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ISRAEL — GOD'S COVENANT PEOPLE
GOD’S COVENANTS WITH MAN
Everything was perfect in Eden; the earth, the animals, and man—Adam
and Eve. That is, until man disobeyed, and separated himself from the
Life-source. Because he listened to and believed the wrong voice, thus removing
God from the throne of his heart, man would die (TXT)—spiritually, physically and
eternally. Sin is transgressing or disobeying God’s will. As a result, our
first parents experience guilt, shame and fear—and they hid. In His
foreknowledge, God knew what was coming. Created with free-choice, God knew
that man (like Lucifer)—not being able to see the end from the beginning—would
one day put self before the Creator.
But God was ready. The Trinity had already put a plan in place—the plan of
salvation. God promised to send someone to make atonement for their rebellion.
Genesis 3:15. Yes, God started it! Out of love for us, He initiated a plan that
would remove the barriers created by sin and make us “at-one” with Him again.
In effect, God created a COVENANT, or agreement, with our entire world. (BY ONE
SIN ENTERED THE WORLD) God promised to send a messiah; man, trusting in the
Creator’s promise, would render obedience through the ritual of sacrifice.
Thus, an innocent lamb was slain and sacrificed outside of Eden, and God used its skin to cover our
parent’s nakedness. (Compare REV 3:X). The covenant
between God and Adam (1 Timothy
2:14) was borne out of love. By His grace, God offered man a second-chance at
eternal life.
THE FIRST COVENANTS
Due to the depravity of man, God covenanted
with Noah to save the righteous. Genesis 6:18. Similar to the first covenant
with Adam, Noah was to obey by faith (Hebrews 11:7), and built an ark. In
obedience to God’s word, Noah entered the ark, as the unbelieving world
watched. Although God appealed to the then-world to enter the ark, only a
remnant—8 people!—trusted God’s word and obeyed.
Later, again, Yahweh (God’s personal name;
Genesis 15:7) covenanted with Abraham. Because he obeyed, Abram’s name
(meaning, “father is exalted”) was changed to Abraham (“father of a
multitude”). Genesis 17:5. Like the previous covenants, it was conditional. (to “keep” Gen. 17:19) The covenant could be broken (17:4).
Man always has a choice. Because of Abraham’s faith, and subsequent obedience,
he was justified in God’s sight (Gen 15:6; Rom 4) and blessed. Genuine faith is
always accompanied by obedience—could it really be any other way? It was
Abraham’s love for the God of heaven that caused him to respond to God in
faith. (Compare Psalms 1:2; 37:31; 40:8.)
Later in the Scriptures we see how the Jews
sought to maintain a relationship with God through the keeping of the law—which
is called, legalism, because there is nothing righteous about keeping the
letter of the law! Righteousness comes by faith (????) We pervert God’s law (and plan of salvation)
when we attempt to fulfill the “letter” ourselves. Thus, the way of salvation
was the same for Abraham (Old Testament) and us (New Testament)—salvation by
grace through faith, which results in obedience”
THE MOSIAC COVENANT
Abraham was told that his offspring would be
a great nation. (That’s quite a thought for a roaming nomad!) But God’s word is
true! Abraham’s descendents—the children of Jacob—were miraculously delivered
from Egypt and removed to Mt. Sinai
(en route to Canaan, the promised land;
Genesis 21:1). At Sinai, God renewed His earlier covenant, now making the
nation of Israel
a holy nation (Exodus 19:6), “set apart to serve their
God.” Don’t miss the order here: First, God “brought [Israel] out” (20:2) of Egyptian
bondage and then He established a covenant with them. Covenant-making followed
the act of redemption. Israel
entered into a covenant relationship with the Lord because they were saved
(Exodus 20:2). Remember also that the initiative was God’s (My people, your God
Ex 6:7). In other words, Israel
was not special or holy because of who they were or anything that they had
done. Their obedience to the covenant, and its laws (which included the Ten
Commandments), was based on the fact that God had redeemed them. Thus, like the
Abrahamic covenant, the Mosiac
covenant was also borne out of God’s grace. And it was also conditional (“If”
Ex 19:5, 6; see Lev 26).
A marriage relationship, which is how God
illustrates His relationship with Israel (Jeremiah 31:32), has a set
of norms; laws, if you will. It defines the relationship (Lev. 18:2-4).
Obedience to the other partner is an act of loyalty, done in good faith.
In the end, ancient Israel never
lived up to their end of the agreement. They never fulfilled the covenant. As
the Old Testament record demonstrates, Israel sought righteousness
legalistically.
THE PROMISE OF A BETTER
COVENANT!
Actually, the “new covenant” is first
mentioned in the Old Testament. (The word “covenant” comes from the Latin word
“testament.”) Just before the Israelites were delivered into the Babylonian
hands, because of their ongoing apostasy, God told the prophet Jeremiah: “Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will make a NEW COVENANT with the house of Israel, and with
the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land
of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: 33 But this shall be the covenant that I
will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith
the Lord, I will put MY LAW in their inward parts, and write it IN THEIR
HEARTS; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And they shall
teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man
his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’: for THEY SHALL ALL KNOW ME, from the
least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the
Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
(Jeremiah 31:31-34; KJV) In other words, what God had purposed in the old
covenant would eventually be realized in the new.
Examining the passage closely, we can see
that the new covenant, like all the previous ones made with man, is based on
God’s initiative—“I will make.” The people can take no glory in it; they can
only respond to God’s action. This covenant is everlasting because the heart
has become the temple
of Gods “law” (not an
external sanctuary). Only when the law has been internalized by God’s Spirit,
having become a part of man’s will, can he truly keep the law, or covenant (1
Kings 8:21; 2 Cor 3:5ff). Obedience, then, is only
possible through in Christ’s enabling power. Only in this way can the covenant
will be permanent, as God intended. This, of course, would result in a spiritual Israel, comprised only of those who
have been filled with God’s Spirit.
Unlike the old covenant, the new covenant
would be kept only by those with a “new heart” (TEXT???), which can only happen
because the Lord has “put My Spirit within you” (Ezekiel 36:27). Does a “new”
covenant imply that the old was completely done away with? No. There was no
problem with the former covenant that God made with ancient Israel; it was the people who
failed to keep it (Exodus 19:8). The word “new” (Hebrew, chadas) in Jeremiah 31:31 carries
the meaning “to renew” or “restore.” Thus, rather than a complete separation
between the two, the “new covenant” possess characteristics not present in the
former. There is continuity between the covenants, to be sure: it’s the same
God; God is still taking the initiative in covenant making; a promise of
communion with God; same partners—God and His people, Israel (Jer. 31:33; 7:23; 32:38;
Ex. 6:7, Deut. 26:16-19; Lev. 26:12); same law—written now on the heart,
not tablets; a remnant of true believers (“chosen by grace,” Romans 11:5). The
new covenant then is the covenant of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:6), wherein
the law is written on the heart—internalized; not the letter (Romans 7:6),
written outside of man. The believer serves God in the newness of the Spirit,
not in the oldness of the letter. Thus, it is a “better” covenant (Hebrews 8:6)
because it is focused on Jesus, who mediates for all believers (Hebrews 9:15). “Jesus [is] the
mediator of the new covenant” (Hebrews 12:24), not Moses. It is based on
His blood, not the blood of animals.
Though some refer to the new covenant as a
“covenant of grace,” it is clear that that they all—being initiated by God—were. And while some will call the
former covenants a “covenant of works,” that was never God’s plan. In fact,
many today rely on their own efforts and actions to live righteously—we call
that “works” or “legalism.” So, no, there is not a radical distinction between
the old covenant and the new, as if there was two ways to gain salvation (works
and grace). The believers in the Old Testament (the word “covenant” comes from
the Latin “testament”) brought their sacrifices to the Lord, looking forward,
through faith, to the Promised One; we bring our sacrifices to the Lord,
through faith, relying on the merits of His shed blood.
ISRAEL
The word “Israel” has come to mean many
things. It can refer to ancient or Old Testament Israel, which Moses led out of
Egypt, became a “holy” nation at Mount Sinai (where God gave the Ten
Commandments), and resided in Canaan until repeatedly attacked and taken into
captivity. Similarly, it may refer to the modern nation of Israel (1948). Or, it can refer to
the New Testament Church.
Israel (the descendents of Abraham
and Jacob) was initially called by God to be a “holy” people. As such, God
covenanted (a formal agreement) with them; they were His chosen agent on earth
to reveal God’s plan of salvation to the world. Accordingly, they were
instructed to build a tabernacle, patterned after the temple sanctuary in
heaven. Just as priest served the children of Israel,
so was Israel
to serve as a priesthood on earth, pointing the heathen nations to the true God
of heaven. The covenant was conditional, however (Deut 28; Lev. 26). “If” they
obeyed, they would prosper in the land that God had given them. But if they
fell into apostasy, God would withdraw His blessings and permit “curses” to
regain their attention and re-commitment. Sadly, Israel’s history is filled with
abstinent sinfulness. As a result, God permitted the heathen nations to take
them into captivity (Is. 1:4; Zech 6:15). But all was not lost!
Recognizing that there was a faithful
“remnant,” a true Israel, among this adulterous people (Is. 11:11,
12), God encouraged Israel
with a multitude of promises regarding restoration (see Jeremiah), again
conditioned with “ifs” for obedience. These were receptive to a “new heart” and
“new spirit” (Jer. 11:16-21). The Old Testament
record closes.
TRUE ISRAEL
Such was the condition in which Christ found
Israel
at His incarnation. Though His chosen people, ethnic Israel, as a whole would not
recognize or accept him, many did. Accordingly, the New Testament believer,
whether Jew or gentile (Rom 11:13-24; Eph 2:12, 19), is spiritual Israel,
under the new covenant, having allowed God to internalize His law in their
hearts. Keep God’s law is simply the fruit of their relationship to God, not a
means to merit anything. Thus, true Israel is anyone who allows God to
work within them. We are all one in Christ, the One to whom all the Old
Testament sacrifices pointed. The titles and descriptions of ancient Israel are applied to the Church in the New
Testament (Rom.
9:4-8; Eph. 2:11-19; Gal. 6:15, 16). Under the new covenant, Israel is characterized by its
faithfulness to God, not a bloodline (Rom. 4; Gal. 3). The faithful are
considered the “sons of Abraham” (Gal. 3:7), and those who accept Christ are
the “heirs” of Abraham (Gal. 3:29). The faithful are now God’s “royal
priesthood, holy nation” (1 Pet. 2:9, 10; see Ex 19:6).
James L.
Merrills, M. Div.
For additional
studies, e-mail: magic@mr-jim.com
Updated: Oct 19, 2008
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