[In order to fully appreciate and understand this Covenant, the reader is advised,
before proceeding any further, to read chapters 8, 9, and 10 of the Book of Hebrews.]

1. ITS ORIGIN
 

To understand the full implications of the NEW covenant, we must have a knowledge of the OLD covenant which it replaced.  This is recorded in Exodus 24:3-8, and Hebrews 9:19-22.

 “And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments.  And all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.
 And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord.
 And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
 And be 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.
 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.”                                      (Exodus 24:3-8)

 “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, Saying,
This is the blood of the testament (covenant) which God hath enjoined unto you.
 Moreover, he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.
 And almost all things are by the law purged with
 blood; and without shedding of flood is no remission.”                                 (Hebrews 9:19-22)

1. It was made ONLY with Israel, and its blessings were specifically directed to, and applicable to Israel.  We read Hebrews 8:8-10.
 

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:
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.
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:"

2. It was a LAW covenant.  The ‘words of the Lord’ which Moses told the people in Exodus 24:3 were the terms of God’s Laws, part of which are recorded in Exodus 23:20-33.
 

20  Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
21  Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.
22  But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.
23  For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.
24  Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.
25  And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
26  There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
27  I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
28  And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
29  I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
31  And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.
32  Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
33  They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

4. It was a conditional covenant.  That is, the implementation and extent of the blessings under it depended entirely on the actions and the extent of obedience of Israel, with whom the covenant was made.

5. It operated by means of religious ordinances as set out in Hebrews 9:1-10.
 

“Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.
For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the showbread; which is called the sanctuary.
And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;   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;
And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy-seat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.
But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.”

 Thus we see that this NEW COVENANT is NOT just a New Testament teaching, but is obviously part of God’s original plan and purpose.

2. ITS PURPOSE AND NATURE

 What, we may ask, was the purpose of introducing a NEW covenant in the first place?  Why was it required?  What was wrong with the OLD, or original one?
Well actually, the OLD Covenant was not in any way wrong.   God would never have given it to His people in the first place if it had been wrong.  What was different about it was that it was NOT COMPLETE, in that it was deliberately lacking in some very important aspects which God had not yet introduced or revealed.
At this stage of our study, let us read the full account of the promise of the New Covenant, as recorded in Hebrews 8:1-13, noting especially the progression from the Old to the New.
 

8:1  “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
2  A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
3  For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.
4  For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
5  Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.
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.
7  For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
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:
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.
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:
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.
12  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
13  In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”

“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.
If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.
But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.
Then I said, 'Here I am--it is written about me in the scroll-- I have come to do your will, O God.'"
First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made).
Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second.
And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.
Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds."
Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."
And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people."
It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

1. It was an UNCONDITIONAL covenant.  This means that its fulfilment and operation had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the party with whom it was made.  It depends entirely on God’s Promise, which we can’t change even if we wanted to.

2. It was based on better promises.  These are listed in Hebrews 8:10-12, as the expression of God's Will:-

 (a) I WILL put my law into their minds.

 (b) I WILL write my law in their hearts.

 (c) I WILL be their God.

 (d) I WILL be merciful to their unrighteousness.

(e) I WILL completely forget their sins and iniquities.

3. It was based on a better sacrifice.  Under the Old Covenant, the sacrifice was dead both before and after it was offered.  The NEW covenant was based on a LIVING sacrifice.  The lamb of the Old covenant stayed dead, and could only atone once.  The Lamb of God of the NEW Covenant rose from the dead, and remains alive as a continuous and everlasting atonement.

No wonder God calls it a BETTER covenant.  This is clearly expressed in Hebrews 9:11-28.  (NIV).
 

“When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation.
He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.
The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance--now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living.
This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood.
When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people.  He said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep."
In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies.
In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence.
Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.
Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

5. It is to be written on our ‘hearts of flesh’, and the ‘stony heart’ is to be taken away.  Ezekiel 11:19-20 tells us;
 

“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.
Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.”

6. It is a Law Covenant, just the same as the Old Covenant.  This feature has not changed.  (Read Exodus 24:3-8; Ezekiel 11:20; Hebrews 8:10 and 10:16.)  It did not abolish God’s Laws of commandments, statutes, and judgments.  They are still in operation.  What it abolished was the ‘laws contained in ordinances’, or the rituals, and these laws ONLY.  We read in Ephesians 2:15; and Colossians 2:14;
 

“Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances.” . . . .
“Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.”

ITS RESULT

1. Israel was re-covenanted to God as His people.  By His death, Christ fulfilled the law of God pertaining to divorce, and the ‘divorced wife’ was now able to re-marry because of the death of her former husband.  Only in her relationship as Jehovah’s Bride or Wife can Israel perform her God-given destiny and responsibility.

2. We are sanctified to God.  (Read Hebrews 10:10,14-18.) This word ‘sanctified’ as used here is very special.  It means ‘to be put into a state corresponding to the nature of God’.  And this is what God has done for us by means of His NEW COVENANT.  When God said, “Be ye holy as I am holy’, this is how it can be achieved.  We are no longer finally subject to our own choice, but can be now subject to the perfect and eternal will of God.

 And as a result of God’s “I wills”, which we listed above, there are two “We shalls”:-

This is what we remember every time we participate in the communion service.  Just as Israel of old ‘partook’ of the blood of the sacrifice through the sacrificial rituals, so we today ‘partake’ of the blood of the sacrifice through the cup, which Christ said represents the NEW COVENANT.  Under the OLD Covenant, the people looked forward with HOPE.  Under the NEW Covenant, we look to the future with FULL CONFIDENCE AND ASSURANCE.

This concludes our studies of God’s Great Covenants.
 
In future issues, God willing, we will continue with the balance of our Heritage as listed in Romans 9:4-5.