Sunday, August 1, 2010

Old Covenant / New Covenant...Whats the difference?



"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" (Jeremiah 31:31)

It is commonly said (in sermons) that we as Christians are under the new covenant. It is also taught (in sermons) that under the new covenant, the Law God (the Commandments) is null and void.  Our God is a God of Covenants. Therefore we will take a look at the covenants.

God's first covenant in the Bible was with Noah, and all the animals that were with him.
"...Behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; And with every living creature that is with you, from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth" (Genesis 9:8-12).
And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. (v.17)


And the token of the Covenant was; the Rainbow 
                               
 "I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth... And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth" (Genesis 9:13-16).






A covenant was also made with Abraham.
"And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, as for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations" (Genesis 17:1-4).

The covenant was made with Abraham but was established thru Isaac, Jacob, Moses and the people that he led out of Egypt.

"And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations" (Genesis 17:5-9).

Because of the covenant, Abraham's descendents were promised the promise land (the curse of Canaan [http://studythebiblenotthesermon.blogspot.com/2009/12/curse-of-ham.html]).

And the token of the covenant was the Circumcision.
"This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken MY covenant"
(Genesis 17:10-14). 

The covenant that God made with the nation of Israel, thru Moses is commonly called the old Covenant. Let’s see what this Old Covenant consists of:

"And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables THE WORDS OF THE COVENANT, EVEN TEN COMMANDMENTS" (Exodus 34:27-28).
The stone tablets also called the tablets of testimony were/are the words of the Old Covenant.



The first mention of a New Covenant was made by the prophet Jeremiah (not Paul). Amazingly it says nothing about Jesus changing the laws given to Moses. In fact it says just the opposite.

"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: 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" (Jeremiah 31:31-32).

The Old Covenant was broken almost immediately after it was made at Mt. Sinai after the people left Egypt. Because of this transgression Animal Sacrifices was instituted. This is the law (animal sacrifice) that was added because of transgression. (Galatians 3:19).

So finally; what is this 'New Covenant'??

"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" (Jeremiah 31:33)

LET IT BE KNOWN: This is the reason Jesus did not come and destroy the law!

Instead He fulfilled it!

**Now fulfillment by the Messiah does not mean we are exempt from the law. It means that we now have to fulfill the law in our generations.*


But which law?
Those same 10 commandments.  Which are a summary of the law. Notice nowhere in the 10 commandments does it say to sacrifice a bull or goat.

FOOD 4 THOUGHT
(you do the dishes): The Apostle Paul or the writings of the Apostle are usually used by people to try and negate the Royal Law of God. Paul did not start some new thing through his ministry. He also testified that the New Covenant was the same law as the Old Covenant written in our minds, versus written on tablets of stone. The fault was with the "people," not with the law. And Paul points that out:


"For if that first covenant had been faultless, and then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people"
(Hebrews 8:7-10).


May the Lord add a blessing to the reading of His word...





LOCKSMIF...LLAVES (keys)







Additional Scriptures...

Jeremiah 33:24-26 - Covenant made with day and night (sun and moon)

2Chronicles 6:14- God will keep His side of the Covenant

2 Chronicles 7:17-19 / Psalm 132:11-13 - Covenant with David; his seed (Jesus) will always rule Israel (even after the resurrection)

3 comments:

  1. That was a very interesting blog. It was cool to find out why we have a rainbow and what it is.

    ReplyDelete
  2. THE NEW COVENANT

    Once we become members of Christ’s family, he does not let us go hungry, but feeds us with his own body and blood through the Eucharist.

    In the Old Testament, as they prepared for their journey in the wilderness, God commanded his people to sacrifice a lamb and sprinkle its blood on their doorposts, so the Angel of Death would pass by their homes. Then they ate the lamb to seal their covenant with God.

    This lamb prefigured Jesus. He is the real "Lamb of God," who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29).

    Through Jesus we enter into a New Covenant with God (Luke 22:20), who protects us from eternal death. God’s Old Testament people ate the Passover lamb.

    Now we must eat the Lamb that is the Eucharist. Jesus said, "Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no life within you" (John 6:53).

    At the Last Supper he took bread and wine and said, "Take and eat. This is my body . . . This is my blood which will be shed for you" (Mark 14:22–24).

    In this way Jesus instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist, the sacrificial meal Catholics consume at each Mass.

    The Catholic Church teaches that the sacrifice of Christ on the cross occurred "once for all"; it cannot be repeated (Hebrews 9:28).

    Christ does not "die again" during Mass, but the very same sacrifice that occurred on Calvary is made present on the altar.

    That’s why the Mass is not "another" sacrifice, but a participation in the same, once-for-all sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

    Paul reminds us that the bread and the wine really become, by a miracle of God’s grace, the actual body and blood of Jesus: "Anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself" (1 Corinthians 11:27–29).

    After the consecration of the bread and wine, no bread or wine remains on the altar. Only Jesus himself, under the appearance of bread and wine, remains.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanx Shannon.


    Michael,i have a couple of questions:
    Are you saying that under the new covenant since we have the bread & wine(flesh&Blood) that we dont need regular food (meat&Vegetables)?
    The whole point of this post was to point out the difference in the Old Covenant & the New Covenant. THERE IS NOO DIFFERENCE IN THE COVENANTS only what happens if we break it. In O.T you sacrifice an animal to the preist as confession, in the N.T you pray in the name of Christ our High Preist. (Notice how Catholicism operates under both covenants)

    More importantly what is meant by eat my flesh & drink my blood in the verse that you quoted? Righteous men are not cannibals so this MUST have a deeper meaning. This is why the people murmured when Jesus said it(John 6:60-61), because they thought the way you are thinking. That somehow he really means bite his arm & drink his blood.
    No; In the same chapter 10verses later Jesus makes it plain: "It is the spirit that quickeneth; THE FLESH PROFITETH NOTHING: THE WORDS THAT I SPEAK unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

    It is the WORD that gives us life. Not flesh, or bread or crackers or wafers; not blood, or wine, or grape juice! The Word!



    Lastly, THERE IS NO WHERE IN THE BIBLE THAT SAYS THAT THE BREAD AND WINE 'MAGICALLY' BECOME FLESH AND BLOOD.

    P.s the "Bread & Wine" is not a new thing. Check Genesis chapter 14... Who is this "Melchizedek king of Salem?" Paul talks about him in Hebrews 7.

    Thanks for your comment, my response was Written with Love ;-)

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe Now: standard

Popular Posts