Sabbath ThroughCovenantal EyesBy Kristin JacksonJanuary 27, 2002BackgroundBeginning in January 2001, I started very dedicated to Adventism to the point of view and I would not listen to my parents’ concerns. My hard heart began to soften to the point that I desired to understand the theme of covenants in Scripture since this was a reason why a number of prominent Adventists had left. I could not comprehend anyone leaving Adventism since it is such a tight knit community and the doctrinal truths seemed airtight. If this was something that challenged someone to reevaluate his or her SDA position I was willing to listen. After studying covenants out, I realized it had been something I had not seen before and was critical to putting the Sabbath in right perspective.My background defined the Sabbath as a day of rest; one in seven to worship on,rest in the afternoon and possibly get ice-cream on the way home from church in the evening. As a matter of fact, when I lived in the Midwest, a very conservative part of the U.S., Sunday was always honored and no stores were open. When we moved to the Northwest, there was a greater laxity regarding the day. After having ran into Jon and catching on to ‘Sabbath hikes,’ and ‘opening’ and ‘closing’ the Sabbath, I was fascinated since the Sabbath was a word I knew but clearly meant something unique to him. My mother was also working for a Jewish couple and that cultivated questions in my mind about their Saturday Sabbath. Needless to say I was curious. Jon and I had further talks about Deuteronomy. I was in that book for devotional reading and Jon mentioned how often the Lord says ifyou obey my commandments (including the Ten Commandments) you will be blessed and if not the result is a curse. His personal experience being that, as he grew older he couldn’t wait for the Sabbath to end and he eventually walked away from the Lord for a period of time. Yet, in coming back to the Lord the Sabbath had truly become a delight.MaryAnn had a similar testimony and she graciously gave me some pamphlets on the Sabbath in history, which revealed how Constantine played a role in changing the day of worship to Sunday and the Catholic Church changed times and laws by making Sunday the Christian day of Worship. Well, I went to my concordance on the counsel of Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Bostrom. I couldn’t believe the amount of times Israel had blown the Sabbath especially since that was the gauge as to how closely Israel was walking with God. I had to conclude I did not want to blow it either. I do not need to review any more of the bible studies, the Prophecy Seminar, Sabbath School discussions, and Ellen G. White books that transpired and thus expanded my understanding of Seventh Day Adventism truths to the point that I grasped them and got baptized. Mr. Bostrom in my pre-baptism meeting made it clear that when or if I discovered an Adventist doctrine not lining up with truththe doors were open for me to leave.So we fast-forward to January. My parent’s number one complaint was that I hadhastily gotten baptized and failed to study the other Evangelical side. I thought this to be a very weak argument, after all I had grown up in the church and I had a general understanding of what they would use to counter my newly found truths. After all Brian from Amazing Facts did a very good job of giving a defense to the typical cop-outs of Protestant Christians. I thought there couldn’t possibly be another argument that I didn’t have an answer for. I want to unfold for you what was presented to me when I finally started to listen. I saw a theme in Scripture that was not supporting the Sabbath Truth as set forth by Adventists and in light of that new information I could no longer continue down the Adventist path.IntroductionMy aim in writing this paper is to present my position on the Sabbath. I willbegin by giving the circumstances for how the New Testament church transitioned from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. After providing a background and establishing the significance of the Apostle Paul and his contribution to the understanding of Christian Doctrine, I will explain the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Then I will begin addressing common arguments Adventists have for observing the Sabbath. My purpose in going to this effort is very straightforward. I will attempt to present where the Adventist Church has misconceptions oncerning the Sabbath and Covenants. As a result the Adventist Church needs to seriously reevaluate their eschatology and method of evangelism. The Adventist Church has a conclusion that is based on the premise of certain arguments. I am not going to react to the conclusion, instead it is more effective to look at the foundation of their arguments and see whether they hold up under the scrutiny of Scripture.The Birthing of the New Testament ChurchThe Ascension was a pivotal time for the Disciples because it was the beginningof a transition. They went from watching Jesus’ Ministry, to taking the authority He had given them and began moving out to proclaim the year of Jubilee to all that were oppressed by the devil. Yet one key event had to take place first. Their strength would fail and their efforts would be ineffective without the anointing that Christ had promised them. In Luke 24:49, Jesus said, “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of my Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” In Acts 1: 4-5, Dr. Luke continues to explain the events that were about to happen that would shape Christianity forever. He said, “And gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised,“Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So they returned to Jerusalem and waited in the upper room. After ten days, Acts 2:1 says, “And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place,” and the Holy Spirit showed up and filled the 120 disciples. Peter, being anointed, gave a Sermon, the fruit of, which was3,000 who repented and joined the church. We are introduced to Stephen in Acts 6, of whom it was said, “was full of graceand power, was performing great wonders and signs among the peoples”(6:8). This is where Stephen encountered trouble with certain Jews, who argued with him, “yet they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking”(6:10) Yet “they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they come upon him and dragged him away, and brought him before the Council” (6:12). After hearing Stephen’s defense the Jews “cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears, and rushed upon him with one impulse” (7:57). They drove him out of the city, and began stoning him, and the witnesses laid their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul (7:58).The Apostle PaulPaul becomes a focal point because after being in “hearty agreement” with thestoning of Stephen (8:1), he began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and dragging off men and women, and put them in prison. Galatians 1:13-14 says, “For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure, and tried to destroy it; and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my ountrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.” In his defense before King Agrippa, Paul describes the measures he took against the Christians, “As I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities” (Acts 26:11). It is in this whirlwind of passionate pride that Jesus appears to Paul on the Road to Damascus. Jesus asked “Why are you persecuting Me?” “For this purpose I have appeared to you to appoint you a minister and a witness. . . delivering you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:14-18). In Galatians 2:9, it says, “And recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas (Peter) and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabasthe right hand of fellowship, that we might go to the Gentiles, and they to thecircumcised.” Paul was a brilliant man for he understood something that would contribute to his success in establishing churches. He would first go to the synagogues because the Jews met there. They were already prepared with the Old Testament writings and if upon accepting Christ as the Messiah, the synagogue itself would serve as a church building and reputable men were already in leadership positions. Interestingly, the terms elder or bishop and deacon were the titles given to those serving in the synagogue. The synagogue was not just the place to learn about the Law but was also a community center and in some cases provided rooms for travelers. Paul went to the synagogues in Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Thessalonica, Corinth, and Ephesus. Unfortunately, a pattern seemedto repeat itself. Paul would enter a city and the Jews would resist his message and on several occasions Paul had no choice but turn to the Gentiles who were responding. This method fulfilled Christ’s mandate to go to the Jews first then the Gentiles. However, Paul didn’t just go to the synagogue he went to where the people were. In Philipi, there was no synagogue so he went to the riverbank where people prayed. In Athens, he went to Mars Hill and debated with the Greeks.The First Missionary JourneyThus in 47-48 AD, Paul and Barnabas embarked upon their first missionaryjourney. They left their local church in Antioch and arrived in Pisidian Antioch. Paulwent into the synagogue on the Sabbath, and after speaking was begged to return. So he returned the next Sabbath, but when the Jews saw the crowd they were filled with jealousy and contradicted Paul’s words, so Paul declared that he would turn to the Gentiles. The Jews aroused the city to persecute Paul, so Paul went to Iconium next and the exact same scenario repeats itself. So he fled to Lystra, and the Jews from Antioch and Iconium followed him there, stoned him and supposed he died. Paul miraculously lived and was crazy enough to return to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, to set in elders for the churches. (Please refer to the map).Upon returning, from the missionary journey to his local church in Antioch, Paulencountered men who came from Judea and who said, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them. One can only imagine why, here Paul had nearly died at the hand of Jews in three cities and when the crowd was responding to the gospel the Jews made sure to put a stop to it by bringing chaos. For Jewish Christians to say it was necessary to be circumcised was a symptom of a religious spirit and brought a distortion to the gospel message. These were two things that Paul and Barnabas were not going to tolerate.The Council of JerusalemIn 48 AD, Paul and Barnabas were sent by the elders of Antioch to settle thematter in Jerusalem, the local church of the men from Judea. Upon arrival, they shared with the church what God had done through them. However, Act 15:5 says, “Certain ones of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed, stood up, saying, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them, and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.’”Peter stood up and said, “And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them[Gentiles], giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made nodistinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now thereforewhy do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples ayoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believethat we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same ways as theyalso are” (Acts 15:7-11) James proceeded to make a judgement based on the Old Testament Scripture in Amos 9:12 that the Tabernacle of David would be rebuilt, ‘In order that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name.’ Therefore the Holy Spirit, Apostles, elders, Paul and Barnabas determined to lay upon the Gentiles no greater burden than these essentials: “That you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things you will do well” (Acts 15:28). This letter was sent back to the church in Antioch as well as to Syria and Cilicia. (Please refer to the map). Acts 15:31 says, “Andwhen they read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.”The Book of GalatiansIt was between 49-50 AD, that Paul wrote the Book of Galatians, The Book ofChristian Liberty. Galatia was not a single church but all the churches of the Asia Minor. (Please refer to the map). This was the region Paul entered on his first missionary journey in 47-48 AD. When he had left the conflict between the Jews and Gentiles was black and white. They ended up compromising the two by mixing Christianity and Judaism. Paul confronts the hybrid of legalism and Christianity for it was no longer the gospel of ‘good news.’ Christianity did not improve it only became distorted. Nature provides us with examples of the startling results of when the offspring of genetically dissimilar parents, both in the plant or animal kingdom, are brought together to create a new species. The product is not better than the original, but is instead a distorted mess (Hubbard). This was the purpose for the Council of Jerusalem, “Should we allow Judaism to pollute and distort the gospel?” Paul emphatically states, It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. (Galatians 5:1-4)Fallen is a word picture of someone in the ocean hanging onto a piece of wood and the buoyancy of the wood keeps them afloat. Fallen is letting go and sinking to die a spiritual death as a result of becoming enslaved. In Galatians 1:8, Paul pronounces an irrevocable curse on anyone who changes the intent of the gospel in its purity. He feared they were no longer Christian churches. Paul opens his letter as if in bewilderment:I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by thegrace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there aresome who are disturbing you, and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But eventhough we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary tothat which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:6,7,9)Paul makes three main points in Galatians: (1) To deal with the effects ofJudaism; (2) To shows a contrast between law and grace; and finally (3) To contrast freedom and slavery (Hubbard). Paul and Peter were given the grace to give the gospel to two different people groups. Antioch was a Gentile church that did not have any legalism and when Peter was visiting, he enjoyed their church life until other Jewish brothers came from Jerusalem and began watching him. This caused Peter to back off and even caused Barnabas to back away. Galatians 2:11 is the only account mentioned in the New Testament of Paul’s confrontation with Peter. Peter and Barnabas would rather be a hypocrite then maintain liberty. Paul calls it hypocrisy to separate from the Gentiles, since now it does not matter who you are. Galatians 3:28-29 says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek. . .And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”For centuries, if anyone wanted to be apart of the covenantal community of Israel,the first rite of entry was the sign of circumcision and the perpetual sign was observing the weekly Sabbaths. Paul repeatedly addressed how circumcision did not justify, and he did not fail to mention the same concerning observing all the Sabbaths (Days are weekly Sabbaths; months, New Moons; seasons, Feasts; and years, Jubilees).In Galatians 4:9-11, Paul says, But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain. Paul dogmatically refuted the system of Judaism, the religious codes, actions and creeds and fearlessly confronted those heading down that road. Those were the very things which drove him to become a zealous Pharisee set on annihilating the truth. He had been perfectly convinced he was right, parading about with a religious spirit. That time of his life became the very thing that he was the most ashamed of. I Corinthians 15:9 says, “For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” This is why he fearlessly confronted those who were not straightforward with the gospel. The next point Paul made was to show a contrast between law and grace.Galatians 2:16 says, “A man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus.” This was a culture shock for any Jew to read, for all their life they had been taught to kept the Law to earn God’s approval and work for their salvation. Paul called legalism a form of ‘walking in the flesh’ because it is self-centered and selfpleasing, putting trust in what your physical nature can do. Legalism puts the focus on you, but if we already look good in front of God through what Jesus did; we no longer have to focus on ourselves. To ‘walk in the spirit’ brings this change in perspective and frees us to focus on and love other people. Galatians 5: 13-14 says, “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn you freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”For example, Jesus told the story of how a religious spirit can hinder a personfrom helping those in need. In the story of the Good Samaritan, in Luke 10:30-37, a Jew had been robbed, beaten, and was left to die. Luckily, a priest passed by the dying Jew, but instead of stopping to help, the priest left him. Likewise, a Levite also passed along the road but kept going. Finally, a Samaritan had compassion and at his own expense nursed the Jew back to health. The Good Samaritan was not concerned about ritual purity and was therefore free to help someone.The final point of Galatians is a contrast between freedom and slavery. Galatians3 becomes the most crucial chapter in the New Testament to explain the purpose,jurisdiction and length of the Law. Verse 24 says it was a tutor to lead us to Christ and verse 16 says it was in effect until Christ should come. The Law had very specific guidelines and if you step out of line, ‘whack,’ plagues, or ‘whack,’ locusts consume. The point is to love and obey Christ and not be afraid of being slapped when you get out of line. There is only one thing that will cover the nakedness and that is Christ. The importance of Paul’s letter was to show how easy it is to corrupt the gospel with elements of human effort. For example, if we evangelize people because we do not want them to go to hell, you will be blessed, but if we evangelize people because you want to earn merit with God then you will miss the mark. Therefore, the motivation should always be love. Thus this transition time between understanding and observing the Old Covenant and coming to the realization and implications of the New Covenant brought a tremendous amount of upheaval for everyone. It took the Holy Spirit illuminating the minds of the Apostles and the Jews who were stuck in an Old Testament frame of reference. God had to give them a new perspective. We see this in the life of Paul, once the scales fell from his eyes he went from just having received permission to storm Damascus to the very one convincing the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. Acts 9:22 says,“But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.” It was a miracle for the veil to be striped from off his mind, yet in doing so God strategically used Paul’s depth of knowledge of the Scriptures to contribute to the foundation of Christian doctrine. He wrote thirteen, possibly fourteen, books of the New Testament, which is half.The Covenants Defined Now that the stage has been set as far as understanding New Testament times, I want to explain the term covenants. A covenant is a binding a solemn agreement made between two or more individual parties; a promise (Martin). In ancient times covenants were made between a ruling party and the ruled party. Dale Ratzlaff explains, “It has been shown that the covenants God made with His people closely follow the structure of the ancient, Near East treaty covenant documents” (28). They always contained three parts: Promises, Conditions, and a Sign or Seal. The Covenant spelled out what the rulerwould do based on whether those he ruled fulfilled their part of the bargain. The Sign was placed at the very center of the document and became a gauge as to how dedicated the ruled party was to the covenant: The ruled party was to keep or display the sign of the covenant as a symbol of their obedience to the covenant stipulations. Failure to do so would be considered by the suzerain [ruling party] a sign of rebellion and called for drastic consequences. (Ratzlaff, 28)Noahic Covenant The first example of this type of covenant is seen between God and Noah in Genesis 9:9-10: “Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle and every beast of the earth with you.” God actually made it with all mankind and all the animals. God made a Promise in verse 11, “And I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.” The Condition is presented in verses 3-4,“Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.” The Sign of the covenant was the rainbow, described in verses 12 –13, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and with you, for all successive generations; Iset My bow in the cloud, between Me and the earth.The Abrahamic CovenantThe next significant covenant God made was with Abraham. Genesis 12:2-3says, “And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your namegreat; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the onewho curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”Later in Genesis 17:1-8 we see the covenant format:Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram andsaid to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. And I willestablish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply youexceedingly.” And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, “Asfor Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of amultitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your nameshall be Abraham; For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.16And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, andkings shall come forth from you. And I will establish My covenant between Meand you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for aneverlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. And Iwill give you and your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings,all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”BELIEF was the only real Condition for Abraham to receive these promises. The Sign isfound verses10-11:This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and yourdescendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. And youshall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be the sign of thecovenant between Me and you.The Nation of IsraelWe must realize that “deliverance from Egypt was a fulfillment of God’s promiseto Abraham, based on grace, faith and obedience and intern Israel experienced theblessings of the Abrahamic Covenant” (Conner, Covenants, 41). It was always God’sdesire to walk with the whole nation of Israel as he had done individually with Abraham,in a walk of faith and trust. Just as Abraham’s heart was tested by having to sacrifice hisson so “God took [Israel] from Egypt into the Wilderness to prove them and to knowwhat was in their heart (Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 15-16). Between Egypt and Sinai God gavethem four tests of faith and obedience. In each case they failed. They failed at the test ofthe Red Sea (Exodus 14:10-12, 31). They failed at the test of the waters of Marah(Exodus 15:23-26). They failed at the Wilderness of Sin (Exodus16:1-12) and they alsofailed at the test of Rephidim (Exodus17:1-7)” (Conner, Convenants, 41). In each eventIsrael grumbled, quarreled, and cried out.17The Old CovenantDue to the fact that Israel did not trust God and were a stiff necked and rebelliousgroup, we can see the context for God moving to very detailed structure of ‘does anddon’ts.’ As a result of Israel’s transgressions, they dropped from the ground of grace toworks and this fall necessitated that God make a different covenant with Israel 430 yearsafter God’s covenant with Abraham. There are several scriptures that say what the OldCovenant is. The Old Covenant is also called the Mosaic or Siniatic Covenant. Theterms covenant and testament have the same meaning.And when He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gaveMoses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger ofGod. (Exodus 31:18)So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eatbread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, theTen Commandments. (Exodus 34:28)So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you toperform, that is the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets ofstone. (Deuteronomy 4:13)When I went up to the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tabletsof the covenant with the Lord had made with you. (Deuteronomy 9:9)And it came about at the end of forty days and nights that the Lord gaveme the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. (Deuteronomy 9:11)So I turned and came down from the mountain while the mountain wasburning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.(Deuteronomy 9:15)There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Mosesput there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, whenthey came out of the land of Egypt. (I Kings 8:9)And there I have set a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of theLord, which He made with our fathers when He brought them from the land ofEgypt. (I Kings 8:21)“These verses state unequivocally that the covenant between God and Israel which wasmade at Sinai was the Ten Commandments. This truth is underlined by the fact that theTen Commandments were kept in the “ark of the covenant” (Ratzlaff, 34).Then He [Moses] took the testimony and put it in the ark” (Exodus 40:20).18Then I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tablets in theark which I had made; and there they are, as the Lord commanded me. At thattime the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of theLord, to stand before the Lord to serve Him and to bless in His name until thisday. (Deuteronomy 10:5, 8)Adventists would say that the Ten Commandments are eternal or werepreexisting, yet if they were eternal then how can they be ADDED as Galatians 3:19says. They were also not around for Abraham to keep since they came 430 years after helived. Adventists also say that because the Ten Commandments are the Moral lawswritten by the finger of God, they are to be kept while the rest of the Ceremonial andCivil laws, hand written by Moses, have passed through the cross. However, the TenCommandments cannot be separated from the rest of the Law. It is one inclusivecovenant beginning with the Ten Commandments and expanded in the other books of thePentateuch. The following are examples of how the Ten Commandments are explainedand applied in the ‘expanded version’ of that covenant:1. No other gods:Sacrifice to another god (Ex.22:20)Not worship any other (Ex. 34:14)I am the Lord your God (Lev. 20:24)Fear the Lord your God (Deut. 10:12)2. Not worship idols:Not make idols (Lev. 26:1)Never forgiven for (Deut. 29:17-21)Makes God angry (Deut 32:21)Do not turn to (Lev. 19:4)3. Not profane God’s name:Visit iniquity to four generations (Ex. 34:7)Not profane My holy name (Lev. 22:32)Put to death for profaning (Lev. 24:16)Put to death for cursing God (Lev. 24:10-13)4. Remember the Sabbath
erpetual covenant (Ex.31:13)19Put to death for violation (Ex. 31:14)Violator to be “cut off” (Ex. 31:14)Not kindle a fire on (Ex. 35:3)Keep evening to evening (Lev. 23:32)5. Honor father and mother
eath penalty for cursing parents (Ex. 21:17)Death penalty for hitting father (Ex. 21:15)Reverence father and mother (Lev. 19:3)Rebellious to parents (Deut. 21:18-21)6. Not kill:Killed in a quarrel and fist fight (Ex. 21;18)Killed by beating with a rod (Ex. 21:20)Killed by ox, first offense (Ex. 21:28)Killed by ox, several offenses (Ex. 21:29)7. Not commit adultery:With another man’s wife (Lev. 20: 10)With father’s wife (Lev. 20:11)With daughter-in-law (Lev. 20:12)A number of situations (Lev. 18:16-30)8. Not steal:Steals an ox (Ex. 22:1)Thief caught while breaking in (Ex. 22:2-4)Animal grazing in neighbor’s field (Ex. 22:5)Thief not caught until later (Ex. 22:8)9. Not bear false witness:Lied and sworn falsely (Lev. 6:3-8)Swears thoughtlessly (Lev. 5:4)Not give false report (Ex. 23:1)10. Not covet:Not covet gold on destroyed idols (Deut. 7:25)Not covet the land (Ex. 34:24)(Ratzlaff, 36-37)The Promises of the covenant can be found in Exodus and Deuteronomy.In Exodus 19:4-6, God says,You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you oneagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. Now then if you will indeed obey My20voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all thepeoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priestsand a holy nation.’The Conditions of the covenant were a total of 613 commandments to which theIsraelites heartily accepted; as a matter of fact three times they said, “All that the Lordhas spoken we will do!” (Ex. 19:7-8; Ex. 24:3; Ex. 24:7). One very important point is thatthese Covenant requirements were not placed upon former generations, it began in Sinai.Deuteronomy 5:3 says, The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, butwith us, with all those of us alive here today. Romans 9: 4-5 describes what was givento the Israelites, “to whom belongs the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenantsand the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises.” This covenantwas made with the sons of Israel as the following verses illustrate:Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, “You shall surely observe Mysabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations.(Ex. 31:13)So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbaththroughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.’ It is a sign between Meand the sons of Israel forever. (Ex. 31:16-17)Then Moses summoned all Israel, and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, thestatues and the ordinances which I am speaking today in your hearing…The Lordour God made a covenant with us at Horeb. The Lord did not make this covenantwith our fathers, but with us, with all those of us alive here today. (Deut. 5:1-3)The Sign of this covenant was the Sabbath.So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbaththroughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me andthe sons of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but onthe seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed. (Ex. 31:16-17)And also I gave them My sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, thatthey might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. (Ez. 20:12)“In the Hebrew Bible if one counts the words of the Ten Commandments he will find thecentral phrase is ‘remember the sabbath day to keep it holy.’ As the sign of the covenant21was placed in the very center of the ancient Near East treaty documents, so the Sabbath,as the sign of the Sinaitic Covenant, rightfully finds its place in the very center of the TenCommandments” (Ratzlaff, 38).Paul describes this Old Covenant in negative terms in 2 Corinthians 3 as one thatkills (3:6), a ministry of death and is fading (3:7), a ministry of condemnation (3:9) andwhen read a veil lies over their eyes (3:14). However, God made this Mosaic, LawCovenant with Israel for a Divine purpose. The following are twelve aspects of theDivine purpose taken from Kevin Conner’s book The Covenants:1. To set forth the Divine standard of righteousness (Psalm 19:7-10; Romans 7:12-14).2. To give a clear external definition of sin because of the inadequacy of man’sconscience (Romans 3:20; 7:7; I John 3:4).3. To show Israel the exceeding sinfulness and deceitfulness of sin (Romans 7:11-13;Galatians 3:19).4. To expose to all men their guilt before God (Romans 3:19).5. To preserve the nation of Israel and the chosen Messianic seed line from totalcorruption by other nations (Gal 3:19).6. To shut Israel up as a nation “in custody” under a schoolmaster and thus prepare themfor Christ’s coming (Galatians 3:22-25; 4:1-3).7. To illustrate the two major ways of God’s dealings with man, which are seen inperfect balance in His own being; Law and Grace (John 1:17).8. To foreshadow and typify all the truths of grace and redemption in the ceremoniallaw, and to typify the person and the work of Christ (Romans 2:20; Hebrews 10:1;Colossians 2:17).9. To provide in the ceremonial law a temporary atonement (covering) for sin by whichIsrael could approach God in worship and upon the basis of which He could dwell intheir midst (Hebrews 9-10).10. To illustrate more fully and clearly in visible and temporal form of the elementsinvolved in covenantal revelation (Romans 2:20).11. To show all the world that none can be justified (made righteous by the Law), butonly through grace and faith (Romans 3:19-22; 9:30-32; 10:1-6; Galatians 3:10-16).12. To show that the Law Covenant could not give life, but that only the New Covenant“in Christ” could (Galatians 3:12 with Leviticus 18:5). (42)The New CovenantWe can see in Israel’s history that they repeatedly broke their covenant with God.The Babylonian captivity was a result of breaking the Sabbath. It wasn’t until Israel22broke the covenant that God told His prophets, like Jeremiah, that He was going to makea new covenant.Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a newcovenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I tookthem by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which theybroke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel afterthose days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them, and on theirheart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man hisbrother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least ofthem 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)Paul illustrates how the New Covenant was typified in the Old Testament:1. In Abraham’s Two SonsIn Galatians 4:21-31 Paul used the two sons of Abraham as an allegory to explaintheir representation of two covenants Ishmael (Genesis 16) represented the MosaicCovenant of law and works Isaac (Genesis 21,22) represented the New Covenant ofgrace and faith. When Isaac was weaned it became apparent that Ishmael could notbe the heir of the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 21). This foreshadowed that theMosaic Covenant would be fulfilled and abolished when the New Covenant wasratified (Hebrews 10:9, 16, 17).2. In Moses’ LawIn II Corinthians 3, Paul illustrated how the Mosaic Covenant was typical of the NewCovenant. The words of the Old Covenant were written in two tables of stone, andthough glorious, they were to be done away with. This pointed to the words of theNew Covenant which was written on the two tablets of the heart and mind. These aremore glorious and are to last forever (Exodus 20; 31:18; Hebrews 8:6-13; 10:16,17).3. In Marriage LawsIn Romans 7:1-4 Paul illustrated how the Old Covenant marriage laws typified thetransfer from the Mosaic Covenant to the New Covenant. Israel was married at MtSinai on the basis of the Mosaic Covenant. This marriage ended in divorce by reasonof adultery (Jeremiah 3:1-14; 31:31-34; Isaiah 50:1). Because of the death andresurrection involved in the New Covenant Israel may now be joined to Christ in anew marriage.4. In CircumcisionIn Romans 4 Paul referred to Abraham’s being justified by faith, whileuncircumcised, as an example of the Gentiles, the Uncircumcision, being justified byfaith under the New Covenant. He also referred to the Jews, who were theCircumcision, under the Mosaic Covenant, as being justified by faith also under theNew Covenant. Therefore, by reason of the New Covenant, Abraham is the father ofall who believe, whether Jew or Gentile, Circumcision of Uncircumcision.23Now the true Jew is one who has experienced the spiritual circumcision of the heart,whether he be Jew or Gentile (Romans 2:24-29; Philippians 3:3). (Conner,Covenants, 70-71).All the covenants foreshadowed how Jesus would be the fulfillment. The prophets saidthat the Lord Jesus Christ is the New Covenant personified.“I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I will also hold you bythe hand and watch over you, and I will appoint you as a covenant to the people,as a light to the nations.To open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and thosewho dwell in darkness from the prison. (Isaiah 42:6-7)And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be HisServant, to bring Jacob back to Him, in order that Israel might be gathered toHim (For I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and My God is My strength),He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raiseup the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also makeYou a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and its Holy One, To thedespised One, to the One abhorred by the nation, to the Servant of rulers, “Kingsshall see and arise, Princes shall also bow down; because of the Lord who isfaithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”Thus says the Lord, “In a favorable time I have answered You, and in aday of salvation I have helped You; and I will keep You and give You for acovenant of the people, to restore the land, to make them inherit the desolateheritages. (Isaiah 49:5-8)Romans 15:8 says, “For I say that Christ has become a servant to thecircumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers.”We see that there are many blessings and Promises that come with the New Covenant,but the most important is the salvation of the soul. Salvation means, “safety, security,preservation, deliverance and wholeness” (Conner, Covenants, 73). Jesus is the Savior ofthe world as John 4:42 says, “And they were saying to the woman, ‘It is no longerbecause of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know thatthis One is indeed the Savior of the world.’” Also, Acts 13:23 says, “From theoffspring of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior,Jesus.”24The following are words we hear in relation to salvation and are possible as aresult of Christ’s ministry and are available for those who believe.1) Pardon – the forgiveness and remission of the penalty of sin (Acts 10:43; 13:36-39). Jesus forgave sins (Luke 7:36-50; Matthew 9:2; Mark 2:5) and broughtsalvation to sinners (Luke 19:1-10). The Old Covenant simply covered forgivensin while the New Covenant provides cleansing of forgiven sin (I John 1:5-9).2) Justification – the pronouncing just, a declaration of righteousness and rightstanding before God through Christ (Romans 5:1; 3:24-26). By the works of theLaw, the Mosaic Covenant, none could be justified (Romans 3:19-20; Acts 15:8-11). The New Covenant makes possible justification by faith in an accomplishedwork.3) Regeneration – by which one is born again into the family of God and call God“Father” (John 3:1-5; Matthew 6:9; I Peter 1:23). Under the Old Covenant nonecould be born again, but the New Covenant makes possible the miracle of the newbirth.4) Assurance – whereby one has the witness of the Spirit that he is secure inobedience to the Word of God (Hebrews 5:8-9; 6:10-12; 10:38-39; I John 3:19).The Old Covenant believers never had the blessed assurance that New Covenantbelievers are given.5) Sanctification – whereby one is set apart unto the Lord and His holy service anduse (John 17:17; I Thessalonians 5:23-24; Ephesians 5:26-27). The Old Covenantbelievers generally did not experience the blessing of sanctification madeavailable for every believer under the New Covenant.6) Adoption – whereby one is placed as a son in the family of God (Romans 8:15,23; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:13-14). By this act we are set in as maturemembers of the family of God and Jesus is the Firstborn among a vast family ofbrethren (Matthew 11:46-50; Romans 8:29). The Old Covenant believers neverexperienced this sonship as do New Covenant believers.7) Glorification – to render or esteem glorious, honorable, or magnify.Glorification is the final work of redemption in the perfected saints. Men fellfrom the glory of God when he sinned under the Edenic Covenant (Romans 3:23).The New Covenant makes provision for the believer from justification toglorification (Romans 8:17:30). Old Covenant saints saw and experienced insmall measure the glory of God, His majesty and brightness. The New Covenantbrings the believer into the fullness of the glory of God (John 17:22-24; IICorinthians 3:18). (Conner, Covenants, 73-74).The Conditions of the New Covenant are Repentance, Faith, and Obedience.Repentance is a changing of the mind and turning to God and is the first step to be incovenantal relationship with God. John the Baptist had a message of repentance,Matthew 3:1-18, as did Jesus. In Matthew 4:17 it says, “From that time Jesus began to25preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Peter spoke ofrepentance as the initial step on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:37-38. Paul preachedrepentance as well in Acts 17:30 and in Acts 26:20-21.Faith is the next step and “becomes the channel through which the covenantbenefits are received” and “is the attitude in which the covenant must be held” (Conner,Covenants, 80).Mark 1:15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand;repent and believe in the gospel.”Acts 20:21 “solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentancetoward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.”Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for hewho comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those whoseek Him.”Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and thatnot of ourselves, it is the gift of God.”Acts 16:31 “Believe in the Lord, Jesus, and you shall be saved, you andyour household.”
