II — The Abolition of the Mosaic Covenant

A covenant is a contract, an agreement, or a bond of union between two or more persons, by which they engage to do certain things. The Bible contains several instances of such contracts. Thus, Abimelech entered into a covenant with Isaac for their mutual protection — (Gen. 26: 28-29); Jonathan and David made a ‘covenant of affection’ with each other — (I Sam. 18: 3); and the ten tribes made a covenant with the Assyrians, contrary to Jehovah’s commandment — (Hos. 12: 1).

When the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai, the God of Abraham entered into a covenant with them, which, at a subsequent period, is referred to by Moses in the following manner: — “The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb (or Sinai): the Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day” — (Deut. 5: 2-3). The same event is also spoken of by the Spirit in Jeremiah: “I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” — (Jer. 34: 13). It is evident from the testimony of these two witnesses that a covenant was made with the Israelites in the wilderness, which was not made with their fathers. It is necessary to remember this fact in order to understand the Bible teaching respecting Divine covenants.

Conditions of the Covenant

Owing to this covenant having been entered into through the instrumentality of Moses, it is generally called the Mosaic covenant; “it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator” — (Gal. 3: 19). It was given to him by Jehovah on Mount Sinai, and, on descending, he gave it to the children of Israel, who signified their approval by saying, “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do” — (Exod. 19: 8). Its object was to make them “a peculiar treasure unto me (God) above all people”, “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” — (Exod. 19: 5-6). But to attain to this high position it was necessary for them to comply with the conditions, which, briefly described, consisted of the commandments of the Mosaic law: they were promised, if obedient, the blessings which are enumerated in Deut. 28: 2-14, comprising peace, plenty, prosperity, deliverance from their enemies, and permission to dwell in the land of Canaan; they were threatened, if disobedient, with the various curses enumerated in Deut. 28: 15-68, comprising distress, poverty, famine, pestilence, absence of rain, destruction by their enemies, and expulsion from the land, for the purpose of being scattered among other nations.

As long as the children of Israel continued to comply with the conditions of the covenant into which they had entered, they enjoyed the promised blessings. But when they failed, they suffered the threatened curses. They more frequently followed the latter course, and hence their chequered and troubled career. It was on this account that the ten tribes were carried into a captivity from which they have never returned: — “The King of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria . . . because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded” — (II Kings 18: 11-12).

Result of Neglect

For the same reason, the other two tribes were taken captive by the King of Babylon. Among these was the prophet Jeremiah, who, in answer to the question, “Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city?” says, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them” — (Jer. 22: 8-9). After a period of seventy years, the two tribes were delivered from this yoke, and allowed to return to their own land. But although they did not relapse into the gross idolatry of their forefathers, the national disobedience was really as great after this captivity as before. In consequence, therefore, of their continued neglect to fulfil their part of the covenant, Jehovah determined to abolish it.

For this purpose, among others, Jesus Christ appeared in the “last days” (Heb. 1: 2) of the Mosaic covenant, otherwise styled “the end of the world” — (Heb. 9: 26). Being a Jew by birth he was “made under the law ” — (Gal. 4: 4), and therefore he was amenable throughout the whole of his life to all the requirements of that law. The ceremonies which were dependent on the action of others — such as circumcision — were as scrupulously attended to in his case as in the most rigid Jewish families; and every jot and tittle affecting his own voluntary conduct was afterwards perfectly complied with. He accomplished in fact that wherein every other Jew, through weakness of the flesh (Rom. 8: 3), has failed; he fulfilled the righteousness of the law.

Christ Made “A Curse”

But inasmuch as he appeared to fulfil it in antitype — “by the sacrifice of himself” (Heb. 9: 26) — as well as in type, it was necessary before the close of his career to submit to that which brought him under its curse; he was commanded by his Father not only to lay down his life (John 10: 18), but to lay it down by crucifixion, for he was “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” — (Phil. 2: 8). Now it had been written in the Mosaic law, “He that is hanged is accursed of God ” — (Deut. 21: 23); consequently in being hung on a tree or cross, Jesus was brought under this curse. That there may be no question as to the applicability of this enactment to him, reference should be made to the inspired exposition in Gal. 3: 13 — “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, ‘Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree’”.

The value of this apostolic utterance lies in the fact that it not only affirms the curse of Christ by the law through hanging on a tree, but furthermore points out the object attained by it — the redemption of Paul and other Christian Jews in his day from the curse of the law. This is equivalent to saying that the redemption of all faithful Jews from its everlasting effects necessitated Jesus Christ suffering the same curse; this he did when he died, for the curse was death — (II Cor. 3: 7). At the same time he suffered the condemnation of the Edenic law, in order to redeem all faithful sons of Adam from that sentence.

Jew and Gentile Need Redemption

The Jews being under these two penalties required the removal of both before they could attain to immortality. Gentiles have never been under the Mosaic law, are free from its curse, and, therefore, are not so directly affected as are Jews by its removal; they are, however, by the existence of the Adamic condemnation, equally debarred from eternal life, and are consequently quite as vitally interested in the sacrificial death of the Lamb of God.

The same event was also the occasion of the abolition of the Mosaic law, which was signified by the “veil of the temple” being “rent in twain” — (Matt. 27: 51). This “veil” was designed for the purpose of hiding or screening the manifested glory of Jehovah in the Most Holy Place. The rending of the temple-veil is referred to by Paul as Jesus “blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” — (Col. 2: 14).

At that time the Mosaic covenant was reduced to the condition described by the same apostle when he says, “That which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away” — (Heb. 8: 13). But between its legal abolition and the infliction of its ultimate curses, a period of over thirty years elapsed. It was not until the destruction of Jerusalem that the Jews felt the full effect of their disobedience. Then it was that they realised that part of the threatened curses in which it was said that the Lord would bring against them “a nation of fierce countenance”, “as swift as the eagle flieth”, which should besiege all their gates throughout the land, resulting in their being scattered “among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other” — (Deut. 28: 49, 50, 52, 64).

A New Covenant to Be Made

Jesus predicted this event when telling his disciples that they should “see Jerusalem compassed with armies”, and that the Jews should be “led away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” — (Luke 21: 20 and 24). The times of the Gentiles not yet having been fulfilled, Jerusalem is still trodden down by them, and the Jews are still in a state of captivity. Their present condition is the result of their breaking the Mosaic covenant. But this prediction of Jesus clearly intimates that when the Gentile times are fulfilled, Jerusalem will cease to be trodden down, and the Jews will cease to be dispersed captives.

When that time arrives, another covenant will be made between Jehovah and the Jewish nation of which Paul makes mention by saying, “If that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second; for, finding fault with them, he saith (through the prophet Jeremiah), “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: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt” — (Heb. 8: 7, 8, 9). By means of this covenant, they will again be recognised by Jehovah to be His people, for they will acknowledge him “whom they have pierced” — (Zech. 12: 10) to be their Messiah, and will say, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” — (Matt. 23: 39).

Sabbatarianism

Notwithstanding the irrefutable proofs of the abolition of the Mosaic covenant, the Jews still cling to it. And, strange to say, although it was given to the Jewish nation only, many Gentiles profess themselves under an obligation to obey one of its provisions, namely, the keeping of the Sabbath. In this respect they are on a level with those Judaizing Christians, who, in apostolic times, taught the necessity of being circumcised and keeping the law of Moses (Acts 15 : 1 and 5), respecting which Paul says, “If ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing” — (Gal. 5: 2). If there be any difference, Protestant Sabbatarians are worse than these Jews were, because the Mosaic covenant, of which the Sabbath formed a part, was at one time binding upon the Jews, but it was never given as a law to Gentiles.

It is but necessary to examine the injunctions given to the Jews respecting the mode in which the Sabbath was to be kept, in order to see how erroneous are the present Gentile notions about keeping that institution. The Jews were not allowed to “do any work” — (Ex. 20: 10), were to “kindle no fire” — (Ex. 35: 3), and “no man” was to “go out of his place on the seventh day” — (Ex. 16: 29). Then, too, there was “the burnt offering of every Sabbath” — (Num. 28: 9-10), consisting of two lambs, and two tenth deals of flour mingled with oil, which, like all other sacrifices, could only be offered up in the tabernacle or temple erected for that purpose. Gentiles do not profess to do any of these things; for if they did, they would not ride to or from church or chapel, light fires, cook, or do any other work, on what they call the “Sabbath-day”. Their boast of keeping it is, therefore, mere empty profession. The Sabbatarianism of the present age is as great a piece of Pharisaism as ever existed.

The Jews kept the Sabbath on the seventh day, but the Gentiles profess to keep it on the first day of the week. On what authority they have altered it from the seventh to the first day, they cannot show. Jesus did not alter it; neither did the apostles authorise such alteration. In all their epistles, not a word can be found which in any way favours the idea that the Sabbath was intended to be continued as a Gentile institution. And, if it be of as much importance as members of the Lord’s Day Observance Society and others contend, it is certain that the apostles would not have thus passed it over. On the contrary, Paul says, “Let no man judge you . . . in respect of a holy day . . . or of the Sabbath” — (Col. 2: 16); his meaning evidently being that no one was to charge them with doing wrong because they omitted to keep these things. He further indicated the unimportance of attending to them at the period when he was writing, by saying in the next verse that these things “are a shadow of things to come”.

The Ten Commandments

The ten commandments, called “the tables of the covenant” — (Heb. 9: 4), formed a part of the covenant made at Sinai, and, as a consequence, none but the Jews was ever under any obligation to obey them: — “What things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law” — (Rom. 3: 19), and since the abolition of that covenant they have not been binding on either Jews or Gentiles. It is, therefore, extremely improper for the latter to profess allegiance to them, and to make such a formal parade of them as is done by the Church of England; they ought never to be enjoined or repeated in the form given in the Old Testament. All that they contain which believing Jews or Gentiles are now required to obey is to be found in the New Testament. In the gospels and epistles, nine of them are re-enacted; but of the fourth, which relates to the Sabbath, nothing is said:

The foregoing remarks have, of course, no reference to the setting apart of a certain day for rest and religious exercises. If any nation or community mutually agree to suspend commercial operations for such purposes, there cannot be the least objection to it. They have, however, no right to compel, by law, any dissentients to adopt the same course, or to misname it “the Sabbath”, and then assert that it is a God-appointed institution. Those who truly understand the character of Jesus as a priest would never be guilty of such folly as this. But at the same time they would not fail to make use of a day set apart by custom or law for the purpose of attending to their religious duties, such as the commemoration of the sacrifice offered up by their High Priest.

Breaking of Bread

The early Christians met together for the purpose on the first day of the week, doubtless because that was the day on which the Lord Jesus came forth from the grave. But there is no evidence that they suspended all business operations on that day, and devoted themselves wholly to religious pursuits. The only passage which affords any insight into their practice, records that “Upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his speech until midnight” — (Acts 20: 7). From the fact that Paul’s speech continued till midnight, it would appear that the disciples “met to break bread” in the evening of “the first day of the week”; for it is scarcely likely that the speech here referred to began in the early part of the day.

The probability is, that as the Sabbath was kept by the Jews until the destruction of Jerusalem — which would necessitate a considerable suspension of business operations on the seventh day, even on the part of those who did not profess to keep the Sabbath — the early Christians assembled on the first day, after their day’s work was over to avoid the necessity of giving up their daily employment for two days in the week. Or, it may be that, as many of them were Jews, they reckoned the commencement of the first day from the termination of the Jewish Sabbath, which was six o’clock on Saturday evening, and that they met to attend to the Lord’s supper in the evening of that day.

Although the Sabbath is not an institution of the present dispensation, it is, nevertheless, to be re-enacted during the world’s Sabbatic Rest of a thousand years. The prophet Ezekiel, in giving predictions respecting the temple, priests, and worship of that period, says, “They (the Levites) shall hallow my sabbaths” (Ezek. 44: 24); and “the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the Lord, in the sabbaths, and in the new moons” — (Ezek. 46: 3). But it would appear from the same prophet’s prediction respecting certain burnt and peace offerings being offered on the “eighth day and so forward” — (Ezek. 43 : 27), that the Sabbath is to be changed from the seventh to the “eighth day”, which is, of course, the same as the first day.

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