The New Covenant

As we have seen, the seventh-day Sabbath was not only kept by Christ, but it was taught by him; hence, whoever accepts the new covenant taught by Christ, accepts the seventh-day-Sabbath and the law of God. After the death of Christ, the twelve apostles confined their labors wholly to the Jews for almost three years and a half, or to the end of the one week. This brought them down to A.D. 34, to the end of the seventy weeks of Dan. 9. Then the gospel was to go to the Gentiles, and so it did, as we have seen.

Now, how are these Gentiles to come in and partake of the new covenant, which was made solely with the house of Israel and the house of Judah? The answer is simple: They could come in by renouncing their Gentile habits, putting away their heathen Gods and other sins; by coming out from the world and accepting Jesus Christ as their Saviour, and the terms of the new covenant which he had enjoined upon Israel.

Take a simple illustration: Here are two fields in which are two flocks of sheep. These fields are separated by a stone wall. In the first field, which we will call No. 1, there is plenty of good pasture, excellent shade, clear water, and everything the sheep can desire. We will let that pasture represent the Jews and the spiritual blessings which they enjoyed; for they had everything. Paul enumerates the blessings of this people in the following words: "Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen." Rom. 9:4, 5.

Notice the spiritual blessings which he here enumerates. He says that they were "Israelites;" "to them belonged the adoption," and "the glory": and "the covenants" (notice, not "the covenant," but both "the covenants"—the old and the new), "the giving of the law," and "the service of God," and "the promises." All the promises were made to Israel. Christ belonged to them, God belonged to them, and, in fact, everything belonged to them. So true is this that Jesus said "Salvation is of the Jews." John 4:22. Thus we find the first flock of sheep in the excellent pasture. Now, in the other pasture there is almost nothing at all,—no shade, no water, no shelter,—and the poor sheep are nearly starved to death. This represents the Gentiles. Paul describes them thus: "Wherefore remember, that ye, being in times past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." Eph. 2:11, 12.

Thus the Gentiles were without Christ, without God, and without hope, without the promises, and without the covenants, strangers from God's people, —a sad condition indeed, but just the condition in which the Gentile world have placed themselves long before, by rejecting God and the law. Paul next proceeds to tell us how these Gentiles were to come in and be benefited by the new covenant in Jesus Christ. Thus he says "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace." Eph. 2:13-15.

The apostle here says that the middle wall of partition is broken down, so that the Gentiles could come in and be of the same body as the Jews. In the illustration, suppose we break down the stone wall between those two flocks of sheep. Will the sheep of the good pasture go into the other and starve to death?—No, but there would be a rush for the good pasture instead; and that is just what did occur in fact. The Gentiles came in and partook of the blessings which God had given to the Jews. They accepted the God of the Jews, the Scriptures of the Jews, the Jewish Saviour, the covenant made with the Jews, and the gospel given to the Jews; in fact everything they received when they accepted Christ was Jewish. Paul expressly declares that the Gentiles received their spiritual blessings from the Jews: "For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things." Rom. 15:27.

But, says one, the sheep in that good pasture might come in to the other pasture if the partition was broken down. Let us see what they will find if they go there. In leaving the Jewish pasture they will have to leave God, and Christ, the Bible, the Sabbath, the new covenant,—they will be without God and without hope, without the promises, and strangers to the new covenant. This would be a poor bargain. But in order that the Gentiles may come in and be benefited by the gospel, they must accept everything which God gave unto the Jews,—the Jewish God, Saviour, Scriptures, hope, gospel, covenant, law, etc.

Talk about a covenant made with the Gentiles; talk about a Sabbath for the Gentiles; talk about a new law for the Gentiles! neither Jesus nor his apostles ever mentioned such a thing.

Paul takes an olive tree to illustrate the relation which Gentile Christians sustain to Israel. (See Rom. 11:17-24.) The olive tree represents Israel. Some branches were broken off. These were the unbelieving Jews who rejected Christ and the new covenant. Some branches from a wild olive were grafted into the old tame olive tree, to fill up the places of the rejected branches, and thus keep the original tree perfect and still growing. These wild olive branches represent the Gentile Christians who accept Jesus and the new covenant. Thus they are no longer Gentiles but have become "Israelites indeed," "Jews inwardly," "Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise." Thus the converted Gentiles become a part of true Israel, and accept whatever is in the new covenant which God made "with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." Heb. 8:8.