November 16–22

This weekly feature is dedicated to Adventists who are looking for biblical insights into the topics discussed in the Sabbath School lesson quarterly. We post articles which address each lesson as presented in the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, including biblical commentary on them. We hope you find this material helpful and that you will come to know Jesus and His revelation of Himself in His word in profound biblical ways.

 

Lesson 8: “God and the Covenant”

This week’s lesson deals with covenants, and although it contains some good points, it shows a remarkable lack of understanding of the Biblical covenants.

One result of that lack is the Adventist confusion over the difference between the Old Covenant and the New. In Adventist theology, the New is just the Old, polished up, expanded and propped up by Jesus’ blood. This is wildly inaccurate and seems to be done in an effort to insert the “very words of the covenant”, otherwise known as the 10 Commandments, into the New Covenant in order to put us under the requirements of the 4th commandment as well as a select few of the food laws.

The Bible is quite clear that what God wrote on the stone with His finger, and which Moses later wrote on the replacement tablets (Exodus 34:28; Deut. 9:11, 13, 15; 1 Kings 8:9, 21) were “the words of the covenant”.

For a more in-depth study of the covenants I would recommend the article by Dale Ratzlaff titled “The Covenants: The Continental Divide of Biblical Interpretation”.

 

The Idea of the Covenant

At the beginning of the lesson, there is this question:  “Who is making this covenant, and why did they enter into it?”

I’m not sure why it is stated this way. The people were not “making” a covenant; rather, they were promising to obey the covenant God had previously made with Israel. It was the breaking of this covenant by their forefathers that had led to the Babylonian captivity. From Ezra’s reading of the Law, they would have known this fact, and they were promising to obey the covenant previously made between God and the Children of Israel at Mt. Horeb.

 

Covenants in History

The list of covenants in this section is not complete, and it ignores several important ones. So, before we discuss the covenants, it would be good to review all of the covenants in the Bible.

1. The Eternal covenant

This is first mentioned in Hebrews 13:20. This is the redemptive covenant between the Father and the Son where the Son agreed to be the sacrifice for sin in our place. The fulfillment of this covenant brings us into peace with God as it provides complete payment for our sins, making us right with Him.

2. The Edenic covenant

This is found in Genesis 2:16, 17 and it was made between God and the newly created man. It had one stipulation—don’t eat of the one tree, and it had one penalty for disobedience—death on “the very day” of disobedience (v 17). The Bible never calls this agreement a “covenant”, but it had the effect of a covenant and stated the terms God gave Adam and Eve for remaining in relationship with Him.

Since Adam and Eve lived many hundreds of years after they disobeyed, it is obvious that it was not physical death that was guaranteed. Their separation from a Holy God who cannot abide in the presence of sin resulted in the death of their spirits. God is the source of life and separation from Him is, by definition, spiritual death.

3. The Adamic covenant

Found in Genesis 3:14-19, after the fall, it deals with fallen man’s life on the earth. It included several points, or penalties, for the disobedience of Adam and Eve:

1. The serpent, the tool used by Satan, was cursed v.14
2. The first promise of a Redeemer was given v. 15
3. A change is seen in the status of women v. 16. (I have read arguments over whether these consequences constituted an order from God, or merely a prediction of what would result from sin. Either way, He knew these things would happen as the result of sin.)
4. The earth itself was also put under the curse v. 17-19
5. Physical death was promised along with the spiritual death resulting from separation from God v. 19

4. The Noaic covenant

In Genesis 8:20–9:6, this covenant included a unilateral promise from God and also set up a form of human government.

First, God promised to never again flood the whole earth and He gave the rainbow as the sign of that promise. Notice that there was no obedience required by man.

Then, the basics of human government were laid out, including the use of capital punishment with the administration of that penalty resting in the organized state, not the individual 9:5-6.

Also included, in verse 26, was the promise of future redemption through the line of Shem.

5. The Abrahamic covenant in Gen. 12:1-3 and later confirmed with Abraham in 13:14-17, 15:1-7 and 17:1-8.

This was the covenant of promise to Abraham of land, descendants, and blessing.

The blessing to the world through Christ is mentioned in Galatians 3:16, and Jesus Himself referred to His fulfillment of this promise in John 8:56-58.

6. The Mosaic covenant, also known as the Old Covenant

This was a legal covenant made solely with Israel (Deut. 5:3). It included not only the 10 Commandments but also the religious ordinances pointing forward to the Messiah and the entire range of social laws to govern their nation.

This was a conditional covenant, unlike the others. The fulfillment of the other covenants depended solely on the truthfulness and dependability of God with no human obedience required.

Rather, this one was what 2 Corinthians 3:7–9 calls a ministry of condemnation and death, whose purpose was to point out sin and point Israel forward to the coming Messiah. It demanded the impossible. Fallen man is utterly unable to obey or to achieve the perfection required by God, so this covenant was impossible for man to obey. Instead, it’s purpose is to point us—drive us—to the cross where the Messiah did what we cannot do.

It also included the tabernacle services which set aside the guilt of sin until the full payment for sin could be paid by the Messiah.

7. The Palestinian—land—covenant in Deut. 30:1-10

This one is not always included in a list of the covenants but it is an important and far-reaching agreement that started with Israel’s ownership of the land.

It also included:

1. the prophecy of a future dispersion because of disobedience v. 1
2. future repentance during the exile v. 2
3. restoration to the land v 4-5
4. a future national conversion v. 6
5. judgment and punishment on Israel’s enemies who hate them v. 7
6. prosperity of the nation v. 9 where God says He will “rejoice over you for good”.

The last three are still future to us and are to happen during the last days, during and after the Tribulation.

This covenant is conveniently overlooked by those who subscribe to the heretical idea of replacement theology, and by those who would claim Israel’s land as their own; but the fulfillment of this covenant is guaranteed by the New Covenant. To say that God has permanently rejected Israel as a nation and a people and replaced them with the Church is to call God a liar! See Romans 9-11.

8. The Davidic covenant

In 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17 is the guarantee of the permanent rule of the One from the “house of David”. It also includes an eternal kingdom to be ruled by David’s descendant, Jesus.

The certainty of this promise was restated in Psalm 89:30-37 and then again to Mary in Luke 1:31-33.

The fulfillment of this was in Christ as the Savior of the world and Israel’s coming King. This future reign of this descendant of David will be on earth during the Millennial reign of Jesus on the throne of David.

See Revelation 19:16 where Jesus, on the occasion of His second coming is called, “King of Kings” and in Revelation 20 where He is seated on the throne of judgment followed by the 1,000-year reign on earth with the saints.

9. The New Covenant

This one is mentioned in both the Old and the New Testaments in places like Jeremiah 31, Matthew 26:28, Mark 14, Luke 22, and Hebrews 8. This is a covenant of unconditional blessing based not on our works or accomplishments but on the finished redemptive work of Christ. It brings blessing for the church promised in the Abrahamic covenant (Gal 3:13-20) and also guarantees all of the previously promised covenant blessings to Israel.

This covenant is not conditional but rather is based on the truthfulness and reliability of God Himself and is irreversible once entered. There is no “work” for us to do to enter that covenant; all that is required is to believe in Jesus, the One “whom the Father has sent” (John 6:28, 29).

Now that we have reviewed the covenants in the Bible, let’s look at what the lesson says about them:

Each of the covenants mentioned above, although unique, bore the imprint of “the everlasting covenant.” Just as the everlasting gospel is first announced in Genesis 3:15, but then progressively revealed throughout the Bible, the same applies to the everlasting covenant. Each consecutive covenant serves to expound and deepen our understanding of the everlasting covenant of love, which is revealed most fully in the plan of salvation. The New and Old Covenants, as they are often distinguished, contain the same components.

This sounds good on the surface, but if you know anything about the Adventist understanding of the Old and New Covenants, you can see how they are merged into one. The New is understood to be the Old, just “written on our hearts” instead of on stone. It is quite subtle in the quote above, but the author has to put it that way in order to follow the teachings of his belief system.

This interpretation is further underscored by the list of elements that the author says are included in the successive covenants.

It is interesting to note that the quotes from Jeremiah, reiterated by the verses in Hebrews, speak specifically to “the house of Israel”. That is the nation of Israel—the Jews—which God promised to never abandon (Romans 9-11). To attempt to remove them from God’s hand and replace them with the Church is to call God a liar, and that is something that a child of God and a student of the Bible must never do. And yet, Ellen White, supposedly hearing directly from God, calls the Church “the Israel of God” 176 times! And whenever she wrote about the fulfillment of the promises to Israel, she puts them into the context of the Church.

God’s promises to Israel are called an “everlasting covenant” and must be accepted as just that. See: 1 Chron. 16:17; Ps. 105:10; Isaiah 24:5; Ezekiel 16:60; Gen 17:7 and 19 for just a few references.

In all the verses that mention the covenant and call it “everlasting”, there is not one that has any words or even a suggestion that it is conditional on their obedience, or that those promises can be annulled by Israel’s disobedience. The only conditional aspects of it are the blessings for obedience and the curses that will follow disobedience.

If you believe that God tells the truth, then you have to take Him at His word when He calls His covenant with Abraham and his descendants “everlasting”. If you can’t believe that, how can you believe any of His promises to the Church?

It’s interesting that element #3, Mission, is describing the Israel-centered conditions during the Millennium where Jesus will rule the world from Jerusalem “with a rod of iron” (Rev. 2:27; 12:5; 19:15), and everyone will know about God. Many will still reject Him in the end, a state which will bring about their final judgment at the end of that time when the devil is released from the pit and he and his great army are cast into the Lake of Fire.

 

Covenantal Structure

From the lesson, in trying to define a covenant:

It expresses the covenant in the following manner: (1) preamble (Deut. 1:1–5); (2) historical prologue (Deut. 1:6–4:43); (3) stipulations or laws (Deut. 4:44–26:19); (4) blessings and curses (Deuteronomy 27–30); (5) witnesses (Deut. 30:19); and finally, (6) special provision (Deut. 31:9–13).

While that pattern was typical of a covenant between a conquering overlord and the people under his rule, not all covenants in the Bible are laid out this way.

For instance, the Noaic covenant is simply God stating that He will never again destroy the whole world by water, and there are no special provisions or expected behavior from the people. It is stated as a simple promise.

That description above quoted from the lesson is a clear outline of the Old Covenant God made with Israel and it contains all of the 6 points listed.

Notice that #3 lists the “stipulations or laws” for the conquered people which they were expected to obey. The laws contained in the 10 Commandments—what the Bible calls “the words of the covenant”—and were specifically for the people under that covenant. On this side of the cross we are under the New Covenant, and to put yourself back under the Old is to put yourself back into the covenant of death.

 

Pledges

From the lesson:

If the Israelite nation was going to get on the right path, it had to establish practices and habits that would be conducive to where it wanted to be. If the people wanted to have a close walk with God, then making the Sabbath important and taking care of the temple were important steps in that direction. Unfortunately, they didn’t keep their pledges very well….

This is an odd claim as it reduces obedience to the previously given covenant to a casual need to behave the right way rather than the necessity of strict obedience to all of the Law as given to Moses. This involved so much more than “habits that would be conducive to where it wanted to be”. Remember, with the Mosaic covenant, it was strict obedience that brought the blessings promised, not a “closer walk”.

This from the lesson: “Yet, even if everyone didn’t keep them, some or many people did. “

This points out another problem with confusing the Old Covenant with the New. In the Old, what was required was corporate obedience, not personal. Even the ones who may have been true to God were still taken to Babylon—like Daniel.

And the sins of one man could affect the whole nation. This was illustrated in Joshua 7 by the sin of Achan when the Children of Israel took Jericho. He kept some items, and the consequences to the entire camp were their defeat when they tried to take the city of Ai, and the death of 36 men.

These details highlight one of the differences between the Old and the New—the New covenant is personal, not corporate. It is a promise to each individual, not to any nation or group of people.

This discussion is followed by this completely demoralizing quote from Ellen White:

Through the right exercise of the will, an entire change may be made in your life. By yielding up your will to Christ, you ally yourself with the power that is above all principalities and pow­ers. You will have strength from above to hold you steadfast, and thus through constant surrender to God you will be enabled to live the new life, even the life of faith.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 48

And the lesson follows that with a question: “What’s holding you back from experiencing what’s written here?”

Do you see that? There is no work of the Holy Spirit to give us a new heart; rather, it is “the right exercise of the will”. And, instead of a new heart put in us by the Holy Spirit, we are left with living the new life, albeit with some help. This makes the renewing of our hearts a work required of us, not a matter of faith and the work of the holy Spirit.

This is the point at which many of us just gave up as Adventiusts. We know, from the Law, that perfection is the only acceptable standard, and we know that we can never exercise enough “will” to meet that standard.

But that statement fits in with the Adventist belief, straight from Ellen White, that the Holy Spirit is just the available power behind any change for the good, but we are still responsible for making the change and living the “new life”. They don’t see that it is the Holy Spirit who gives us a new heart and renews us (Ps. 51:10) not our own actions by the “right exercise of the will”.

When we come to Christ, the Holy Spirit will show us habits and behaviors and thoughts that need to be changed. That was the whole point of the Law—not that by following these rules we can become changed, but rather that we are powerless to make ourselves right with God. That hopelessness drove us to the cross to accept pardon and new life for our dead spirits.

Then, once we go to the cross to find eternal life, why would we then turn back to the Law? It brings only death, so to go back to it is to go back to death.

The lesson goes on to reinforce this hopeless condition by quoting Paul and then tacking on a question:

This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” (1 Tim. 1:15, NKJV). What was Paul’s hope, and how can we make it our own hope, as well?

Paul wasn’t talking about a hope of something in the future that could become true once he came to Christ. He was already in Christ, and his ‘hope’ was in the guaranteed promise of eternal life that was already his.

When we came to Christ, and the author is presumably speaking to people who are already saved, we know that hope as a fulfilled promise. If you don’t already have that hope—defined as trust or desiring something that is true—then you must seriously question whether you are saved and actually a member of the Body of Christ.

 

The Temple

From the lesson:

It was so central to their faith that the greatest tragedy occurred when Nebuchadnezzar tore down the temple and carried away the sacred objects.

This makes it sound like their faith was just a matter of temple services when that would reduce the faith of the people to mere actions. The services and sacrifices did not bring forgiveness for their sins but merely set them aside, setting aside the death penalty required by the law of God. By this relief of guilt, they were pointed forward to the ultimate Lamb sacrifice which would truly “take away the sins of the world”.

So, all that went on in the temple was important to them, but it was all supposed to be based on their faith in God and His promises, not the other way around. The actual tragedy was that they left God. That was why His presence left the tabernacle, as illustrated to Ezekiel in the vision recorded in Ezekiel 10. That is why He allowed the temple to be torn down. They had left Him, so He left their presence. †