What is the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant?
Was the Old Covenant made with Israel and the New Covenant made with the New Testament Church?
Does the New Covenant do away with the law (Old Covenant)?
What was the Old Covenant?
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, the ten commandments.
(Exodus 34: 27, 28) KJV unless otherwise noted. Emphasis addedThe words of the covenant were the ten commandments and they were made with Moses and with Israel, written on two tablets of stone.
Was there more included in this covenant besides the ten commandments (Words)?
And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments and all the people answered with one voice, and said, all the words which the Lord has said will we do. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord…
(Exodus 24:3-4)And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord has said will we do, and be obedient.
(Exodus 24:7)There was more to the covenant than the two tables of stone as Moses wrote the words of the Lord and all of the judgments in the book of the covenant.
It was to Israel that God gave His law (Torah). Through Israel’s preservation of it [Romans 3:1-2] , the entire world has benefited from God’s standard of living. Torah, (God’s instruction) is given for our protection and preservation. It is our instruction for righteous living and our protection from spiritual, mental and bodily harm. To say that the law is done away with, is a false testimony.
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 5:18,19)Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
(Romans 3:31)What is sin?
Whosoever committeth sin transgesseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
(I John 3:4)What is the New Covenant?
For finding fault with them he said: 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 8:8-10) (Also found in Jeremiah 31:31-34)The New Covenant is not just made with the New Testament church but with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It is the writing of God’s laws into their mind and in their hearts.
Can Gentiles also have the law written in their minds and in their hearts?
For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. Indeed, when Gentiles, who do
not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, … (Romans 2:13-15) NIVHow would God put his laws into our mind and hearts?
Forasmuch as you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
(II Corinthians 3:3)
With the Spirit of the living God working in our heart.
Was the Spirit in their hearts during Messiah’s (Christ’s) time?
By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
(John 7:39) NIVEven the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him: for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
(John 14:17)Those who believe shall have the spirit of God dwelling in them. This was yet future.
When was this spirit given to dwell in man?
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting… And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost…
(Acts 2:1,2,4A)On the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 the Holy Spirit is given 10 days after the Messiah’s ascension. (31 A. D. is the common accepted date)
To whom was Messiah sent?
But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
(Matthew 15:24)Our Messiah is saying he was sent unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
What about the Gentiles? If the covenants were made with Israel and Judah where then do the Gentiles (the other nations- non Israelites) fit in?
One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you. And ordinance forever in your generations…One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourns with you.
(Numbers 15:15,16)In ancient Israel God accepts any non-Israelites into the congregation of Israel.
And it shall come to pass, that you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
(Ezekiel 47:22)God accepts anyone who wishes to abide with them and follow God’s way.
If you are a follower of Christ what promise do you have?
If you be Christ’s than you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
(Galatians 3:29)The promises given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel) belong to the followers of Messiah.
Can the Gentiles be grafted into the olive tree of Israel?
For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles…And if some of the branches be broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree were grafted in among them, and with them partake of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
(Romans 11:13,17)Yes, Romans 11 tells us that Gentiles can be grafted in and partake of the root and fatness of the olive tree. (See Psalms 52:8 NIV – David likens himself to an olive tree flourishing in the house of God.) The olive tree flourishes when Messiah is the root of it.
How are Gentiles to be grafted in?
Wherefore remember, that you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands. That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
(Ephesians 2:11-13)The Gentiles are made near by the blood of Messiah.
Can Israel and Gentiles alike become sons of God?
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
(John 1:12)There is no distinction between Jew and Gentile. (When it comes to salvation)
When there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, you know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, which knows the hearts, bare them witness giving them the Holy Spirit, even as he did unto us: And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved, even as they.
(Acts 15:7-9,11)Has God forsaken his people Israel?
For I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer. And shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
(Romans 11:25-27)God has not forsaken his people Israel. Ultimately all Israel shall be saved.
God promises to bring Israel back into their own land.
I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. … Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people saith the Lord God.
(Ezekiel 34:13,30)Is the Messiah prophesied to be our King?
And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
(Luke 1:31-33)The Messiah will be king over Jacob (Israel) forever and you can be a part of the house of Israel. (Grafted in)
Pilate therefore said unto him, art thou a king then: Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
(John 18:37)And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.
(Zechariah 14:9)The Messiah shall be king over all the earth.
And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
(Revelation 11:15)Hallelujah! Messiah shall be king of this world forever. What a wonderful time to look forward to.
(SEE: The Kingdom Of God)Who will reign with Messiah?
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years.
(Revelation 20:6)Those who have part in the first resurrection.
Who will be in the first resurrection?
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
(I Thessalonians 4:15-16)Those who died faithful sometime before His second coming.
What about those who are alive at Messiah’s coming?
Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
(I Corinthians 15:51, 52)We shall not all sleep, that is to say we shall not all die, but we shall be changed.
What happens after the 1000 year reign?
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away: and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying. Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. And he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears…
(Revelation 21:1-3,4a)New Jerusalem to come down to earth and God will dwell with man.