Dear Editor,
Thanks for the latest edition of EJournal which I enjoyed reading. The omission of ‘scholarship’ content certainly makes for easier reading but I realize that footnotes and reference to scholars is necessary for a complete treatment of the subject.
Your discursive essay “The New Age” (July 2010) highlights some interesting topics and your comments on the new covenant were of particular interest.
The reference to a new covenant in Jeremiah 31 is repeated in all the prophets either explicitly or implied. The writer to the Hebrews in chapter eight is clearly referring to this new covenant. The covenant referred to in Heb 9:14 involves both the Abrahamic covenant and the new covenant with Israel. There appears to be some ambiguity as to which covenant is new. There is no new Abrahamic covenant but it might be considered as a two part covenant: the first part concerns Christ as the promised ‘seed’ and all those who are Christ’s at his coming; the second part which will be new, concerns the mortal descendants of Abraham and the literal possession of the land. The literal defining of the boundaries of the land in the promise to Abraham apply only to the mortal descendants of Abraham. When Abraham and his seed receive the promise of immortality, being spirit beings, they will not need to dwell in the land in the same way as mortal beings, which exist in a two dimensional space and time.
The two parts of the covenant are rarely mentioned, yet the symbolic representation of God’s kingdom with the ‘Heavens & Earth’ clearly illustrates this twofold aspect. The Earth is defined in Genesis 1 as the dry land which was separated from the waters that covered the surface of the planet, designated as the seas. The symbol Earth aptly describes Israel whom God separated from the sea of nations. The Heavens are defined in Genesis 1 as the space between the water covering the planet and the waters above. This is generally understood to mean the atmosphere. The atmosphere is the complete life support system for all living things on the planet. It provides the air for all creatures living on the dry land, it acts as a filter for all dangerous cosmic radiation, which would destroy living things, and it ensures an equitable temperature and provides the vital element of water, to name but a few of the marvels of this extraordinary element. The Heavens in a symbolic application would be the complete life support system for the nation of Israel and I believe the angels under God’s direction fulfilled this function. The kingdom came to an end and it is characterised as such in 2 Peter 3:12, and a new Heaven and Earth is promised in Isa 55:17. It is clear from Heb 2:5 that the restored kingdom will not be in subjection to angels, but to Christ and his princes, i.e. all who are granted immortality at the second coming of Christ and constitute the new Heavens. The new age begins when the new Heavens and Earth are installed and this can only be at the return of Christ. The key element to the fulfilment of the covenant is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus which ratified the covenant, the complete fulfilment being realised during the Millennium.
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