The New Covenant would make Moses’ covenant “old” and “obsolete” (Hebrews 8:13). That would be so since the new would be different from the old. Two systems cannot rule the same people at the same time, especially when hose systems are “not like” each other. The new would replace the old, and Jeremiah showed how the new would be so much better.
- The Old Covenant was external in that it was written in stone for a fleshly nation. By contrast, the new covenant would be internal and spiritual. “I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Jeremiah 31:33).
- Though the Old Covenant applied to all Israelites, most of them did not know God (Jeremiah 2:8). By contrast, New Covenant people “shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest” (Jeremiah 31:34).
- The Old Covenant brought death because its people sinned (2 Corinthians 3:7; Romans 7:5-11). By contrast, the New Covenant would bring mercy for all its people. “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).
This course considers the implications of this reality: The New Covenant is “not like” the Old Covenant. The new replaces the old (Hebrews 8:6-13; 10:9). This course is about friendship with God—“they shall all know Me”—and freshness and freedom. At the same time, freedom must be defended. As beautiful as the New Covenant is, human nature often prefers old, familiar ways. Some Jewish believers slid back to the demands of the law (Acts 15), and writings like Galatians and Hebrews rebuked and corrected them. Some Gentiles created helpful “regulations,” and Colossians was written to stop them, and turn them back to Christ as Head of the church. In the same way, some today leave the light and slip back into the shadows of the law. They, and we all, need to be reminded of the newness of Christ’s covenant.