Eye Openers (Part 10 of 0)

The New Covenant (1) – Part eleven

The disciples at the last supper had heard of the new covenant. They did not know all of its details, but they did know the words of Jeremiah. The new covenant would be different from the old made at Mt. Sinai. Among other things, the new covenant included a promise of the forgiveness of sins. Yet Jeremiah and the other prophets left many questions unanswered regarding the sacrifice that would establish this new covenant. The law and the prophets clearly taught that covenants required sacrifices. And without the shedding of blood there could be no remission of sin. So a covenant that provided remission surely required a sacrifice.

Now imagine the surprise of those disciples when Jesus took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” He was the new covenant sacrifice! He was telling the disciples he was willing to become the covenant offering. He was willing to have his blood poured out so our sins could be forgiven.

His disciples were shocked, and scared. They did not completely understand what Jesus was telling them. Such understanding would have to wait until after his resurrection, when Jesus would “open their understanding that they might understand the scriptures, [saying] unto them, Thus it is written and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations” (Lk. 24:45-47).

Later on, some of the brethren who had crossed over from Judaism would need further exhortation on this (Heb. 8:1-10:18). They would need to be reminded Christ was the new covenant sacrifice and through him we have the forgiveness of sins. Consequently, no further offerings were needed. He had provided the one sacrifice for all time. For where remission of sins is, there is no more offering for sin.

We often think of the new covenant as essentially a New Testament topic. Beside the brief words in Jeremiah 31, what else does the Old Testament have to say about the new covenant? In this article and the next, God willing, we will see the Old Testament is full of new covenant ideas. In particular, in this article we will look at the covenants with Noah after the flood, and with the children of Israel after the golden calf fiasco.

The New Creation Covenant

The story of Noah and the flood is an acted parable containing a new covenant. In Genesis 6-9 God establishes a new covenant with all of creation. This covenant is based on the same principles as the new covenant in Christ: for example, in both covenants, salvation comes by identification with a single man, and the mercy of God is the source of forgiveness.

The covenant with Noah is the covenant of the new creation. God restores the blessings of the creation before the fall, and renews the covenant of creation. To show this we highlight the parallels between Genesis 6-9 and Genesis 1-4.

  1. God saw, and behold — After He completed the work of creation, “God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (1:31).

In contrast, by Noah’s day, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth” (6:11-12).

The phrasing emphasizes the contrast. In both cases, “God looked…and behold…” In the beginning, God declared the pristine creation very good. It was full of potential, capable of fulfilling God’s purpose with the earth, to fill it with His glory. Instead, after the fall, and after generations of man’s evil imagination at work, God was forced to declare the earth full of corruption.

But in the midst of impending divine judgment, there was hope. God’s covenant with Noah provides a guarantee that some day God would fulfill His original purpose with the earth. Some day the condition of the earth will be even better than its original “very good” state.

  1. An everlasting covenant through Noah — God established a covenant with Noah: “With thee will I establish my covenant…And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you” (6:18; 9:9). This covenant was an everlast­ing covenant (9:16,12). This covenant was the covenant of the new creation. God was starting over. Noah was like a new Adam.
  2. Imagination of man’s heart is evil — God’s covenant with Noah was based on mercy, the key principle of the new covenant in Christ. The reason God was so angry that He destroyed the earth by flood was man’s evil heart: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them” (6:5-7). Man was evil, so God brought the punishment of the flood.

But this is the same reason God gives for establishing the everlasting covenant: “And the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done” (8:21). Man is still evil, but now God will not destroy all living things. The continued existence of the race is thus a daily testimony to the mercy of God.

  1. I will not curse the ground — Under this covenant with Noah, the ground would not be cursed again: “The Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake” (8:21). This promise recalls the earlier language of Genesis 3: “Unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake” (3:17). There will come a time when the curse that resulted from sin will be taken away altogether (Rev. 22:3).
  2. Man, beast, fowl, creeping things — The new covenant involves all of creation. Man had been given dominion over the beast, the fowl and fish, and the creeping things (1:26,27). Because of man’s sin, he and all those under his dominion would be destroyed (6:7,17). Only the few in the ark, those who came to Noah, were saved (6:19-20; 7:13-14). The rest were destroyed (7:21-23).

After the flood, God establishes a covenant, not just with Noah and his seed, but with all of creation: “I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; and with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth…This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you…I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh…that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth” (9:9-10,12,15-17 NKJV). The repetition provides an emphatic guarantee God’s creation is safe from utter destruction.

  1. Be fruitful and multiply — In the beginning, “God blessed them, saying, be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth…And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply. and replenish the earth” (1:22,28).

In this new beginning, “God spake unto Noah, saying…Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may  breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the  earth…And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful,. and multiply. and replenish the earth…And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein” (8:15,17; 9:1,7).

  1. Man’s dominion over the earth — Although the tone is different, man’s dominion continues: “The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth…fowl…all that moveth upon the earth…fishes…into your hand are they delivered” (9:2; cp. 1:28; Psa. 8).
  2. The death penalty for murder, because God made man in His image “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood” (9:6) recalls “Cain rose up against Abel…and slew him…thy brother’s blood…thy brother’s blood from thy hand” (4:8,10-11). Cain was not put to death for killing his brother, but now, after the flood, God institutes the death penalty. The reason, “For in the image of God made he man” (9:6) cites the original words of creation, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him” (1:26,27). It is hard not to think of Christ, who, though murdered, was raised from the dead. What will happen to the generation of vipers who put him to death? They will suffer eternal death, because they slew THE man who was, and is, the image of the invisible God.
  1. The like figure — That we are on the right track in our reading of the covenant with Noah is demonstrated by Peter. “The longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him” (I Pet. 3:20-22; cp. Psa. 8; 110). Peter is telling us to see the salvation through Noah as a type of the true salvation through Christ. In both cases, those who will be saved come into the savior, they are baptized, then they come under a covenant.

The Spirit of the New Covenant at Sinai

There were actually two covenants made at Sinai, one before and one after the episode with the golden calf. The first covenant is ratified in Exodus 24:1-11. Then Moses goes back up into the mount to receive the pattern of the tabernacle. He is in the mount 40 days. During this delay the children of Israel make the golden calf, worshiping it as if it were the god who had delivered them out of Egypt (32:1-29). Upon seeing their abominations, Moses breaks the tables of the covenant, symbolizing the fact that Israel had broken the covenant (32:19). God threatens Israel with complete destruction (32:10,12; 33:3,5). Moses intercedes and God repents of the evil He had planned for them (32:30-34:35). Moreover, God makes a new covenant with Israel (Exo. 34). This covenant is a renewal of the covenant that was made in Exodus 24, as indicated by the many parallels between Exodus 34 and Exodus 23 (check the marginal references).

The principles of God’s action are the same as the new covenant in Christ. In both, the emphasis is on God’s mercy, particularly His forgiveness of sins.

  1. A stiffnecked people — God told Moses the source of their sin. “The Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiffnecked people…for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way…Ye are a stiffnecked people” (32:9; 33:3,5).

In his prayer Moses uses this same phrase, “If now I have found grace in thy sight, 0 Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance” (34:9).

Moses knows the people well. They have not changed. They are still stiffnecked.

  1. The Lord declares His name — But Moses also knows his God. “And [the Lord] said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy…The Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with [Moses] there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (33:19; 34:5-7). Instead of (falsely) claiming the people would change, Moses asks God to pardon their iniquity when they do sin.
  2. The spirit of the new covenant — So God responds favorably to Moses’ request, “And [the Lord] said, Behold, I make a [new] covenant” (34:10).

Again, forgiveness is the key. The new covenant depends on the mercy, grace, and longsuffering of God. These inherent traits of God are our only hope. Without them we would be lost in our sins. With them our sins can be forgiven. We can be clothed with righteousness.

A Covenant of Grace

There is another reference to a covenant with Israel besides the one made at Sinai. This covenant was made with the new generation of Israel as they were about to enter the promised land. “These are the words of the covenant, which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant that he made with them in Horeb…Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God…that thou shouldest enter into covenant with the Lord thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day: that he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob” (Dt. 29:1,10,12-13).

The phrase “that he may be unto thee a God” is taken directly from God’s covenant with Abraham (Gen. 17:7,9). This promise is an essential element of the new covenant in Christ (Jer. 31:33; I Cor. 6:16; Heb. 8:10; Rev. 21:3,7).