INTRODUCTION:

Two men went into a car dealership to buy a new car. One had much more money than the other, but the salesmen treat both alike. The more wealthy fella bought the most expensive model of the 2004 car year. The other bought a 1998 mid-size sedan with about 50,000 miles on the odometer.

How many of those men bought a new car?

Obviously, the rich man bought a new car, because it had only 75 miles on its odometer and it had never been owned before, but didn’t the other man buy a new car as well? It may have been previously owned, but by definition it was a new car to him. And when he got home his neighbor, who drives a 1992 sub-compact jealously declared: "Oh, I see you got a new car." Depending on definitions either one, or both of those men, bought new cars.

And, what if that was a really good day for the dealership. What if twenty different men bought twenty different cars, might we say that they all got new cars? But did they all get the same car? None of them had the same car, even though they all got a new car.

My computer dictionary lists 13 definitions for the word "new." Which definition applies to the word "new" in the "New Covenant?"

I have to admit to being SOMEWHAT TIMID when I began thinking about our theme for tonight. I have heard things and read things which made me think that this was a really complex subject. Unlike most of the other covenants, this one is studied in the New Testament as well as in the Old Testament, and so it appears to have more bearing on you and me, than the others, with the only exception being what the Mosaic Covenant teaches us about the holy nature of the Lord. But my fear was totally unfounded. The New Covenant is not at all complex, when the scriptures are allowed to speak for themselves. Either that or I’m too simple-minded to see the complexity, and unfortunately that is exactly what some people seem to think. The jury which has been convened to judge the stability of my mind is still out, but I’m going to call you as witnesses for my defense.

It is very IMPORTANT that we build our understanding of the New Covenant, upon our earlier messages. It’s not that I’m trying to manipulate the truth or that I have been feeding you all kinds of propaganda for the last four weeks in order to set you up, but quite obviously, the New Covenant must be somehow related to an older Covenant, and in this case if we don’t understand the first then we’ll never grasp the second. And secondly, we need to understand EXACTLY WHICH covenant is being replaced. Therefore, all five of these messages are vitally linked together.

So let me give you a very QUICK REVUE.

The Noahic covenant was the unconditional promise of God never to destroy creation again with a flood.

The ABRAHAMIC COVENANT was the unconditional promise of God to bless Abraham. He was to have children that would become a great nation, and through him all the families of the earth would be blessed, which I think was a promise of the Messiah. God promised to bless those who were a blessing to Abraham, and to curse those who cursed him, and that Abraham’s chosen seed would be given the land of Canaan. The ABRAHAMIC COVENANT involved a literal seed and a literal land.

The DAVIDIC COVENANT was also an unconditional promise. David, a part of the covenanted seed of Abraham, was promised an eternal kingdom and throne. He was also promised that there would be an heir to that throne for all eternity. And again, the ultimate fulfillment of that covenant was in the person of the Lord Jesus. And again, the promise involved a literal kingdom and a literal heir.

NEITHER the Abrahamic nor the Davidic covenant could be broken by any thing done by man, and the Lord swore upon His own name, that He was not going to break this covenant either, so the fact is that both are still in effect today. Both were unconditional, eternal and LITERAL covenants.

The other major covenant was that which was made with Israel through MOSES. The Mosaic Covenant unlike the others was conditional upon Israel’s obedience and faith. As long as Israel obeyed the precepts of the law, the Lord promised to bless them. When Israel broke the covenant, the blessing of the Lord was withdrawn as promised,

But that had nothing to do with the eternal nature of the earlier promises.

I hope that you have been able to see that there has been a PROGRESSION OF COVENANTS. Not only is it a chronological progression, but a logical one as well. So we aren’t a bit surprised to find that the New Covenant is not found early in the Old Testament. It is seen and hinted at primarily in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

Let’s start at the beginning of Jeremiah 31 and read through verse 14. "At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry. Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things. For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God. For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD."

Verses 15-26 are essentially speaking about the same sort of things. For the sake of time this evening, let’s skip over them. Now let’s start again in verse 27 and read to the end of the chapter. "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.

28 And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD. In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But 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; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner. And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath. And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever."

Things to notice here begin with the reference to time: verse 1 refers to the latter days of 30:24. The fulfilment of these promises will take place toward the end of God’s prophetic calendar. I hope that you recognize too that everything about this chapter demands a literal interpretation. Notice the constant reference to literal places like Samaria, Zion, and the places of Israel’s captivity. Notice the reference to literal time and historical events as well, as in verse 4. We will review the specifics of the covenant again in a few minutes, but notice that a main thrust of the promise is for the restoration of Israel to her promised land.

I hesitate to take you to my next scripture, because it is not clear that it is New Covenant or one of others.

Let’s read Isaiah 59:1-21. Turn now to Ezekiel 11:14-21. Next turn to Ezekiel 36:16-38.

In most of the references that we have read, the Lord began by referring to Israel’s sin and captivity. This gives us a couple of important pieces of information: First, we are talking about the literal nation of Israel, once again. This is the people of Jacob and his twelve sons. Eventually they became the nation of Israel in the north and Judah in the south – the Jewish nation.

Secondly, the reference to sin and God’s judgment for sin takes us back to the Mosaic Covenant. The Mosaic Covenant was the only national covenant which was conditional. The New Covenant didn’t replace the Abrahamic or the Davidic, but rather the covenant of the law.

What are some of the other characteristics of the New Covenant? Like the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants, this one was unconditional and eternal. The Mosaic covenant proved the intractable nature of sin; the inherent depravity of man. The New Covenant promised to deal with that by giving the people of Israel new hearts. Someone might ask if that is the same thing as regeneration, and I have to answer "yes." Jeremiah 31:34 promises forgiveness of sin in this New Covenant. Yes, it sounds just like New Testament salvation. Jeremiah 31:33 and Ezekiel 36:27 also promise the indwelling and the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit. Then this New Covenant repeats parts of the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants. It promises a restoration of Israel to the land that was originally promised to Abraham. And the nation would be ruled by one king – whom I believe to be the Messiah. In other words the New Covenant ends up with the Millennium.

I think that all of this is rather simple and straight-forward. The place where it begins to get confusing is where it intersects with what we know about salvation. We Gentiles know from experience about hearts hardened against God. And the elect of these last days, have experienced regeneration and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, too. I am convinced that I have experienced the same kind of forgiveness of sin which is promised to Israel in these verses. So, does that mean that we need to take Jeremiah 31 and these other passages and pretend that they don’t have anything to do with their original context and the nation of Israel?

Let’s turn to Hebrews 13:25. I pulled out three of my King James Bibles and then went into the bedroom and looked at Judy’s Bible. All three of my Bibles concluded the book with the words: "Written to the Hebrews from Italy by Timothy." However I have to admit that my wife’s Bible doesn’t have any closing remarks, but it does say in the editor’s notes at the beginning of the book that Hebrews was written to Hebrew Christians. How many of your Bibles say that this book was written to Hebrews?

What should that say to us? It means that unlike most of the New Testament, this book was meant for a specific group of Christians. Just as the Book of Obadiah was primarily written to and about the country of Edom, the Book of Hebrews was written primarily to and for Hebrew Christians. That doesn’t mean that we can’t be blessed and learn from either of those books, but it might save us from confusion if we keep in mind the original purpose of the book.

Now turn to Hebrews 8 and let’s read beginning in verse 1. Remember that Paul was writing this letter primarily to Hebrew Christians, and the references to the New Covenant in this chapter all come from Old Testament scriptures which were clearly given in an Israelite context.

Now let’s read on in chapter 9. Do you see in verse 15 where Jesus is said to be the mediator of a "new testament?" The word "testament" is exactly the same Greek word which is translated "covenant" in 8:10.

Now, here is the crux of the problem: To whom was Jesus the mediator of the new testament or the new covenant? Wasn’t it to the same people to whom the old covenant belonged? Isn’t the context of the entire Book of Hebrews – HEBREWS? Preacher do you mean then that all of the blessings of the Book of Hebrews don’t belong to any of us who were born Gentiles? I didn’t say that.

Turn to Romans 11 which we read a few weeks ago, and let’s read this chapter again.

How many of you here tonight believe that you have Hebrew blood? Don’t be ashamed to admit it; because I for one would like to honour you if you do. How many of you think that you might have some of the blood of Abraham in your veins? Does the fact that you aren’t a Hebrew, mean that the New Covenant doesn’t have anything to do with you? Not at all.

You might say that we elect Gentiles have been grafted into the tree of God’s New Covenant. When wicked Gentiles like us repent of our sin and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, it proves that the Lord has included us in this New Covenant. We have been indwelt with the Holy Spirit and taught of Him just as it was promised to Israel. We have been given new hearts and forgiveness of our sins, just as it was promised to them.

But, the New Covenant was not originally made with us. It was made with Israel, and we have only been graciously permitted to taste of its blessings, and, for the most part, the details and principles of the New Covenant have not yet been fulfilled. The things that we read in Jeremiah and Ezekiel will be literally fulfilled the day that Israel’s Messiah returns to claim the throne that once belonged to His father David. The New Covenant replaces the Mosaic Covenant, and it puts the capstone on the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants.

So the New Covenant is another covenant with Israel. As Gentiles, it is not specifically ours, but we are the beneficiaries of it, through the grace of the God of Israel.

We should praise the Lord for the New Covenant. It means salvation for wretched Gentiles like us, but I say, once again, the New Covenant was originally made for Israel. 

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