The Second Covenant
The writer of Hebrews says, "Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. For he finds fault with them when he says, 'Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their father on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord; I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people"' (Heb 8:6-10).
Note: The fault was not with the first covenant, but with the people who did not continue in it. Also note: The house of Israel and the house of Judah go to the singular house of Israel.
This better covenant is not the covenant made at Horeb [Sinai], but the unimplemented second covenant initially mediated by Moses—"These are the words of the covenant that the Lord [YHWH] commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, besides [in addition to] the covenant that he had made with them at Horeb" (Deu 29:1). And here begins the Second Covenant made with Israel that forms the copy and shadow of the covenant now mediated by Christ Jesus. It is not made on the day when the Lord took Israel by the hand to lead that nation out of Egypt, but made forty years later with the circumcised and uncircumcised children of "that nation." And it is the Apostle Paul's "law of faith" (Rom 3:27), and his "righteousness based on faith" (Rom 10:6); for the terms of this Second Covenant are not implemented until, `"And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I [Moses] have set before you, and you call them to mind among the nations where the Lord [YHWH] your God [Elohim] has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul [nephesh – this should here be translated as "mind"], then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, and he will gather you again from all peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. … And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul [nephesh], that you may live'" (Deu 30:1-3, 6).
The blessing and the curse came upon Israel, but the nation did not—while in a far land—return to God and obey His voice in all He commanded on this day mere weeks before Israel crossed the Jordan under the command of Joshua. Rather, the house of Israel was taken captive by the Assyrians and has never returned as a nation to God. The house of Judah was taken captive by the Babylonians, and only a remnant returned after seventy years, and this remnant returned to fulfill the prophecy of Jeremiah (cf. Jer 29:10; Dan 9:1-2). So Israel did not return to God and did not return to Judea with circumcised hearts.
Returning to God while in a far land would have been an act of faith on Israel's part. The Apostle Paul writes, "What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who had pursued a law that would have lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works" (Rom 9:30-32).
The law that would have lead to Israel's justification is the Second Covenant as first mediated by Moses. Upon demonstrated obedience by faith, Israel would have received circumcised hearts and minds. A better promise added when this law's mediator became Christ Jesus is circumcised hearts and minds [a euphemistic expression for the equally euphemistic expression of writing the law on hearts and minds] are received before demonstrated obedience although obedience is still expected; for under this Second Covenant, Israel is to "obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law [i.e., Deuteronomy], when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul [nephesh]" (Deu 30:10) … in Deuteronomy are the ten commandments, with the Sabbath commandment having emphasis placed on the liberation of Israel from bondage rather than on the seven days of creation [cf. Deu 5:15; Exod 20:11). The Second Covenant as mediated by Christ is about liberation from sin and death.
Thus, the natural Israelite who by faith has returned to obedience to God and who now professes that Jesus is Lord and believes in his [or her] heart that the Father raised Jesus from the dead (Rom 10:9) stands on the same theological ground as the "Christian" who by faith keeps the precepts of the law (Rom 2:26) and has his [or her] uncircumcision counted as circumcision [cf. Rom 10:6-8; Deu 30:11-14]. Both will keep the Sabbath. Both will be under the Second Covenant.
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"Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
Note: The fault was not with the first covenant, but with the people who did not continue in it. Also note: The house of Israel and the house of Judah go to the singular house of Israel.
This better covenant is not the covenant made at Horeb [Sinai], but the unimplemented second covenant initially mediated by Moses—"These are the words of the covenant that the Lord [YHWH] commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, besides [in addition to] the covenant that he had made with them at Horeb" (Deu 29:1). And here begins the Second Covenant made with Israel that forms the copy and shadow of the covenant now mediated by Christ Jesus. It is not made on the day when the Lord took Israel by the hand to lead that nation out of Egypt, but made forty years later with the circumcised and uncircumcised children of "that nation." And it is the Apostle Paul's "law of faith" (Rom 3:27), and his "righteousness based on faith" (Rom 10:6); for the terms of this Second Covenant are not implemented until, `"And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I [Moses] have set before you, and you call them to mind among the nations where the Lord [YHWH] your God [Elohim] has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul [nephesh – this should here be translated as "mind"], then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, and he will gather you again from all peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. … And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul [nephesh], that you may live'" (Deu 30:1-3, 6).
The blessing and the curse came upon Israel, but the nation did not—while in a far land—return to God and obey His voice in all He commanded on this day mere weeks before Israel crossed the Jordan under the command of Joshua. Rather, the house of Israel was taken captive by the Assyrians and has never returned as a nation to God. The house of Judah was taken captive by the Babylonians, and only a remnant returned after seventy years, and this remnant returned to fulfill the prophecy of Jeremiah (cf. Jer 29:10; Dan 9:1-2). So Israel did not return to God and did not return to Judea with circumcised hearts.
Returning to God while in a far land would have been an act of faith on Israel's part. The Apostle Paul writes, "What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who had pursued a law that would have lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works" (Rom 9:30-32).
The law that would have lead to Israel's justification is the Second Covenant as first mediated by Moses. Upon demonstrated obedience by faith, Israel would have received circumcised hearts and minds. A better promise added when this law's mediator became Christ Jesus is circumcised hearts and minds [a euphemistic expression for the equally euphemistic expression of writing the law on hearts and minds] are received before demonstrated obedience although obedience is still expected; for under this Second Covenant, Israel is to "obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law [i.e., Deuteronomy], when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul [nephesh]" (Deu 30:10) … in Deuteronomy are the ten commandments, with the Sabbath commandment having emphasis placed on the liberation of Israel from bondage rather than on the seven days of creation [cf. Deu 5:15; Exod 20:11). The Second Covenant as mediated by Christ is about liberation from sin and death.
Thus, the natural Israelite who by faith has returned to obedience to God and who now professes that Jesus is Lord and believes in his [or her] heart that the Father raised Jesus from the dead (Rom 10:9) stands on the same theological ground as the "Christian" who by faith keeps the precepts of the law (Rom 2:26) and has his [or her] uncircumcision counted as circumcision [cf. Rom 10:6-8; Deu 30:11-14]. Both will keep the Sabbath. Both will be under the Second Covenant.
"Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
Labels: Book of the Law, Deuteronomy, Elohim, Journey of Faith, justification, Moses, obedience, Second Covenant, YHWH
posted by T, L & F … at
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