Let's see the continuation of previous post here. Just to summarize, we have seen how God gave the old covenant to Abraham in order to bring the new covenant through Jesus Christ at the appointed time. We have seen how great are mercies and wisdom of God in the way He treated Jews and gentiles and brought them together through our Lord and Savior. In this post, we will see the essence of both the covenants and what it mean for us.
First, the old covenant deals with keeping God's commandments. God certified Abraham, "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment" Gen 18:19. This particular statement is about following commandments and doing justice and judgment which Abraham was sincere and truthful before God because he knew the Lord through his complete faith. To follow those commandments, he received a sign from God in the form of circumcision. "This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised." Gen 17:10. So, doing circumcision is just a sign and by taking that sign Jews/Muslims decree that they will follow the commandments like Abraham but unless and until they fulfill all the commandments, the covenant is not completed. Romans 4:11 says circumcision is a sign that Abraham received and Galatians 5:3 says "For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law."
Lord confirmed this to Israelites by the old covenant through the Moses. Now, the old covenant says whoever does the law will live by it. "For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them." Romans 10:5, again Paul states "The man that doeth them shall live in them." Gal 3:12. So, the people of Israel tried to follow the commandments and we must say some of them fulfilled it to some extent for some time but nobody could fulfill it completely. But, why?
Here is where the divine wisdom of God shows again. To understand this, we need why God gave them the law. Again, Paul says in Timothy, that end of the commandment is love. I Tim 1:5, and Jesus shrunk the commandments to two, 1. To love God with full heart, strength and mind and 2. To love others as we love ourselves. But, what Israelites tried to do is they tried to follow it literally without having the love of God in their heart and pure love couldn't stay in the hearts of people because sin was still at work and sin was at work because Holy Spirit couldn't live inside humans and Holy Spirit couldn't enter humans because Jesus was not crucified yet. This is the core understanding from the scriptures. But, the jews and israelites without understanding this just tried to follow them, failed and offered sacrifices. If humans can completely fulfil the law, there is absolutely no requirement for burnt offerings and altar sacrifices for those who follow them. But, God told everyone to bring their offerings and sacrifices because no one could follow it completely. Wait, is there any proof from scriptures that Israelites couldn't follow the commandments fully? Not only Israelites, but none of us could follow the commandments by ourselves.
We can explain that from the scriptures. For example, let's take the ten commandments. The problem with the law is, if we fulfill 9 commandments and fail with at least 1, we are still condemned as sinner. That is the basic requirement of the law. James explains this in his letter, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law." James 2:10,11. So, even if a person follows the first 9 commandments, the 10th commandment "Do Not Lust" can never be fulfilled by anyone. Because, it is not about what we did but whether we have a lustful thought or desired anything in mind that belongs to other person. No one could escape it. This is explained in Romans 7 and I am not explaining it just not to make this very long. Romans 7 is key to understand Bible's most important chapter Romans 8. So, please read and meditate. What is still worse is, Jesus made the condition more difficult by placing God's standards in His sermon on the mount. Jesus said "You need not commit murder but if you were anger with your brother you are in danger of judgement and call him a fool, you are in danger of hell fire" Matt 5:22 and "You need not commit adultery but a lustful look at a woman is enough to commit adultery in heart" Matt 5:28. If we say it is "very very difficult", it is not appropriate. The right way to call that is "impossible". Then Jesus said pluck right eye if that causes you to go to hell and severe right hand if that causes you to go to hell. So, to fulfill the commandment to the core, we need to be half blind and with only one hand. Does that make sense? Not at all. Then, why Jesus said that. Jesus wanted to show how God's standards are and how holy and just God he is. But, the main purpose is no one could come to God and say I have fulfilled all the commandments by myself. Because, God's standards are unimaginable.
So, what's the point? The point is though none of us qualify if God took the holy and righteous standards, all of us can qualify before God through His grace and mercies. Because, they are endless. As holy as he is, as much gracious He is. As righteous he is, as great are His mercies. Grace and Mercy has another name and the name is JESUS CHRIST. Hope you understood the point. The point is everyone of us can qualify by accepting the sacrifice that God provided for us on the cross of Calvary. Without understanding this point, Jews wanted to please God just externally (still to this day) but the Lord was not pleased. God told this through Isaiah as "Wherefore the Lord said, For as much as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:" Isaiah 29:13 and in Hosea He said, "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." Hosea 6:6. That's why Jesus condemned the Pharisees and Saducees in Matthew 23 as they were doing things for men and not for God.
I believe this gives a very good explanation about the old covenant. In short, old covenant was actually made with Abraham and to his descendants, the sign was circumcision and the meaning of it is to fulfill the law. But, no one cannot fulfill completely and they can fulfill it literally to some extent but still fall short in a way such that they can please the Lord. Now, let's see what is wonderful in new covenant. We spoke about living by doing the law. But, there is a second way too. Yes, it is also written by prophet Habakkuk as "but the just shall live by his faith" Habakkuk 2:4 and this is what new covenant is all about. Hallelujah. (I felt an overwhelming presence of Holy Spirit when I write this.) "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:" Ephesians 2:8.
Let's again see this in the life of Abraham. He got the promises through faith much before he received the covenant and sign. We see the covenant and circumcision in Genesis chapter 17. But, much before that in chapter 12 itself when God called Abraham out of Haran, he showed his faith by simply obeying. He was 75 at that time. Gen 12:4. God certified His faith in chapter 15 as "And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness." Gen 15:6. Abraham should have been around 85 at that point of time and he didn't have any child as he says in verse 2 that Eleazer's son is the heir for him. In next chapter, we see Abraham was 86 when Hagar begat Ismael for him. Gen 16:16. He was faithful for 10 years from the time God called and him and patiently waited. But, the next visit from God was during his 99 years of age and at that point of time, he was asking for blessings to Ismael and by saying that he wanted to have Ismael as his heir (way better than Eleazer's son, isn't it). But, God still refused and told the heir will be Isaac, because when it is considered impossible, God made Sarah to conceive and gave Isaac to Abraham as He promised. That's how God glorifies by doing things what the world says impossible, what it is considered impossible is nothing before God, what is considered wisdom for man is foolish to God. Praise Him. By the way, I am off the topic by long way. But, still flowing through the spirit of God. All these incidents has important connotations as we read in Galatians.
So, what came first? Faith came first and circumcision came later. He got circumcision as a sign for his faith as well as covenant. So, only faith matters. Same way, first came Ismael which is an example for law and old covenant whereas Isaac is the example for faith and God glorified not by conception of Sarah because it was from flesh. But, instead God was glorified by conception of Sarah where it was considered as spiritual because it was impossible for Sarah to conceive. So, Ismael is sign for following works to please God, in other words, just following old covenant whereas Isaac is a sign for being made righteous by faith. This is what explained in Galatians 4:22-31. Hagar is equivalent to Sinai, Sarah is for Jerusalem, what God told about Hagar and Ismael, cast out the bondwoman and her son which means cast out the old covenant and its principles. What a stunning revelation? This concurs with Hebrews 8:13, When God said New covenant, He made the existing one as old and then it has to be vanished. See the consistency of the Word of God.
Another one point I want to mention before closure is, with God the best is always yet to come. Ismael came first but God gave Isaac later. With Jesus, the better vine comes later. Jacob saw the new covenant in his spirit when he blessed the sons of Joseph. So, he made the second one Ephraim the primary one and placed Ephraim above the legal first one Manasseh. Same way the new covenant came after the old covenant. First came the old weak body. Adam came first and Jesus the second Adam came later. The best heaven and earth are yet to come. We are yet to receive our glorious bodies. Praise God. The best is yet to come for those who believe. That's why it is written in Proverbs that "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." Proverbs 4:18
So what now? What is new covenant exactly? Shouldn't we follow the commandments as Jesus Himself told to follow the commands? If we can follow God through faith, is it only enough to believe? No need for works? I will answer these in my next chapter as this one became already a huge topic. I originally wanted to cover that too here. But, still it will take some more space so better to make it a separate one. May God bless you all. All glory, honor and praise to our God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
First, the old covenant deals with keeping God's commandments. God certified Abraham, "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment" Gen 18:19. This particular statement is about following commandments and doing justice and judgment which Abraham was sincere and truthful before God because he knew the Lord through his complete faith. To follow those commandments, he received a sign from God in the form of circumcision. "This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised." Gen 17:10. So, doing circumcision is just a sign and by taking that sign Jews/Muslims decree that they will follow the commandments like Abraham but unless and until they fulfill all the commandments, the covenant is not completed. Romans 4:11 says circumcision is a sign that Abraham received and Galatians 5:3 says "For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law."
Lord confirmed this to Israelites by the old covenant through the Moses. Now, the old covenant says whoever does the law will live by it. "For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them." Romans 10:5, again Paul states "The man that doeth them shall live in them." Gal 3:12. So, the people of Israel tried to follow the commandments and we must say some of them fulfilled it to some extent for some time but nobody could fulfill it completely. But, why?
Here is where the divine wisdom of God shows again. To understand this, we need why God gave them the law. Again, Paul says in Timothy, that end of the commandment is love. I Tim 1:5, and Jesus shrunk the commandments to two, 1. To love God with full heart, strength and mind and 2. To love others as we love ourselves. But, what Israelites tried to do is they tried to follow it literally without having the love of God in their heart and pure love couldn't stay in the hearts of people because sin was still at work and sin was at work because Holy Spirit couldn't live inside humans and Holy Spirit couldn't enter humans because Jesus was not crucified yet. This is the core understanding from the scriptures. But, the jews and israelites without understanding this just tried to follow them, failed and offered sacrifices. If humans can completely fulfil the law, there is absolutely no requirement for burnt offerings and altar sacrifices for those who follow them. But, God told everyone to bring their offerings and sacrifices because no one could follow it completely. Wait, is there any proof from scriptures that Israelites couldn't follow the commandments fully? Not only Israelites, but none of us could follow the commandments by ourselves.
We can explain that from the scriptures. For example, let's take the ten commandments. The problem with the law is, if we fulfill 9 commandments and fail with at least 1, we are still condemned as sinner. That is the basic requirement of the law. James explains this in his letter, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law." James 2:10,11. So, even if a person follows the first 9 commandments, the 10th commandment "Do Not Lust" can never be fulfilled by anyone. Because, it is not about what we did but whether we have a lustful thought or desired anything in mind that belongs to other person. No one could escape it. This is explained in Romans 7 and I am not explaining it just not to make this very long. Romans 7 is key to understand Bible's most important chapter Romans 8. So, please read and meditate. What is still worse is, Jesus made the condition more difficult by placing God's standards in His sermon on the mount. Jesus said "You need not commit murder but if you were anger with your brother you are in danger of judgement and call him a fool, you are in danger of hell fire" Matt 5:22 and "You need not commit adultery but a lustful look at a woman is enough to commit adultery in heart" Matt 5:28. If we say it is "very very difficult", it is not appropriate. The right way to call that is "impossible". Then Jesus said pluck right eye if that causes you to go to hell and severe right hand if that causes you to go to hell. So, to fulfill the commandment to the core, we need to be half blind and with only one hand. Does that make sense? Not at all. Then, why Jesus said that. Jesus wanted to show how God's standards are and how holy and just God he is. But, the main purpose is no one could come to God and say I have fulfilled all the commandments by myself. Because, God's standards are unimaginable.
So, what's the point? The point is though none of us qualify if God took the holy and righteous standards, all of us can qualify before God through His grace and mercies. Because, they are endless. As holy as he is, as much gracious He is. As righteous he is, as great are His mercies. Grace and Mercy has another name and the name is JESUS CHRIST. Hope you understood the point. The point is everyone of us can qualify by accepting the sacrifice that God provided for us on the cross of Calvary. Without understanding this point, Jews wanted to please God just externally (still to this day) but the Lord was not pleased. God told this through Isaiah as "Wherefore the Lord said, For as much as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:" Isaiah 29:13 and in Hosea He said, "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." Hosea 6:6. That's why Jesus condemned the Pharisees and Saducees in Matthew 23 as they were doing things for men and not for God.
I believe this gives a very good explanation about the old covenant. In short, old covenant was actually made with Abraham and to his descendants, the sign was circumcision and the meaning of it is to fulfill the law. But, no one cannot fulfill completely and they can fulfill it literally to some extent but still fall short in a way such that they can please the Lord. Now, let's see what is wonderful in new covenant. We spoke about living by doing the law. But, there is a second way too. Yes, it is also written by prophet Habakkuk as "but the just shall live by his faith" Habakkuk 2:4 and this is what new covenant is all about. Hallelujah. (I felt an overwhelming presence of Holy Spirit when I write this.) "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:" Ephesians 2:8.
Let's again see this in the life of Abraham. He got the promises through faith much before he received the covenant and sign. We see the covenant and circumcision in Genesis chapter 17. But, much before that in chapter 12 itself when God called Abraham out of Haran, he showed his faith by simply obeying. He was 75 at that time. Gen 12:4. God certified His faith in chapter 15 as "And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness." Gen 15:6. Abraham should have been around 85 at that point of time and he didn't have any child as he says in verse 2 that Eleazer's son is the heir for him. In next chapter, we see Abraham was 86 when Hagar begat Ismael for him. Gen 16:16. He was faithful for 10 years from the time God called and him and patiently waited. But, the next visit from God was during his 99 years of age and at that point of time, he was asking for blessings to Ismael and by saying that he wanted to have Ismael as his heir (way better than Eleazer's son, isn't it). But, God still refused and told the heir will be Isaac, because when it is considered impossible, God made Sarah to conceive and gave Isaac to Abraham as He promised. That's how God glorifies by doing things what the world says impossible, what it is considered impossible is nothing before God, what is considered wisdom for man is foolish to God. Praise Him. By the way, I am off the topic by long way. But, still flowing through the spirit of God. All these incidents has important connotations as we read in Galatians.
So, what came first? Faith came first and circumcision came later. He got circumcision as a sign for his faith as well as covenant. So, only faith matters. Same way, first came Ismael which is an example for law and old covenant whereas Isaac is the example for faith and God glorified not by conception of Sarah because it was from flesh. But, instead God was glorified by conception of Sarah where it was considered as spiritual because it was impossible for Sarah to conceive. So, Ismael is sign for following works to please God, in other words, just following old covenant whereas Isaac is a sign for being made righteous by faith. This is what explained in Galatians 4:22-31. Hagar is equivalent to Sinai, Sarah is for Jerusalem, what God told about Hagar and Ismael, cast out the bondwoman and her son which means cast out the old covenant and its principles. What a stunning revelation? This concurs with Hebrews 8:13, When God said New covenant, He made the existing one as old and then it has to be vanished. See the consistency of the Word of God.
Another one point I want to mention before closure is, with God the best is always yet to come. Ismael came first but God gave Isaac later. With Jesus, the better vine comes later. Jacob saw the new covenant in his spirit when he blessed the sons of Joseph. So, he made the second one Ephraim the primary one and placed Ephraim above the legal first one Manasseh. Same way the new covenant came after the old covenant. First came the old weak body. Adam came first and Jesus the second Adam came later. The best heaven and earth are yet to come. We are yet to receive our glorious bodies. Praise God. The best is yet to come for those who believe. That's why it is written in Proverbs that "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." Proverbs 4:18
So what now? What is new covenant exactly? Shouldn't we follow the commandments as Jesus Himself told to follow the commands? If we can follow God through faith, is it only enough to believe? No need for works? I will answer these in my next chapter as this one became already a huge topic. I originally wanted to cover that too here. But, still it will take some more space so better to make it a separate one. May God bless you all. All glory, honor and praise to our God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
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