What is the relationship between the “Old Covenant” and the “New Covenant”? Who is included in the covenants? How do we observe the covenants? And, how is the penalty for our rebelliousness resolved in the framework of God’s covenants?
The Covenant Renewed in the Wilderness
See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of YHWH your God that I command you today, by loving YHWH your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and YHWH your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving YHWH your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that YHWH swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. (Deuteronomy 30:15-20)
A covenant is a legally binding agreement between two or more people. A covenant is a contract; it outlines what each party to the covenant will receive and what obligations each party will have to perform.
When we hear people speak of “The Old Covenant”, it can be a little misleading. There were multiple covenants made by God with mankind in the Tanakh (or “Old Testament”). What people generally mean by “Old Covenant” is the covenant God made through Moses in the time of the Exodus.
The covenant made by God with mankind during the Exodus can be summarized as follows.
God’s side of the Covenant:
- YHWH will be our God.
- He will draw near to us in relationship.
- He will bless us and provide for our needs.
- He will hear us when we call to Him.
- He will protect us and give us life.
Mankind’s side of the Covenant:
- We will be YHWH’s people.
- We will stay close to Him in relationship.
- We will bless His name and worship Him.
- We will pray to Him and walk in His ways.
- We will obey YHWH’s Torah (His teachings, instructions, and commandments)
The Promise of a Future Covenant
Behold, the days are coming, declares YHWH, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares YHWH. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares YHWH: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know YHWH,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares YHWH. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
The covenant made through Moses specified that if we break it by turning away from God and disobeying His Torah, then we will be cut off and perish. That is, we will be destroyed in God’s judgement for our evil acts.
In His love and mercy, God told of His intent to establish a new covenant that would restore us to back Him. God’s covenant made through Moses was good; He clearly gave us His instructions and commands, and we had a clear obligation to obey Him. Had we kept the covenant, we would have received all the blessings and provisions of being God’s children. But, we all broke the covenant by failing to obey God.
God’s Torah is perfect. God’s covenant is perfect. But, we broke both. We are the problem, but God provided the solution.
The promised new covenant can be summarized as follows:
- The covenant is to be made with the houses of Israel and Judah (who were divided in sin but will ultimately be restored as one nation again). Anyone wanting to be part of the covenant must be in (a natural branch), or come into (be grafted into), Israel.
- YHWH’s Torah will be written within us. We will have God’s teachings and instructions infused within us, internally guiding and directing us. There is no promise of a new Torah, no indication the original Torah would be nullified or replaced. Rather, God’s same Torah will continue and we are the ones who will be changed so that we are empowered to obey.
- God will forgive our sin. He will forgive us for having broken His Torah and violating His covenants. We will receive a pardon from the penalty of our rebelliousness so that we are not destroyed in God’s judgment.
The Completion of the New Covenant
He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1 Peter 2:22-25)
The promised new covenant was established in Yeshua (Jesus). Jesus took the penalty of our sins upon himself and sacrificed himself to pay the price in our place. Jesus’ sacrifice satisfied the terms of the older covenant, which called for our destruction for having turned against God. With the penalty of sin resolved, we can fully receive God’s forgiveness and acceptance into His eternal kingdom.
To come into Jesus’ covenant, we have to do the following:
- Acknowledge YHWH as our God.
- Humble ourselves before God, admitting our fault and asking His forgiveness.
- Have genuine faith in Jesus as our Messiah, whose sacrifice paid the penalty for our sin.
Faith that saves us from the penalty of sin is not merely believing these things to be true. True faith is believing God enough to obey Him, to trust Him, to act on His promises, and to obey His teachings and commandments. If we truly have faith in God and Messiah, we will obey them and do what they require.
See our Salvation Message for more information regarding how to obtain God’s forgiveness for sin.