Why the New Covenant?
The need for a new covenant was overwhelming. But why? "For IF that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For FINDING FAULT..." (Heb. 8:7-8). The first covenant had a real tangible fault, for "finding fault..." with what, the law? NO!
"For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." The fault was not with the law, but "with them," THE PEOPLE, the children of Israel "because they continued not in my covenant" -- because they disobeyed (Heb. 8:9). If the fault were with the law, then the law would not have been perfect; but David said, "The law of the Lord is PERFECT, converting the soul" (Ps. 19:7).
It was to correct the fault with the people that God said He will make another covenant. Now let's find out what the old covenant really was so we can know HOW the new covenant will correct that fault. Remember, the fault was with the people.
What Is A Covenant?
The reason most people don't understand about the covenants is that they don't KNOW WHAT A COVENANT IS. Webster's dictionary defines a covenant as a "mutual AGREEMENT, a legal undertaking to do or to refrain from some act, A DOCUMENT CONTAINING THE TERMS OF AGREEMENT." A covenant is an agreement between parties.
God proposed the old covenant with Israel in Exodus 19:5-6. Here were both parties to the covenant or agreement, God and Israel. "If ye (Israel) will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant"--that was Israel's part of the agreement, "then" --and this was God's part of the agreement, what He promised to do --"ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation."
Did Israel accept this proposal? "And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken WE WILL DO" (Ex. 19:8).
The Old Covenant:
A Marriage Agreement!
Very few know it, but the old covenant proposed by God was a marriage agreement between Him and Israel. Israel was organized as both church and state. Ezekiel wrote, "I entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine" (Ezek. 16:8).
In Jeremiah 31:32 you read, "My covenant they brake, although I was an HUSBAND UNTO THEM, saith the Lord."
Do you see that the covenant was not just the ten commandments, but an agreement between the Lord and the nation--the church of Israel? They accepted the terms that He gave to them. They bound themselves by this first covenant to refrain from any adulterous relations with the "gods" of other nations (Ex. 34:12-17). In turn, the Lord promised to remain faithful to Israel, and provide for them and bless them even to a thousand generations (Deut. 7:9).
But what were the conditions of the old covenant to which Israel agreed?
The Terms of the Old Covenant
There is a great deal of misunderstanding about that which constituted the first covenant with Israel. In Exodus the 19~ chapter, God made arrangements to declare the conditions of His covenant to the people. Then in the 20'h chapter God spoke every word of the ten commandments. The ten commandments are a perfect and complete law in themselves. When God finished speaking them "He ADDED NO MORE. AND HE WROTE THEM IN TWO TABLES OF STONE" (Deut. 5:22). The ten commandments were a distinct part of the terms of the old covenant to which Israel agreed. They were the TABLES OF THE COVENANT (Deut. 9:9,11).
Notice Exodus 24:7 where Moses "took the BOOK OF THE COVENANT" and read in the audience of the people: and they said ALL that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient." Besides the TABLES of the covenant containing the ten basic spiritual laws (Rom. 7:14), there was a BOOK of the covenant containing the civil laws of the covenant between Israel and the Lord. From Exodus the 21st to the 23rd chapters inclusive, God revealed these specific CIVIL LAWS, which Moses wrote in a book (Ex. 24:3, 4); these civil laws were based on the principles of the ten great and broad spiritual precepts -- the ten commandments.
After God spoke the ten commandments to Israel and after Moses received the civil laws from God and delivered them to Israel, THEN the first covenant was sealed with blood--it became binding (Ex. 24:8 and Heb. 9: 18-20). Since Israel had accepted God as her husband, she was to be obedient to Him just as the wife is to be obedient to her husband. God was head and ruler of the nation Israel. Israel was to keep herself unspotted from the evil of the world by being faithful to the laws or terms of the agreement which would make their relationship a perfect union.
When God spoke the old covenant to Israel at the time they were brought out of Egypt, He did not command them "concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices: But this thing commanded I them saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people" (Jer. 7:22-23). The ceremonial and ritualistic laws were ADDED LATER BECAUSE OF TRANSGRESSIONS AND AS A REMINDER OF SIN --after the old covenant was sealed. They were not a part of the covenant because they came after the marriage agreement was completed. The spiritual laws of the old covenant DEFINE sin, the civil laws amplify them and prescribe punishment for disobedience. The spiritual and civil laws were not instituted by the old covenant. They were already in existence and had to be included in the covenant (See Gen. 26:5; Ex. 16:28 and 18:16).
Let's observe the fault with the first covenant now that we've seen what happened to it.