Scriptures: Genesis 15:3-21, Ezekiel 16:59-63, Exodus 34:1, Matthew 26:26-28, Isaiah 59:20-21
As we continue mining the Old Testament for buried treasure, I’m reminded of Jesus’ words in Matthew 13:52, “Every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.” When we look at the Old and New Testaments as one continuous revelation of God, the Holy Spirit reveals connections that are buried in scripture for us to find like a treasure hunt. God doesn’t speak in parables and the language of symbols to frustrate us, but as an invitation to draw near to him in the mystery for the joy of discovery! One of the most important discoveries of Scripture is the revelation that we worship a covenant God.
God’s covenant with Israel was written on tablets of stone and housed in a gold-covered box called the ark of the covenant. Moses inscribed God’s covenant laws on the tablets, but then broke the tablets as a sign of broken covenant when the people sinned by worshipping a golden calf while Moses was up on the mountain with God. So the Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke” (Exodus 34:1). God renewed his broken covenant with the Jews by writing his covenant commandments in stone. When we say that something is “written in stone” it is a sign of permanence.
Jesus is the Word of God, so the stone tablets point to Jesus as God’s permanent Word that endures forever. Israel repeatedly broke God’s covenant and endured his punishments as a disobedient child. Yet God would not forsake them. In Leviticus 26 God declares that even though Israel will break God’s covenant in the future, God will remember his covenant promise to Abraham that his descendants will be a vast nation dwelling in the land of Canaan. He promises in verse 44 to never break his covenant and destroy them completely. As the people are in exile from the land for breaking God’s covenant he says, “I will give you what you deserve, for you have taken your solemn vows lightly by breaking your covenant. 60 Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you” (Ezekiel 16:59-60). God’s covenants are everlasting.
Jesus is the Bread God supplied from heaven as God in the flesh. When he broke the Passover bread as a symbol of his flesh, the broken bread represented Israel’s broken covenant with God. Just as Moses broke the stone tablets – a symbol of God’s everlasting Word – Jesus, the Word made flesh, was broken on behalf of all who have sinned and broken God’s laws. He came in a body like ours to be broken for our failure to keep God’s covenant. He did so because when God made his covenant with Abraham, Abraham cut animals in half, as was customary when “cutting” a covenant. Both people would walk through the halves, symbolizing what would happen to them if they ever broke the covenant. However, God was the only one who walked through. Genesis 15:17 tells us that “a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.” God agreed to pay the penalty for Abraham’s descendants when they broke the covenant by taking their punishment upon himself. He did so in the broken body of Jesus.
The people promised on Mount Sinai to obey God’s covenant commands which were stored in the ark, and God’s promise was his continual presence with them above the ark. Just as the stone tablets were housed in the ark of the covenant, above which God’s presence dwelled in the tabernacle, Jesus’ body houses the covenant promises of God and his Spirit rests on the Body of Christ. The word ark simply means a box. When God told Noah to build an ark, there may have been no word for boat at the time because the meaning of the Hebrew word is “box-shaped thing.” An ark is simply a container; it’s what’s inside that matters.
All who entered Noah’s ark were saved from judgment. All who are in Christ, the container of God’s covenant, are now saved from judgment. God sealed the people inside Noah’s ark and God seals us who are in Christ with his Holy Spirit. Jesus was buried in a sealed tomb, and all who are in Christ are buried with him. But just as Noah’s family was safely released from the ark, the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead will release us from the grave. Though Jesus was broken on behalf of those who broke covenant with God, he has been glorified to establish an everlasting covenant.
After the flood God promised to never again destroy the earth with a flood. “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth” (Genesis 9:12-13). Is there a similar promise to Israel of God’s everlasting covenant with them? Yes! In Psalm 2:6-8 God says, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession’” (ESV). Just as God set his rainbow in the clouds as a sign of his covenant with the earth, he sets his promised King on Zion, his holy hill in Israel, as a sign of his everlasting covenant with them. This King is his only begotten Son who will inherit the whole earth, ruling from Jerusalem. Though Israel broke their covenant with God, he will remain faithful to send his Anointed One in whom are contained all of God’s covenant promises at Jesus’ second coming.
Why does it matter that God fulfills his covenant promises to Israel? Because if God keeps his everlasting covenant with Israel, we can be sure he will keep his promise to spare us from his wrath and raise us on the last day to eternal reward. Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s everlasting covenant with Israel and his Spirit is the sign. “’The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,’ declares the Lord. 21 ‘As for me, this is my covenant with them,’ says the Lord. ‘My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,’ says the Lord” (Isaiah 59:20-21). Though Israel failed to keep God’s covenant, God would send his Spirit with the Word.
How do we remain in the ark of God’s covenant? By remaining in the Word. Jesus said, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love” (John 15:7-10). We who remain in the ark of the Body of Christ carry his covenant words written on our hearts and keep them on on our lips. We obey his commands out of love by the power of the Spirit who pours God’s love into us. All of God’s commands direct us to love God with all our heart, soul, and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves. When we obey Jesus’ commands we are remaining in his love because everything God commands stems from his love.
Can we break our covenant? Jesus warned, “Whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:33). Yet we see that when Peter disowns him, Jesus later finds him and restores him. If there’s one thing we can be assured of through the story of Israel, it’s that God will not give up on anyone who is in covenant with him. Israel messed up time and time again, yet after thousands of years of persecution and exile from the land, the Jews have remained a cohesive people, preserving their ancient language. Do you see any Romans speaking Latin? Yet God’s people have remained in their Jewish identity and were finally restored to the land in 1948.
God’s covenant with Israel is an everlasting covenant promising them land and a divine King who will rule over them from Jerusalem. No longer will it be God’s Spirit resting above an ark but God’s Son resting on a throne! God’s covenant promise to those who remain in Christ is that we can enjoy his presence and the spiritual benefits of his kingdom both now and forever.
Response:
Thank you, Jesus, for being broken on behalf of all of us who have broken your covenant. Thank you for your eternal covenant with me. Thank you for sending your Spirit who renews my mind, fills me with love, and empowers me to remain in covenant with you.
