Understanding the New Covenant — Alan Martin

The Old and New Covenants and the Lord’s Supper

Because we are going to be celebrating the Lord's Supper today. I just thought I would tie The the Old Covenant and the New Covenant together, especially for some of those who may not understand all that the Lord's Supper signifies.

Covenant as God’s Contract with His People

First of all that biblical word covenant. What does that mean? What is a covenant? We know our Bibles are divided into the Testament. There's another word way to describe it Old Testament. New Testament Old Covenant New Covenant.

But for us, I think the best understanding in our language for covenant is a contract. There's an old contract that God made with his people and there's a new contract. You need to understand that and in a contract there are conditions.

There are stipulations for both sides in the Old Covenant that God made. With the people of Israel that occurred on Mount Sinai God had worked with a certain family line from the time of Adam from the from Adam's son Seth who was born after Cain Killed his brother Abel the line of Seth had men that knew God.

Enoch, Noah, and God’s Judgment on the Earth

One of the most famous ones was a man named Enoch who walked with God. Enoch was the great great grandfather of Noah. Enoch was a righteous man who prophesied for a long time because it was during the days of Enoch and The and the generations there in that the people on earth became more and more Wicked and Enoch would prophesy as a servant of God predicting coming judgment and his son Would listen to his father prophesy.

Enoch's son was Methuselah. Methuselah was Noah's grandfather. So Noah the Bible says that during the days when the Violence filled the earth and the thoughts of men's heart were wicked Continuously so much so that it grieved the Lord that he made men.

But during this same time Noah who the Bible says was a preacher of righteousness. So he was carrying on like his great-grandfather and probably like his grandfather preaching righteousness to the wicked world around him.

And the Bible says that even though the entire world was filled with Wickedness and God was grieved that he had even made mankind. Noah found grace in the eyes of God. Because he was an upright man Holy in his generation who served the Lord in a complete way.

That even the scripture says he was a perfect man Righteous in the sight of God and so God determined to restart over. The earth had become so corrupt. He was going to destroy Most life on earth most life that has the breath in its nostrils not necessarily not necessarily the amphibious life.

But all mammals and but Noah and his family found grace in the eyes of God so God warned Noah and Gave told him what was coming and gave him the means to prepare for the coming judgment. That's the whole story about Noah in the ark.

Abraham and the Promise of a Descendant

And so God's Covenant working with this family line. Down down Noah's family line comes another man. We're familiar with a man named Abraham and God revealed himself to Abraham and called him to leave the civilization.

He was living in in the earth of Chaldees and become a nomad and God revealed himself a number of times. Through Abraham Abraham had a wife. He was 75 years old when the Lord appeared to him when he was living in earth of Chaldees.

And he and the Lord told him that he was to come follow him leave your family leave your civilization. Leave your relatives come to the place. I'll show you and the Lord told him I'm gonna make you a father of many nations.

Well, he had been married a long time because it says that his wife was barren. She'd have children. Yes, but he obeyed the Lord and he came into the land. We call the land of Canaan the Middle East there where this were the nation of Israel and Palestine and those are today and he lived there as a nomad a number of years and From the time that God promised him that he would bless him and make him a father of many nations.

To the time he actually had a son with his wife. Sarah was nearly 25 years. And it turned out to be a miracle child because God made him so long the fact that Abraham was nearly a hundred years old and that his wife was 90 years old and had not had a single child in 45 50 years of marriage.

And that came forth Isaac the child of promise Abraham's son and through the line of Isaac Isaac and his wife Rebecca had a set of twins Jacob and Esau. Remember those the two fins twins that fought together in the mother's womb.

Jacob, Israel, and the Twelve Tribes

Well, the Lord continued to work with the family of Jacob. Into the point where and in Jacob's life the Lord revealed himself to Jacob and Jake there was a there's an account in the Old Testament where Jacob wrestles with an angel and The angel has to break the socket in almost paralyzed Paralyzed his his thigh in that sciatica there and so Jacob leaves this wrestling with God permanently slightly disabled, but his name is changed during that encounter from Jacob to Israel Israel and that's where the the head of the people of Israel comes from and Israel had 11 sons.

And but you know, but you're probably thinking but I thought there were 12 tribes of Israel. That's right Jacob had 11 sons or Israel had 11 sons. But his son Joseph had two sons and his two sons become part of the tribes of Israel so it's the other ten brothers and Joseph's two sons formed a twelve tribes of Israel and you know the story of Joseph how through the through Joseph receiving and interpreting dreams and being hated by his brothers and sent down to the land of Egypt they sold him and he became a servant to a guard the captain of the Pharaoh's guard a guy named Potiphar and Potiphar's wife took a liking to Joseph and tried to get him to sleep with her.

He refused but he caught her. She caught him alone in the house one day. She tried to get him drag him into bed. He had to run but when he left she had hold of his coat and She realized in the situation.

She's in she screams makes a big theatrical Presentation of what he was trying to do to her and and even though his master Potiphar had loved him. And his entire house was blessed. He was filled with rage and had had the Joseph thrown in a special prison.

Not just a regular prison the the prison where where the Pharaoh's prisoners go and it was through being in that prison Jacob beat Joseph meets the the baker and the cupbearer and ends up interpreting their dreams.

After several years still in prison The the cupbearer remembers when Pharaoh has this dream about it he's this strange dream the Bible talks about that was letting them know a famine was coming and Joseph ends up interpreting that dream to Pharaoh and Pharaoh makes him second in charge over all of the land of Egypt and through that During the great days of famine Joseph's family and his brothers are forced to come to Egypt to buy food and there's a reunion and and it Turns out that God in his goodness had sent Joseph down to Egypt.

Even using his hatred and jealousy of his brothers. Ends up saving the family and and the nation of Israel. The twelve tribes of Israel End up living in the land of Egypt and that's where the book of Exodus starts.

Israel’s Exodus from Egypt

All of that was just the first book of the Bible. Genesis. Exodus begins with the people of Israel had been living in Egypt 400 years and long since they forgot about Joseph the Egyptians forgot about Joseph and they saw the people of Israel as a labor force and they forced them into slave labor and For hundreds of years the people of Israel were being enslaved and abused and mistreated by the Egyptians and that's where the Lord appears to the person we know as Moses and Moses in as a servant and chosen of the Lord is given dynamic Authority and power walking with the Lord and through that you remember the story that ten plagues Where the Lord literally brings judgment upon Egypt.

Humbles their gods humbles their priests humbles their people to the point where he ultimately kills the firstborn every firstborn male from every house in Egypt and at that point The entire country is broken and through that the people of Israel leave With the Egyptian jewels and money that it's like the people of Egypt says get out of here take everything.

We don't want you here. And suddenly the people of Israel are now on a journey being led by Moses. You remember the story of the Red Sea they come eventually to Mount Sinai and here is where? The first covenant that we know of Called the law the covenant of the law where we get the Ten Commandments.

The Sinai Covenant and the Ten Commandments

Where God himself descends on the Mount Sinai and with his own voice Declares the ten sayings we call them commandments. But actually in the original language, they're just the ten words. God speaks thou shalt thou shalt thou shalt and What thou shalt not what thou shalt do the things you should do and the things that you shouldn't do and that's when the people Literally hearing the voice of God it Sounded like thunder and it shook it shook the earth.

They were so terrified they begged Moses to not have God speak to them anymore. But said you go. You meet with God. You you listen to him you come back and tell us what he says because if we're we're afraid we're gonna die if he speaks to us anymore and that is the story where Moses goes up and meets with God and We and we have the first covenant the covenant of the law.

It's called the law of God or it's also called the law of Moses the what the people of Israel have considered their law from the time of the Exodus till now and in this law God at this time that is God makes a special covenant with the nation of Israel and I want you to remember that we We know and appreciate the Ten Commandments.

But this covenant was with the nation of Israel with the actual physical descendants of Israel the twelve tribes. He said speak to the sons of Israel and say to them and this is the covenant that God made with them.

He said to them I will be your God. You will be my special people. This could that's the agreement I am making with you today. I redeemed you out of the land of Egypt and I've called you to myself and I want to enter into a contract with you.

I will be your God. I will be your protector. I will be with you. I will cause you to be blessed. I will make sure your cattle your crops your families are under my protection. You will enjoy a special favor.

I will give you my instructions Instructions that will if you follow it will go well with you. There will be Justice and righteousness and fairness for the foreigner for the widow for the orphan for the poor.

You will be a people who are blessed and my name will be made great. Through the relationship we have if you follow My words my instructions. It will go well with you. And here's what I ask of you. That's what the Lord that's the Lord side of the contract of them.

Israel’s Covenant Obligations

And here's the stipulations He asked of them first of all here. Listen, that's that's number one. If you're gonna be stubborn and you're not gonna listen, you know, I even get off on the right track. You're not even on first base.

You're gonna strike out right there here. Oh Israel Shema Israel Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad hero hero Israel. The Lord is one. The Lord is our God. He is one and he told him here's what I want. I want you to love me with all of your heart with all of your soul and All your might and all your strength and I want the words That I'm speaking to you to be upon your heart and on your mind.

I want you to make effort to remember them make things and bind them on your hands. Make things and write them and bind them on your heads. Write write remembrances for yourself on your doorpost so that when you leave your house and you enter your house.

My laws will always be where you can remember them hear them. Learn them and be careful to do them because you don't understand that the nations that you're going into the nations that I'm leading you into the Special promised land the nations there have ideas about God that came from their own vain imagination.

They just they know there's something made this. But all of those nations have idols. Images that came from their own concepts. Concepts that they created on their own and he tells him I don't want you to ever make an attempt To make an image of me.

There is no way there's any image you could make could represent who I am. Don't you worship me like they worship their God they do detestable things. Things that I I don't want you to do follow my instructions so that you don't conform your ways to the way they do things and when you enter into the Promised land and you see their temples and you see their idols you be sure you smash them.

You destroy them because if you adapt their practices. It's going to corrupt you and it's going to ruin you and it's not going to go well with you and your life is going to Become miserable and it's going to be a violation of the contract we are having today.

Israel’s Repeated Disobedience

That's the arrangement. That's the first covenant and what's the history of that covenant? How did that actually play out? Those of you who've read your Old Testament and know this people Had a propensity to ignore instructions.

The people of Israel were famously stubborn and They they entered in the land of Canaan and here they're given these beautiful. These beautiful laws of God this wisdom of God. These laws that are designed to protect the family to bring order in society.

Laws that are designed to even keep those who sit in authority in check and not abusing their power. Laws that were designed to treat everyone with fairness laws that were good for men that were good for animals that were good for crops.

Laws that made provisions when you got poor and and you can even have your debts canceled. I mean wonderful laws and yet this people continually Ignored them and were drawn to conform To the the practices of the nations that were around them.

What was God to do then? There was one. This is this isn't the provision that God had made. It's so important and this you need to kind of understand this because this highlights the difference between that Covenant and the new covenant that we celebrate that we're a part of.

Remembering the Law Through the Sabbath and Festivals

In that covenant there was one book of the law one book Moses wrote down what God spoke and put it one book and he gave it to the priest in that in the priest put that book into the Ark of the Covenant and They kept a one copy of that book at the temple.

So how in the world is an entire nation of people supposed to remember learn and remember. The things written the stipulations of the contract of the covenant that's in that one book. Ah God in his wisdom Designed certain things he gave them so many ways to help them.

Remember the first thing he gave them something every week to remember. I'm the one who makes you holy. I'm the one who made heaven and earth. What did he give him every single week to remind them who he was and who they were?

The Sabbath. One day out of every seven you set aside to do no work and you Remember, I am the Lord who made you holy. I am the one who gives you strength. I am the one from whom all your blessings come and you use that day to remind yourself of my stipulations talk about my my instructions.

You make sure you get them upon your heart because. What they have to do is they have to talk about them. The priests have to teach them. The fathers have to hear them learn them and pass it on to their children.

It was their responsibility to get the the instructions to their hearts and to their minds. And they continually fail to do so and they didn't just have weekly reminders. They had monthly reminders every month.

They haven't they had a new moon Celebration to remind them that God is the one who creates all the cycles on the earth. The four seasons and the turning of the moon. They're all his every month. They were to celebrate the fact that God is God the creator of the universe.

Not only did they have one every month quarterly. God made seven feast. Seven different feet their year begin. You know how their year began every single year their new year began with the feast to remind them of where they started.

As slaves in Egypt, it's called the Passover. And that's actually the celebration that Jesus was celebrating with his disciples at the Last Supper. He was it was the first of the year and he was honoring What the law said that they the 14th day of the first month of the year.

They would celebrate Passover and did you know unless you were born Jew that you and I as Gentile. We weren't even allowed to partake of Passover. It wasn't for us. Now you if you wanted to join the Jews and you wanted to take Take part of Passover you could but you know what you had to do first if you were a male you had to get circumcised you and everybody not just you but all your male sons and all your male servants and.

Then if you chose to do that you could partake of Passover, but you know what you did the rest of your life. You live by the law. You were a Jew now you had become a Jew by faith. They called them a proselyte devout proselytes like we read about in the book of Acts.

Many of those people became the first Christians that were devout Jews. Jews by choice. Because they saw how good the laws were the people of Israel but for Gentiles. Unless you did that you couldn't even partake of Passover and but Passover was just one feast.

Then what a week eight days after Passover. There's the feast of first fruit the on the feast of first fruit. Here's what the Lord told them. They were to take some of the first grain of the year and before they started making any bread from that year's grain.

They were to take this grain and they were to wave it before the Lord and you know what? It was reminding them all where does my grain come from? Give us this day our Daily bread Lord. You're the one who gives us our bread.

You're the one who provides for us. You're the one who gives to us if that was to remind them of that He gave them so many helps to try to help them remember. Then there was after that came the feast of the feast of week.

We call it Pentecost 50 weeks where at this feast the harvest time was happening. And there were great celebrations that took place During the feast of Pentecost then there was there was also the the feast called the Day of Atonement.

Where once a year? Everyone was reminded that unless God gave you forgiveness for your sins. You would die and on the Day of Atonement the priest would bring out a special sacrificial animal and lay his head and Transfer the sins of the people on to the head of the animal and the animal was accepted as a sacrifice.

For the entire sins of the people. To picture them to remind them that you need God's mercy. In order for the covenant to continue to work and to and then there was the Feast of Booths the feast of we call it the Feast of Tabernacles where They would actually build leave their homes and they would live in tents.

They would build their own tents to remind them of something. Remember what it was remind them of how many years they spent in the wilderness? Wondering. All of these things God did to help them remember remember remember get my Instructions remember my stipulations so that you can follow them because if you follow them It will go well with you and the history of this people.

Prophets, Judgment, and the Failure of the Old Covenant

Despite having all of those helps designed by God to help them learn and remember. They still blew it continually. They would ignore, you know. They were seasoned since there was one book of the law where they lost it and then no one was reading it.

See what would happen at these feasts when the men would of Israel would go to the feast. They would they would read the law. So four or five times a year. The law was constantly being read. So I'm reminding you it's kind of one of the things that we do here I hope to remind you of what God says so you don't forget.

You don't want to be like that former people. Because they continually forgot The Lord and you I think if you know your Bible, you know, what was God to do? They started conforming to the people around them.

They started worshiping other gods. They started adopting their practices. They entered married with their daughters they they became mingled amongst the people and they were mixing the things of God with the pagan practices all around them and The Lord in his mercy would try to get their attention by raising up prophets he would he would have a close relationship with their prophet and he would in the prophet would love the Lord and The prophet would go to the people and speak to them and and plead with them.

Listen, look at what we've done. We've conformed to the nations around us. We've abandoned the stipulations of the Covenant. Let's return to the Lord and and the prophets would speak to them often and you know what the people did.

Now you don't do that to me. Do you. I don't see anybody doing that. But that doesn't mean you do it here that doesn't mean it's not happening right here. The Israel became a stubborn people and when after speaking did to them to the prophets and trying to turn them around.

For a long time then the Lord would get out his paddle. And he had way he had he had some pretty big paddles. He used either natural events. The Lord knows how to turn off the heavens and keep it from raining.

He would send drought. Not just drought. He would send plagues blights mildew crop failures. Livestock failures. Sicknesses. And when that didn't get their attention he would raise up another nation and cause that nation to say hey, why don't we go down there and plunder the people of God and God would use another nation like a paddle and paddle his own people sometimes during the process now and then a man would raise up and Recognize what was going on and a few people would listen to him and they'd gather together and they'd humble themselves.

And they'd return back to the covenant. They confess their stubbornness in their waywardness and God's blessing would come again for that generation. Sadly, though it would it didn't last that generation would just Forget and back to the conforming to the nations around them.

You think the New Testament says without incidents that do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world. It's still a tendency of the people of God. To conform to the pattern of the world instead of being transformed by the renewing of your mind.

The Promise of the New Covenant

It's still a tendency but the people of Israel became so corrupted and so Polluted and so disoriented and so scattered throughout the rest of the world. That finally through one of the prophets God said, okay.

This covenant is over. I'm going to make a new covenant. And it's not going to be like the covenant that I made with the nation of Israel. When I brought them by the hand and delivered them from the land of Egypt and I spoke to them from Mount Sinai.

Because their fathers and the people they didn't remain in my covenant. They didn't they didn't. They ignored the stipulations. So it's not gonna be like that. So I'm gonna make a new covenant and here's what here's gonna be my covenant with them.

Now think about this first thing. How were the stipulations supposed to be? Kept and learn and guarded. How are they supposed to this boat? You had to hear you had to love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength.

And then you had to do the things to help yourself remember. You had to think about it. You had to make yourself. Remember, remember remember and they didn't do it. So get to what the first thing the Lord said about the new covenant.

Here's the new covenant. I'm gonna write. I'm gonna make with him. I'm going to write my laws. On their heart. I'm not gonna leave it up to you. And listen, I don't want y 'all thinking it's the preacher's job to get the law in your heart.

Don't think like the people of the first covenant because they didn't do it either. You can listen to me on Sunday and listen to your TV. See other six days of the week. That's not gonna get the law of God on your heart.

How does God write his law upon our hearts and he said I will write my law upon their hearts and I will write my Law upon their minds and you know how God does that. He sins.