What is the New Covenant?

This is a brief introductory study of the New Covenant. This study is not exhaustive by any means.

What is a Covenant?

Covenant is a word we use today, but fail to grasp its full meaning. Many think of it as a promise, but a covenant is far more. It is a total commitment, and absolute requirement, to do or not do something, even at the cost of one's life. 

Commitment, in terms of life or death, is difficult for us to comprehend, but a covenant is exactly that, and is exactly what we are to do with God.

The very nature of covenant is the bond between the parities of the covenant, each saying "Everything I have is yours." In making covenant with Him we are to give everything we have to Him, then He gives us all His love, blessings, power, and eternal life. If He is not LORD of all, He is not LORD at all.

What happened at Mt. Sinai?

In the third month (third new moon) on that very day.

The Hebrew here here literally means "on this day" (ba-yom ha-zeh), as if to suggest that on any day when one accepts the terms of the Torah (covenant) it is as if he or she were there that day, standing at Sinai and hearing the voice of God.

Exo. 19:5-6

Moshe goes up to the mountain and God says "if you will indeed obey my voice (hear = shema) and keep my covenant, then you will be a peculiar treasure to me above all people, for all the earth is mine. And you will be a kingdom of priests to Me and a holy nation. (1 Peter 2:9)

Exo. 19:9

“Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear (faith comes by hearing) when I speak with you, and believe you forever.”

Strong's H5769 - `owlam - forever, continuous existence, perpetual, everlasting, eternal

I believe God was saying that "If you hear (faith comes by hearing) and do, then you will have eternal life".

Deuteronomy 6:4-6
“Hear, (Shema) O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. this is New Covenant language

God then speaks the 10 commandments from Mt. Sinai in the hearing of all of Israel.

Exo. 20:18

Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. 19 Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”

The people demonstrated that they would not hear, because they were afraid of death.

THUNDERINGS in Hebrew is QOWL which means -VOICE, SOUND, NOISE

LIGHTNINGS in Hebrew is LAPPIYD which means to -SHINE, LAMP, or FLAME

Voices, flames and a great noise, where have we heard that before?

Acts 2:1-4
When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues (voices), as of fire (flames), and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
The Holy Spirit was offered at Mt. Sinai.

Isaiah 63:11 confirms this.

Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them,

What is the New Covenant?

Jeremiah 31:31-34

31 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

The people demonstrated that they would not hear, because they were afraid of death.

What happened to Judah? 

New (Strongs 02319) Hebrew Chadash - New, fresh - from Strongs 02318 - Chadash - to be new, to rebuild, renew, repair, to make anew

Know (Strongs 03045) Hebrew Yada - kinsman, be revealed, make known, - first used when Adam "knew" his wife Eve. Marriage language.

Let's break down the New Covenant according to Jeremiah 31

• Made with the house of Israel and house of Judah (brought together)
• Not like the covenant at Sinai
• Law them, on their heart
• He will be our God, we will be His people
• Will not teach people to know YHVH
• All will know Him
• He will forgive our iniquity and not remember our sins

Let's look at a few more passages that speak of the New Covenant.

Ezekiel 36:24-32

For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations. Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations. Not for your sake do I do this,” says the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!”

Let's break down the New Covenant according to Ezekiel 36 

• Israel gathered from the nations they have been scattered, and returned to their own land
• Made clean from our filthiness and idols
• He gives us a new heart & a new spirit (take out heart of stone and give heart of flesh)
• He puts His spirit within us, causing us to be obedient to His Torah
• Dwell in the land of promise
• We will be His people, He will be our God
• He will make it so that we are never in need, never in famine

Ezekiel 37:15-25

Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: ‘For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.’ Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand.

“And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not show us what you mean by these?’— say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.”’ And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.

“Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.“

David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever.

Let's break down the New Covenant according to Ezekiel 37 

• Judah and Israel (Ephraim) made one in His hand
• Israel gathered back into the promise land and made one nation
• One King shall be over them (Messiah Ben David) forever
• Israel will walk in His judgements and observe His statutes
• They shall dwell in the land of promise forever

Isaiah 59:20-21

“The Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” Says the Lord."As for Me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.”

What went wrong at Mt. Sinai?

God is not the one who breaks covenant, nor does He forget

Psalms 89:34

My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.

So who's fault is it?

Hebrews 8:7-12

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says 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 did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

What was the rebellion? "Let us not hear God, lest we die" the golden calf incident was merely the outward manifestation of the inward state. 

The Covenant at Mt. Sinai was ineffective because when God began speaking the Torah, the people of Israel said to Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” (Exo. 20:19) Therefor Moses went to the mountain and brought down the Words spoken by God engraved on stone. (stone tablets represents stone hearts)

1 Corinthians 3:4-17

 4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.7 But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. 10 For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. 11 For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.

What is passing away? The ministry of death - the curse from disobedience/rebellion = from a stone heart

12 Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— 13 unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. 15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

What makes the  New Covenant different than the Covenant at Mt. Sinai? 

The Old Covenant was not mixed with faith.

What does produce faith?

Words written on stone does not produce faith. A Stone heart is not willing to hear (Shema) the Word of God or do what He says.

We know that "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). Words written on stone is ineffective to change the hearts of men because faith comes by HEARING which the people of Israel were not willing to do, thus telling Moses to go and tell them what God said. A refusal to hear is a refusal to faith.

The Law of Moses was/is not to difficult (Deut. 30:11) it's that Israel had a rebellious heart. Once we are given a new heart (by faith), His commandments are a delight (Psalm 40:8)

Hebrews 3:7-12

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

Rebellion was when the people said "we will not hear God, lest we die". 

The golden calf was merely an outward manifestation of an inward heart condition. 

Hebrews 9:15

And for this reason He (Yeshua) is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions (rebellion) under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Faith comes by hearing

Deuteronomy 6:4-6 - The SHEMA

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

Mark 4:9

Then Yeshua said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear."

Remember that a covenant is a total commitment, an absolute requirement, to do or not to do something, even at the cost of one's life. Commitment, in terms of life or death, is is difficult for us to comprehend, but a covenant is exactly that.

Dying is exactly what He asks of us.

• Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. - Matthew 16:24
• Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Romans 12:1
• I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. - 1 Corinthians 15:31
• I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20

We are commanded to die to "self" to put to death the deeds of the flesh.

Romans 8:5-13

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit,the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. 12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Israel erred in that they were afraid of death. But we are to be crucified with Messiah, it is no longer I who lives, but Messiah that lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith (shema) in the one who loves me and gave Himself for me. (Gal. 2:20). Revelations tells us that those who overcome do so by the blood of the lamb, the word of their testimony and they LOVE NOT THERE LIFE UNTO DEATH.

If we are more afraid of dying than afraid of God we are missing it BIG TIME. Yeshua said "pick up your cross and follow me" and Paul emphasized this when he said "I die daily".

I want more of HIM and less of me. In fact, destroy me, that I might live.

Let us not have stone hearts, but receive the WORD (Messiah) of God with all readiness of mind. A fertile ground, ready to receive the seed (Messiah) in our hearts and do all that has been spoken by our Father in heaven, for man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Let's go over what we have learned and put it all together

• Covenant at Mt. Sinai was made with a redeemed people 
• It was patterned after a marriage - literally betrothal (I was a husband to them)
• It was not mixed with faith by Israel as a nation, though individuals did (Joshua, Caleb, Moses, etc.)
• Stone tablets represented stone hearts 
• Not a flawed Covenant, a flawed people (we will not hear, lest we die - faith comes by hearing - die to self)
• Israel was rebellious and unfaithful (very next incident is the golden calf)
• The Holy Spirit was offered but rejected by national Israel (thunderings and lightnings = voices and flames) - still accepted by individuals
• New Covenant is the same covenant, offered "like new" because our sins are washed away. We are a new man in Messiah.
• NC is God writing His commandments on our heart (heart transplant - take out heart of stone, put in heart of flesh) - process has begun
• Being fulfilled currently as individuals - all who would have "ears to hear" still invited to participate
•  

The parts of the covenant that still remain are:

• Torah written on hearts is completed (Philippians 1:6 - being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Messiah Yeshua.
• Marriage Betrothal consumated 
• National Israel is gathered back together from all the nations they've been scattered, reunited as one Kingdom (house of Israel, house of Judah) 
• National Israel (two houses made one) says "We will hear" and love not their life unto death.
• One King, Yeshua (Messiah Ben David) reigning over them (messianic age = 1000 year rule of Messiah from Jerusalem).
• We will be a Kingdom of priests, a Holy nation, we will all know YHVH (marriage of the lamb)

In conclusion, the New Covenant is a Torah based Covenant.

The problem with the Covenant at Mt. Sinai is that the Torah was written on a heart of stone. A heart of stone can not overcome the desires of the flesh because it does not love YHVH.

The New Covenant gives us a heart of flesh, whereby the Holy Spirit indwells us, giving us both the desire and power to do what is pleasing to God, which is keeping His commandments motivated out of love for Him because He first loved us.

I hope this study has blessed you.