BEING PREPARED – Covenants Lesson 7
David's final words have been uttered. His son, Solomon, has built the temple, partially fulfilling the
covenant to David. Just as David's faithfulness brought peace and unity to all of Israel so Solomon's
unfaithfulness brought a long period of division and struggle. 1 In Solomon's reign we can see that God
has fulfilled many covenant promises:
20
Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance; they
were eating and drinking and rejoicing. 21 Now Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the
River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; they brought tribute and served
Solomon all the days of his life.
1 Kings 4:20-21 (NASB)
Following Solomon's death, God took the northern 10 tribes and gave them to Jeroboam. 2 Solomon's
son, Rehoboam, continued to rule at Jerusalem over Judah. This he did in view of his covenant promise
with David. 1 Ki 11:31-39
Jeroboam led the northern 10 tribes, called Israel, into idolatry, resulting in their captivity and dispersal
by Assyria. The southern tribe, Judah, eventually followed a path into idolatry and disobedience which
also led to destruction of the temple and Jerusalem and in the carrying of survivors into Babylonian
captivity.
Judah's fate was different from Israel's fate because of God's promise to David. After 70 years Israel was
returned to the land. This was the situation of Jesus' day. This history is recorded in the books of 1 & 2
Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and the prophets.
NEW COVENANT
Jeremiah 31:34 is the scriptural center on the subject. This may be validated from several lines of
evidence. Firstly, the unique appearance of the word “new” in this passage stimulated Origen to be the
first to name the last 27 books of the Bible “The New Testament.” Secondly, it was the largest piece of
Old Testament text to be quoted in the New Testament-Hebrews 8:8–12. The writer of Hebrews even
partially repeats the same long quotation a few chapters later in 10:16–17. Thirdly, it was the subject of
nine other New Testament texts: four dealing with the Lord’s Supper,[Luke 22:20; I Cor. 11:25; Matt.
26:28; Mark 14:24] three additional references in Hebrews [ Heb. 9:15; 10:13; 12:24] and two passages
in Paul dealing with “ministers of the new covenant ” and the future forgiveness of Israel’s sins. [II Cor.
1
2
1 Ki 11;
1 Ki 11:31ff
BEING PREPARED – Covenants Lesson 7
3:6; Rom. 11:27]3 This shows that the covenants, and in particular, the New Covenant, are an important
Biblical theme which unifying the whole of scripture. This is the theme we now wish to explore4.
The new covenant, like each of the other covenants is eschatological in nature, and more so. It is the
final covenant, revealing more of the purposes God intends to achieve by history's end. That end will be
like the beginning: Gods own people will be forgiven and renewed, sin will be banished, God's Law will
be written on the hearts of men, and Jesus will rule on David's throne. The end will be as it was in Eden,
the beginning.
Peter connected the advent of this New Covenant to the previous covenants as he preached in Acts
3:19-26.
19
"Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of
refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ
appointed for you, 21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things
about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. 22 "Moses said,
'THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN; TO HIM
YOU SHALL GIVE HEED to everything He says to you. 23 ~'And it will be that every soul that does
not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.' 24 "And likewise, all
the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these
days. 25 "It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with
your fathers, saying to Abraham, 'AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE
BLESSED.' 26 "For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every
one of you from your wicked ways."
Acts 3:19-26 (NASB)
Peter acknowledges that the timing of Christ's return is dependent upon the response of Israel to Him.
Paul agrees by saying:
25
For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise
in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the
Gentiles has come in; 26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL
COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB." 27 "THIS IS MY COVENANT
WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS." 28 From the standpoint of the gospel they are
enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice they are beloved for the sake of
the fathers; 29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
Romans 11:25-29 (NASB)5
3
The Old Promise and the New Covenant: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. Associate Professor of Old
Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Bannock-burn, Deerfield, Ill.
4
Additional scriptures in the New Testament relating to the New Covenant are; Lk 22:14-20; 1 Co 11:25, Heb 7:22;
8:6-13; 13:20.
5
Isa 59:21; Jer 31:33, 34; Heb 8:10. Also: Isa 27:9; Heb 8:12
BEING PREPARED – Covenants Lesson 7
One of the purposes of God in prophecy is to let us know what He plans to do so that when they come
to pass we know it was He who did it. Isa 48:5-6; Isa 42:1-9; Jn 14:29 600 years before the covenant is
made we are told clearly that it would be given and what it would accomplish.
31
"Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their
fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant
which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. 33 "But this is the
covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will
put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be
My people. 34 "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother,
saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of
them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NASB)
38
"They shall be My people, and I will be their God; 39 and I will give them one heart and one
way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after
them. 40 "I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to
do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from
Me. 41 "I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land with all
My heart and with all My soul. 42 "For thus says the LORD, 'Just as I brought all this great
disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them.
Jeremiah 32:38-42 (NASB) 6
When the Messiah was thirty years old He began His ministry. At the close of three and one-half years
during His last Passover Seder with His disciples He introduced the New Covenant prophesied by the
Prophet Jeremiah.
19
And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying,
"This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 20 And in the same way
He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new
covenant in My blood.
Luke 22:19-20 (NASB)
All things now being ready He led His disciples out to the Mt. of Olives where He was taken, tried and
offered up as the Passover Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. Jn 1:29 For Christ, our Passover
lamb, has been sacrificed. 1 Cor 5:7b "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day
rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all
nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” Lk 24:46-47 7
6
7
Jer 32:38-40 continues the theme of restoration.
Covenants: Marilyn Lake Griffin, Ministries of New Life. http://mnewlife.org/files/Covenants.January13.2010_.pdf
BEING PREPARED – Covenants Lesson 7
Covenant Name & People
From Jeremiah 31:31 we get the name: New Covenant. In the same verse we find this covenant is with
the house of Israel and the house of Judah. This is confirmed in Act 2:39. Paul tells us in Ro 11:24 that
we, the gentiles, are grafted in to the rich Olive Tree and made joint heirs with the Jewish people. So it
was from the original promise to Abraham in Gen 12:3.
The most frequent title given to the new covenant in the Old Testament is the “everlasting
covenant.” It was a ratification of the “sure-mercies of David” (Isa. 55:3) and of God’s covenant
made with Israel “in the day of Israel’s youth, ” i.e., with patriarchs (Ezek. 16:60). Perhaps the
key texts connecting the “everlasting covenant ” with the future “covenant of peace” made with
nature and with such contents of the Jeremiah’s covenant as “I will be their God and they shall
be my people” are Ezekiel 37:26–27 and Jeremiah 32:38–42. These old promises are restated
anew for a nation on the brink of national disaster and extinction. Notice then, its continuity
with the past.
Calvin did not miss this point when he commented on Ezekiel 16:61, for he called the
“everlasting covenant ” a “renewed covenant” and concluded by saying “that the new covenant
so flowed from the old, that it was almost the same in substance while distinguished in form.
Still some are apt to be misled by Jeremiah’s use of the word “new.” They will, therefore, deny
that this is the same promise doctrine announced to Abraham, reiterated and enlarged for
David. But Biblical usage must supply our definition here also. Both Hebrew hadas and Greek
kainos frequently mean “to renew” or “to restore,” as in the “new commandment,” (which is
actually an old one) the “new moon,” the “new creature in Christ,” the “new heart,” and the
“new heavens and new earth. ”
While the exact distinction between kainos and neos is often contested, the discussion in Kittel’s
TDNT appears convincing. Neos refers to something brand new or distinctive in time or origin,
often lacking maturity. Kainos, on the other hand, refers to what is new in nature, better than
the old or superior in value or attraction. The Hebrew word, however, must serve both ideas:
new in time and renewed in nature. Thus for Jeremiah , the context, content and New
Testament vocabulary distinction decides in favor of a “renewed covenant.”8
Paul says that gentile believers have become part of the “household of God” (Eph. 2:19) and of
“Abraham’s seed” (Gal. 3:16–19). But, they also are to be “heirs” according to the promise (Gal. 3:19)
with an “inheritance” to come which is “The hope of their calling” (Eph. 1:18)—even the “eternal
inheritance” promised to Abraham (Heb. 9:15). With Christ’s resurrection power shared with all of
Abraham’s seed, it is now possible to eventually realize all the promises made to Abraham:
8
The Old Promise And The New Covenant: Jeremiah 31:31-34 Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Associate Professor of Old
Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Bannock-burn, Deerfield, Illinois.
BEING PREPARED – Covenants Lesson 7
geographical, political and spiritual. The first advent will climax in the second advent and all the
promises made to Abraham will then be realized.9
Consider also:
11
Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called
"Uncircumcision" by the so-called "Circumcision," which is performed in the flesh by human
hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without
God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought
near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and
broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the
Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into
one new man, thus establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God
through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.
Ephesians 2:11-16 (NASB)
5
which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been
revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; 6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are
fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus
through the gospel,
Ephesians 3:5-6 (NASB)
The Gentile obligation is:
25
but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been
pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. 27 Yes, they were
pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual
things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things.
Romans 15:25-27 (NASB)
Covenant Promise
The promise is seen clearly in Acts 2:39 and Ro 10:8-13.
39
"For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord
our God will call to Himself."
Acts 2:39 (NASB)
8
But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART"—that
is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord,
and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the
heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in
9
Ibid.
BEING PREPARED – Covenants Lesson 7
salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED."
12
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding
in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL
BE SAVED."
Romans 10:8-13 (NASB)
Jesus reveals the eschatological nature of this covenant.
24
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal
life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. 25 "Truly, truly, I say
to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and
those who hear will live. 26 "For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son
also to have life in Himself; 27 and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the
Son of Man. 28 "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs
will hear His voice, 29 and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life,
those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
John 5:24-29 (NASB)
16
Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God;
just as God said, "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD,
AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
2 Corinthians 6:16 (NASB)
1
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh
and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
2 Corinthians 7:1 (NASB)
Covenant Sign
The Signs of the New Covenant:
1. The Unleavened Bread representing His Body, the One who was without sin.
2. The Blood of the Messiah of Israel, Yeshua HaMashiach, the Lord Jesus Christ, the seal of the
Covenant. Just as God received all the curses of the covenant with Abraham as he passed through
the valley of carcasses, Jesus, on the cross, took on himself all the curses of mankind.
4
Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him
stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was
crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we
are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the
LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet
He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before
its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And
BEING PREPARED – Covenants Lesson 7
as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the
transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? 9 His grave was assigned with wicked
men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any
deceit in His mouth. 10 But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would
render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good
pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. 11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it
and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will
bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the
booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the
transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53:4-12 (NASB)
When Jesus asked that the cup (the cup of iniquity of man's sin Mt 26:39, 42) pass from him, he not
only desired to avoid the physical pain of the looming crucifixion but also the burden of all sin past,
present and future being laid on him who had never known sin.
21
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB)
3. The Spirit indwells those who have received the Messiah of Israel.
13
"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak
on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to
come. 14 "He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 "All things that the
Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.
John 16:13-15 (NASB)
13
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also
believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our
inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 1:13-14 (NASB)
Covenant Consequences
Acts 2:38
Ro 10:9,10
Heb 6:4-6
Covenant Conditions
This an unconditional covenant made with both houses of Israel and bi-lateral covenant.
BEING PREPARED – Covenants Lesson 7
Just like the Moabic Covenant was a renewal of the Mosaic and the Davidic was an affirmation and
renewal applied through a separated individual, so the New Covenant renews and affirms the previous
covenants with additional terms and restrictions that do not nullify the previous while making the new
unique.
The items of continuity contained in the new covenant are: 10
1. the same covenant-making God (beriti),
2. the same law (instruction - torati),
3. the same divine fellowship (“I will be your God”),
4. the same seed (‘‘You shall be my people ”), and
5. the same forgiveness.
Some new items are:
1. a universal knowledge of God(Jer. 31:34),
2. a universal peace in nature and in military hardware (Isa. 2:4; Ezek. 34:25; 37:26; Hos. 2:18),
3. a universal material prosperity (Isa. 61:8; Jer. 32:41; Ezek. 34:26–27; Hos. 2:22),
4. an age of the spirit and
5. a sanctuary to exist forever in the midst of Israel (Ezek. 37:26, 28).
We may conclude that the new covenant is a continuation of the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants
with the same single, promise doctrine sustained in them all. No features have been deleted except
perhaps the ceremonies and ordinances of the “old” Mosaic covenant whose phasing out was planned
for long ago as they were fulfilled in Jesus. Some of these reappear in the Millennium.
THE CHURCH AND THE NEW COVENANT: ACKNOWLEDGING OUR INDEBTEDNESS
We remember the words of the Messiah of Israel when He spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well,
“Salvation is from the Jews.” Jn 4:22 The New Covenant was spoken and made with His twelve Jewish
disciples. The Apostle Paul teaches us, the Gentiles, that we were without hope, a covenant or a promise
but through the Messiah of Israel we have been grafted into the rich Olive Tree and made to be joint
heirs with Israel. Rom 11:24; Eph 3:6 NIV Everything we Christians hold dear and precious we have
received through the Jewish people. With deep gratitude we acknowledge our indebtedness to our
Father for making us one with the Jewish people through His Son, the Messiah of Israel.11
10
11
Ibid.
Ibid. Marilyn Lake Griffin, Ministries of New Life.
BEING PREPARED – Covenants Lesson 7
SUMMARY
COVENANT
NAME
COVENANT
PROMISE
COVENANT SIGN
COVENANT
CONDITIONS
COVENANT
CONSEQUENCE
Unconditional
Discipline; not
rejection
• Dynasty
• A Son to Rule
• A Son to Build
Davidic
II Sam 7:8-17
• Kingdom now
• Chesed Love
Messiah
His eternal
Kingdom
Unilateral
(2 Sam 7:14, 15)
• Messiah Seed
• Kingdom forever
New Covenant
Jer 31:31
Acts 2:39
Ro 11:24
House of Israel &
House of Judah
Gentiles
Both Houses
New/Renewed
Law within
Spirit
Be their God
Be His people
Forgiveness
Matl blessings
Others …
Unleavened
Bread
Judgment
Mt 25:34f
Blood of Christ
Isa 53:4-12
Mt 26:39, 42
Spirit
Jn 16:13-15
Eph 1:13-14
Unconditional
Unilateral
According to
what we have
done
Rv 22:12
BEING PREPARED – Covenants Lesson 7
References:
1. Covenants: Marilyn Lake Griffin, Ministries of New Life.
http://mnewlife.org/files/Covenants.January13.2010_.pdf
2. The Eight Covenants of the Bible, Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, Ariel Ministries.
http://www.arielm.org/dcs/pdf/mbs021m.pdf
3. Larry Richards, Every Covenant and promise in the Bible
4. Introduction to the Biblical Covenants; The Noahic Covenant and the Priestly Covenant
5. The Old Promise and the New Covenant: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. Associate
Professor of Old Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Bannock-burn, Deerfield, Ill.
6. The Covenant of Grant and The Abrahamic Covenant, Tim Hegg. Read at the Regional
Evangelical Theological Society, 1989. Torahresource.com
7. The Typology of David’s Rise to Power: Messianic Patterns in the Book of Samuel , James M.
Hamilton Jr. , Julius Brown Gay Lecture. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
http://www.sbts.edu/documents/JBGay/the_typology_of_davids_rise_to_power2008-03101.pdf