Andy Almendarez
Hebrews
Comparison of the Old & New Covenant
The Hebrew word that is translated into our word for covenant is berith. The root of the word it comes from means Ato fetter@ or Ato eat with,@ this would show a mutual obligation that is given to show grace to someone (Douglas 237). We compare this to other covenants such as the Hittite Asuzerainty covenant.@ The person swore allegiance to his king because the king was favorable to him.
It has been alluded to by the commentators that in the Old Testament there are three different types of legal relationships. First there is the two-sided covenant, in which both parties voluntarily accept the terms of an agreement, for friendship, political alliance, and marriage. God never enters into such a covenant of equality. The closest he has come to this the covenant of redemption. Here Jesus is undertaking man=s salvation. However, the term berith is not used in this instance. Secondly is a one-sided covenant imposed by a superior on an inferior. We are commanded to obey God, this is a berith, that men are to serve and obey God. In the original covenant between Adam and God, Adam was promised eternal life should he prove faithful (Gen. 2:17). Humanity failed, but through Christ we were restored to fulfill righteousness for those who believe. The third type of legal relationship is God=s self imposed obligation for the reconciliation of mankind to himself.
The word used for covenants in the Greek Septuagint is not the commonly used word for covenant. The word commonly used was syntheke, it means to be put together (Douglas 238). The word used is diatheke, and this word is used in the aspect of a will. Syntheke, in its renderings speaks more of a partnership. Diatheke allowed for the disposal of possessions as the individual desired. Once the person has made, known his wishes in a will it could not be changed. However, the will was only effective after the death of the person. The writer of Hebrews built on the Old Testament covenants.
Since the notion of covenants is unfamiliar to us, today we must take a moment to focus on the Bible=s portrayal of covenants. There are relationships that many people consider covenants, such as marriage and various pacts between friends and enemies and family members. However, the Bible=s portrayal of a covenant is between God and man.
We catch the first glimpse of this in Genesis 2, this is commonly regarded as a Acovenant of works,@ between Adam and Eve. It is a covenant that makes obligations for the creature to God. It also points out the consequences for disobedience. God will supply all of the needs of Adam and Eve. The debt of gratitude that is to be paid by Adam and Eve is obedience to not eat from the tree of knowledge. The penalty for eating from the tree would be death (Genesis 2:16-17). The commands that God gave to Adam and Eve are important to remember, and this is one of the threads throughout the Bible.
The second covenant we read about in Genesis is the one God made with Noah after the flood. God tells Noah that he will establish a covenant between himself and Noah=s descendants as well as with every living creature. There would never be a flood that would destroy the earth again. The covenant is made with God and the whole of creation, people and nature. The sign of this covenant is the rainbow, and it is a sign between God and the earth (Genesis 9:8-11, 13).
While these covenants are real, the covenant of redemption and grace that are the pinnacles of the Bible begins with Abraham. Abraham was most likely a pagan, a worshiper of Nannar, the moon god of the city of Ur. God told Abraham to, Aleave your country, your people and your father=s household and go to the land I will show you@ (Genesis 12:1). God went on to make promises to Abraham that would be fulfilled later.
Abraham=s call is one of the turning points of Scripture. Up to this point God had dealt with humanity on a whole. Now he would deal with an individual family. God would carry out his plan through the family of Abraham. It was through this one family that God gave his biblical revelation of the Savior to come.
Now that we have a basis of covenant understanding, we will now contrast the Old Covenant with the New Covenant. When God entered into the Mosaic Covenant with the nation of Israel at Sinai this was not the first covenant God made with mankind. However, it was the first with Israel as a nation.
The Mosaic Covenant in no way altered, annulled, or abolish what had been set down in the Abrahamic Covenant. Moses was very careful that the distinctions between these covenants were understood. The Mosaic Covenant covered three aspects of Israel=s life, moral laws, religious laws, and social laws. These covered the Ten Commandments, relationships within the nation, and how they were to worship God.
The Mosaic promises of blessing were dependent upon Israel’s obeying the commandments to fulfill God’s covenant promises, he said to them, ANow if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession@ (Exodus 19:5).
Israel was not able to keep the covenant promises. However, the fault did not lie with the law, and the commandments were holy, just, and good (Romans 7:12). God was not at fault because he paved the way leading them out of Egypt. The blame lay with man and his sinful nature. Mankind rebelled against the commandments of the covenant (Romans 8:3, 8-9). The covenant was limited in its power to provide a spiritual life and righteousness that were needed for man=s sinful nature. This is the very reason why the Levitical priesthood is invalid. When Jesus offered himself on the Cross and rose form the dead and sat down at the right hand of his Father, the Levitical priesthood was cancelled out (Hebrews 7:11).
The continual need for sacrifice was nullified by our great High Priest. He became the Lamb of God to be our sacrifice (Hebrews 9:14-17). God knew the first covenant was unable to accomplish his plan. He announced through his messenger Jeremiah some six centuries before Jesus. "The time is coming," declares the LORD, Awhen I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah@(Hebrews 8:8, Jeremiah 31:31).
God said, AThis is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,@ declares the LORD. AI will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people@ (Hebrews 8:10, Jeremiah 31:33). This is the relationship that Israel enjoyed under the first covenant, God brought them out of Egypt and called the nations his son (Exodus 4:22). However, Israel broke the relationship with spiritual adultery (Ezekiel 16, Hosea 19), causing God to bring judgment upon them.
God never stopped loving Israel. With these words from Jeremiah 31:3 and 30:12-14 he tells them about it, "The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: ’I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving kindness.’ This is what the LORD says: "’Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing. There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sore, no healing for you. All your allies have forgotten you; they care nothing for you. I have struck you as an enemy would and punished you as would the cruel, because your guilt is so great and your sins so many.’" In the New Covenant God is forgiving of their wickedness and is renewing his relationship with them (Hebrews 8:12). The New Covenant is dependent upon God=s provision for fulfillment unlike the Mosaic Covenants dependence upon the obedience of the people (Hebrews 8:8, 10, 12).
The New Covenant does something that the Old Covenant could never do. It brings about inner cleansing of the heart and mind. This cleansing could only come from the regeneration that God offers us (Hebrews 8:10, Jeremiah 31:33). The first covenant was outside and on stone (Exodus 32:15-16, 2 Corinthians 3:7). God would bless the people based upon their obedience. They couldn=t hold up their end of the bargain.
The New Covenant is permanent, and the Mosaic Covenant was temporary. The Mosaic Covenant became obsolete. In its decaying state it had grown old and was disappearing. The Mosaic Covenant became obsolete and passed away, yet until the destruction of the Temple and even today Orthodox Judaism zealously clings to the Mosaic law.
For me the contrasting of the two covenants is better understood when we look at the priesthood. In Hebrews 10:17-18, is one of the greatest principles of the New Covenant. When our sins are forgiven by God, something happens that is beyond our understanding or capabilities. God forgets our sins and wipes them from his memory. God cannot deal with us as a tainted object by remembering our past because through the work of our High Priest Jesus the ultimate sin has been made and Jesus has risen to his seat beside the father. Since we have accepted the sacrifice in faith through grace, God must deal with us accordingly.
If our sins have fully been blotted out then, there is no longer a need for sacrifices to be offered. The offering of Christ=s blood provided both perfect pardon and cleansing. With his death Jesus ushered in a new way for us to enter into a new and living way. This new way opened up a passage where we could enter with boldness the throne room of the Father. That is why on any given Sunday our great high priest has sat down at the right hand of the Father awaiting the acceptance of his gift.
The Father’s will for the removal of sin from the lives of people must come through the work of the priesthood. However, the Old Testament priest who stood daily was not to be the answer. His work was never finished and because he was faulty in his own right the work he was preforming was never to be finished. In contrast Christ sat down. The Old Testament priest offered his sacrifices often. Jesus offered his once and for all sacrifice, himself. Through the new priest God offered one sacrifice. The Old Testament sacrifices produced remembrance of sins. The offering of our High Priest destroyed the memory of those sins in our life forever. Through the witness of the Holy Spirit in our heart, we have the promised blessing of the New Covenant through the sacrifice of our Great High Priest.
The Levitical sacrifices of the Mosaic Covenant could never take away sins, only cover them. Jesus’ sacrifice shut the door once and for all on death. Jesus sat down and the work was finished. "It is finished."
Works Cited
Cockerill, Gareth L. AHebrews.@ A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. Indianapolis; Wesleyan, 1999.
Douglas, J.D. New International Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000.
Keener, Craig S. AHebrews.@ The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove; InterVarsity Press, 2000.
Levy, David M. The Tabernacle Shadows Of The Messiah. Bellmawr: Friends of Israel, 1993.
Reflecting God Study Bible. Grand Rapids; Zondervan, 2000.
Richards, Lawrence O. New International Encyclopedia Of Bible Words. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000.
Ryken, Leland, James C. Wilhoit, Tremper Longman III. Dictionary of Biblical Imagery. Downers Grove; InterVarsity Press, 2000.
The NIV Thematic Reference Bible. Grand Rapids; Zondervan, 1999.
Zodhiates, Spiros. The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament. Chattanooga; AMG, 2000.
