The House of Israel and the House of Judah

Fourth Week of Advent: the Incarnation, the Parousia, and the Covenants of Israel

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With the entirety of the apostolic writings classified as “New Testament” by Christian compilers, one might expect to find a great deal about the new covenant in its pages.¹ However, it is not until quite late in the gospel narrative that the new covenant is directly mentioned, as Jesus institutes the Lord’s supper. “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood,” says Jesus in Luke 22:20 before sadly announcing that he is about to be betrayed.² But this is to be the first and last time the gospels mention the new covenant.

The new covenant does not get much air time in the epistles, either. Paul recounts Jesus’ words when correcting the Corinthians on their observance of the Lord’s supper in 1 Corinthians 11:17–34 but does not elaborate on the nature of the new covenant. When writing the Corinthians a second time, Paul includes himself among the “ministers of the new covenant,” where he compares the old covenant’s glory to the new covenant’s glory.³ Finally, and most substantially, the author of Hebrews writes about how the priesthood and blood of the Messiah relate to the new covenant in his letter to Jewish believers, mainly as a midrash⁴ on Jeremiah 31:31–34, the prophetic declaration that most clearly lays out the terms of the new covenant.⁵

I Will Remember Their Sin No More

Though the prophets are overflowing with warnings of judgment to the people of Israel for their idolatry, all these pronouncements are tempered by the promises of a messiah and a restored Israel where righteousness and uninterrupted flourishing will occur. This future hope is made possible by a mechanism that keeps God’s promises, satisfies God’s justice, and mercifully mends human nature, healing it of its sinful proclivities. Though present in many prophetic passages, only Jeremiah gives this instrument of reconciliation and restoration the title “new covenant.”

The prophet Jeremiah heard the word of the Lord during a period of upheaval and covenantal discipline for the kingdom of Judah. He ministered as a prophet between the reforms of King Josiah and the end of King Zedekieh’s reign when Babylon sacked Jerusalem, exiled most of its inhabitants, and seemingly ended David’s dynasty.⁶ Jeremiah’s father, Hilkiah,⁷ had discovered the Book of the Law⁸ during King Josiah’s Temple renovations, and sent it to be read to the king. When Josiah heard about the curses of not keeping the Mosaic covenant and understood Judah’s dire state, he tore his clothes and wept. Josiah sent messengers to inquire of the prophetess Huldah, for he knew his fathers had heaped up wrath against the nation.

Huldah confirmed that disaster would indeed come upon Judah because of the curses of not keeping the Law. But for the King himself, she had more gentle words. “Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD. Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place and its inhabitants.”⁹

Josiah would lead Judah in a short reformation, keeping the Passover and the Law. But his reign was cut short when Egyptian archers shot him in a battle on the plains of Megiddo. Mortally wounded, Josiah was brought back to Jerusalem, where he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers, as Huldah had foretold.¹⁰ Jeremiah lamented the loss of the Lord’s anointed and understood that the period of mercy promised during Josiah’s reign had ended.

Indeed, David’s house declined precipitously after Josiah. Jehoahaz was made king in his father’s place but was quickly deposed by Pharaoh, who turned the land of Judah into a vassal state that paid tribute to Egypt. Pharaoh then installed Jehoahaz’s brother, Jehoiakim, on the throne of Judah. After eleven years of evil rule, Jehoiakim was defeated by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and carried out of Jerusalem in chains. His son, Jehoiachin, ruled a mere three months in Jerusalem before he, too, was summoned to Babylon. Zedekiah, Jehoiachin’s brother, ruled for eleven years but mocked the warning messages of his prophet Jeremiah. The Lord had compassion on the people of Judah and his dwelling place, Jerusalem, by sending messengers, but their words were scoffed at and despised, so desolation fell. Temple and town were burned to the ground, and those not slaughtered were dragged off to Babylon. Jeremiah prophesied that the exile would be for seventy years, a sabbath rest for the land promised to Abraham.

Death, destruction, exile from the land, the end of David’s rule—the promises of God to Abraham, the blessings of the Law, and David’s assurance that he would never lack a man to sit on the throne could not be further off. All hope seemed lost. But the same compassionate God who had persistently sent messengers to wayward Judah gave her this assurance through Jeremiah:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my Law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Jeremiah 31:31–34

This future new covenant is tucked into a more extended passage promising Israel’s consolation and restoration in Jeremiah 30–33, where the Lord affirms his eternal covenant with Abraham, Moses, and most especially David. In the darkest moments of Babylonian exile, faithful Jews such as Daniel would hold on to the words of a covenant of peace as revealed to Jeremiah.¹¹

When the exiles returned to Jerusalem after the 70 years of sabbath rest for the land was complete, they began building Jerusalem’s walls and reconstructing the Temple. Jeremiah’s prophesy about the length of the exile had been vindicated. Perhaps his many promises of peace in the promised land under the kingship of David’s line would also soon come to pass.

But as the foundations for the Second Temple were laid, joy and sorrow were mixed. Old men and Levites who had seen the first house wept with grief. This structure was nothing to the Shekinah-filled, numinous glory of Solomon’s Temple.¹² It certainly didn’t touch the extraordinary descriptions of a new Temple in Ezekiel 40–44.

Amid this discouragement, the Lord sent word by his prophet Haggai, “Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts… The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.”¹³

Don’t be discouraged by small beginnings, urges the Lord. I am with you now and will do everything I promised. Be patient, work according to the covenant, and know that yet once more, in a little while, the latter glory of this house will exceed even Solomon’s Temple.

Too Light a Thing

Five hundred years later, after defilement under Seleucid rule, rededication under the Maccabees, and refurbishment and expansion under Herod the Great, the glory of the Temple was evident. Did its glory exceed that of the former house, though? Was the wealth of nations pouring in as tribute to Israel’s God? Most importantly, was Israel dwelling in peace?

Under the shadow of Roman occupation, faithful inhabitants of Jerusalem knew the answer to these questions was a decided “No.” So they continued their work “yet a little while longer,” prisoners of hope waiting for the consolation of Israel and redemption of Jerusalem so clearly and consistently promised by their God.

When Mary and Joseph brought their son Jesus to the Temple for the firstborn’s redemption according to the Law’s custom, a man named Simeon performed the rite for them. Taking the infant Jesus into his arms, he broke into worshipful verse. 

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”
Luke 2:29–32

The first part of this hymn of thanksgiving refers to a personal promise the Lord had given to Simeon that he would see Israel’s Messiah before his death.¹⁴ Simeon continues, “My eyes have seen your yeshua.” This wonderful wordplay conveys the truth of God’s redemption. Jesus’ name, his identity, is salvation. Next, Simeon paraphrases Psalm 98:2–3, “The LORD has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.” The nations will witness God’s unswerving loyalty to Israel when he comes in glory to save them. Simeon continues that this demonstration would be “a light for revelation to the Gentiles,” recalling the multiple prophecies in Isaiah’s servant songs that spoke of this phenomenon.

“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Isaiah 49:6

It is indeed the job of the servant, Israel’s Messiah, to gather the scattered sheep of Israel. But this is not his only job. He is also meant to reveal himself to the nations so that salvation would reach the ends of the earth.

A bit earlier in Isaiah 42, another passage details different aspects of the servant’s job: he will establish justice on the earth, and the “coastlands will wait for his law.” ¹⁵ Isaiah then continues to describe the servant,

“I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.”
Isaiah 42:6–7

This promised servant, whom Simeon has identified as the Lord’s Yeshua, the little infant Jesus he has cradled in his arms, will be a covenant himself! This covenant must be the new covenant of which the prophet Jeremiah spoke. Though Jeremiah was clear and specific that this new covenant was with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, Isaiah and his faithful student Simeon knew that this had global implications and applications.

To Them Belong the Covenants

On the night of his suffering and death, Jesus would teach that his blood would be poured out for the forgiveness of sins, a vital aspect of the new covenant.¹⁶ The resurrected Jesus would later commission his disciples to teach his commandments from Jerusalem to the “coastlands that awaited his law.” ¹⁷ Trusting in the promises of the covenant cut in Jesus’ body, the disciples received the power of the Holy Spirit, guaranteeing the covenant’s future fulfillment.¹⁸

When Peter received an invitation to the house of a Roman Centurion in Joppa named Cornelius, he accepted it with hesitation. He did not yet fully understand what Isaiah meant when he said, “My salvation shall reach the ends of the earth.” When Peter met Cornelius, he found out that Cornelius had had a vision of a man in shining clothes who said to him, “Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. Send, therefore, to Joppa and ask for Simon, who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.”¹⁹ Cornelius, knowing that this meeting would be momentous, immediately sent an invitation to Peter and gathered his family and close friends to hear what the man of God would say. After hearing the story of the man in bright clothes, Peter realizes he is to preach the eternal gospel to this Gentile Roman household. Peter spoke of the ministry of Jesus, his death and resurrection, and that he is the Messiah appointed to judge the living and the dead. Peter concluded his brief message by saying, “To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”²⁰

As Cornelius and his family heard these words, the Holy Spirit fell on them. Peter and the Jewish believers who had accompanied him were amazed. Wasn’t the Holy Spirit a sign of the covenant? Wasn’t this covenant for the houses of Israel and Judah? How could it be that Gentiles were participants and were able to receive the Holy Spirit’s power and guarantee?

As much as this development puzzled them, they could not dismiss the evidence of their eyes. Peter immediately said that the indwelt Gentiles should be baptized and remained with the household for several days.

Word of this spread to the congregation in Jerusalem and accusations that Peter had eaten with uncircumcised people were leveled against him.²¹ Peter explained all that had occurred with Cornelius to the Jerusalem assembly, and they pondered what it might mean.

The gospel message found its way to many eager Gentile hearts. Soon, the question arose of how to treat these Gentile believers. Shouldn’t they be circumcised and officially subsumed into national Israel? How else could they be party to the new covenant?

The apostles and elders gathered in Jerusalem to consider the matter. Peter, Paul, and Barnabas all testified to the work of God among the Gentiles, absent of circumcision. Peter pointed out that all were saved through the grace of Jesus and not through the sign of the Abrahamic covenant. James then spoke and, paraphrasing the prophets, said, “After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.”²²

Part of the mission of the Son of David will be to restore David’s Tabernacle, a place where Gentiles who are called by the name of the Lord may seek him. Gentile inclusion in God’s salvation was a foregone conclusion “known from of old.” Why should Gentile believers in Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, be a surprise?

The next portion of James’ reasoning of Gentile responsibility in light of the covenant might be less easy to understand. “Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”²³

Of all the instructions of the Law of Moses, why in the world would the apostles rule that Gentiles should abstain from idol offerings, from sexual immorality, from meat slaughtered by strangulation, or the eating of blood?

The apostles and elders in Jerusalem ruled that Gentiles need not take on the sign and weight of Abraham’s election. The burden of being the covenant people has almost broken Abraham’s children many times and is not a necessary element for individuals to inherit the age-to-come. The Law of Moses, however, makes provision for a certain category of Gentile people under its jurisdiction. These Gentiles are called “ger” resident aliens, non-Israelites who live in the land of Israel. Many of the laws in the Torah are for specific populations and particular circumstances: the high priest, the priests, men, women, states of ritual uncleanness, etc. Not every Law applies to every person all the time. Those non-Israelites living in Israel had a tiny portion of the commandments that also applied to them. These laws for the ger included forbidding offering sacrifices to anyone but the Lord, sexual immorality, and eating strangled meat or blood.²⁴ When Israelites and those sojourners living in the land all kept the Law, all experienced the blessing of Moses’ covenant without distinction.

This ruling of the Jerusalem Council is why Paul, when he later wrote to Gentiles in the congregation in Ephesus, explained, “Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”²⁵ ²⁶

But if all who are under the blood of Christ are inheritors of the age-to-come, does that mean there is no longer any significance to the promises of the new covenant to national Israel? What about the promises to Abraham and his land and to David and his everlasting kingdom? What about the new covenant promises that all the houses of Israel and Judah would know the Lord? Is it possible that Israel, in her disobedience and rejection of her Messiah, had finally and eternally separated herself from the steadfast covenant love of God?

Paul brings up the logical question after his beautiful conclusion in Romans 8:38 that nothing can separate us from God’s unfailing love in Jesus. If nothing can separate us from the love of God, what about national Israel?

“I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.”
Romans 9:1–5

It is not “to them belonged” but “to them belong.” The covenants, the Law, and the promises continue to be under the stewardship of Israel. Throughout Romans 9, 10, and 11, Paul works through the mystery of Israel’s current state of unbelief despite their unchanged status as elect. “Did they stumble that they might fall?” Paul asks. “By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! …For if [Israel’s] rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?”²⁷ Paul knows that mercy to the Gentiles is both a benefit and provocation that leads to Israel’s salvation. All of Israel must be saved one day because it is a core new covenant promise. To demonstrate this assurance, Paul quotes Isaiah: “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”²⁸ A mighty future hope, indeed!

Yet Once More, In a Little While

Readers joining Paul and the Prophets in their longing for the salvation of all Israel might have a burning question about the new covenant, namely when these things will take place. When will God restore the kingdom to Israel? How long, O LORD?

The same question might be asked of the Abrahamic covenant. When will Abraham inherit his promises? When will Israel only feel the blessings of the Law? When will the kingdom of David come? When will ungodliness be banished from Jacob?

The author of Hebrews has an explanation for us. “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”²⁹

Jesus, in his first advent, sacrificed himself and cut the new covenant in his very body. The pouring out of the blood of the covenant “put away sin.” But just as Abraham walked through the pieces but has not yet received the promises made to him, Jesus, having already sacrificed once and for all, is waiting for his second advent to enact the salvation that will mean life from the dead for Israel and for the Gentiles called by his name.

On that day, God will bring about everything he promised from the beginning of time. Jesus will raise up Abraham at the resurrection of the righteous and set him on his land, along with his innumerable children. From this family, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, not the least because from them comes the Messiah, but also because Israel will instruct the Gentiles in the ways of the Lord.³⁰ The Law will be written on new hearts empowered to enact its instruction.³¹ The Son of David will rule an everlasting kingdom in righteousness, with a Levitical priesthood to minister to the Lord.³²

We, like the patriarchs, the prophets, the exiles in Babylon, and the apostles, set all our hope in the eternal covenant with Israel. We run our race with endurance, work according to the covenant, and look to Jesus’ example, who endured the cross for the joy set before him. We preach the eternal gospel to the ends of the earth. Though the nations shake, we know our inheritance is unshakable. The latter house’s glory shall eclipse the former house’s glory, and the Lord will give his peace. Though the Messiah should tarry in his second advent, we eagerly wait for him and his salvation.

Amen! May the Messiah come speedily and in our days.

Maranatha.

Thanks for reading this fourth week of “Advent: The Incarnation, the Parousia, and the Covenants of Israel.” If you missed the first four installments, you can catch up by reading “Maranatha: Our Lord (Has) Come,” “Son of Abraham,” “Born Under the Law,” and “Great David’s Greater Son.”

Merry Christmas!

Footnotes

1
The term “testament” is most appropriate for this library of scriptures made up of the apostolic writings, as it testifies to the life, ministry, and teachings of Jesus. Often, though, “testament” is used as an equivalent term to covenant. For instance, the title for the New Testament in Hebrew is the brit chadasha, that is, the new covenant.
2
Even this “new covenant” instance is somewhat in question, as not all manuscripts include Luke 22:19b–20 in the text. Parallel gospel passages such as Matthew 26:28 and Mark 14:24 also have manuscript discrepancies, with some saying merely “covenant” and some saying “new covenant.” In the ESV translation, for example, Luke 22:19b–20 is included, and the passages in Matthew and Mark have only “covenant” in the text, without the “new” adjective. Both decisions are acknowledged in the notes. Presumably, the inclusion of Luke 22:19b–20 is bolstered by Paul’s account of the Lord’s supper in 1 Corinthians 11:23–25.
3
See 2 Corinthians 3.
4
“Midrash” is a Hebrew term that translates to “commentary.” Midrashim refers to a body of ancient commentaries on the Tanakh that date back to the second century, but their content is much older. This genre of work would undoubtedly have been familiar to the author of Hebrews.
5
I am not able to address the treatment of the new covenant in 2 Corinthians 3 and Hebrews 8–9 passages in this article in great depth. The complicated nature of the arguments within them, and the historical interpretations that dominate Christian understanding of these passages deserve full and focused analysis. I hope to write an appendix to this series in the near future to address both passages. In the meantime, I have referenced some relevant resources at the end of the article.
6
See Jeremiah 1:1–2.
7
It is possible that Jeremiah is the son of a different Hilkiah than the one named in the rediscovery of the Law in 2 Chronicles 34 because 1 and 2 Chronicles never list Jeremiah with Hilkiah’s sons. However, Jeremiah and Hilkiah lived during the same period, and Hilkiah was a priest, as is Jeremiah’s father. Certainly, though, the mention of Hilkiah at the start of Jeremiah’s book will bring to mind the most famous of Hilkiah’s stories and give context to Jeremiah’s oracles.
8
Most scholars agree that this is Deuteronomy.
9
See 2 Chronicles 34:26–28.
10
See 2 Chronicles 35:20–27.
11
Daniel studied Jeremiah’s prophesies, as in Daniel 9:2.
12
See Ezra 3:11–13.
13
See Haggai 2:4–9.
14
See Luke 2:25–26.
15
See Isaiah 42:4.
16
See Luke 22:20 and Jeremiah 31:34.
17
See Matthew 28:16–20 and Isaiah 42:4.
18
See Ephesians 1:13–14.
19
See Acts 10:31–32.
20
See Acts 10:43.
21
There is no law in the Torah that the people of Israel could not eat with Gentiles. Teachers in Israel forbade eating with Gentiles since Gentiles did not follow the dietary rules in the Law. This prohibition aimed to “build a fence around the Torah” and protect against accidental violations. This custom was strictly observed in Second Temple Judaism, but not observing it did not violate the Law.
22
See Acts 15:16–17.
23
See Acts 15:19–21.
24
See Leviticus 17:7–16 and Leviticus 18. Many English translations render the Hebrew “ger” as “sojourner.”
25
See Ephesians 2:12–13.
26
I fully acknowledge the chutzpah of referencing Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, particularly the second chapter, which blatantly states that Gentile believers are no longer “aliens” (that is, sojourners) but citizens, directly contradicting my interpretation of the Jerusalem Council passage in Acts. I believe there is a satisfactory way to harmonize these two passages that lets my understanding of the Jerusalem Council stand. Still, I will not be able to address it in this article.
27
See Romans 11:11–12, 16.
28
See Romans 11:8; Isaiah 27:9, 59:20–21.
29
See Hebrews 9:27–28.
30
See Zechariah 8:21–23.
31
See Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:26–27.
32
See Jeremiah 33:20–22.

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I Will Remember Their Sin No More

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