Understanding The Old, New, and Everlasting Covenants
Have you ever read two biblical passages, on the law, that were so opposed to one another that they appeared contradictory? What was your reaction? Did you immediately look for an explanation? Did you accept the popular premise that the Bible contradicts itself sometimes, or did you conclude, like thousands of others, that it wasn’t worth the time or the effort to concern yourself with such things? If you claim to be a believer, the Word of Truth admonishes you to “prove all things, hold fast that which is good” (1Thessalonians 5:21). Believer are instructed to accomplish when they, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” (Luke 11: 9). Believe it or not, Satan has deceived the whole world (Daniel 7:25; Revelation 12:9), and most people, especially religious people, are headed down the road of destruction because they have chosen to accept the popular view, rather than to search for truth. The Bible asserts, “for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:” (Matthew 7:13).
A foundational Christian teaching identifies the Law of Moses as the Old Covenant. This can be misleading and has lead many believers to draw the conclusion that the Law of Moses is obsolete. Adding insult to injury, many of them teach that the terms “Old Testament” and “Old Covenant are always synonymous.. Based upon the coupling of these beliefs, many Christians have been convinced that they are not obligate to keep the law of Moses. Confusion, over this subject arises from a lack of understanding with respect to the background knowledge of the Old Testament as well as a failure to recognize or even appreciate the interchangeable and distinctive uses of terms like “covenant” and “law.”
Hebrews 8:13 indicates that a new covenant was necessary because the first covenant was decaying, waxing old, and ready to vanish away. Was first (old covenant) really referring to entire Law of Moses? If so, has the Law of Moses become obsolete, or does the Bible provide some other explanation? Throughout the Bible the word “covenant,” is used well over three hundred times. Similarly, the word “law” is used approximately eight hundred times. Based upon the number of times each term is used, a reader has no reason to assume that either word was defined in the same way, every time, nor should the reader assume that every use of a single word is different.
Long before Moses came on the scene, God had already established covenants with His servants Noah (Genesis 9: 9-17), Abraham (Genesis 15:18; 17: 1-14), Isaac (Genesis 17:19-21), and Jacob (Exodus 2:24). Among these covenants were everlasting covenants, and temporary covenants, for this reason, every Old Testament covenant could not possibly be part of the old covenant; furthermore, this verified that, at least in this case, the terms Old Testament and Old Covenant are not synonymous, for only the temporary covenants of the Old Testament were given for a predetermined period of time. The temporary nature of the temporal covenants meant that they were decaying, waxing old and ready to vanish.
Essentially, a covenant is a solemn agreement, made between two or more parties, to engage in and/or to refrain from engaging in specified actions. In religious contexts, where covenants were made between God and humans, the covenant documented what each party agreed to do. Although, a covenants can stand alone as a commandments or a law, some covenants (ordinances) are used to regulate how some other principles are to be implemented, other s. In the case of the later, when a regulative covenant is broken, the law is not aborted, but a new covenant is framed guaranteeing that the law would no longer be violated. the agreement. This was true of the new covenant which was based upon better promises.
While neither Abraham, Isaac or Jacob was charged with recording (writing) the law, the prophet Moses was. In it, he included the covenants which God had previously given to the patriarchs. These covenants were passed down, to Moses, from prior generations, so that while they were recorded in the Law of Moses, they were not original of Moses (John 7:22-23).. In either case, Moses had to adapt to these covenants, because even the temporal ones stood fast until the schoolmaster brought them unto Christ. When Christ arrived on the scene, we had no further need for a schoolmaster. What, then, was the schoolmaster? Why do we no longer need of a schoolmaster, and what role does Christ play in connection with the law of Moses?
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