What Was The Old Covenant?

The old covenant was an agreement made between God and Israel. If Israel would agree to keep His commandments, statutes and judgments. He would be their God and bless them with land, physical well-being, abundant crops, and protection from their enemies, He would give them special status among the nations.

A covenant is a deal, a formal agreement. It can take the form of a treaty, an alliance, a marriage, or a will of inheritance. What is commonly called the old covenant is a deal that God made with the people of Israel.

The old covenant has elements of treaty, alliance, marriage, and inheritance. The form in which it is first presented has many characteristics of a treaty between a conquering king and his newly subject people.

YHWH the Conquering King

In the first 15 chapters of the book of Exodus the great creator God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, goes to war with the Pharaoh. The king of Egypt vs. the King of Creation.

The great I AM lays claim to the people of Israel, whom the king of Egypt [pharaoh] sees as his property. The Pharaoh does not intend to give up without a fight. So, a series of battles follows.

In each of these battles the great creator goes up against various Egyptian gods [which are really just figments of the Egyptian imagination]. In each case: the river god, the frog god, the sky god, the sun god… YHWH the creator demonstrates His power, superiority, and authority over these elements of nature the Egyptians have chosen to worship.

The Egyptian Pharaoh will not admit defeat and there is a decisive showdown where YHWH has to strike down the firstborn of every Egyptian family. This as you know is the night of the Passover. When the destroying angel passes over the homes of the Israelites who are protected by the blood of a slain lamb smeared over the tops of their doorposts.

Sometime in the dark of that horrible night Pharaoh agrees to let the people of Israel go.

God lines the people of Israel up, marches them out of Egypt to the shores of the Red sea. Pharaoh changes his mind and sends the Egyptian army to recapture them and bring them back. In one last mighty battle the God of creation destroys the entire Egyptian army by luring them into the path He makes through the waters of the sea and then allowing the waters to crash back in on the Egyptians and drown them.

It is a final and decisive victory. The conquering King now has a new nation of subjects.

God Presents the Deal to Israel

God marches Israel out of Egyptian territory into the desert. He brings them to the foot of a mountain so that He can address them all.

Exodus 19:1-6 After a short reminder of His awesome power He tells them he wants to set up an agreement with them, a treaty, an understanding. If you obey Me I will take good care of you.

Exodus 19:7-8 the people hear the offer and say let’s do this thing

Exodus 18:9-10 I want them to see me talking to you so they know that you are my spokesperson.

God gives some instructions to Moses about how he wants the people to come before Him. Come in nice washed clothes, do not attempt to climb up the mountain, stay behind the barricades etc.

God covers Himself in cloud and smoke and speaks to the people of Israel. From the mountain He presents to them the with 10 commandments. Exodus 20:1-17.

Exodus 20:18-20 The people are overwhelmed and ask if God will speak to them through Moses because the experience of having Him talk directly to them is too intense. Moses tells them God did it his way so you would see the intense power that is behind this and be afraid to break the agreement. After this Moses will go before God to get the remaining instructions, bring them back and present them to the people.

Moses goes up to get some additional statutes and judgments. Theses are expansions of what the 10 commandments are about, how the commands are to play out in a social setting, as well as some additional details.

• Elaboration on personal injury – extension of do not murder [respect for human life]
• Elaboration on legal & property matters – extension of don’t lie, don’t steal
• Elaboration on worship – note the inclusion of annual days of assembly, extension of Sabbath command [worship me how and when I have instructed].

Exodus 23:20-33 God reiterates His part of the deal. He will give them land, protect them from their enemies, provide health and healing, ensure lots of children, long physical life. The promises of the old covenant are of the earth and of the flesh… the old covenant does not contain a promise of eternal spirit born life, or a promise of permanent inheritance in the family of God.

Signing the Agreement

Exodus 24: 1-8 the contract has been written and read to all the parties involved. They have agreed to the terms and signed the deal… in blood. This is the blood of the covenant… the old covenant.

The old covenant was signed in blood [the blood of an animal]. The new covenant that would replace it would also be signed in blood [the blood of God himself].

What we have just gone through is the core of the old covenant…

But what about the rest of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy? Aren’t they also part of the old covenant as well?

They do have a role in the agreement God made with Israel BUT the role they play are only relative to the essential DEAL found in Exodus 20 thru 24.

God: I have a proposal… obey me and I will take care of you and give you special status

Israel: we will do it

God: here are the essential matters in which I demand your obedience [10 commands and examples of how they will be implemented]. If you do these things I will give you land, health, protection etc. Are you in?

Israel: yes, we are in.

God: let’s seal the deal. I would like to have it signed in blood.

The Rest of the Instructions given to Moses

God knew that the people would not be able to obey all-the-time, or every time. A great deal of the remaining writing in the Pentateuch revolves around how God and Israel were going to deal with and address those transgressions.

1. Israel would mess up. So, they needed a way to get cleaned up. They needed a way to atone for their sins. So God added a system that involved the sacrifice of animal lives to pay the penalty in their stead.
2. God wanted to dwell among them. He gave them detailed instructions about the sort of place He wanted them to set up for Him. These explain all the material related to setting up a tabernacle.
3. God wanted to meet with and interact with the people. But they could not be allowed to bring their uncleanness and sin into His presence or they would be consumed by His wrath. God put a priesthood in place to directly interact with Him in the tabernacle precinct. The priests would have extensive requirements for maintaining personal purity and cleanness. They would also be responsible for enforcing a lesser level of cleanness on the population at large.
4. Additional rulings on how the commandments would be applied and enforced. First, for the life in the camp and secondly to address situations they wouencounter once they entered the land.
5. God also includes a frightening listing of dire consequences they would suffer if they persist in disobedience towards Him.

Galatians 3:17-19 When Paul is talking about the LAW here he is talking about the old covenant. Here is why I say that:

The law [old covenant] was added to deal with transgressions. Transgressions against what? Transgressions made against the commandments. Abraham had the commandments 430 years before the old covenant was put in place Genesis 26:4-5. They were the standard of living before the covenant, they were the standard of life during the covenant, they are the standard of life in the new covenant [which says the laws are to be written upon your heart].

The old covenant promises are not related to eternal life or the inheritance of the spirit born children of God. The old covenant promises were about achieving land, health, protection in this life.

The new covenant is based on better promises Hebrews 8:6, 10.

What is the Old Covenant?

The old covenant was an agreement made between God and the descendants of Abraham… a nation called Israel. God rescued Israel from oppression and slavery in Egypt and called them to be a special nation to serve a special purpose for Him.

God offered them a deal: Promise to obey Me and I will promise to take care of you. If you mess up and fall short we have a way to deal with your sins and restore our relationship. Just stick with it and persevere.