“For this is my blood of the new testament (covenant), which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Matthew 26:28  

The vast differences between the law of Moses and the law of the temple can only be explained through the New Covenant.  These changes could only occur with a change in the law.  It is impossible to reconcile the law of Moses with the law of the temple.  The following is a partial list of the differences that cannot be reconciled.  

Under the law of the temple:  

There is no Aaronic high priest.

There is no Yom Kippur.

The blood of reconciliation is placed on the outside of the temple and inner court.

The temple is reconciled only for errors and foolishness and not iniquity, transgression and willful sin.

There is no veil of separation of the most holy place.

There is no menorah, table of shew bread, brazen laver or altar of incense.

The Ark of the Covenant is replaced by the throne of the God of Israel.

The Messiah sits on the throne as both King and High Priest.  

Jeremiah shows that a New Covenant would replace the law of Moses.  This covenant would not be like the one God made at Mt. Sinai .  This covenant would be so powerful that the sin problem between man and God would be resolved, and the knowledge of God would cover the earth.

This covenant would be vastly different than the one at Sinai.  It would cause God to forgive iniquity and not remember it!  Under the law of Moses, continual sacrifice had to be made for sin which means it was not forgotten by God.  The New Covenant is so powerful that it would cause God not to remember sin!  With this covenant, God would touch the very heart of man by placing His word in people’s heart.  The Scriptures from the book of Jeremiah follow:  

Jeremiah 31:31 “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: (32) Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:

(33) But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel ; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

(34) And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”  

Ezekiel shows that at the initiation of Israel coming under the New Covenant, the people will be purged of sin and uncleanness.  Under the New Covenant, Israel will be holy and will obey and keep God’s statutes and judgments.  The reason God’s word can be kept is the Spirit of God will be placed in the heart of man.  This is radically different from the law of Moses.  

Ezekiel 36:25 “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. (26) A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. (27) And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”

The sinful human heart will be replaced under this covenant with a heart that is powered by God’s Spirit.  Without the New Covenant, God says that the human heart is like a stone.  Under the New Covenant, God calls it a heart of flesh.  After God purges Israel of sin, the nation becomes holy.  God then refers to Israel as the holy people.

Isaiah 4:3 “And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: (4) When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.”

Isaiah 62:12 “And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD…”  

Isaiah shows that the New Covenant is a person.  The New Covenant is made with God’s righteous Servant.  Zechariah identified God’s Servant as the Branch and, through the Branch, sin would be dealt with in one day!  God’s Servant is His righteous King, the Branch of David.  The Scriptures from Zechariah that show this follow:  

Zechariah 3:8 “Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.

(9) For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.”

This is a most important concept to grasp.  The New Covenant is a person called God’s Servant, the Branch.  When Israel comes under the New Covenant, the people will come under the direct authority of King Messiah.  When God places His Spirit in the heart of the people, the Messiah will do it.  When God remembers sin no more, it is because of the New Covenant with King Messiah.  Isaiah shows the New Covenant is the person of God’s Servant:

Isaiah 42:1,6 “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. (6) I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles…”

Isaiah 49:8 “Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages…”

The prophet Isaiah clearly states what the Messiah is going to accomplish so that God will remember sin no more.  Isaiah chapter 53, with great detail, shows the ministry of God’s righteous Servant, King Messiah, to establish the New Covenant.  The New Covenant will be based on the death of God’s Servant for sin.  He will pay the price for sin to reconcile sinful man with the holy God of Israel.  This is exactly what Jesus of Nazareth did to establish the New Covenant.  These verses follow:  

Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all...(11) He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”

1 Peter 2:24 “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”

1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:”

The New Covenant was established 2000 years ago when the Lord Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood to reconcile sinful man with the holy God of Israel.  This covenant is in force at the present time.  God now deals with both the Jews and Gentiles through the New Covenant and not the law of Moses.  

Hebrews 13:20 “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant…”

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”  

Israel as a nation rejected the Lord Jesus at His first coming.  When the LORD has completed building His church, Israel will once again be the center of His attention.  God has not forsaken Israel , but in the near future God will have Israel as the focus of His attention.  He will deal with the nations through His people Israel .

Under the New Covenant, Israel will be made holy.  This will occur when God purges the people of their sin and uncleanness by His Holy Spirit.  God will pour out His Spirit on the people and give them a new heart and put His Spirit within them.  This will enable the people to walk in God’s statutes and keep His word.  All this will happen at the second coming of the Lord Jesus when Israel comes to recognize Him as the Branch of David, their King Messiah.

The spirit of grace and supplications will be given to Israel when the Lord Jesus is recognized as the one who died for them.  

Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem , the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son...”  

The law of Moses could be changed because it only pointed to what King Messiah was going to do.  The law of Moses could not remit sin as year after year the blood was taken into the temple and sprinkled on the Ark of the Covenant.  Remember, the Ark will be replaced by the throne of God, Jeremiah 3:16,17.  However, under the law of the temple, the blood is placed on the outside of the temple because of the New Covenant.  The throne is in the most holy place with King Messiah seated on it.  There is no need for Yom Kippur under the law of the temple.

Under the New Covenant, there is no need for a menorah in the temple because it only pointed to the Messiah as the light of the world.  All the articles in the tabernacle will not be needed under the law of the temple.  King Messiah seated on His throne could only be possible under the New Covenant.

He will be sitting on the throne as both King and High Priest.  The law of Moses could never allow this.  Under the New Covenant, the Messiah can be both King and High Priest because it is based on the oath of God, Psalm 2:6,7 and Psalm 110:1,4.  Because the priesthood was changed under the law of the temple, there has to be a change in the law.

Hebrews 7:12 “For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.”  

The change is that the law of the temple is under the New Covenant that was instituted by the Lord Jesus when He died on the cross for the redemption of man.  The law of the temple reflects the New Covenant and not the covenant under the law of Moses.

The radical changes in the law of the temple can only be explained by the operation of the New Covenant.  When the law shall go forth from Jerusalem and King Messiah is teaching the law, He will be teaching the law of the temple under the New Covenant.

The house of the LORD will be an object lesson for the people about the teachings of the New Covenant.  All the articles of the tabernacle in the wilderness pointed to the Messiah.  They can be viewed as types or shadows and as temporary.  Under the New Covenant, the reality of the types is seated on the throne of David.  The law of the temple is then the New Covenant under the reign of the Lord Jesus, King Messiah.  This is the law and the word that the LORD will teach from Jerusalem .  

Isaiah 2:3 “And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”

By John McTernan: Defend and Proclaim the Faith
Blog: John McTernan's Insights at www.johnmcternan.name