From Law to Grace

 

For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized [came into being] through Jesus Christ.”              John 1:17                                                                                                                                                                                                

The conversion from the old covenant to the new covenant is an interesting case study in the progressive revelation of God and His relationship to man. Scripture gives a prophetic picture of the introduction of this better covenant (grace) with the transition of leadership from Moses to Joshua. In his closing commentary to the people in Deuteronomy 31-34, Moses told them that he would not be leading them into their promised land. 

Deuteronomy 31:1-3

So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. And he said to them, ‘I am a hundred and twenty years old today; I am no longer able to come and go, and the Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross this Jordan.’ ‘It is the Lord your God who will cross ahead of you; He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua [Jehoshua – Jehovah saves] is the one who will cross ahead of you, just as the Lord has spoken.’” 

God had already told Moses that he would not be allowed to enter the promised land, but he would die in the wilderness. This is a picture of the old covenant needing to remain in the wilderness and not have any role to play in the new covenant relationship with God. In Hebrews 8:13, “When He said, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.” Instead of Moses, another, Joshua would lead the nation. The Hebrew name of Jesus is Joshua, so the reality is that it took a Joshua to lead the new covenant believer into their promised land. There is no need for the old relationship to promote the new.  

Inheritance

In Deuteronomy 31:7-8, “Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, ‘Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. ‘The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” The inheritance promised to the Jewish nation through Abraham and Moses was a portion of the promised land, but the new covenant promises another inheritance, to be experienced in the relationship with its mediator and confirmed by the pledge of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:10-14). God has reserved a faith-rest as part of our inheritance as Hebrews 4:9 says,” So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.”

The central focus of the old covenant is the law of Moses (Torah) while the new covenant centers on the person of Jesus. When Joshua was readying the people to cross the Jordan River in Joshua 3, the Lord said to Joshua, This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you.” (verse 7). In the same way, the Father was exalting (lifting up) the Son so that all men would be drawn to Him (John 12:32). Then the priests would enter the river and stand still to allow the people to pass on dry land. In the new covenant, the priest or preacher is vital in communicating the Word of God and the gospel to the people (Romans 10:14). God then commands Joshua to choose 12 men, one from each tribe to lead the nation. This is a picture of the 12 apostles who would lead the new Christians and create the New Testament Scripture once Jesus was ascended.

Twelve Stones 

19 Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal [circle of stones] on the eastern edge of Jericho. 20 Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. 21 He said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ 22 then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel  crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 “For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had  crossed,  just as the Lord your God had  done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had  crossed; 24 that all the  peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, so that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”  Joshua 4:19-24

After the people crossed the Jordan River and into their promised land, they set up a base camp at Gilgal where the twelve leaders placed twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan and arranged to be a memorial to the Lord as a reminder that the people crossed on dry ground. As it states in Verse 24, “so that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” The transition from Moses to Joshua, from the wilderness to the promised land was finding a reverence for the Lord in the process. The twelve stones are a reference to the New Jerusalem and the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” Revelation 21:9.

Gilgal 

Gilgal was the first encampment for the people after entering Canaan and became a regular place for Joshua to camp while the people would take control of various territories throughout the land. In Joshua 5:9-10, Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So, the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day. While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho. Gilgal represents leaving behind the period of bondage in Egypt to begin to experience the blessings the Lord had promised for them in the new land. 

So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.       Acts 2:41-42 

Gilgal represented the place where Joshua was able to regroup, recharge, and plan their next endeavor. In the new covenant, this place is the gathering together of believers in regular church gatherings, devoted to the doctrines of the apostles as well as fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer. Each believer can be spiritually energized to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, no matter what challenges are presented.

Hebrews 3:1-6

1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession; 2 He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house. 3 For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. 5 Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; 6 but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.” 

In this passage from Hebrews 3, God is revealing that Moses was faithful as a servant (therapon – attendant, minister) in all God’s house, but Christ (Messiah) was faithful as a Son over His house. So what is the significance? In verse 3, Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses in the same way that the builder of the house (God) deserves more honor than the house. The writer of Hebrews reveals that Messiah, God incarnate, is not just a member of or servant to God’s house (His people) but is its builder and maintains its existence by holding things together (Colossians 1:17) until the end. This becomes the basis of our confidence since our hope is in Jesus as Messiah and the head of the church (Colossians 1:18). On the other hand, Moses served the people of God’s house as its leader and a testimony of what man could not accomplish through the law of Moses, but what was to come.

The new covenant has greater strength than the old because it is based on the strength the believer finds in Christ, as 2Timothy 2:1 says, “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Grace depends only on God so that the believer will become the partaker of a heavenly call.

 

 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Galilean Wedding

Judge Not

Migdal Eder