In Jeremiah chapter 31 verses 31 – 37, there is announced a future “new covenant”. This announcement made through the prophet came in the 7th.century BC but would not be inaugurated for some 700 years. Only Jeremiah in the Old Testament refers to the “New Covenant” as such, but the fulfillment of this covenant provides the highpoint of the prophecies of most of the Old Testament prophets.
Who made this covenant?
Adonai Himself decreed that there would be a ”New Covenant”.
Jeremiah 31: 31.
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant …”
That Adonai instigated this covenant ensures its effectiveness.
It is an unconditional, eternal covenant; a further revelation of Adonai’s plan for mankind. It could be referred to as a “renewed covenant”; adding to and refreshing what already existed.
With whom did Adonai make this covenant?
It is made with Israel i.e., “with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah”.
What were the circumstances under which it was announced?
At the time of Jeremiah’s writing, because of their rebellion, the northern kingdom (Ephraim) had been taken into captivity by Assyria and before long Judah would be taken into captivity by Babylonia.
Judah was about to face Adonai’s judgment for her sin, as Daniel later acknowledged.
“We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him.”
Yet, despite the rebelliousness of Ephraim and Judah, Adonai announces a “new covenant” with them. They are to be judged but not abandoned.
“I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing. Then the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. And they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid. I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they shall no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, not bear the shame of the Gentiles anymore. Thus they shall know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are My people”, says the Lord God.”
Those who seek to wipe Israel from the face of the earth would be well served to read Ezekiah 34 and Jeremiah 31: 35 and 36. Israel will not cease to be a nation but will ultimately enjoy the everlasting presence of Adonai in their midst.
The relationship of the “new covenant” to the other Jewish covenants.
Adonai’s first covenant with Israel was the Abrahamic covenant as confirmed with Isaac and Jacob for their descendants.
It is inaugurated by Adonai. This is an everlasting, unconditional covenant. It established the people through whom Adonai would restore His creation (Genesis chapters 12 – 17).
This covenant created the Jewish people who would flourish under Adonai’s protection. Save for the requirement of circumcision, it is an unconditional covenant promising that the Jewish people would be a blessing to all mankind. The blessing has come in the Lord Yeshua, the “Seed of Abraham”. This is the only part of the Abrahamic covenant which is not exclusively for Israel.
Next came the Mosaic covenant. Adonai’s covenant with Israel through Moses provided the Torah to exhort and guide them into righteous living in the Promised Land; to increase their awareness of sin; to inform them of the need to repent; and to teach them Adonai’s provision for healing the separation caused by sin.
The Mosaic covenant demanded adherence to stipulations concerning conduct (Exodus chapters 19 – 23) which sadly the people were unable to keep.
In relation to blessing and curse, the Mosaic covenant is conditional on Israel’s side but not on Adonai’s. There is nothing wrong with the Mosaic covenant which Adonai graciously gave to Israel. But note that Adonai never intended the law of Moses as a means of salvation.
The third covenant is the Davidic covenant. This established the throne of his kingdom, an eternal throne and an eternal kingdom from which Messiah would rule and reign.
Each of these are everlasting covenants. They represent a step-by-step revelation of Adonai and his plan of redemption for mankind. None of these is rendered null and void by the “New Covenant” nor are they disparaged by it.
So, let’s look briefly at the intent of the Mosaic covenant.
“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
Israel was to be a light to the Gentiles but as Daniel noted, Israel failed and “sinned”.
So, what is “new” in this covenant and what is unchanged?
Adonai states (Jeremiah 31: 32) that the New Covenant will be “not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt …” As the New Covenant does not annul or disparage the Mosaic covenant, it can properly be referred to as a “renewed covenant”; renewed in the aftermath of Israel’s failure.
There is no change in the matter of salvation. Salvation (righteousness) has and always will be based on faith; right back to the time of Noah and Abraham.
Genesis 15: 6.
“And he (Abram) believed in the Lord, and He accounted to it to him for righteousness.”
And similarly, in the Brit Hadashah.
“For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.”
As we have seen, the Mosaic covenant demanded adherence to stipulations which the people could not keep. The principal one of these demands was to love Adonai and to disdain other so-called gods. But the people fell repeatedly into idolatry.
The New Covenant would provide the spiritual, divine dynamic by which those who know Him can participate in the blessings of salvation.
“… I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
Together the mind and the heart describe the entire inner motivation of mind, will, emotion and spirit. In the New Covenant all will be combined to empower obedience to the will of Adonai.
The Lord Yeshua declared that He had not come to annul the Torah or the prophets but to bring them to full operation.
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled”.
The Lord Yeshua made clear that none of the Mosaic law has been or will pass away, let alone be replaced, until it is fulfilled. It is therefore clear that the New Covenant fulfills rather than replaces the existing covenants.
The inauguration of the New Covenant.
Some seven hundred years after it was announced, the New Covenant began its implementation with the sacrificial death of the Lord Yeshua.
The Lord made it clear that the commencement of the New Covenant was immanent when, during His last Passover meal with His disciples, He inaugurated the Lord’s Supper. The elements of matzos and wine (the third cup – the cup of redemption) were there, before Him on the table.
“And as they were eating, Jesus took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body. Then He took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
Covenants are ratified by blood (Genesis 8: 20 and 15: 9 – 16). The words of the Lord Yeshua echo the pronouncements of Moses in Exodus 24: 8 when he sprinkled blood from the sacrifice on the Book of the Covenant i.e., the scroll containing the Book of Exodus.
The blood of the New Covenant was not animal’s blood but the blood of the Lord Himself. He shed His blood for “many” for the forgiveness of sins. That the Lord’s blood was shed for many anticipates the command to preach the Good News around the world. By His death, the Lord Yeshua gave lifeblood to those who believe and trust in Him making possible redemption by the forgiveness of sins.
At His death the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, indicating the ending of the separation of man from Adonai.
“Then behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.”
The curtain that was torn was of course the one which separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. That it was from the top to the bottom indicated that Adonai had opened access to Himself through His Son. That this was clearly a supernatural event is confirmed by the upheaval in nature and the later resurrected bodies of saints.
The Book of Hebrews makes clear that the veil represented the giving of His lifeblood to those who believe and trust, making possible the forgiveness of sins.
“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh …”
The second event marking the inauguration of the New Covenant was the receiving of the Holy Spirit by believers as had been promise by the Lord Yeshua. No longer would intermediaries like priests and prophets have to stand between the people and Adonai.
“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
We see the first coming of the Holy Spirit to believers in general in Acts 2 at Pentecost. The great harvest of souls who would come to know the Lord Yeshua first experienced the Holy Spirit there with the great manifestation of the presence of Adonai through fire, tongues and the inspired sermon of Peter.
The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth because He is truth and guides us in all truth. The Holy Spirit brings inner conviction. He leads us into truth, and it is our duty to follow Him.
The Holy Spirit, given after the Lord’s Ascension, was poured out on believers giving the empowerment promised through Jeremiah to believe and trust.
Apart from the Holy Spirit, men cannot know Adonai’s truth. The Old Testament believer had not received the Holy Spirit in fullness and intimacy. The Old Testament saint had the Holy Spirit “with him” or “upon him”. He would afterward leave them. Now He will remain forever with believers.
The Holy Spirit teaches truth, glorifies the Lord Yeshua and convicts of sin. The Holy Spirit is never taken away, although He may be grieved, quenched or hindered by believers and their failings.
The working of the New Covenant in the church age.
Here we will look at how the New Covenant impacts the lives of individual believers, both Jew and Gentile, in the present church age. The Lord’s sacrificial death inaugurated the New Covenant of forgiveness and brought forth the Holy Spirit to indwell believers. But these wonderful events are but the beginning, not the fulfillment of the New Covenant.
We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to resist sin and know the will of the Lord in our lives. The Spirit of Adonai enters the lives of believers to ensure adherence to the will of Adonai. We enjoy great benefits from the New Covenant because of obedience, motivated by grace not by law.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
The ultimate fulfillment of the New Covenant: Israel in the messianic kingdom.
Israel in the messianic kingdom is the highpoint of Old Testament prophecy. The New Covenant finds its ultimate fulfillment in Israel in the messianic kingdom. The fulfillment of the New Covenant will bring the regeneration of Israel. It will not become effective for Israel as a nation until Messiah’s second coming.
Jeremiah 24: 7.
“Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.”
As we saw from its announcement in Jeremiah 31: 31, it has been a Jewish covenant. It is in sharp contrast to the existing Mosaic covenant (verse 32) to which Israel could not be faithful.
The absence of any power within the Mosaic covenant for the people to keep the required standard of righteousness will be dealt with (verse 33) through national regeneration to meet and keep the righteous standards of Adonai.
There will be no need for Jewish evangelism in the messianic kingdom. Every Jew from the greatest to the least will know the Lord and the sin of Israel will be forgiven and forgotten (verse 34).
There will be Gentile non-believers in the messianic kingdom but no Jewish non-believers. Adonai chose Israel from the beginning, but Israel will not become the chosen vessel she was ordained to be until the messianic kingdom.
This regeneration of Israel will, of course, come after the Great Tribulation; Adonai’s discipling of the nation of Israel. The Great Tribulation will decimate the nation of Israel. But thereafter, Adonai will pour out His Spirit upon the entire remnant of the nation with the result that Israel will be most fruitful and remain ever loyal to Adonai. They will enjoy everlasting salvation and freedom from shame.
All of Israel will live in newness of life (Ezekiel 36: 26 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.”) The Holy Spirit will indwell the entire nation, empowering Israel as a whole to walk in the commandments of the Lord. Israel’s backsliding will also be thoroughly healed and the worship of other gods ceased.
“Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will give truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham, which You have sworn to our fathers from days of old.”
Thus, we see that Adonai’s forgiveness and mercy are based on the Abrahamic covenant.
Paul points out that the hardening of Israel in his time, was not permanent. It is temporary until the full number of Gentiles pre-ordained for the body of Messiah is reached. It is then that the blindness of Israel will be removed and all, at that time, will be saved.
“… blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved…”
All individual Jews who become believers during the seven years of tribulation, are part of the remnant who will be saved. This includes the 144,000 evangelists of Revelation chapter 7 and the Jews of Jerusalem who become believers in the middle of the tribulation (Revelation 11: 13). It includes all individual Jews who become believers because of the preaching of the 144,000 and the two witnesses of Revelation 11. It also includes the remnant of Revelation 12: 13 whom Satan will attack.
Conclusion.
The New Covenant was announced through the prophet Jeremiah in the 7th. Century BC. Adonai made it with Israel. It was announced at a time of Adonai’s great anger with Israel.
The New Covenant can be seen as a “renewed covenant” with Israel, leading from their failure to follow the stipulations of the Mosaic covenant. The New Covenant does not negate the existing covenants which remain in force.
But the New Covenant contains the power for individual believers in the church age to walk in accordance with the will of Adonai.
The New Covenant was inaugurated by Messiah’s sacrificial death for the forgiveness of the sins of believers, and the empowering gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. These great blessings the believer can enjoy in this church age.
But we see the final fulfillment of the New Covenant, and the other covenants, in Israel in the messianic kingdom; the highpoint of Old Testament prophecy.
Thus, we can see that Adonai has not finished with Israel – quite the contrary. Paul posed the question in Romans 11: 1, “… has God cast away His people?” Both him and us know the answer, “certainly not!”
AMEN.