Today, we witnessed an interesting exchange between points of view that some may be surprised to hear are very similar, particularly on second glance. My purpose in this post is to flesh out the discussion in some detail with specific interest given to the issue of covenant.
A covenant, in Biblical terms, is sort of a legal contract between two parties. The ancient near-Eastern Suzerainty treaties are of a similar type. There would be animals cut into pieces displayed on the ground with a path between them. The parties of the treaty would pass between the pieces. The higher king would pass first, and the lower vassal king would pass second, and blood from the animals would be splattered upon the vassal king. The implication was that the fate of the animals would be the vassal king's fate if he broke the treaty. The burden of obedience was upon the vassal king.
In addition, there was a feast given by the vassal king for the higher king to celebrate the treaty. At the feast, there would be a telling of the story of the higher king. This would eventually get to the story of his involvement with the vassal king. Finally, the conditions of the covenant would be spelled out for all to hear. This was a public event.
In Genesis, there are a number of covenants, but dealing with just two is sufficient for our purposes. The creation covenant is an understood covenant between creator and creature (Adam.) This covenant is not specifically spelled out, but the events of Genesis 3 clearly demonstrate the violation of this covenant and the curses received for this violation. Many things can be said about this covenant. It was a covenant of law. It had the form of do this and you will live, do it not and you will die. Adam chose badly. As our federal representative, not only was his sin imputed to all of us, but it is as if we were there with him. We not only would not have advised him differently, but we would have made the same choice. This resulted in sin and death entering the world.
God had some options at this point. He could have wiped out creation and started over. He is just and Holy and this action would have been completely just. Instead, He had a grand redemptive plan. It is important as a Christian to understand the scope of the plan, and the fact that God was working towards this plan from the very beginning. Each covenant has a purpose within this grand redemptive plan, but the ultimate goal is the salvation of a remnant of people for Himself for eternity. All of the pieces fit together.
The Covenant with Abraham is the key moment of Genesis after the fall. It is arguably the key moment of the Old Testament. The story of Abraham is set out from Genesis 12-18. Genesis 15 has the description of the Covenant ceremony. The important issue is that God passes through the pieces and symbolically the blood is splattered on God. Behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. God takes all of the responsibility on Himself. This is absolutely huge, and this is the point that my friend this morning was making. God never breaks a covenant. It was Adam who broke the creation covenant and Israel who broke the Mosaic Covenant. The Abrahamic Covenant is still intact.
But the Abrahamic Covenant, by its very nature, is a wholly different type of covenant. This covenant is of Grace, not of Law. There is no curse placed upon or threatened upon Abraham or his seed. The language of the covenant opens some interesting possibilities that we will discuss at a later time. The important issue is that there is a distinction between Law and Grace, or as Luther says, Law and Gospel. These are different types of Covenants. The burdens are on different parties. The expected end point of each type of covenant is different. A covenant of Law after the fall is expected to be broken by man. A covenant of Grace cannot be broken, because God does not ever break covenants.
Moses made a Covenant with God that was completely about Law. The Ten Commandments are the articulation of the moral law that is spelled out upon the hearts of all men. This law is common revelation to all creation. Moses received an amped up version in writing. The issue of rabbinical or Levitical law has been discussed in a prior post. It is tied up in the Mosaic Covenant, and thus it ends when this covenant ends. The Moral Law is actually bound up in general revelation. It is specifically held as remaining valid by Jesus in Matthew 5. But Moses received Law. Do this and you will live, live well, in this land. Do this not and you will die, be scattered, be exiled from the land.
In each of the subsequent covenants, as Israel repeatedly falls short of the expectation of God, Israel attempts to atone for their sins and keep the Covenant going. The purpose of the temple was to teach us about sin and atonement. It was to teach us about the work that Jesus would do on the cross, only to much larger degree. The Jewish sacrificial system is a type and shadow that points to Calvary. This is a bloody religion. Lots of animals get butchered. This blood is important as a type and shadow that points to the blood of Christ. The blood of the New Covenant in Christ will follow the types and shadows of the Old Testament covenants.
Nehemiah comes along in a different era of redemptive history. The time of Christ is known as Second Temple Judaism. This is because the Babylonians destroyed the first temple and now Ezra is building the second at our point in the story. Nehemiah appeals to the Covenant of Moses. This is done for a number of reasons. The Mosaic Covenant is the article whereby Jerusalem and the Temple were built. Its violation by Israel was the cause of the sacking of the city and the Temple. The hope to rebuild the city and the Temple is a hope to renew the Mosaic Covenant. Repentance is necessarily part and parcel of this effort, and it is an admission of Israel's culpability in the breaking of the Mosaic Covenant.
Having said all of that, the model here in Ezra and Nehemiah resembles that of the lesser covenants in the Bible, those renewal ceremonies where Israel sort of hopes they still have a deal and goes through the motions. Why would God allow this to continue? Perhaps there is value in this type and shadow preserving the language of Covenant for the coming of Jesus. But God does not speak to Nehemiah in the manner than He does with Abraham, Moses and David. There is no guarantee that God is a participant in the ritual Ezra recites. And even if God did participate, this is still a covenant of Law.
The purpose of all of these Law Covenants is to teach Israel the futility of fulfilling these Law covenants after the fall. Israel is being taught to look away from themselves, back to God. They are being taught that they are in a hopeless situation without God. They are being taught that fallen man is condemned.
The Abrahamic Covenant is specifically linked to the New Covenant in Jesus by Paul in Romans 4. These are covenants of Grace. These are not about man, they are about what God does for man. The reason that the reformation makes good sense is because of the types and shadows of these Covenants all point towards Christ.
Notice how the prophets speak of the second Temple. I'm waiting. I've written about Daniel 9 (part one is just below part 2) in the past, and I'll refer that to you here. Daniel speaks of the seventy year exile, and then he speaks of the messiah. When he speaks of the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Holy Place, there is no talk of covenant with Israel. He never talks about a new Covenant of Law between God and Israel. The New Covenant of which Daniel speaks is between the messiah and many, and it comes afterwards. Daniel gets a glimpse at the Book of Life, and he knows that something much bigger is coming. The whole Old Testament is designed to give us the types and shadows that teach us how to recognize Jesus as the Christ.
Nehemiah is a story of a man perched at the last moment of premessionic history, at a moment in redemptive history when Israel believes that they have been given a second chance. Instead, God is moving the story of redemptive history in a wholy different direction. Israel, for the most part, missed it then, and they miss it now. The Covenant that matters is with Abraham. Abraham points to the promise that is redemption through the work of Jesus on the cross.
--Troll--
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