Deu 4:13 And he declared unto you
his covenant, which he commanded
you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two
tables of stone.
Num 10:33 And they departed from the mount of the LORD three days'
journey: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them in
the three days' journey, to search out a resting place for them.
1 Sam 4:5 And when the
ark of the covenant of the LORD came into
the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang
again.
Heb 9:4 Which had the golden censer, and the
ark of the covenant
overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna,
and Aaron's rod that budded, and the
tables of the covenant;
So the Ten Commandments written on stone were called
the tables of
testimony, and
the tables of the covenant, and the ark that
contained them was called the ark of the testimony, and
the ark of
the covenant. Note these next verses closely:
Isa 8:16 Bind up the
testimony, seal the law
[towrah - H8451] among my disciples.
Isa 8:20 To the law [towrah - H8451] and to the
testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because
there is no light in them.
What is the
testimony spoken of in the above two verses?
The testimony sealed among the disciples of God in Isaiah 8:16 is the Ten
Commandments, the Law of God written on two tablets and contained in the
Ark of the Testimony. So according to Isaiah 8:20 anyone who speaks not
according to the Ten Commandments of God has no light in them.
Note also the following:
Deu 5:12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God
hath commanded thee.
Deu 5:13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:
Deu 5:14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God:
Deu 6:6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in
thine heart:
Deu 6:8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign [seal] upon thine hand,
and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
Now the word "sign" in Deu 6:8 is owth:H226, which means mark or sign:
226. 'owth, oth; prob. from H225 in the sense of appearing; a signal lit. or fig., as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence,
etc.:--mark, miracle, en- sign, token.
And sign is synonymous with seal:
Rom 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the
righteousness of the faith ...
So clearly the Law of God, the Ten Commandments are to be a sign, or seal,
in the hearts and minds of His people.
The Old Covenant was a promise by the people of Israel to keep the
letter
of God's Law, and the mediator of the Old Covenant was Moses:
Exo 19:8 And all the people answered together, and
said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words
of the people unto the LORD.
After the terms of the covenant were agreed to by the people
of God, the covenant was solemnly inaugurated by the sprinkling of blood of
sacrificed animals:
Exo 24:5 And he [Moses] sent young men of the children of
Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of
oxen unto the LORD.
Exo 24:6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of
the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
Exo 24:7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of
the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be
obedient.
Exo 24:8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said,
Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you
concerning all these words.
Exo 24:9 Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the
elders of Israel:
Exo 24:10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it
were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in
his clearness.
Exo 24:11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his
hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.
Heb 9:18 Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated
without blood.
Heb 9:19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to
all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of
goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the
book, and all the people,
Heb 9:20 Saying, This is
the blood of the testament which God hath
enjoined unto you.
Note that to confirm the covenant, there was a meal on mount
Sinai attended by representatives of Israel. The blood of the testament signaled that the covenant with
God was now in effect, and both parties were bound by its terms. The terms
of the Old Covenant were the Law of God, obedience by Israel to the Ten
Commandments, the two tables of stone inscribed by God with His Law, and
kept in the Ark of the Covenant.
How did the Old Covenant fail?
Deu 5:27 Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God
shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto
thee; and we will hear it, and do it.
Deu 5:28 And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me;
and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people,
which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have
spoken.
Deu 5:29
O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear
me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and
with their children for ever!
Deu 31:16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt
sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after
the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and
will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
Rom 9:31 But Israel, which followed after the law of
righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
Rom 9:32 Wherefore? Because
they sought it not by faith, but as it were
by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
Rom 9:33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock
of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
The Old Covenant is called by Paul the ministration of death
and condemnation: The New Covenant is the ministration of the
spirit, and the ministration of righteousness:
2 Cor 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new
testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but
the spirit giveth life.
2 Cor 3:7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones,
was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the
face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done
away:
2 Cor 3:8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
2 Cor 3:9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth
the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
How is the New Covenant different?
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of
many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time
without sin unto salvation.
Heb 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the
very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered
year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Heb 10:2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the
worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
Heb 10:3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins
every year.
Heb 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should
take away sins.
The animal sacrifices under the Old Covenant were mere
symbols of the yet to be sacrificed lamb of God, whose sacrifice, death, and
shed blood would inaugurate the New Covenant. The New Covenant is also made
with Israel:
Heb 8:6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent
ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which
was established upon better promises.
Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no
place have been sought for the second.
Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come,
saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and
with the house of Judah:
Heb 8:9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers
in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of
Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not,
saith the Lord.
Heb 8:10
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house
of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their
mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they
shall be to me a people:
Heb 8:11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his
brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the
greatest.
Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their
sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Heb 10:14
For by one offering he hath perfected for
ever them that are sanctified.
Heb 10:15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after
that he had said before,
Heb 10:16
This is the covenant that I will make with them after
those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in
their minds will I write them;
Heb 10:17
And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
Heb 10:18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering
for sin.
Heb 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the
holiest by the blood of Jesus,
Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us,
through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
Heb 10:21 And having an high priest over the house of God;
Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of
faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies
washed with pure water.
Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without
wavering; for he is faithful that promised;
Rom 11:27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall
take away their sins.
The terms or substance of the New Covenant are the same as
that of the Old Covenant, obedience to the Ten Commandments. However, the
New Covenant is a better promise, a promise by God to write His laws into
the hearts and minds of the people of Israel, and to remember their sins no
more.
The Last Will and Testament of Jesus Christ
When did the New Covenant go into effect and who is the
mediator?
Heb 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Heb 9:15 And for this cause he [Jesus] is the mediator of
the new testament, that by means of [His] death, for the redemption of the
transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called
might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Heb 9:16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death
of the testator.
Heb 9:17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of
no strength at all while the testator liveth.
The New Covenant came into effect with the sacrifice,
shedding of blood, and death of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. As this
Testament of Jesus Christ was put into effect by His death, the terms of the
Testament cannot be changed by anyone after that.
Gal 3:15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though
it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or
addeth thereto.
A covenant, testament or will cannot be changed by anyone
once the testator has died. Paul in Hebrews 9 is saying that the New
Covenant is the last will and testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, and as such it is not subject to alteration or annulment of its
terms Gal 3:15. The terms of the New Covenant, in effect from the moment
of the death of Jesus, and not subject to change by anyone, are the Ten
Commandments of God.
The Ark of the Covenant / Ark of the
Testimony contained the substance or terms of both covenants, the Ten
Commandments. It is impossible
that the Sabbath commandment could be changed, that Sunday could replace the
Sabbath in the New Covenant, after
the death of Jesus on the cross! To attempt to change the terms of a last
will or testament after the death of the testator is illegal and fraudulent
in any court of law.
Consider this. The purpose of a last will and testament is to reveal the
names of those who will inherit. The last will and testament of Jesus
Christ therefore includes a list of beneficiaries or inheritors. What do
they inherit? Eternal life and the
kingdom of
God. This list or
testament is also called the Lamb's book of life!
Phil 4:3, Rev 3:5, Rev 13:8, Rev 17:8
Now think about this. When in scripture is
the last will and testament of Jesus Christ opened and read, so that the
inheritors can all be identified? Here is the clue. In the ancient Roman
world, a will a Praetorian Testament was sealed with the seals of
seven witnesses to attest to
the validity of the will. See
Dictionary of Greek and Roman
Antiquities, edited By William Smith, LL. D., Second Edition, Boston,
Little, Brown, & Company, 1870,
entry on Testamentum,
pg. 1117.
A praetor was a Roman magistrate, a judge.
When Jesus was examined by Pilate this was done in the praetorium or
judgment hall John 18:28,33; 19:9,
which is also where He was mocked and given a crown of thorns Matt 27:27;
Mark 15:16.
Yes! The last will and testament of Jesus Christ is the scroll with seven
seals in Revelation 5:1 - 8:1! It could only be opened by the mediator of
the New Covenant, Jesus Christ Himself. While it is being read, the
investigative judgment is still underway. When the reading of the will
concludes, probation for humanity comes to an end because
all those who will inherit have been
identified.
The cup of the Lord's supper is an acceptance of this
New
Covenant.
Mat 26:27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it
to them, saying,
Drink ye all of it;
Mat 26:28
For this is my blood of the new testament,
which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
So when you partake of communion, you are expressing faith in
Jesus Christ as your saviour, an acceptance of the New Covenant, to let God
write His law in your heart and mind Heb 10:16. By doing so, you are added
to the list of beneficiaries in the last will and testament of Jesus Christ,
the Lamb's Book of Life. You might just say we are
sealed by this New Covenant as a child of God.
[NIV] Gal 4:24 These things may be taken figuratively,
for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and
bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar.
Gal 4:25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to
the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.
Hagar
represents works righteousness, a failed attempt at justification by keeping the law
by the flesh, by human effort, apart from God, not by faith.
Gal 4:26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and
she is our mother.
Gal 4:30 But what does the Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman
and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance
with the free woman's son."
Gal 4:31 Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman,
but of the free woman.
Gal 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm,
then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Gal 5:2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be
circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.
Gal 5:3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised
that he is obligated to obey the whole law.
Gal 5:4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated
from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
The free woman Sarah represents righteousness by faith,
faith in Jesus Christ, who kept the law perfectly for us, and shed his blood
to satisfy the demand that the sinner's blood be shed.
Gal 5:5 But by faith we eagerly await through the
Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.
Gal 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision
has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through
love.
So it is not the law that is cast out with the Old Covenant,
rather there is a change in how the law is viewed - in the New Covenant, the
Law of God is internalized by His people:
2 Cor 3:3 You show that you are a letter from Christ,
the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the
living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
2 Cor 3:4 Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.
2 Cor 3:5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for
ourselves, but our competence comes from God.
2 Cor 3:6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not
of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives
life.
2 Cor 3:7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved
in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look
steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was,
2 Cor 3:8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?
So the New Covenant differs in that it is not a covenant with
God to keep the letter of the law written in stone, but a Covenant of faith, a
faith that is automatically obedient to the spirit and will of God as
expressed in His Law. A true faith does not view God's Law as a burden to be
kept externally, but an expression of love to be taken into the obedient heart
and mind.
The only difference in the New Covenant, as shown above, is
that the Law of God is now written in the hearts and minds of God's true
people, the people of faith who express their love of God by obedience to
God's Law:
Matt 5:19 KJV 19 Whosoever therefore shall
break one of these least commandments
[entole:G1785],
and shall teach men so, he shall be called the
least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the
same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Matt 15:3-6 KJV
3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do
ye also transgress the commandment
[entole:G1785]
of God by your tradition?
4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy
father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the
death.
5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his
father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be
profited by me;
6 And honour not his father or his mother, he
shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment
[entole:G1785]
of God of none effect by your tradition.
Mat 19:16 KJV And, behold, one came and said unto him,
Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
Mat 19:17 And he said unto him,
Why callest thou me
good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into
life, keep the commandments.[entole:G1785]
Mat 19:18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said,
Thou
shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal,
Thou shalt not bear false witness,
Mat 19:19
Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mark 7:8-9 KJV
8
For laying aside the commandment
[entole:G1785]
of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and
many other such like things ye do.
9
And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment
[entole:G1785]
of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
Mark 10:19 KJV Thou knowest the
commandments [entole:G1785], Do not commit
adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not,
Honour thy father and mother.
Luke 18:20 KJV Thou knowest the
commandments [entole:G1785], Do not commit
adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy
father and thy mother.
Based on the above parallel verses in Matthew, Mark, and Luke,
it seems clear that every instance of [entole:G1785] cited below in the New
Testament refers specifically to the 10 Commandments of God:
John 14:15 KJV
If ye love me,
keep my commandments [entole:G1785].
.
John 14:21 KJV
He that hath my commandments
[entole:G1785],
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth
me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him,
and will manifest myself to him.
John 15:10 KJV
If ye keep my commandments
[entole:G1785],
ye shall abide in my love; even as I
have kept my Father's commandments [entole:G1785],
and abide in his love.
1 John 5:2 KJV By this we know that we love the children of God,
when we love God, and keep his commandments [entole:G1785].
1 John 5:3 KJV For this is the love of God, that we keep his
commandments [entole:G1785]: and his commandments [entole:G1785] are not
grievous.
2 John 1:6 KJV And this is love, that we walk after his commandments
[entole:G1785]. This is the commandment [entole:G1785], That, as ye have
heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
Rev 12:17 KJV And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to
make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the
commandments [entole:G1785] of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Rev 14:12 KJV Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that
keep the commandments [entole:G1785] of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Rev 22:14 KJV Blessed are they that do his commandments
[entole:G1785], that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter
in through the gates into the city.
The Ten Commandments of God are to be written in the hearts
and minds of His people The New Covenant in verity, the very seal of God on
His people, and that includes the seventh day Saturday Sabbath
commandment.
Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my
laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them
a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Heb 10:16 This is the covenant that I will make with
them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts,
and in their minds will I write them;
Will you as a professing Christian let God do as Heb. 8:10 and
10:16 says, or not? If not, will Hebrews 8:12 and 10:17 apply to you? Will you
let the seal of God into your heart and mind? If not, aren't you really saying
you reject the New Covenant? What do you think the results of that
would be?
Prov 28:9 He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law,
even his prayer shall be abomination.
Do you accept the terms of the New Covenant?
Joe Crews' presentation on
The
Two Covenants mp3 from the 1984 camp meeting in Bowden, Alberta Canada. He
was the speaker director for Amazing Facts
for nearly 30 years until his death
in 1994.
More Classic Sermons by Joe Crews:
Video Classics &
Radio Classics.
Sunday is NOT the biblical Sabbath
day.
Did the Apostles keep Sunday?
Offering Strange Fire Before The Lord.
The Seal of God and the Mark of the
Beast.
The Battle of Armageddon.
What Does
The Word VATICAN Mean?
