⁹ “Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in My covenant, and I did not care for them, says the Lord.”

Covenant replacement came because Israel failed to keep the Covenant. Once breached, it became irreparably broken. What was that covenant then? It came about 3,500 years ago in the history of their Jewish ancestors. What began as a promise to a single man, Abraham, was passed to his son, grandson, twelve great-grandsons and their descendants, called the twelve tribes of Israel. During a famine they relocated to Egypt where their population grew. They stayed 400 years, winding up in slavery. But God reaffirmed His promise, “I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession; I am the Lord” (Ex 6:8).

After the ten miraculous signs (traditionally Christians have called these “plagues”), the remarkable Red Sea crossing and with the guidance of the mysterious cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, the Israelites found themselves camped at the foot of Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19). This set the stage for the formal, binding agreement between Israel and God, called The Covenant (also called the Law of Moses), which is summarized in the 10 commandments in Exodus 20. “Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, ‘All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!’ ” (Ex 24:3). The agreement was signed, as it were, and the people agreed to abide by God’s Law for them. They had entered into the agreement.

The people, however, immediately violated the first commandment, by worshipping a golden calf (Ex 32). God responded, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book” (Ex 32:33). There was no provision in the Law for blatant rebellion against God. They knew what they were doing violated the Covenant just given them, even after agreeing to it. There was no misunderstanding. The Law provided only for identifying sins and specifying the punishment. The sacrifices were for the “inadvertent” sins, the ones done not blatantly, premeditatedly or intentionally. That is why David begs of the Lord, “Be gracious to me…” (Ps 51:1) after being confronted over his terrible sin. There was no recourse in the Law’s sacrifices: “For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering” (Ps 51:16). A new way to God was needed. A way of grace!

Lord, thank You for being gracious to me, a sinner, and that I do not have to live under the Law.