Covenants Old and New

Before coming over here, I had a really hard time trying to figure out a title for this blog. "On the Shoulders of Giants" "In the City of God" and "Looking Ahead, Looking Behind" (thank you Gandalf) were all finalists, but none of them seemed to fit. Finally, I settled on "Covenants Old and New". To a lot of you, it's probably obvious what the title means, but I'd like to write about it anyway as I finish up my time here. Firstly, the title talks about the "Old Covenant", which means the everlasting agreement between God and the Jewish people. This agreement, when boiled down to one sentence, made the Jewish people God's chosen people in return for their obedience and worship of Him. This Covenant was renewed several times in the Old Testament, but it began between God and Abraham, when God called Abraham to give up the nice life he and his family had made for themselves in the ancient city of Ur and follow God to an unknown land, which would become their inheritance for all time. This Covenant was renewed between God and Abraham's son Isaac, and again with Isaac's son Jacob, who's name was changed by God to Israel. Israel's twelve sons became the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel. This Covenant was renewed again at Mount Sinai between God, Moses, and the Israelites after they left Egypt. This Covenant still holds true today, and the Jewish people, despite centuries of disobedience and fair-weather follower-ship, are still His chosen people. There is a reason that this Covenant is called the "Old" though. The Old Covenant dealt with God's law, or the list of rules and regulations God gave His people to govern their lives and show them the path to salvation. The Ten Commandments were and are a part of God's Law. Because God is perfect and we are not, this law is impossible for a human being to completely fulfill, and its purpose is to highlight our inherent sinful nature and the need for forgiveness and redemption. This divide between God and man, between perfect and imperfect, lead to the need for a new Covenant to bridge the gap. This new Covenant was provided by Jesus, the Son of God, who of His own free will chose to come to earth, live a perfect life as a man while still fully God, and sacrifice Himself for mankind. Through this perfect sacrifice, mankind, even though we are still burdened by our sinful nature, now have a way to heaven through faith and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. If living a perfect life and dying for us, even though He Himself was innocent, does not prove that Christ is God, His rising from the dead three days after death does. Through His sacrifice, Christ formed a new Covenant between God and man through His blood. This is why we Christians perform the act of Communion at church. We relive the Last Supper, where Jesus formed the new Covenant between God and man through His body and His blood, shed so that we may live. As a Christian and Follower of Christ, I am a part of this new Covenant, one formed on the foundation of sacrifice, forgiveness, and faith. Jesus Christ the Messiah fulfilled the Law that God laid down to Moses by living a perfect life, therefore fulfilling the first Covenant and ushering in the second. The return of a person wedded to the second covenant to the land of the first was a major reason for me coming to Israel. Without Israel, there would be no Christianity. Without the Jews, there would be no Christians. Without the Old Covenant, there would be no New. I have come to this land to pay homage to the Jewish people, the chosen people of God Himself. We Christians seem to forget that our Lord Himself was and is a Jew. We cover up the Old Testament and forget about it, focusing on the New. While the New Testament is critical and is the blueprint for our faith, we must never forget that the Old Testament, and the Old Covenant, is the foundation. When I came here, I asked God to reveal His purpose for my life. I asked Him to tell me why He brought me here. Five months later, I have my answer: to follow His Son, and to defend His people. In the era of the New Covenant, it is my job to keep the memory of the Old alive, and to remind my fellow believers that it is still valid. The Jews, whether they agree with us about Christ or not, remain God's Chosen, and it is our job to defend and protect them to the best of our ability. "He who blesses you I will bless, and he who curses you I will curse." I will never forget my time here, in Israel, the land of Covenants Old and New.