Moab - The Other Covenant
Sinai covenant, Law of Moses, Moab covenant, Levite Levites,
Hebrews 9,
Levitical Priesthood,
Moses, curses of the covenant, covenant confirmation, the Law
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As it turns out this other covenant made in Moab is a very good fit for the 'old covenant' of Hebrews 9:18-22 even though the Christian clergy has largely ignored it.
"These are the
words which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side of the Jordan ...
2 It is eleven days journey
from Horeb by way of Mount Seir
to Kadesh Barnea. 3 Now it came to pass in the fortieth
year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses
spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him
as commandments to them, ... 5 On this side of the Jordan in the land of
Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying," (Deu 1:1-5)
It is here that Moses spoke every major precept
of the law, just as Hebrews 9:19 indicates. Here is where the Law of Moses is formally explained. Certainly the Elders had heard it before this time.
Although there is no detailed account of
the sacrifice, this day was a new moon. As such there typically would
have been offerings of calves and at least one goat (Num 28:11-15). It
is obvious the tabernacle and its utensils did exist and the people
understood they were required to keep this new law along with the Law of God,
His law, the Sinai Law.
"This day the LORD your
God commands you to observe these statutes and judgments; therefore you shall
be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 Today you have proclaimed the LORD to be your God, and that you
will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His
judgments, and that you will obey His voice. 18 Also today the LORD has proclaimed
you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that you should keep
all His commandments," (Deu
26:16-18)
The
fact is, the account of the ratifying of the Old Covenant in Hebrews is
referring to the ratifying of this covenant made in Moab JUST BEFORE Israel
was led into the Promised Land, "when I took them by the hand to lead
them out of [mental] Egypt".
Deuteronomy is by and large a speech Moses
delivered to Israel, which became the binding terms of this covenant. Moses spoke generally the text of
Deuteronomy to the Children of Israel just before they went into the Promised
Land. This was over 39 years after the
Sinai covenant.
"These are the words of the covenant which the
LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab,
besides the covenant which He made with them in Horeb." (Deu. 29:1;
One covenant besides another covenant is two covenants jointly applicable)
9 " Therefore keep the
words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that
you do..... 12that you may enter into covenant with the LORD your God,
and into His oath, which the LORD your God makes with you today....
14 I make this
covenant and this oath, not with you alone, 15but with him who stands here with us today
before the LORD our God, as well as with him who is not here with us today...... 21And the LORD would separate him [the disobedient] from all the
tribes of Israel for adversity, according to all the curses of the
covenant that are written in this Book of the Law"
Chapter 30 continues. 10"if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His
commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law,
and if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your
soul.......19I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I
have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose
life, that both you and your descendants may live."
Chapter 31 continues.9 'So Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests,
the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to
all the elders of Israel.....24So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this
law in a book, when they were finished, 25that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the
ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying: 26Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside
the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there as
a witness against you." '
On the day Moses spoke these words of Deuteronomy to the
children of Israel, God made a second covenant with the people. This covenant was placed near the crux of
the Sinai covenant, the Covenant of the Lord, but it did not displace the
Covenant of the Lord. It repeated the
foundational terms or 'words' of the Sinai covenant, but this covenant was
not the Sinai covenant. It was binding
on Israel just as the Sinai covenant was, and Israel agreed to perform it, (Deu 26:16-17) but the Sinai covenant, was clearly a
different covenant. "These are the
words of the covenant ..., besides the covenant which He made with them in Horeb". (Deu 29:1)
An important concept to understand is
found in Galatians 3:15. "...Though
it is only a man's covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to
it."
The ancients did not modify their blood
covenants. Once confirmed both parties
were duty bound to live by the agreement they made. This covenant made in Moab did not run at
cross-purposes to the Sinai covenant, but included additional provisions. Israel was bound to live according to
both. This was certainly obvious to
them since the terms of the covenant of the Lord were included in the law
that was assumed to exist by the Moab covenant, i.e. Exodus. "So Moses wrote this law and
delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the
covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel." (Deu. 31:9). The Law of Moses
contains record of both. The
covenant of the Lord, the Ten Commandments, had already been in its place of
honor for over 39 years. It was not
displaced, added to or annulled. The
Moab covenant was included along side the Sinai
covenant.
So what is the difference between these two covenants? In simple terms, the difference, is the
difference between Exodus 20-23 and the entire Book of the Law, Genesis
though Deuteronomy. Some will also
want to know why there needed to be a second covenant . The most
important additions were the curses, the establishment of the tribe of Levi
as judges and priests and the requirement of regular sacrifices.
"His Covenant" is indeed the Ten Commandments. "So He declared to you His covenant
which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He
wrote them on two tablets of stone." (Deu. 4:13, see also Ex 34:28) Those words, or terms of His covenant, were
not affected by the later covenant. "This Covenant" by which term the Moab covenant is consistently
referred to in Deuteronomy, made just before entering the Promised Land, is a
different covenant. It is clear when
one carefully examines what the scriptures say. His covenant was made at a past event. This covenant was made on the day Moses
spoke Deuteronomy.
Nowhere in Deuteronomy or anywhere else is there any indication
that the Sinai covenant, or especially the Covenant of the Lord, has been
replaced or amended by 'this covenant' made in Moab. Some have tried to say that it was simply a
reiteration of the Sinai covenant, but there are a number of significant
differences. Things were added in this
covenant that are nowhere mentioned in the Sinai covenant, and in some cases
ran contrary to the intent of the Sinai covenant.
Since traditional
Christianity has assumed the Old Covenant is the Sinai covenant it assumes
it can pick and choose what is important to the Creator and what is
not. With this perspective in mind the common teaching on the New Testament
is based on false assumptions and is highly misleading.