(All Bible texts are in the NKJV Bible unless otherwise indicated)
31 Behold,
the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah -
4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises;
24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar -
15 And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram:
Get out of your country,
s house,
From your family
And from your father
To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
6 just
as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness.
7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are
sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify
the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham
beforehand, saying, In you all the nations shall be blessed.
9 So then
those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
24 David
My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one
shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes,
and do them. 25 Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to
Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there,
they, their children, and their children
s children, forever; and My
servant David shall be their prince forever. 26 Moreover I will make a
covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant
with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My
sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 My tabernacle also shall be
with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
31 Behold,
the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah - 32 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, My covenant
which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. 33 But
this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, says theLord: 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.
In the days of Noah a double curse was resting upon the earth in consequence of Adam's transgression and of the murder committed by Cain. Yet this had not greatly changed the face of nature. There were evident tokens of decay, but the earth was still rich and beautiful in the gifts of God's providence. The hills were crowned with majestic trees supporting the fruit-laden branches of the vine. The vast, gardenlike plains were clothed with verdure, and sweet with the fragrance of a thousand flowers. The fruits of the earth were in great variety, and almost without limit. The trees far surpassed in size, beauty, and perfect proportion any now to be found; their wood was of fine grain and hard substance, closely resembling stone, and hardly less enduring. Gold, silver, and precious stones existed in abundance.
The human race yet retained much of its early vigor. But a few generations had passed since Adam had access to the tree which was to prolong life; and man's existence was still measured by centuries. Had that long-lived people, with their rare powers to plan and execute, devoted themselves to the service of God, they would have made their Creator's name a praise in the earth, and would have answered the purpose for which He gave them life. But they failed to do this. There were many giants, men of great stature and strength, renowned for wisdom, skillful in devising the most cunning and wonderful works; but their guilt in giving loose rein to iniquity was in proportion to their skill and mental ability.
God bestowed upon these antediluvians many and rich gifts; but they used His bounties to glorify themselves, and turned them into a curse by fixing their affections upon the gifts instead of the Giver. They employed the gold and silver, the precious stones and the choice wood, in the construction of habitations for themselves, and endeavored to excel one another in beautifying their dwellings with the most skillful workmanship. They sought only to gratify the desires of their own proud hearts, and revelled in scenes of pleasure and wickedness. Not desiring to retain God in their knowledge, they soon came to deny His existence. They adored nature in place of the God of nature. They glorified human genius, worshiped the works of their own hands, and taught their children to bow down to graven images.
In the green fields and under the shadow of the goodly trees they set up the altars of their idols. Extensive groves, that retained their foliage throughout the year, were dedicated to the worship of false gods. With these groves were connected beautiful gardens, their long, winding avenues overhung with fruit-bearing trees of all descriptions, adorned with statuary, and furnished with all that could delight the senses or minister to the voluptuous desires of the people, and thus allure them to participate in the idolatrous worship.
Men put God out of their knowledge and worshiped the creatures of their own imagination; and as the result, they became more and more debased. The psalmist describes the effect produced upon the worshiper by the adoration of idols. He says, "They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them." Psalm 115:8. It is a law of the human mind that by beholding we become changed. Man will rise no higher than his conceptions of truth, purity, and holiness. If the mind is never exalted above the level of humanity, if it is not uplifted by faith to contemplate infinite wisdom and love, the man will be constantly sinking lower and lower. The worshipers of false gods clothed their deities with human attributes and passions, and thus their standard of character was degraded to the likeness of sinful humanity. They were defiled in consequence. "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. . . . The earth also was corrupt before God; and the earth was filled with violence." God had given men His commandments as a rule of life, but His law was transgressed, and every conceivable sin was the result. The wickedness of men was open and daring, justice was trampled in the dust, and the cries of the oppressed reached unto heaven.
Polygamy had been early introduced, contrary to the divine arrangement at the beginning. The Lord gave to Adam one wife, showing His order in that respect. But after the Fall, men chose to follow their own sinful desires; and as the result, crime and wretchedness rapidly increased. Neither the marriage relation nor the rights of property were respected. Whoever coveted the wives or the possessions of his neighbor, took them by force, and men exulted in their deeds of violence. They delighted in destroying the life of animals; and the use of flesh for food rendered them still more cruel and bloodthirsty, until they came to regard human life with astonishing indifference.
The world was in its infancy; yet iniquity had become so deep and widespread that God could no longer bear with it; and He said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth." He declared that His Spirit should not always strive with the guilty race. If they did not cease to pollute with their sins the world and its rich treasures, He would blot them from His creation, and would destroy the things with which He had delighted to bless them; He would sweep away the beasts of the field, and the vegetation which furnished such an abundant supply of food, and would transform the fair earth into one vast scene of desolation and ruin.
Amid the prevailing corruption, Methuselah, Noah, and many others labored to keep alive the knowledge of the true God and to stay the tide of moral evil. A hundred and twenty years before the Flood, the Lord by a holy angel declared to Noah His purpose, and directed him to build an ark. While building the ark he was to preach that God would bring a flood of water upon the earth to destroy the wicked. Those who would believe the message, and would prepare for that event by repentance and reformation, should find pardon and be saved. Enoch had repeated to his children what God had shown him in regard to the Flood, and Methuselah and his sons, who lived to hear the preaching of Noah, assisted in building the ark.
God gave Noah the exact dimensions of the ark and explicit directions in regard to its construction in every particular. Human wisdom could not have devised a structure of so great strength and durability. God was the designer, and Noah the master builder. It was constructed like the hull of a ship, that it might float upon the water, but in some respects it more nearly resembled a house. It was three stories high, with but one door, which was in the side. The light was admitted at the top, and the different apartments were so arranged that all were lighted. The material employed in the construction of the ark was the cypress, or gopher wood, which would be untouched by decay for hundreds of years. The building of this immense structure was a slow and laborious process. On account of the great size of the trees and the nature of the wood, much more labor was required then than now to prepare timber, even with the greater strength which men then possessed. All that man could do was done to render the work perfect, yet the ark could not of itself have withstood the storm which was to come upon the earth. God alone could preserve His servants upon the tempestuous waters.
"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." Hebrews 11:7. While Noah was giving his warning message to the world, his works testified of his sincerity. It was thus that his faith was perfected and made evident. He gave the world an example of believing just what God says. All that he possessed, he invested in the ark. As he began to construct that immense boat on dry ground, multitudes came from every direction to see the strange sight and to hear the earnest, fervent words of the singular preacher. Every blow struck upon the ark was a witness to the people.
Many at first appeared to receive the warning; yet they did not turn to God with true repentance. They were unwilling to renounce their sins. During the time that elapsed before the coming of the Flood, their faith was tested, and they failed to endure the trial. Overcome by the prevailing unbelief, they finally joined their former associates in rejecting the solemn message. Some were deeply convicted, and would have heeded the words of warning; but there were so many to jest and ridicule, that they partook of the same spirit, resisted the invitations of mercy, and were soon among the boldest and most defiant scoffers; for none are so reckless and go to such lengths in sin as do those who have once had light, but have resisted the convicting Spirit of God.
The men of that generation were not all, in the fullest acceptation of the term, idolaters. Many professed to be worshipers of God. They claimed that their idols were representations of the Deity, and that through them the people could obtain a clearer conception of the divine Being. This class were foremost in rejecting the preaching of Noah. As they endeavored to represent God by material objects, their minds were blinded to His majesty and power; they ceased to realize the holiness of His character, or the sacred, unchanging nature of His requirements. As sin became general, it appeared less and less sinful, and they finally declared that the divine law was no longer in force; that it was contrary to the character of God to punish transgression; and they denied that His judgments were to be visited upon the earth. Had the men of that generation obeyed the divine law, they would have recognized the voice of God in the warning of His servant; but their minds had become so blinded by rejection of light that they really believed Noah's message to be a delusion.
1 So
God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: Be fruitful and
multiply, and fill the earth. 2 And the fear of you and the dread of you
shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all
that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given
into your hand. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I
have given you all things, even as the green herbs. 4 But you shall not
eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.5 Surely for your lifeblood
I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require
it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man
s brother I
will require the life of man.
6 Whoever sheds man
s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God
He made man.
7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply;
Bring forth abundantly in the earth
And multiply in it.
8 Then
God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: 9 And as for Me,
behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after
you,10 and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the
cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the
ark, every beast of the earth. 11 Thus I establish My covenant with
you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood;
never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.
12 And
God said: This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and
you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual
generations:13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the
sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall be, when I
bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the
cloud; 15 and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you
and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again
become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow shall be in the
cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant
between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the
earth.
17 And God said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant which
I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram:
Get out of your country,
s house,
From your family
And from your father
To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
1 After
these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,
Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great
reward.
2 But Abram said, Lord God, what will You give me,
seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of
Damascus?
3 Then Abram said, Look, You have given me no offspring;
indeed one born in my house is my heir!
4 And behold, the word of
the Lord came to him, saying, This one shall not be your heir, but one
who will come from your own body shall be your heir.
5 Then He brought
him outside and said, Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if
you are able to number them.
And He said to him, So shall your
descendants be.
The Sign of the Covenant
1 When
Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to
him, I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. 2 And I will
make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you
exceedingly.
3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him,
saying: 4 As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a
father of many nations.5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but
your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many
nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations
of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish My
covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their
generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your
descendants after you. 8 Also I give to you and your descendants after
you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an
everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
9 And God said
to Abraham: As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your
descendants after you throughout their generations. 10 This is My
covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants
after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; 11 and you
shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a
sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12 He who is eight days old
among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he
who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who
is not your descendant. 13 He who is born in your house and he who is
bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in
your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 And the uncircumcised male
child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person
shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.
6 just
as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness.
7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are
sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify
the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham
beforehand, saying, In you all the nations shall be blessed.
9 So then
those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
15 Brethren,
I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a mans covenant,
yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. 16 Now to Abraham
and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, And to seeds,
as
of many, but as of one, And to your Seed,
who is Christ. 17 And this I
say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later,
cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in
Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. 18 For if the
inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God
gave it to Abraham by promise.
16 Now to
Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, And to
seeds,
as of many, but as of one, And to your Seed,
who is Christ.
29 And if you are Christs, then you are Abrahams seed, and heirs according to the promise.
6 just as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
1 What
then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the
flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to
boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture
say? Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness.
3 So
Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the
judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, All the
words which the Lord has said we will do.
2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
31 Behold,
the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah - 32 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, My covenant
which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. 33 But
this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, says theLord: 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. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his
brother, saying,
Know the Lord,
for they all shall know Me, from the
least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive
their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.
As the Bible presents two laws, one changeless and eternal, the other provisional and temporary, so there are two covenants. The covenant of grace was first made with man in Eden, when after the Fall there was given a divine promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head. To all men this covenant offered pardon and the assisting grace of God for future obedience through faith in Christ. It also promised them eternal life on condition of fidelity to God's law. Thus the patriarchs received the hope of salvation.
This same covenant was renewed to Abraham in the promise, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Genesis 22:18. This promise pointed to Christ. So Abraham understood it (see Galatians 3:8, 16), and he trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of sins. It was this faith that was accounted unto him for righteousness. The covenant with Abraham also maintained the authority of God's law. The Lord appeared unto Abraham, and said, "I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, and be thou perfect." Genesis 17:1. The testimony of God concerning His faithful servant was, "Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws." Genesis 26:5. And the Lord declared to him, "I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee." Genesis 17:7.
Though this covenant was made with Adam and renewed to Abraham, it could not be ratified until the death of Christ. It had existed by the promise of God since the first intimation of redemption had been given; it had been accepted by faith; yet when ratified by Christ, it is called a new covenant. The law of God was the basis of this covenant, which was simply an arrangement for bringing men again into harmony with the divine will, placing them where they could obey God's law.
Another compact--called in Scripture the "old" covenant--was formed between God and Israel at Sinai, and was then ratified by the blood of a sacrifice. The Abrahamic covenant was ratified by the blood of Christ, and it is called the "second," or "new," covenant, because the blood by which it was sealed was shed after the blood of the first covenant. That the new covenant was valid in the days of Abraham is evident from the fact that it was then confirmed both by the promise and by the oath of God--the "two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie." Hebrews 6:18.
But if the Abrahamic covenant contained the promise of redemption, why was another covenant formed at Sinai? In their bondage the people had to a great extent lost the knowledge of God and of the principles of the Abrahamic covenant. In delivering them from Egypt, God sought to reveal to them His power and His mercy, that they might be led to love and trust Him. He brought them down to the Red Sea--where, pursued by the Egyptians, escape seemed impossible--that they might realize their utter helplessness, their need of divine aid; and then He wrought deliverance for them. Thus they were filled with love and gratitude to God and with confidence in His power to help them. He had bound them to Himself as their deliverer from temporal bondage.
But there was a still greater truth to be impressed upon their minds. Living in the midst of idolatry and corruption, they had no true conception of the holiness of God, of the exceeding sinfulness of their own hearts, their utter inability, in themselves, to render obedience to God's law, and their need of a Saviour. All this they must be taught.
God brought them to Sinai; He manifested His glory; He gave them His law, with the promise of great blessings on condition of obedience: "If ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then . . . ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." Exodus 19:5, 6. The people did not realize the sinfulness of their own hearts, and that without Christ it was impossible for them to keep God's law; and they readily entered into covenant with God. Feeling that they were able to establish their own righteousness, they declared, "All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient." Exodus 24:7. They had witnessed the proclamation of the law in awful majesty, and had trembled with terror before the mount; and yet only a few weeks passed before they broke their covenant with God, and bowed down to worship a graven image. They could not hope for the favor of God through a covenant which they had broken; and now, seeing their sinfulness and their need of pardon, they were brought to feel their need of the Saviour revealed in the Abrahamic covenant and shadowed forth in the sacrificial offerings. Now by faith and love they were bound to God as their deliverer from the bondage of sin. Now they were prepared to appreciate the blessings of the new covenant.
The terms of the "old covenant" were, Obey and live: "If a man do, he shall even live in them" (Ezekiel 20:11; Leviticus 18:5); but "cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them." Deuteronomy 27:26. The "new covenant" was established upon "better promises"--the promise of forgiveness of sins and of the grace of God to renew the heart and bring it into harmony with the principles of God's law. "This shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts . . . . I will forgive their iniquity, and will remember their sin no more." Jeremiah 31:33, 34.
The same law that was engraved upon the tables of stone is written by the Holy Spirit upon the tables of the heart. Instead of going about to establish our own righteousness we accept the righteousness of Christ. His blood atones for our sins. His obedience is accepted for us. Then the heart renewed by the Holy Spirit will bring forth "the fruits of the Spirit." Through the grace of Christ we shall live in obedience to the law of God written upon our hearts. Having the Spirit of Christ, we shall walk even as He walked. Through the prophet He declared of Himself, "I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart." Psalm 40:8. And when among men He said, "The Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always those things that please Him." John 8:29.
The apostle Paul clearly presents the relation between faith and the law under the new covenant. He says: "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh"--it could not justify man, because in his sinful nature he could not keep the law--"God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Romans 5:1, 3:31, 8:3, 4.
God's work is the same in all time, although there are different degrees of development and different manifestations of His power, to meet the wants of men in the different ages. Beginning with the first gospel promise, and coming down through the patriarchal and Jewish ages, and even to the present time, there has been a gradual unfolding of the purposes of God in the plan of redemption. The Saviour typified in the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish law is the very same that is revealed in the gospel. The clouds that enveloped His divine form have rolled back; the mists and shades have disappeared; and Jesus, the world's Redeemer, stands revealed. He who proclaimed the law from Sinai, and delivered to Moses the precepts of the ritual law, is the same that spoke the Sermon on the Mount. The great principles of love to God, which He set forth as the foundation of the law and the prophets, are only a reiteration of what He had spoken through Moses to the Hebrew people: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Deuteronomy 6:4, 5. "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Leviticus 19:18. The teacher is the same in both dispensations. God's claims are the same. The principles of His government are the same. For all proceed from Him "with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17.
1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.
20 Likewise
He also took the cup after supper, saying, This
cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.
24 and
when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, Take, eat; this is My
body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.
25 In the
same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the
new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in
remembrance of Me.
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lords death till He comes.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. 14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. 15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up - if in fact the dead do not rise. 16 For if thedead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faithis futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Fathers kingdom.