The Mosaic Covenant has been fulfilled and will not return
(Matthew 5:17-19). It was able to point us to the Messiah and has fulfilled its
purpose (Galatians 3:24). However, many attempt to argue that the Mosaic
Covenant (MC) is eternal along with animal sacrifices, the Temple, and the
Levitical Priesthood. However, this would once again put us all under God’s
curse:
·
“ ‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm
the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ (Deuteronomy
27:26; 28:15; Jeremiah 11:3; Psalms 119:21)
The Law had placed everyone under a curse. Therefore, a New Messianic
Covenant was needed and prophesied:
·
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of
Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I
took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that
they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares
the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.
And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each
one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they
shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the
LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I
will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31–34)
This New Covenant (NC) wouldn’t be like the Mosaic which,
Israel continued to break even though Yahweh had been “their Husband.” Instead,
the NC would complete and fulfill the plan of God, which had been begun with
the former covenants. God would also write His law upon our inmost being,
renewing (regeneration) their heart so that they would truly know their God. As
a result, He would “forgive their iniquity” and “remember their sin no more.”
How would this covenant fulfill God’s plan?
PREMANENT not TEMPORARY. There is not a single verse
in the Bible that claims that the Mosaic Covenant (MC) is permanent. In
contrast, all the other covenants were described as permanent or “everlasting”
– the Abrahamic or Patriarchal (Genesis 17:19; Psalm 105:9-10; 1 Chronicles 16:15-17),
the Noahic (Genesis 9:16), and the Davidic (2 Samuel 23:5; Jeremiah 33:20-21).
These covenants were never to be broken. Instead, their promises were adopted by the New Covenant. However, the MC was meant to be temporary, even though far more had been written about the MC than all the others combined. It had directed the entire life of Israel. It is therefore revealing that the MC is never referred to as eternal or by any terminology like it. However, many of the features of the MC had been eternally adopted by the NC, like the Ten Commandments.
These covenants were never to be broken. Instead, their promises were adopted by the New Covenant. However, the MC was meant to be temporary, even though far more had been written about the MC than all the others combined. It had directed the entire life of Israel. It is therefore revealing that the MC is never referred to as eternal or by any terminology like it. However, many of the features of the MC had been eternally adopted by the NC, like the Ten Commandments.
Instead, the MC had been limited to a particular place and
time-period. Consequently, there had been no circumcisions performed during
their 40 years of wandering:
·
Though all the people who came out had been
circumcised, yet all the people who were born on the way in the wilderness
after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. (Joshua 5:5)
Implementation of the MC awaited the entry into the Promised
Land:
·
“You
shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing
whatever is right in his own eyes, for you have not as yet come to the rest and
to the inheritance that the LORD your God is giving you.” (Deuteronomy 12:8–9)
The MC was represented by the Ark of the Covenant containing
the Ten Commandments. However, the Ark would come to an end along with the MC:
·
And when you have multiplied and been fruitful
in the land, in those days, declares the LORD, they shall no more say, “The ark
of the covenant of the LORD.” It shall not come to mind or be remembered or
missed; it shall not be made again. (Jeremiah 3:16, Isaiah 65:17)
This cryptically signaled the end of the MC. I hope it will
become obvious that, as we proceed, that the MC was not only different from the
NC, but its requirements were often in opposition to the NC. Therefore, they
would have to be set aside as the Ark and the Temple had been.
UNCONDITIONAL GIFT not by MERIT OR PERFORMANCE. The
MC depended upon obedience to the commandments (Deuteronomy 28,29). If Israel
followed the commandments, they were blessed, if not, they were cursed. However,
the NC didn’t depend upon merit and performance but upon the promises of God,
who guaranteed that His people would be faithful:
·
“For I the LORD love justice; I hate robbery and
wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an
everlasting covenant with them…I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul
shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he
has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself
like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with
her jewels. (Isaiah 61:8,10)
Consequently, under the NC, our righteousness would no longer
primarily depend upon our performance but God’s Messianic gift:
·
Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your
friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will
bring my servant the Branch. For behold, on the stone that I have set
before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its
inscription, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of
this land in a single day. (Zechariah 3:8–9)
The rabbis correctly identify the “Branch” as the promised
Messiah coming from the lineage of King David. However, they were clueless
about how the Messiah would accomplish the removal of sin “in a single day.”
BORN AGAIN AND REGENERATED not HARDENED, UNCIRCUMCIZED, AND
REBELLIOUS. Israel would regularly rebel against their God. The writings of
the Prophets of Israel are littered with charges against their rebellion and
hatred of the Lord. Therefore, God’s people had to undergo a radical internal
change:
·
“But to this day the LORD has not given you a
heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.” (Deuteronomy 29:4)
Although God had created man with everything they required,
they needed something additional in their Fallen state. Therefore, He promised
Israel that He would eventually give them a regenerated, circumcised heart:
·
And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart
and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with
all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. (Deuteronomy 30:6)
The MC had been incapable of causing the Israelites to love
God. It was through the NC that this would be accomplished:
·
I will give them one heart and one way, that
they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children
after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn
away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts,
that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will
plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul. (Jeremiah
32:39–41)
Under the MC, God had often abandoned Israel to their chosen
fate, but this would change under the NC. This would unilaterally be God’s
work. Notice the many times that God states “I will…”:
·
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and
you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will
cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put
within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a
heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in
my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I
gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I
will deliver you from all your uncleannesses… (Ezekiel 36:25–29)
The MC had required the good works of obedience to secure
blessings. As such, it was conditional and depended fundamentally upon human
performance. Instead, the NC depended primarily upon promised work of the
Messiah. It had to be either the MC or the NC! They couldn’t be combined
(Romans 7:-5).
FORGIVING not A MERE COVERING OF SIN. The MC offered
“forgiveness.” However, it is superficial, the mere covering of sins, not their
eradication. Likewise, its “atonement” was a matter of covering over sins:
·
Then he shall offer the second for a burnt
offering according to the rule. And the priest shall make atonement for
him for the sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven. (Leviticus
5:10, 13, 16)
One indication of this is covering over of sins is derived
from the root meaning of “atonement”:
·
Nowhere in the Old Testament is it ever claimed
that sins were “taken away” (i.e., completely removed) by animal sacrifices.
The root of the Hebrew word translated “atonement” in the Old Testament is
kaphar, which has the idea of “covering,” not total removal. This word is also
used to refer to how Noah’s ark was to be covered with pitch:
o
Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms
in the ark and cover it inside and outside with pitch. (Genesis 6:14) https://answersingenesis.org/sin/did-animal-sacrifices-remove-sin/
This wasn’t forgiveness in the NC sense, where sins would be
eradicated and remembered no more: “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I
will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).
This did not pertain to the MC, where animals had to be
sacrificed continually for the “forgiveness” of sins. Consequently, Israel could
never be fully reconciled to their God and remained in terror of Him.
CLOSENESS not DISTANCE. Israel could not even bear to hear His voice
as they had at the foot of MT. Sinai as they received the Law:
·
and [Israel] said to Moses, “You speak to us,
and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to
the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him
may be before you, that you may not sin.” (Exodus 20:19–20)
Nor could they enter the Temple without being struck dead.
Nor would they want to enter the presence of God; nor could God reside among
the Israelites, let He destroy them:
·
“I will send an angel before you, and I will
drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the
Hivites, and the Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I
will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a
stiff-necked people.” (Exodus 33:2–3)
This was diametrically opposed to the promises about the NC,
when the barrier was removed to such an extent that Israel would be married
to their God:
·
And I will make for them a covenant on that day
with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things
of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land,
and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will betroth you to me forever. I
will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and
in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the
LORD. (Hosea 2:18–20)
A marriage! The height of intimacy! This could only take
place once the MC and its alienating realities would be fulfilled and removed. This
occurred at the Cross of Christ, as the separating curtain to the Holy Place of
the Temple was torn in two, symbolizing that the way to God’s presence was now
open!
The Temple had been the place that the Israelites would go
to receive the mercy of God. However, under the NC, God would now be their
Temple, and the Israelites could go confidently to Him (Hebrews 10:19-23), the
symbolic and the substantive barrier of our sin having been removed! This too
required that the MC be fulfilled and set aside, not combined with the NC.
A MESSIANIC TEMPLE not A PHYSICAL MOSAIC ONE. Instead of going to the physical Temple to receive God’s blessings, Israel would now, under the NC, only have to turn to God wherever they happened to be. The Messiah would now be their Temple or sanctuary:
·
I will make a covenant of peace with them. It
shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land
and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore.
My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who
sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”
(Ezekiel 37:26–28; Psalm 90:1; 91:9; Isaiah 8:14; John 1:14; 2:19)
God Himself would create this “sanctuary”:
·
Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, the man
whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall
build the temple of the LORD. It is he who shall build the temple of the
LORD and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And
there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be
between them both.” (Zechariah 6:12–13)
The Temple had nearly been completed by the Jews who had
immigrated back to Israel from their exile in Babylon. Evidently, this was to
be a different type of Temple.
The Messiah, the “Branch” coming forth from the lineage of
David, would be a “priest on His throne,” an impossibility under the MC and its
prescribed Temple worship, which required a strict separation between priest
and king. Instead, this represented a new reality instituted by the NC. This is
because Messiah, the “Branch,” would be everything we need!
Consequently, there would be no physical temple in the heavenly Kingdom
(Revelation 21:22). Most importantly, the presence of the Messiah would create
everlasting peace:
·
For the mountains may depart and the hills be
removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of
peace shall not be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you…All your
children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your
children. In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from
oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near
you. (Isaiah 54:10, 13–14; 59:21; Ezekiel 34:25-26)
Before all else, the Covenant of Peace established peace
with God. This could never be attained under the conditional, obedience-oriented
MC, under which Israel continually rebelled and consequently suffered. This would
await the replacement of the MC by the NC (Jeremiah 31:32) and its Messiah!
A MESSIANIC not A
LEVITICAL PRIESTHOOD. There is
no animal sacrifices in the Messianic Kingdom. The once-and-for-all Messianic atonement
put an end to any blood offerings:
·
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our
sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he
was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him
was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he
was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the
slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened
not his mouth…Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to
grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring;
he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. (Isaiah
53:4–7, 10)
The change in priesthood and atonement sacrifice had been
cryptically heralded in many ways. God had never been satisfied with animal
offerings:
·
For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and
goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he
said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you
prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no
pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is
written of me in the scroll of the book.’” (Hebrews 10:4–7; quoted from
Psalm 40:6-8; LXX)
Instead, only the sacrifice of the Messiah would pay
conclusively for the sins of the world. God had often made it clear that He didn’t
desire animal sacrifices (Psalm 51:16; 1 Samuel 15:22). Why then did He
require animal sacrifices? To prepare Israel and the world for the ultimate
Sacrifice that would put an end to all the superficial animal sacrifices
(Galatians 3:24).
Instead of the MC designated Levitical Priesthood, God would
provide a mysterious atonement payment to cover all the sins of the world:
·
I will establish my covenant with you, and you
shall know that I am the LORD, that you may remember and be confounded, and
never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you
for all that you have done, declares the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 16:62–63;
Deuteronomy 32:43; Psalm 79:9; 110:4)
Clearly, the Temple offerings were unable to eradicate sin.
An atonement from God was necessary. The same phenomenon is also conveyed by
different words, like “Redeemer” and “ransom”:
·
…but the redeemed shall walk there. And
the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 35:9–10; Psalm 19:14)
The Messiah Himself would sacrifice Himself. He Himself
would be the NC, paid for by His own blood:
·
“I am the LORD; I have called you in
righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as
a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that
are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those
who sit in darkness.” (Isaiah 42:6–7; 49:8)
The conditional MC had been ineffective in opening “the eyes
that are blind.” This required the Messiah, the Branch of David:
·
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because
the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind
up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of
the prison to those who are bound.” (Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18-19)
However, at least two verses suggest the return of the
Levitical Priesthood (Exodus 40:15; Numbers 25:13), but it seems that its
return will be in a different form. For one thing, God promised that all
the Israelites would become priests:
·
and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and
a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of
Israel.” (Exodus 19:6)
This suggests that the priesthood might even extend to the
Gentile believers as the NT teaches (1 Peter 2:5, 9–10; Revelation 1:6). This is
supported by the many OT verses that prophesy the inclusion of the Gentiles
into God’s Chosen People. However, none of these references (Isaiah 61:6;
66:21) suggest animal sacrifice.
This is demanded by the fact that there will be no death in God’s eternal Kingdom, not even animal death:
This is demanded by the fact that there will be no death in God’s eternal Kingdom, not even animal death:
·
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the
leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the
fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the
bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat
straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and
the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or
destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge
of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6–9; 65:25)
How then can there be animal sacrifice in the eternal Kingdom! Jesus’ sacrifice had put an end to all other sacrifices. Animal sacrifices had been of little value. Therefore, His death had to work retroactively on behalf of the OT believers, who never had been cleansed of their sin through animal sacrifices:
·
For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the
sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the
purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our
conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore he is the
mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the
promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them
from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews
9:13–15)
Not only was there need for the NC, the MC had to be
replaced (Hebrews 13:8; 10:9)
·
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and
the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven
us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood
against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the
cross. (Colossians 2:13–14)
Therefore, Christ is now our all:
·
For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells
bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and
authority. (Colossians 2:9–10)
In Him, we are free:
·
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him,
“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the
truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31–32)
