Old Covenant, New Covenant, What Is The Difference? 1 I suspect a fair proportion of people in the western world have heard of the New Covenant, or New Testament, as it is more frequently referred to. But I also suspect most would only have a hazy notion as to what it is, and some not a clue. Some Christians and theologians are among those who claim to know what it actually is. I would also suspect few actually understand correctly. I would hazard a guess that only a few of the few really have a grasp of what it really means. We at Mayim Chayim have not always had the grasp of the subject we have today, so I don t want to come over all pompous. We have had to learn and alter our paradigm as things have been revealed to us through the study of the Bible over time, and what we have learnt I wish to share with you here. In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moshe (Moses), the Great Servant of God, sums up the experiences of the Children of Israel in the deliverance from Egypt, through their wandering in the wilderness to the place they now had arrived at, the borders of the Promised Land, Eretz Israel. It is here that Moshe explains matters relevant to their taking the Land of Promise and what the future would hold out for them. It is also here that the Children of Israel entered into another covenant as separate from the one they had made at Horeb, which was : Exodus 19 : 3-8 Then Moshe went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said : This is what you are to say to the House of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel. You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I carried you on eagles wings and brought you to myself. Now 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. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites. So Moshe went back, summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. The people responded together : We will do everything the Lord has said. So Moshe brought their answer back to the Lord. Here God presents the people of Israel with a divine arrangement : On having seen my power in delivering you from Egypt I am going to present 1 This article produced by Mayim Chayim Messianic Fellowship, PO Box 3021, Eastbourne, East Sussex, U.K. www.mayimchayim.co.uk - mayim_chayim@btinternet.com 1
you with some instructions which, if you obey, I will set you apart from all nations of the world and make you the example to be followed. On receiving this deal, the leaders of the people agreed on behalf of the people and subsequently received a long list of instructions headed up by the Ten Commandments or Words. It was with these instructions that the Children of Israel were to venture into and colonise the Land of Canaan which God had promised to give to them through promises He had earlier made to Avraham, Yitzach and Yaacov. (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.) Sadly, while Moshe was up on the mount of Horeb to receive the instructions in an official capacity the Israelites got impatient and decided to call on the gods of Egypt in the form of a golden calf. At this God had a mind to destroy the people and start again through Moshe (Exodus 32 : 9). After all the Egyptians had been destroyed for such, and the Israelites had witnessed their destruction first hand. Moshe pleaded with God for mercy on their behalf so, although they were punished, they were not destroyed. Their journey to the Land of Promise, Canaan, however was delayed. They had to remain in the environs of Horeb for a year mulling over their mistakes of judgment, and testing God further, as it happened, until they got opportunity to enter the Land of Canaan. On leaving Horeb, the Israelites approached Canaan in the East meaning to go over the Jordan but some leaders came to Moshe and requested a reconnoitre beforehand. This was not a great idea as it turns out, for although it was allowed, the report these scouts brought back thoroughly unsettled the Israelites. They whined and wailed and created a fuss amongst themselves. They decided they wanted a new leader other than Moshe to take them to Egypt. Too much information and thinking time was too much for this people. Had they just got on with it without trying to be too clever then things might have gone the better for them. As it was, God was of a mind to wipe them out Numbers 14 : 12. This is a second time in little more than a year, but Moshe again pleaded with God on their behalf and they were spared Sort of! The consequence of these events, and others I have not mentioned, led to the Israelites wandering in and around the desert regions of Arabia for 40 years. They were not allowed to go back to Egypt nor enter Canaan, but were to die 2
on their journeying. Only those under 20 years of age were to survive, together with a few individuals who did not concur with the general attitude of the whole. The Book of Numbers deals with the events of this wandering of the Israelites in that terrible wilderness. These years were not wasted years wandering, doing nothing. These people were to be taught in an intensive fashion to prepare them for their future re-appointment to enter the land of Canaan some 40 years hence. Here in the desert devoid of too many distractions they would learn firsthand the price of disobedience and lack of trust. Their leaders and loved ones of their families would die before their eyes as a constant reminder of their failings. God would constantly be there before them in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. Perhaps it was in the form of a tornado? I wouldn t be surprised! When the pillar of cloud moved the camp moved to follow it. Here they were learning by habit to follow God, unquestioningly. A visual presence of his being was before them constantly. They were also being fed supernaturally. A substance called Manna (Hebrew: What Is It? ) came and settled around the camp of the Israelites for them to gather and cook. No doubt this substance provided all the nutrients required for good health. Meat was also provided in the form of quail which blew in on the wind and deposited the birds around the camp. Water was also provided out of the rock as they had need of. (Numbers 20 : 2-10). The clothes and shoes of the people never wore out through this period of wandering. (Deuteronomy 29 : 5). They were not overly involved in making or repairing attire. They didn t have to farm, build houses, make clothes, look after vast numbers of livestock. They had time on their hands. What did they do? Learn the Torah, I would suggest. God had caused them to build a tabernacle a moveable temple. (Exodus 25 : 1-8), which was staffed by Levites, the priestly tribe among the Israelites. Life for the Israelites would have revolved around this and they would have been taught God s instructions through them. They would have been instructed in the matters of the Torah to prepare them for what lay ahead. 3
This time round they would be thoroughly prepared to enter the Land, as could not have been the case before. This is not to say they could or would have practised everything Moshe had brought them in terms of instructions from God at Horeb, for a measure of what they would be receiving would be for their sojourn in the Promised Land and not for a wilderness lifestyle. For instance, the men were not circumcised in the wilderness, nor were sacrifices regularly offered or offerings made. (Amos 5 : 25). The point being there was nothing much to offer apart from manna and the occasional quail. The Festivals could not have been celebrated as was directed because there was no cereal crop or sheep for that matter. There could have been no Passover as was originally instructed because lambs would have been in short supply to non-existent. This is not to say they never observed these Festivals. They would have done as part of the training and recognition of time and order, but it would or could not be carried out as it was designed to be done in the Promised Land. And what I mention here is but a portion of the could nots. All that I have mentioned here is of the Horeb covenant, which is the first covenant made with the Children of Israel. In this sense it might be considered the Old Covenant, but it is more correct to say First Covenant. Now we come to the Book of Deuteronomy. As I have mentioned on page one, Moshe makes a summary of the Horeb experience together with that which followed in the wilderness. He also adds some more instructions, together with blessings and cursings, which would befall Israel in the future, according to their performance in applying this Torah. In Deuteronomy 29 : 1 it says : These are the terms of the covenant the Lord commanded Moshe to make with the Israelites in Moab, in addition to the covenant He had made with them at Horeb. Here was a New or Renewed Covenant made with the Israelites as they were to enter the Promised Land. It had dire consequences for disobedience but amazing promises of restoration. It is this covenant that Yeshua was referring to as the New or Renewed Covenant and it is this that He was a messenger of. 4
Within this covenant was failure and deliverance, and Yeshua (Jesus) is to do with the deliverance bit. In Deuteronomy 29 : 2-6, Moshe points out how God had been always before them and had provided every need. It was all miraculous stuff. And yet in verse 4 we are told they were, spiritually speaking, lacking understanding, blind and deaf! In other words nothing of what God is or stands for was going in, and hadn t done so through their whole amazing experience. Here they were, preparing to enter the Promised Land, spiritually vacant. In verse 12, Moshe informs the Israelites that God was making a covenant with them there on that day in addition to that made at Horeb. This covenant involved not just them as they stood there but all future generations (verse 15). This covenant was formed by God himself making an oath to state that they would always be His people and He their God. This meant that God would fulfill his purpose in them and that he would not wipe them out completely as nearly happened twice in the previous 40 years. Deuteronomy 30 : 1 When all these blessings and curses (Deuteronomy 28) I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations<< Here we see the Israelites would remain spiritually blind and get scattered to other places outside the Promised Land. There would however come a time of change. Deuteronomy 30 : 2-6 <<.and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today (the whole Torah), then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where He scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens (Australia) from there the Lord God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love Him with all your heart and soul, and live! The People of Israel would be brought back after thousands of years of exile to the Promised Land where their spiritual deafness and blindness would be taken away. All this failure and success was what the Renewed or New 5
Covenant was about. A whole package. We are nearly through the failure bit, the success bit lies up ahead. The prophet Ezekiel was prompted to foretell of this bringing back, replanting, in the land, in accordance with this New Covenant given through Moshe. Ezekiel found himself captive in Nebuchadnezzar s Babylon with his Jewish compatriots some 130 years after Assyria s demolition and removal of the House of Israel from Eretz Israel (Land of Israel). All Israelites to speak of had now been removed from the land in accordance with the curses of the New Covenant, and it is in this distressing situation that Ezekiel prophesies way into the future : Ezekiel 36 : 8-12 But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home (it is being prepared now). I am concerned for you and will look on you with favour; and you will be ploughed and sown. And I will multiply the number of people upon you, even the whole House of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. (Soon coming wars will cause great damage). I will increase the number of men and animals upon you, and they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before (as under David and Shlomo). Then you will know that I am the Lord (spiritual eyes and ears opened). I will cause people, My people Israel, to walk upon you. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance. You will never again deprive them of the their children. (Israelites would no longer be cursed and die due to disobedience in the Land). Ezekiel 36 : 16-19 Again, the word of the Lord came to me. Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions. Their conduct was like a woman s monthly uncleanness in my sight. So I poured out my wrath on them because they had shed blood in the land (acts of murder) and because they had defiled it with their idols (false ways.) I dispersed them among the nations (as is now) and they were scattered through the countries. I judged them according to their conduct and actions. (Torah is the standard). Ezekiel 36 : 22-28 Therefore, say to the House of Israel, This is what the sovereign Lord says; It is not for your sake, O House of Israel, that I am going to do 6
these things (hasn t happened yet) but for the sake of my Holy Name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my Great Name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, When I show myself Holy through you before their eyes. (God is going to fulfill the covenant given through Moshe to show he is Sovereign and true to His promises). For I will take you out of the nations. I will gather you from all countries and bring you back to your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all of your impurities and from all of your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you (the Holy Spirit changing our seat of intellect and emotion). I will remove from you your heart of stone (that which rejects Torah) and give you a heart of flesh (that which accepts Torah.) I will put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees (Romans 8: 14 Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are Sons of God ), and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers and you will be my people (sons) and I will be your God. The downside of the New Covenant is with us and is yet to be fully played out in the experiences of the Children of Israel. Ezekiel however points to the future upside of the New Covenant and the replanting of Israel back in the Land. This time with a changed nature which will allow them to behave in a way that receives God s approval, and nothing but blessings are poured out on them. Preparations for this great event are continually being made. The most important of them was God seeding himself among His people in the form of Yeshua the Messiah. Not only was He to give an example as to how a heart of flesh should live, but also pay the price for Israel s disobedience and make atonement for them. This He could do because He was an expression of the Creator and therefore capable and fitted to pay the price. He also trained disciples who would become apostles (messengers) of this upside of the New Covenant, who would themselves train others in the same. In addition to this He made possible the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. John 16 : 7 But I tell you the truth. It is for your good I am going away. The counsellor (Holy Spirit) will not come to you (disciples). But if I go I will send Him to you. 7
The spirit would instruct those who received Him in the understanding of Torah as it was meant to be, those persons who received the Spirit and were trained as disciples. Matthew 28 : 18-20 Then Yeshua came to them and said All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of (in) all nations (places largely where Israelites had been driven to), baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (God of Israel) and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Which was the Torah of Moshe, together with deeper understanding, which Yeshua taught). And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (When Yeshua returns to be King). Yes, King. This was the last reason Yeshua came to visit us. questioned by Pilate before His crucifixion : When being John 18 : 33-37 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Yeshua and asked him Are you King of the Jews? Is that your own idea or did others talk to you about me? Yeshua asked. Am I a Jew? Pilate replied. It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done? Yeshua said My kingdom is not of this world. (This age of the gentiles people not living in accordance with Torah). If it were my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. (Remnant of Israelite people in Eretz Israel). But now my kingdom is from another place. (Will not come as of this world). You are a King then! said Pilate. Yeshua answered You are right in saying I am a King. In fact, for this reason, I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify the truth. (That God s covenants with Israel would stand). When Yeshua spoke of the truth what did He mean? John 17 : 16-17 They (disciples then and now) are not of this world even as I am not of it. Sanctify them (set them apart) by the truth, your word is truth. The word is the Torah, the whole instruction manual for righteous living which would be fulfilled by empowerment through the Holy Spirit which Yeshua would send on His earthly death. 8
In Romans 10 : 1-4 the apostle Shaul (Paul) states : Brothers, my heart s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. (Establishment of the restored Kingdom of Israel). For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge (eyes and ears closed to spiritual understanding) since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God, and sought to establish their own (church groups do this often). They did not submit to God s righteousness (Torah viewed through spiritual eyes). Messiach (Christ) is the end of the law (Torah) so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. Some ignorant people have majored on the view that the end of the law here means end of Torah, and that Jesus has placed something better. This view, well held in religious circles, flies in the face of what was promised through Moshe and also in the prophets. The end, as Shaul states has to do with the New Covenant and makes possible the upside of it - the saving of the whole of Israel by placing them back in the land and giving them a new spirit enthusing them to keep Torah (God s instructions in righteousness). The end also made possible selecting disciples who would be trained in Torah through trusting in God through His Spirit to qualify them for a position in assisting with this restoration of Israel project. John 14 : 1-4 Do not let your hearts be troubled (you will have a tough time). Trust in God; trust also in me. In My Father s house are many rooms (offices of governance). If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you (die, be rusurrected and put matters in order), and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back (as King of Israel) and take you to be with me that you may be where I am. (In a restored Israel ruling from Jerusalem). Matthew 19 : 28 Yeshua said to them (disciples) I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things (restoration of Israel), when the Son of Man (Yeshua) sits on His throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging (teaching and guiding in Torah) the twelve tribes of Israel. This is the sole reason that the New Covenant Church, who were all Jewish originally, was to become trained to help in the New Covenant restoration of 9
Israel. Everything that God has done with human beings over the millennia has been to this end and still is. We who are in the here and now who understand these things are waiting for the last few events to take place before the glorious return of Yeshua the Messiah as King over a blessed New Covenant people of Israel. May that day come soon! Scriptures quoted from N.I.V. 10