2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
This morning the Lord leads me to delve into Lewis S. Chafer’s book, “Systematic Theology,” which while bearing the same name as L. Berkhof’s text is not the same book. The better we understand the issue of covenants, the easier it will be for us to feel motivated to respecting the ones we have with God and seeing why God has made these two-way promises so important to our spiritual lives. I might also add that covenants made with careful thought and wisdom between people are important to us as well. In our family, we had only a few rules, but they were important. They applied to all of us in the family. Never make a promise you don’t intend to keep; and keep the promises you make. That demands careful thought before entering into an agreement with another member of the family. It also avoids the heartache and disappointment that a string of broken promises can bring.
Now, let’s look at Chafer’s wisdom about covenants. The term “covenant people” includes the Jews who had entered into an unalterable covenant with Jehovah which we commonly refer to as the old covenant. The terms of that covenant are laid out in the book of Leviticus and in other places in the OT. Last year when I taught my “Jewish Customs and Their Biblical Connections” course, it was plain to see that the old covenant lifestyle was based on the agricultural year in Israel. The Jewish calendar is based on the cycles of the moon, and the agricultural year involves a Spring harvest and a Fall harvest. There are seven main festivals (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Shavuot in the Spring and Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot in the Fall). [see LV 16; LV 23]. How these should be celebrated and their meaning to the Jewish worship of God is carefully delineated in the Scriptures. The forgiveness of one’s sins is sought at the Feast of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and forgiveness is granted for one year. The limitations of the old covenant can really be seen in this. However, Jeremiah, the OT prophet, was allowed to prophesy a new covenant which was to come-one greater than the old covenant to replace it and have an everlasting effect. JER 31: 31-34, “The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. Although I was like a husband to them, they did not keep that covenant. The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this: I will put My law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. None of them will have to teach his fellow countryman to know the Lord, because all will know Me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
The hindsight of history allows us to know that the Gentiles walked away from their old pagan practices more easily than traditional Jews accept Who the Messiah for Whom they search is. But, our awesome God has a plan for my stiff-necked, stubborn people. This is made clear as early as ZECH 13: 9, “And I will test the third that survives and will purify them as sliver is purified by fire. I will test them as gold is tested. Then they will pray to Me, and I will answer them. I will tell them that they are My people, and they will confess that I am their God.” This citation refers to the traditional Jews alive at the time of the Tribulation. But what about those before that time? Today, there are a relatively small number (of which I am one) who God has chosen to know the truth earlier. In the US there are about 250,000 Messianic Jewish congregations. These are Jews like myself who have come to know that Jesus is the Messiah. RO 11: 11-12, [Paul speaking] “I ask, then: When the Jews stumbled, did they fall and to their ruin? By no means! Because they sinned, salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make the Jews jealous of them. The sin of the Jews brought rich blessings to the world, and their spiritual poverty brought rich blessing to the Gentiles. Then, how much greater the blessings will be when the complete number of Jews is included!” You know that I have often cited RO 11: 25 which really reveals God’s awesome plan to deal with Jewish stubbornness. “There is a secret truth, my brothers, which I want you to know, for it will keep you from thinking how wise you are. It is that the stubbornness of the people of Israel is not permanent, but will last only until the complete number of Gentiles comes to God.”
Christ’s Last Supper had tremendous significance to all believers. It is the place where we are reminded that the new covenant is sealed in Christ’s own blood that would be shed for us. Jews were told in LV 17: 11, “The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the Lord has commanded that all blood be poured out on the altar to take away the people’s sins. Blood, which is life, takes away sins.” MT 26: 27-28, “Then, He took a cup, gave thanks to God, and gave it to them. ‘Drink it, all of you,’ He said; ‘this is My blood, which seals God’s covenant, My blood poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’” Paul reiterates this salient principle again in 1 COR 11: 25 by repeating Christ’s words, “This cup is God’s new covenant, sealed with My blood. Whenever you drink it, do so in memory of Me.” When we understand all of this about the emergence of the new covenant, we can approach taking the sacraments knowing that we can feel honored by God that He chose us for this privilege. We can know that our hearts are purified when we openly and honestly confess our sin and express real faith in Christ. RO 10: 9-10, “If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from death, you will be saved. For it is by our faith that we are put right with God; it is by our confession that we are saved.” Dear Ones, the new covenant is one powerful blessing in our lives! Take comfort in knowing that it is there for us.
PRAYER: O Lord, Your goal for Your children is simple: bring as many of them as possible to salvation and eternal life with You. However, because of our sinful nature over our history beginning with the original sin of Adam which we all inherited, You have had to lay out a complex plan to carry out Your goal. To begin, You gave Your chosen people, the Jews, the Law, so that they could know the difference between what is right and wrong in Your eyes. You also commanded them to establish a lifestyle that fit into the natural agricultural cycle of Israel and placed worship of You in the center of it. Sadly, many people disappointed You with their stubborn refusal to trust and obey You. Because You love Your children so much, You have steadfastly refused to give up on them. That is why You were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice of Your only begotten Son on the cross, so that salvation could be made open to them. Any father will less righteousness and love would have given up on them when Your Son was rejected. However, You didn’t do that. Instead, You continue to bring Gentiles to faith to make the stubborn Jews jealous when they see the blessings that faithfulness brings. We are privileged to step up to the altar to take the sacraments which remind us of the grace You have extended in sealing the new covenant with Christ’s blood. You deserve nothing less than our adoration, worship, trust, obedience, glory, honor, loyalty, praise, and thanks, which we offer today. In Christ’s holy name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will take another look at the covenant of friendship and loyalty that took place between David and Jonathan. It deserves more of our time, because of God’s involvement (although indirect) in it and because of how it teaches us about friendships in our own lives today. Once in awhile the challenges of our everyday lives cause us to forget that even while we are in pain, our awesome Jehovah is there loving us. That is why it is so important for us to take the sacraments regularly as believers. It is then, that we are reminded of the great sacrifice that God has made for us and of how constant and reliable His love really is. Delight in that thought today.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn