The Law of the Kingdom: Old & New Covenant | Part A

The King James Version (KJV) is mostly used in these lessons. Click here to access the KJV online.

What covenant did He propose to make with them?
"Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel." Exodus 19:5-6.

What is a covenant?
"A mutual agreement of two or more persons or parties, in writing and under seal, to do or to refrain from some act or thing; a contract." Webster.

When Moses told the people what Yahuwah had proposed, what did they say?
"And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which Yahuwah commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that Yahuwah hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto Yahuwah." Exodus 19:7-8.

In the Covenant which Yahuwah proposed to make with Israel, what did He say that they were to do?
"Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine." Exodus 19:5.

What was His covenant which they were to keep as their part of the mutual agreement or covenant between Him and them?"
"And Yahuwah spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even Ten Commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone." Deuteronomy 4:12-13.

What relation did the ten commandments bear to the covenant made between Yahuwah and the children of Israel?
As seen by the last text quoted, the ten commandments were the "covenant" to which Yahuwah referred, when in proposing a covenant with Israel, He said, "Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:" Exodus 19:5.

NOTE: The ten commandments were termed Yahuwah's covenant before the covenant was made with Israel. They were not an agreement made, but something which Yahuwah commanded them to perform, and He promised them something, provided they would keep them. Thus the ten commandments, Yahuwah's covenant, became the basis of the covenant made between Him and Israel. The ten commandments, in all their details, are "all these words," concerning which the covenant was made. See Ex. 24:8.

After Yahuwah had spoken His law (the "covenant which He commanded," Exodus 20:3-17), did He continue speaking to the people?
"These words Yahuwah spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me." Deuteronomy 5:22.

What was the nature of the instruction afterward given to Moses (Exodus 20:22,23)?
It was a practical application or explanation of the ten commandments, so that the people might be able better to understand what was involved in the keeping of them. The reference to the altar, how it should be built, and how approached, in Exodus 20:24-26, simply shows the care that

As reported in Exodus 24:3, Moses told the people all the words of Yahuwah, and they promised to be obedient. What did Moses then do, that there might be no misunderstanding?
"And Moses wrote all the words of Yahuwah, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel." Exodus 24:4.
"And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that Yahuwah hath said will we do, and be obedient." Exodus 24:7.

When the people had again heard the words of Yahuwah, and again promised obedience (verse 7), what was done to ratify the covenant which had thus been made?
"And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which Yahuwah hath made with you concerning all these words." Exodus 24:8.
"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 which Yahuwah hath enjoined unto you." Hebrews 9:19-20.

NOTE: We have here the complete account of the making of the first covenant. It consisted of a promise of obedience to the ten commandments, on the part of the children of Israel, and the statement by Yahuwah of what He would do for them provided they obeyed His voice.

Is the covenant made at Sinai the only covenant which Yahuwah made with Israel?
"Behold, the days come, saith Yahuwah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith Yahuwah:" Jeremiah 31:31-32.

What comparison does Yahuwah make between the two covenants?
"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. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second." Hebrews 8:6-7.

In what respect was the first covenant [old covenant] faulty?
It must have been faulty in the very particulars wherein the second was better, namely, in the promises, as seen by the last part of Hebrews 8:6: "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." Hebrews 8:6.

What are the promises of the new covenant?
"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Yahuwah; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them Eloah, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahuwah: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." Hebrews 8:10-12.
"And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahuwah: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Yahuwah: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Jeremiah 31:34.

Are these promises stated in the order of their fulfillment?
It is evident that in Jeremiah 31:33,34, where the promises of the new covenant are more fully stated than in Hebrews 8:10,11, those promises are not stated in the regular order of their fulfillment; because forgiveness of sins is mentioned last, whereas it must necessarily precede the writing of the law in the heart; remembering sin no more, or blotting out of sin; and translating the people to the heavenly Jerusalem, where all shall see and know Yahuwah. See Isaiah 54:11-13; Revelation 21:2-4.