At the time when the southern kingdom of Judah was about to end and the people taken into Babylonian captivity, God announced through His prophet Jeremiah the “new covenant.” This is the first time this notion is expressed in the Bible. However, when the 10-tribe northern kingdom of Israel was about to be destroyed (some one hundred fifty years before the time of Jeremiah), the idea of another covenant was mentioned again, this time by Hosea (Hosea 2:18-20).

Read Hosea 2:18-20. Notice the parallel between what the Lord says there to His people with what He said in Jeremiah 31:31-34. What common imagery is used, and, again, what does it say about the basic meaning and nature of the covenant?

Image © Krieg Barrie from GoodSalt.com

At moments in history when God’s plans for His covenant people were hampered by their rebellion and unbelief, He sent prophets to proclaim that the covenant history with His faithful had not come to an end. No matter how unfaithful the people might have been, no matter the apostasy, rebellion, and disobedience among them, the Lord still proclaims His willingness to enter into a covenant relationship with all who are willing to repent, to obey, and to claim His promises.

Look up the following texts. Though they do not specifically mention a new covenant, what elements are found in them that reflect the principles behind the new covenant?

Ezekiel 11:19

Ezekiel 18:31

Ezekiel 36:26

The Lord will provide “a heart to know that I am the LORD” (Jeremiah 24:7, RSV). He will “take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 11:19, RSV), and will give “a new heart” and “a new spirit” ( Ezekiel 36.26-27). This work of God is the foundation of the new covenant.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

Amen!(0)

The post Monday: Heart Work first appeared on Sabbath School Net.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SabbathSchoolNet/~3/ABZp45tDc7c/

Read Jeremiah 31:31-34 and answer the following questions:

1.Who instigates the covenant?

2.Whose law is being talked about here? What law is this?

3.Which verses stress the relational aspect that God wants with His people?

4.What act of God in behalf of His people forms the basis of that covenant relationship?

Image © Pacific Press Publishing Assn. Goodsalt.com

It is clear: The new covenant is not something much different from the old covenant made with Israel on Mount Sinai. In fact, the problem with the Sinai covenant was not that it was old or outmoded. The problem, instead, was that it was broken (see Jeremiah 31:32).

The answers to the above questions, all found in those four verses, prove that many facets of the “old covenant” remain in the new one. The “new covenant” is, in a sense, a “renewed covenant.” It is the completion, or the fulfillment, of the first one.

Focus on the last part of Jeremiah 31:34, in which the Lord says that He will forgive their iniquity and the sin of His people. Even though the Lord says that He will write the law on our hearts and place it within us, He still stresses that He will forgive our sin and iniquity, which violates the law written in our hearts. Do you see any contradiction or tension between these ideas? If not, why not? What does it mean, as Romans 2:15 puts it, to have the law written within our hearts? (Matthew 5:17-28).

Looking at the verses for today, how could you use them to answer the argument that somehow the Ten Commandments (or, specifically, the Sabbath) are now made void under the new covenant? Is there anything at all in those texts that makes that point? On the contrary, how could one use those texts to prove the perpetuity of the law?

<–Sabbath Monday–>

Amen!(0)

The post Sunday: Behold the Days are Coming… first appeared on Sabbath School Net.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SabbathSchoolNet/~3/ZWB1H4tLb0Q/