Exodus 24:8)

This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.  (Matthew 26:28)

Those words strike me somehow. 

These are the first times we see the words “blood of the covenant” in the Old Testament and New Testament. 

Both covenants were sealed in blood. 

Both were the start of a covenant relationship between God and his people. 

But other than that, the differences are very marked. 

I’ve mentioned some of this before, but it doesn’t hurt to go over them again, since the Bible does.

First, in the old covenant, the relationship was marked by distance. 

God told Moses to tell the priests and the elders of Israel,

You are to worship at a distance,  but Moses alone is to approach the LORD; the others must not come near. 

And the people may not come up with him.  (Exodus 24:1-2)

But in the new covenant, all of us are able to draw near to God, and are encouraged to do so.  (Hebrews 10:19-22)

The old covenant was conditioned on the actions of the people. 

Moses read the covenant to them, and the people said,

We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey.  (7) 

But of course, it wasn’t long before they disobeyed. And they would continue to disobey throughout their history. 

As a result, the covenant was broken many times.

The new covenant, however, is based on the grace of God through Jesus’ death on the cross. 

Paul wrote,

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.  (Ephesians 2:8-9)

The blood of the old covenant was the blood of bulls which could never take away sin.  (Hebrews 10:4)

The blood of the new covenant was the blood of Jesus, which purifies us from all sin (1 John 1:7)

In the old covenant, the laws were written on tablets of stone. Obedience to the laws came through our own efforts alone.

In the new covenant, the laws are written on our hearts. (Hebrews 8:10)

Obedience comes as God works in our hearts and transforms us from the inside.

I leave the final words of comparison to the writer of Hebrews who said:

You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm;  to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them,  because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” 

The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.

You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.

You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel…

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,  for our “God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:18-24, 28-29)