Next Door To Heaven (Chapter 6)
Ron Bailey
Ron Bailey
The Old Covenant
The rules in the kindergarten are different to the rules of the factory. The rules that govern the child will have a different purpose to those which govern the adult.
New readers of the Bible are often surprised by the difference in atmosphere of the Old Testament to that of the New Testament. Some, in the past, have even questioned whether it was referring to the same God! The English words Testament and Covenant are usually translations of the same Hebrew or Greek word, but sometimes it is difficult to get all the nuances from one language into another. The early Bible translators tried to solve this by deciding which was closer to the intention of the author and then choosing an English word which best carried the sense.
This has some side effects which can sometimes confuse the picture. As an illustration consider the second chapter of Acts which is almost half way into the New Testament/Covenant… However, the actual New Covenant did not come into full operation until Acts 2! This means that in one way of regarding things Acts chapter 1 is the last chapter of the Old Testament/Covenant. Are you still following this?
Just to make the matter a little more confusing the Old Covenant does not begin until halfway through the book of Exodus; so Genesis and the first half of Exodus are before the Old Testament/Covenant. Of course none of these things really matters very much as we are only talking about the way in which men have divided God's book. The chapter and verse divisions are just as arbitrary.
Let's see if we can't simplify things a little. In Genesis we have accounts of God's dealings with individuals and families, but the beginning of Exodus sets the scene for something quite different. God was about to enter into a special relationship with a whole nation. It is this special relationship with a whole nation that the writer of Hebrews calls the First or the Old Covenant. (1) The New Covenant, by contrast, was initiated by the shedding of Christ's blood, and the benefits of it were communicated to his followers in Acts 2.
There is a consequence to this which is not always realised namely that the larger portion of our Bibles, over 84% in fact, recounts events which occurred under the Old Covenant. (2) The time of the Gospels was unique in that there was a single person living in the experience of a New Covenant, while almost all his followers were still under the implications of the Old Covenant. That Old Covenant operated for approximately 1500 years and was only ever intended to be temporary; it is remarkable how long temporary things will last.
Why temporary? Because the Old Covenant was only ever intended to be a parenthesis in God's dealings with mankind. This is the amazing conclusion arrived at, under the inspiration of the Spirit, by Paul in his letter to the churches in Galatia. The Old Covenant, says Paul, was an addition to God's original promises to Abraham. Furthermore it was a temporary addition in force only until The Seed arrived to whom the original promise had been made. (3)
This is breathtaking in its implications. The Old Covenant's elaborate priesthood and sacrificial system, the temple with its magnificence, the unique position enjoyed by the nation that had entered that Old Covenant; all temporary additions until the Promised One should come? It is not difficult to see why Paul's preaching aroused such passions among the Jews of his day. The same passions had been aroused by Stephen, the man whose judicial murder Paul had himself witnessed. (4) No doubt Stephen's accusers were misquoting him, or were they? People often "hear" what has not been said, but usually there is some thread upon which the mis-hearers fasten their thoughts.
Under the inspiration of the same Spirit, Paul has more to say on this theme. He declares that we (the people of that Old Covenant) were under a paedogogus. A paedogogus was a guardian and guide of boys. Among the Greeks and the Romans the name was applied to trustworthy slaves who were charged with the duty of supervising the life and morals of boys belonging to the better class. The boys were not allowed so much as to step out of the house without them before arriving at the age of manhood. (5) Paul's point is that although the chosen nation had a wonderful destiny before them they had been like heirs who had not reached the age at which they might inherit their inheritance. The Old Covenant period had been the child-state of the nation.
The Sinai (Old) Covenant experience had been but the prelude to full sonship. (6) (There are other letters of Paul where it is important to notice when he switches from we to you.) The issues at stake here were vital to the survival of genuine New Covenant Christianity. Without these vital contributions Christianity would have almost inevitable drifted into becoming a sect within Judaism; an addition to an addition rather than finding its full destiny as an entirely New Covenant.
But the Old Covenant was a glorious covenant. This is also revealed in the scriptures. (7) We must not disparage the earlier provision of God; its failure was due to the failure of the human partners in the covenant not to the weakness of the covenant itself. It was a fading covenant, like the glory that ultimately faded from the face of its mediator Moses. The New Covenant too has a changing glory within it, but this time from great to greater. The events and writings of the New Testament are against the background of the final fadings of the Old Covenant. (8) But at its beginnings the Old Covenant had been truly glorious.
What was the purpose of this unique relationship which made the nation of Israel so special in salvation history? Its purpose was manifold. On the positive side it was to initiate a relationship with God which would mark them out as different to all other nations, though all nations were God's
too. (9)
The secular covenant of marriage is a fitting illustration of God's actions. In a marriage covenant there comes a point at which each of the partners belong to each other in a unique and exclusive sense. The two partners make their promises, enter into a covenant and from that moment belong to each other in a way that neither can belong to anyone else. The prophet Ezekiel took up this daring image when he brought God's words to the people of his day; I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine. (10)
From this moment in the nation's history all spiritual unfaithfulness was described as adultery. Another prophet took up the same theme as he proclaimed the coming of a different kind of covenant; "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. (11)
The marriage contract included their occupation of the land. Or to view the opposite side of the coin, it was a tenancy agreement with regard to the land and it demanded their faithfulness; if they kept the covenant they would keep the land. The book of Deuteronomy, which are the last words of Moses prior to his death and the entrance of the people into their promised land has this as a constant theme. The beginnings of the contract are recorded in a classical "if- then" statement which lies at the foundation of their destiny and consequent history; 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, (12)
This takes us onto the next step in our understanding of Israel's destiny. They were to be separated from all other nations in order to be available to God as a priest-nation. Priests were mediators; they stood between God and man. This nation was not being separated for its own private salvation but for a unique role in salvation history. As priests they must be taught so that they in turn could teach
others. (13) That privilege would bring with it fearful responsibilities. From he that had much, much would be required. They would be expected to live a quality of life which was in keeping with their lofty destiny. Moses last words are recorded in Deuteronomy 33.
26 [There is] none like unto the God of Jeshurun (14), [who] rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.
27 The eternal God [is thy] refuge, and underneath [are] the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy jrom before thee; and shall say, Destroy [them].
28 Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob [shall be] upon a land of corn and wine,. also his heavens shall drop down dew.
29 Happy [art] thou, 0 Israel: who [is] like unto thee, 0 people saved by the LORD
The work of preparing this covenant people went on through pain and prosperity, through special favours and hard disciplines right up to the time of John Baptist. His work was to get all things ready for their supreme mission; And he will go on before the Lord; in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (15)
The period of the Law was to have another purpose which is explained in a well known and often misapplied Bible verse; Where [there is] no vision, the people perish: (16) This is the familiar KJV rendering, but the context makes it clear that the NIV has got closer to the heart of this passage when it states; Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law. God's covenant people were not in ignorance of right behaviour. God's will had been revealed to them in order to restrain them. Where there is no revelation of God's will there will be no restraint to wickedness.
The Law was expressed initially mostly in terms of a series of prohibitions; thou shalt not rather than thou shalt. Read thoughtfully the Ten Commandments will be found to be Ten Prohibitions.
We shall need to return to this theme later, but we will do well to understand that Law can restrain but can never change character. Restraint of evil however is a blessing, although God's ultimate purpose is much greater than this. Much of the Law which now seems so imperfect to our modem sensibilities needs to be understood in the light of this; these imperfect legislations take into account the hardness of men's hearts. (I7)
This period of the Law was to have yet another purpose. It was to bring to the covenant people an adequate sense of their own failure. Again we must turn to the writings of Paul to appreciate this aspect of revelation. He is answering the hypothetical questions as to why the Law has not made him a better man. His answer brings this other purpose clearly into focus; Did that which is good; then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognised as sin, it produced death in me through what was good; so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. (18)
The law would strip away all possibility of camouflage. There would be no doubt as to mankind's true condition. This Covenant nation, at least, would not be able to pretend that they were good enough. But the intention of this was largely frustrated by the determination of that nation to use the Law as a means of acquiring merit; almost the direct opposite of its purpose. (19)
Notes:
(1) Hebrews 8:7-13. Some call this the Mosaic (Moses) or Sinaitic Covenant.
(2) Genesis, Exodus 1-19, the Book of Job, Acts 2 through to the Revelation are the exceptions.
(3) Gal 3:19
(4) Acts 6:14
(5) Thayer Greek-English Lexicon
(6) Gal 4:1,2
(7) 2 Cor 3:7
(8) 2 Cor 3:13,18. Hebrews 8:13
(9) Exodus 19:5,6
(10) Ezekiel 16:8 NIV
(11) Jeremiah 31:31,32
(12) Exodus 19:5,6
(13) Malachi 2:7
(14) A Hebrew term meaning ‘my upright one’
(15) Luke 1:17 NIV
(16) Proverbs 29:18
(17) Matthew 19:8
(18) Romans 7:13
(19) Romans 10:2,3
The rules in the kindergarten are different to the rules of the factory. The rules that govern the child will have a different purpose to those which govern the adult.
New readers of the Bible are often surprised by the difference in atmosphere of the Old Testament to that of the New Testament. Some, in the past, have even questioned whether it was referring to the same God! The English words Testament and Covenant are usually translations of the same Hebrew or Greek word, but sometimes it is difficult to get all the nuances from one language into another. The early Bible translators tried to solve this by deciding which was closer to the intention of the author and then choosing an English word which best carried the sense.
This has some side effects which can sometimes confuse the picture. As an illustration consider the second chapter of Acts which is almost half way into the New Testament/Covenant… However, the actual New Covenant did not come into full operation until Acts 2! This means that in one way of regarding things Acts chapter 1 is the last chapter of the Old Testament/Covenant. Are you still following this?
Just to make the matter a little more confusing the Old Covenant does not begin until halfway through the book of Exodus; so Genesis and the first half of Exodus are before the Old Testament/Covenant. Of course none of these things really matters very much as we are only talking about the way in which men have divided God's book. The chapter and verse divisions are just as arbitrary.
Let's see if we can't simplify things a little. In Genesis we have accounts of God's dealings with individuals and families, but the beginning of Exodus sets the scene for something quite different. God was about to enter into a special relationship with a whole nation. It is this special relationship with a whole nation that the writer of Hebrews calls the First or the Old Covenant. (1) The New Covenant, by contrast, was initiated by the shedding of Christ's blood, and the benefits of it were communicated to his followers in Acts 2.
There is a consequence to this which is not always realised namely that the larger portion of our Bibles, over 84% in fact, recounts events which occurred under the Old Covenant. (2) The time of the Gospels was unique in that there was a single person living in the experience of a New Covenant, while almost all his followers were still under the implications of the Old Covenant. That Old Covenant operated for approximately 1500 years and was only ever intended to be temporary; it is remarkable how long temporary things will last.
Why temporary? Because the Old Covenant was only ever intended to be a parenthesis in God's dealings with mankind. This is the amazing conclusion arrived at, under the inspiration of the Spirit, by Paul in his letter to the churches in Galatia. The Old Covenant, says Paul, was an addition to God's original promises to Abraham. Furthermore it was a temporary addition in force only until The Seed arrived to whom the original promise had been made. (3)
This is breathtaking in its implications. The Old Covenant's elaborate priesthood and sacrificial system, the temple with its magnificence, the unique position enjoyed by the nation that had entered that Old Covenant; all temporary additions until the Promised One should come? It is not difficult to see why Paul's preaching aroused such passions among the Jews of his day. The same passions had been aroused by Stephen, the man whose judicial murder Paul had himself witnessed. (4) No doubt Stephen's accusers were misquoting him, or were they? People often "hear" what has not been said, but usually there is some thread upon which the mis-hearers fasten their thoughts.
Under the inspiration of the same Spirit, Paul has more to say on this theme. He declares that we (the people of that Old Covenant) were under a paedogogus. A paedogogus was a guardian and guide of boys. Among the Greeks and the Romans the name was applied to trustworthy slaves who were charged with the duty of supervising the life and morals of boys belonging to the better class. The boys were not allowed so much as to step out of the house without them before arriving at the age of manhood. (5) Paul's point is that although the chosen nation had a wonderful destiny before them they had been like heirs who had not reached the age at which they might inherit their inheritance. The Old Covenant period had been the child-state of the nation.
The Sinai (Old) Covenant experience had been but the prelude to full sonship. (6) (There are other letters of Paul where it is important to notice when he switches from we to you.) The issues at stake here were vital to the survival of genuine New Covenant Christianity. Without these vital contributions Christianity would have almost inevitable drifted into becoming a sect within Judaism; an addition to an addition rather than finding its full destiny as an entirely New Covenant.
But the Old Covenant was a glorious covenant. This is also revealed in the scriptures. (7) We must not disparage the earlier provision of God; its failure was due to the failure of the human partners in the covenant not to the weakness of the covenant itself. It was a fading covenant, like the glory that ultimately faded from the face of its mediator Moses. The New Covenant too has a changing glory within it, but this time from great to greater. The events and writings of the New Testament are against the background of the final fadings of the Old Covenant. (8) But at its beginnings the Old Covenant had been truly glorious.
What was the purpose of this unique relationship which made the nation of Israel so special in salvation history? Its purpose was manifold. On the positive side it was to initiate a relationship with God which would mark them out as different to all other nations, though all nations were God's
too. (9)
The secular covenant of marriage is a fitting illustration of God's actions. In a marriage covenant there comes a point at which each of the partners belong to each other in a unique and exclusive sense. The two partners make their promises, enter into a covenant and from that moment belong to each other in a way that neither can belong to anyone else. The prophet Ezekiel took up this daring image when he brought God's words to the people of his day; I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine. (10)
From this moment in the nation's history all spiritual unfaithfulness was described as adultery. Another prophet took up the same theme as he proclaimed the coming of a different kind of covenant; "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. (11)
The marriage contract included their occupation of the land. Or to view the opposite side of the coin, it was a tenancy agreement with regard to the land and it demanded their faithfulness; if they kept the covenant they would keep the land. The book of Deuteronomy, which are the last words of Moses prior to his death and the entrance of the people into their promised land has this as a constant theme. The beginnings of the contract are recorded in a classical "if- then" statement which lies at the foundation of their destiny and consequent history; 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, (12)
This takes us onto the next step in our understanding of Israel's destiny. They were to be separated from all other nations in order to be available to God as a priest-nation. Priests were mediators; they stood between God and man. This nation was not being separated for its own private salvation but for a unique role in salvation history. As priests they must be taught so that they in turn could teach
others. (13) That privilege would bring with it fearful responsibilities. From he that had much, much would be required. They would be expected to live a quality of life which was in keeping with their lofty destiny. Moses last words are recorded in Deuteronomy 33.
26 [There is] none like unto the God of Jeshurun (14), [who] rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.
27 The eternal God [is thy] refuge, and underneath [are] the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy jrom before thee; and shall say, Destroy [them].
28 Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob [shall be] upon a land of corn and wine,. also his heavens shall drop down dew.
29 Happy [art] thou, 0 Israel: who [is] like unto thee, 0 people saved by the LORD
The work of preparing this covenant people went on through pain and prosperity, through special favours and hard disciplines right up to the time of John Baptist. His work was to get all things ready for their supreme mission; And he will go on before the Lord; in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (15)
The period of the Law was to have another purpose which is explained in a well known and often misapplied Bible verse; Where [there is] no vision, the people perish: (16) This is the familiar KJV rendering, but the context makes it clear that the NIV has got closer to the heart of this passage when it states; Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law. God's covenant people were not in ignorance of right behaviour. God's will had been revealed to them in order to restrain them. Where there is no revelation of God's will there will be no restraint to wickedness.
The Law was expressed initially mostly in terms of a series of prohibitions; thou shalt not rather than thou shalt. Read thoughtfully the Ten Commandments will be found to be Ten Prohibitions.
We shall need to return to this theme later, but we will do well to understand that Law can restrain but can never change character. Restraint of evil however is a blessing, although God's ultimate purpose is much greater than this. Much of the Law which now seems so imperfect to our modem sensibilities needs to be understood in the light of this; these imperfect legislations take into account the hardness of men's hearts. (I7)
This period of the Law was to have yet another purpose. It was to bring to the covenant people an adequate sense of their own failure. Again we must turn to the writings of Paul to appreciate this aspect of revelation. He is answering the hypothetical questions as to why the Law has not made him a better man. His answer brings this other purpose clearly into focus; Did that which is good; then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognised as sin, it produced death in me through what was good; so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. (18)
The law would strip away all possibility of camouflage. There would be no doubt as to mankind's true condition. This Covenant nation, at least, would not be able to pretend that they were good enough. But the intention of this was largely frustrated by the determination of that nation to use the Law as a means of acquiring merit; almost the direct opposite of its purpose. (19)
Notes:
(1) Hebrews 8:7-13. Some call this the Mosaic (Moses) or Sinaitic Covenant.
(2) Genesis, Exodus 1-19, the Book of Job, Acts 2 through to the Revelation are the exceptions.
(3) Gal 3:19
(4) Acts 6:14
(5) Thayer Greek-English Lexicon
(6) Gal 4:1,2
(7) 2 Cor 3:7
(8) 2 Cor 3:13,18. Hebrews 8:13
(9) Exodus 19:5,6
(10) Ezekiel 16:8 NIV
(11) Jeremiah 31:31,32
(12) Exodus 19:5,6
(13) Malachi 2:7
(14) A Hebrew term meaning ‘my upright one’
(15) Luke 1:17 NIV
(16) Proverbs 29:18
(17) Matthew 19:8
(18) Romans 7:13
(19) Romans 10:2,3
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