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Chapter 11 Struggling with the Old Covenants

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I've shared a lot with you about the circumstances since the implementation of the New Covenant,

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but let's step even further back in history for a bit.

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Throughout the Old Testament, we see recurring examples of how the people of God struggled

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to trust and obey Him.

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Time and again, Israel tried to take matters into their own hands, often substituting their

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own ideas for God's clear instructions.

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These missteps reveal a deep-seated human tendency in us to approach God on our terms

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rather than His, and they demonstrate the futility of religion when it replaces relationship.

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Here are three key examples.

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The Golden Calf, Exodus 32

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The story of the Golden Calf is one of the most infamous examples of Israel's impatience

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and failure to trust God.

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After God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt with miraculous signs and wonders,

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including parting the Red Sea, the people stood at Mount Sinai where God gave Moses

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the Ten Commandments.

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This was a period of unparalleled closeness between God and His people.

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He was revealing His covenant to them and providing the framework for their new identity

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as a holy nation.

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But when Moses went up the mountain to meet with God and didn't return for forty days,

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the people grew impatient.

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They began to doubt whether Moses would return at all and whether God was still with them.

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Despite everything they had witnessed and all the Lord had done on their behalf—the

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plagues in Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, God's provision of manna and water in the

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wilderness—their faith failed them, fear and insecurity crept in, and they decided

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to take matters into their own hands.

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Aaron, the brother of Moses, gave in to their demands to create gods to go before them that

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they could see and perceive—something more to their understanding.

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Aaron instructed them to collect their gold jewelry, which he melted down to create a

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golden calf.

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He even went so far as to proclaim,

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These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.

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Exodus 32 verse 4.

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This act of rebellion was a clear violation of the very first two commandments to have

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no other gods before the Lord and to avoid making idols.

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Why did Israel become impatient?

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At its core, the problem was a lack of truth in God's timing and a desire to control their

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situation.

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They couldn't see what God was doing on the mountain, so they reverted to what felt familiar—an

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idol, something tangible they could see and touch.

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They replaced faith with religion, if you will, creating their own system of worship

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to fill the void.

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The lesson is a pertinent one.

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When we grow impatient with God or try to force solutions in our own strength and understanding,

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we risk turning to substitutes that can never satisfy or save us.

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King Saul's Disobedience 1 Samuel chapter 15.

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Saul's story is a tragic example of someone who was chosen by God but failed to keep himself

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aligned with God's purpose.

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Saul was Israel's first king, chosen not because of his merit but because of God's

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grace and Israel's insistence on having a human king.

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The people demanded a king to lead them like the other nations, despite God warning them

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that this desire would lead to hardship.

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1 Samuel 8 verses 19 and 20.

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Nevertheless, God allowed it and chose Saul, a man from the tribe of Benjamin who stood

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out for his impressive physical stature and humble beginnings.

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Saul started as an ideal choice, beginning his governance over Israel with humility and

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a desire to serve.

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However, as his reign progressed, his pride, insecurities, fear of man, and lack of obedience

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to God grew.

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One of the clearest examples of this is in 1 Samuel 15, when God commanded Saul to completely

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destroy the Amalekites, including all of their livestock, as an act of divine justice for

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their long-standing wickedness.

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But Saul disobeyed.

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He spared King Agag and kept the best of the livestock, claiming that he intended to use

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the animals for sacrifices to God.

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When confronted by the prophet Samuel, Saul tried to justify his actions, saying,

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The soldiers took the sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted

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to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.

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1 Samuel 15 verse 21.

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But Samuel's response exposed Saul's failure to understand what God truly desired.

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Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord?

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To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

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Verse 22.

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Saul's disobedience revealed a deeper issue.

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He was more concerned with the

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appearances and human approval than fully trusting and obeying God.

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By sparing the livestock and the king of the Amalekites, Saul demonstrated that his concerns

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were more important to him than what God had instructed.

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This act of rebellion cost him his kingship, and the Spirit of the Lord, which had rested

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on him, departed from his presence.

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Saul's story serves as a cautionary tale of how even those chosen by God can lose their

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way when they pursue their own agenda or prioritize their understanding over God's

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instructions.

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It also underscores the importance of obedience and trust in our relationship with God.

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The Prophet's Warnings

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Throughout Israel's history, God sent prophets to call His people back to Him when they strayed.

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These prophets were His messengers, delivering words of correction, warning, and hope.

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But all too often the people ignored their messages, choosing instead to follow their

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own ways or cling to vain religious rituals devoid of relationship with God.

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You can read Isaiah's rebuke of empty worship in Isaiah 1.11-17.

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The prophet Isaiah confronted the people of Judah about their meaningless sacrifices and

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hypocritical worship.

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While they were meticulously following the sacrificial system, their hearts were far

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from God.

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The Lord declared, Stop bringing meaningless offerings.

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Your incense is detestable to Me.

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Learn to do right.

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Seek justice.

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Defend the oppressed.

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Take up the cause of the fatherless.

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Plead the case of the widow.

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Isaiah 1.13-17.

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These texts reveal God's heart.

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He is not impressed by outward displays of religion or superficial obedience to the law.

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What God desires is a transformed heart that reflects His character through acts of justice,

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mercy, and compassion.

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The prophet Micah echoed a similar sentiment when he asked, With what shall I come before

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the Lord and bow down before the exalted God?

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Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

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Micah 6.6.

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The answer comes in verse 8.

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He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

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And what does the Lord require of you?

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To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

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This powerful statement encapsulates the difference between adhering to religion and engaging

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in a relationship with God.

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The Lord isn't looking for ritualistic offerings.

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He seeks a people who reflect who He is because they've come to know Him.

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When you truly begin to know who God is, His personal presence in your life begins

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a process of inevitable change and spiritual growth within you.

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As such, you cannot help but begin to reflect Him, walking with Him in increasing love,

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mercy, and humility that flows from Him through you.

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That is something that too many believers have never realized.

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Under the old covenants, the people of Israel relied on priests and kings to mediate their

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relationship with God and take responsibility for the nation's spiritual direction.

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The law and sacrifices were but external mechanisms designed to maintain a connection to Him,

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albeit superficially, until Christ would come and breach the chasm that sin had created

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between God and man.

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Still, Israel frequently fell back into patterns of idolatry and religious formalism.

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They repeatedly failed to live up to their part of the covenant's demands.

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Again, why?

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The people's relationship with God was not personal.

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Then, unlike now, the Holy Spirit did not dwell within individuals.

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Rather, the Spirit would temporarily rest upon and empower certain leaders or prophets

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for specific tasks.

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The people did not have the personal, internal guidance of the Spirit of God in the way that

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we as believers can now experience under the new covenant.

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And without the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit to transform their hearts and

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minds, the people of Israel lacked the internal transformation needed to sustain their beliefs

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and trust in the Lord.

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As a result, they fell into cycles of rebellion, repentance, and revile again.

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This reality led to times of significant spiritual decline when the nation drifted away from

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the commandments and fell into idolatry.

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Other prophets, like Elijah, Hezekiah, and Josiah, led movements to bring people back

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into the worship of Yahweh, but these revivals generally failed to last beyond a generation

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when, almost habitually, the people fell back into cycles of disobedience and idolatry,

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and the nation, once again, had to be called back to repentance.

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part a result of the limitations of the old covenant, and in no small part, the very nature

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of sinful man and our inherent inability to uphold the covenants, despite their promise

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and even their best intentions to do so.

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Israel as a nation, and of their own accord, had repeatedly taken an oath to God that they

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would do all that the Lord told them to do.

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See Exodus 19.8.24.3-7, Deuteronomy 5.27, and Jeremiah 42.6-20 for a few examples.

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Israel's spiritual revivals were based on external conformity rather than lasting internal

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transformation.

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And so, while a generation may have returned to God under the influence of a godly leader,

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the revival usually faded when that leader was gone, unable to be sustained by the population

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themselves.

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This is why the writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews explains in chapter 8 verse

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6, But in fact, the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of

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which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established

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on better promises.

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The better promises are the guarantees of a new, intimate, and transformative relationship

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with God through Jesus Christ.

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They assure us of complete forgiveness of sins, unconditional grace, internal transformation

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by the Holy Spirit, direct access to God, and an eternal inheritance.

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The old covenant highlighted humanity's need for God as well as our inability to meet His

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standards through works.

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It was focused on external laws written on tablets of stone.

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It required strict adherence to the law, but it couldn't change the heart.

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Blessings were contingent upon obedience to the law, see Deuteronomy chapter 28, and failure

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to comply brought curses.

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But that was the old.

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The relationship you can have with God now is starkly different.

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The new covenant reveals the heart of God and His desire to meet us where we are, transform

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us from within, and restore the relationship He always intended for us.

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Under the new covenant, God's laws are written on your heart and mind, and the Holy Spirit

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transforms you from the core, leading to genuine change, not mere outward appearance.

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The fulfillment and upholding of the covenant is based on His grace, not your effort.

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Your salvation and right standing with God come through your faith in Jesus, not through

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your works.

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See Ephesians 2, verses 8 and 9.

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What you do and how you act will change, not because you're simply trying to be and do

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better, but because you are being positively influenced and affected through the ever-increasing

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intimacy you cultivate with God that is made possible through His Spirit abiding within

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you, as we'll examine further in the next chapter.