The New Covenant provides for Christ to forge one new man point of the two group of the people of God: Gentile believers in the Messiah and Jewish descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who were part of the Mosaic Covenant. The New covenant replaced the Mosaic Covenant and provided for both groups to be united together in faith in Jesus Christ as the King of Israel and High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek. Christ, as the High Priest, is able to save anyone who trust Him – whether they be the natural children of Abraham or only children of Abraham by faith. Christ is the King of Israel for all citizens of Israel – whether they be natural born as believing Jews or naturalized as Gentile believers in Jesus Christ.
The New Covenant provides for seamless integration of these two groups into one without nullifying either identity. Unfortunately, both the Church and Israel have had imperfect relations. The Jewish leadership rejected Christ as the Messiah, and the majority of Jews followed them. Jewish animosity to Christianity came to a head during the Bar Kochba revolt. Simon Bar claimed to be the Messiah and initiated a revolt against Rome around AD 135. Jewish believers in Jesus Christ as the Messiah refused to join the revolt because they would not submit to Kochba as a Messiah and regarded him as a false messiah. When the revolt failed Jewish leaders blamed Christianity and made persecution of early Christians a special focus of their activities over generations, even to the point of codifying Christophobia as Jewish orthodoxy in the Talmud. When Christians came into power, they retaliated in a sequence of events that would lead to the rise of Antisemitism centuries later.
Jesus Christ anticipated that the Jews would travel the long broken road back to reconciliation to God. In Matthew 23:37-39 He pronounces the sentence of Judgment against them for rejecting Him.
Mat 23:37-39 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (38) Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. (39) For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Christ Jesus proclaimed that He was leaving them, and that they will not see Him again until he “cometh in the name of the Lord.” He was referring to Psalm 118, which is about the end times attack of all nations upon Israel. Psalm 118 presents to us a situation where Israel is surrounded by all the nations. in the midst of this trial Israel undergoes great revival, proclaiming that “The LORD is my strength and song.” They are praying “The LORD is my strength and song,” as they prepare to go to war against their enemies. It is at this time and not before that they are ready to repent and receive her Messiah, saying “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.“
Psa 118:8-26 It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in man. (9) It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in princes. (10) All nations surrounded me, But in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. (11) They surrounded me, Yes, they surrounded me; But in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. (12) They surrounded me like bees; They were quenched like a fire of thorns; For in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. (13) You pushed me violently, that I might fall, But the LORD helped me. (14) The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation. (15) The voice of rejoicing and salvation Is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. (16) The right hand of the LORD is exalted; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. (17) I shall not die, but live, And declare the works of the LORD. (18) The LORD has chastened me severely, But He has not given me over to death. (19) Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, And I will praise the LORD…
Psa 118:8-26 …(20) This is the gate of the LORD, Through which the righteous shall enter. (21) I will praise You, For You have answered me, And have become my salvation. (22) The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. (23) This was the LORD’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. (24) This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. (25) Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity. (26) Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.
Zechariah prophesied concerning this end-times war. Zechariah 13:7-14:5 Prophesies a war on Israel that began with the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The first blow of the war was to strike the Shepherd. The Shepherd is referring to Jesus Christ, which is confirmed in Matthew 26:31. in the narrative in Zechariah 13, the death of Jesus the Jewish Messiah begins the scattering of the Jewish people. This scattering was initially commenced by two wars between Israel and Rome in AD 70 and AD 135,resulted in the Jews becoming scattered amongst all nations, with Rome renaming Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina, and renaming Galilee and Judea Palestine in an effort to genocide the Jewish people. This war would continue until the Day of the Lord’s wrath, resulting in two thirds of the Jews being wiped out and only a third preserved.Of the third that is preserved ALL will be saved, calling on the name of the Lord and being once again recognized as God’s people.
Zec 13:7-14:5 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. (8) And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. (9) And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God…
Zec 13:7-14:5…(14:1) Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. (2) For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city…
This war will indeed end at Armageddon, with Jesus Christ descending upon the Mount of Olives and splitting it into a valley, first prophesied in Zechariah 14:3 and confirmed in Acts 1:11-12.It should be noted that this narrative begins as a judgment AGAINST Israel and continues until 14:3. Starting in Zechariah 14:3 the Lord interferes and begins FIGHTING FOR Israel. The nations that come against Israel here is not coming in the name of whatever just cause that they claim or may be claimed for such action. They are coming to cleanse the land of “Jews from the river to the sea.” God is simply not having this. He is the just judge of all nations, both Jewish and Gentile. He is judging Israel for her sins, which began with rejecting Christ and are culminating in a wicked socialist regime that currently rules Israel instead of the Messiah. He will then judge the nations of the world. At Armageddon the Lord will shoot two birds with one stone. Verse 13:7 begins with the place in the narrative where the Lord begins to fight for Israel.
Zec 13:7-14:5 …(3) Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. (4) And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south. (5) Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee As you fled from the earthquake In the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the LORD my God will come, And all the saints with You.
Acts 1:11 confirms the prophecy in Zechariah 4 where Jesus will touch down upon the Mount of Olives when He returns to the earth.
Act 1:6-12 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (7) And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. (8) But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (9) Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. (10) And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, (11) who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” (12) Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey.
Zechariah 12 confirms that Israel will be fully reconciled to her Messiah after He returns to earth and after He has defeated her enemies. This is the First Great Awakening of the Millennium that follows the4 Final Great Awakening that begins on the eve of the Great Tribulation as predicted in Psalm 118 (also Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2.)
Zec 12:1-10 The burden of the word of the LORD against Israel. Thus says the LORD, who stretches out the heavens, lays 0the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him: (2) “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. (3) And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it…
Zec 12:1-10 …(4) In that day,” says the LORD, “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. (5) And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the LORD of hosts, their God.’ (6) In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place—Jerusalem. (7) “The LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah. (8) In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them. (9) It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. (10) “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
One issue that plagued the early Church was the relationship of Jews and Gentiles to the Mosaic Covenant. It has already been established in the chapters on the Mosaic Covenant and the New Covenant that it was breached and subsequently replaced by the New Covenant. Both Israel and the Church were slow to implement this truth. There were certain Judaizers in the First Century who were telling Gentile believers that they were required to observe the Mosaic Covenant in order to be saved. This doctrine caused so much controversy that the very first Church Council was formed to resolve this question. The Jerusalem Council was convened in AD 49 to answer this question. Acts 15 records the proceedings and results of this council, which was attended by the Apostles of Christ and a significant body of elders in the Church, including Barnabas and Paul. The ruling was that Gentiles were not obligated to observe the Mosaic Covenant to be saved, using language that seems to be Gentile-specific.
Act 15:13-35 And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: (14) Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. (15) And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, (16) After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: (17) That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. (18) Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. (19) Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: (20) But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. (21) For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day. (22) Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:…
Act 15:13-35 …(23) And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: (24) Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment: (25) It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, (26) Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (27) We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth…
Act 15:13-35 …(28) For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; (29) That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. (30) So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle: (31) Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation. (32) And Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them. (33) And after they had tarried there a space, they were let go in peace from the brethren unto the apostles. (34) Notwithstanding it pleased Silas to abide there still. (35) Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.
The ruling of the Jerusalem Council was Gentile specific, noting that Jewish believers had “For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day (Acts 15:21).” In Acts 21, Paul has a conversation with James the Apostle and the elders in Jerusalem that confirms that the ruling was applicable only to Gentile believers in Christ. They urged Paul to accompany four men who are about to go to the Temple for a purification ritual that concludes a vow they have taken. While this text does not specify the type of vow, this is the description of the process of concluding a Nazirite vow (Numbers 6:1-21). Paul follows their advice here.
Act 21:17-26 And when we had come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. (18) On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. (19) When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. (20) And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law;…
Act 21:17-26 …(21) but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. (22) What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come. (23) Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow. (24) Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law. (25) But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.” (26) Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple to announce the expiration of the days of purification, at which time an offering should be made for each one of them.
Is this distinction between Gentiles not being under the Mosaic Covenant and Jews still being under it eternal, or does it have an expiry. Hebrews provides some insight here. Hebrews 8:6-13 describes the New Covenant
Heb 8:6-13 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. (7) For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. (8) Because finding fault with them, He says: “BEHOLD, THE DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL MAKE A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH— (9) NOT ACCORDING TO THE COVENANT THAT I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS IN THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; BECAUSE THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DISREGARDED THEM, SAYS THE LORD. (10) FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS IN THEIR MIND AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE…
Heb 8:6-13 …(11) NONE OF THEM SHALL TEACH HIS NEIGHBOR, AND NONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, ‘KNOW THE LORD,’ FOR ALL SHALL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST OF THEM TO THE GREATEST OF THEM. (12) FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.” (13) In that He says, “A NEW COVENANT,” He has made the first obsolete.Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
The last verse is instructive here. It describes the Mosaic Covenant as “becoming obsolete and growing old”and“ready to vanish away.” This is a description of the legal status of the Mosaic Covenant at the time of writing. It was still in force but its expiry was immanent. Hebrews was written in the AD 50’s-60s, from ten to 20 years before the destruction of the Temple. In Deuteronomy, the diaspora is the key event as God’s judgment that the Covenant was breached. I go into detail in chapter 7 concerning the how and the when of the expiration of the Mosaic, but for now I will simply remind the reader that the Mosaic covenant is uniquely breakable and that diaspora is the judgment that declares the breach. Under the covenantal systems in the ancient near east they would list blessing for covenant keeping and curses for breaking covenant. Deut 28 fits this pattern. Verse 64 declares the breach.
Deu 28:58-64 “If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, (59) then the LORD will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses. (60) Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. (61) Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the LORD bring upon you until you are destroyed. (62) You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven in multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God. (63) And it shall be, that just as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess. (64)“Then the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known—wood and stone.
The Temple was destroyed in AD 70, and by AD 135 the Jewish people were removed from the land. The Romans renamed Judea Palestine and Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina in a bid to obliterate Jewish identity. This would today be classified as a genocide. The Jews were scattered over all the nations. This breached the Mosaic Covenant. At this point the Jews were legally freed, as the punishment of breach remedied the covenant.
While Jews were legally freed under God’s law in AD 135 through the declaration of breach, it would be much longer before the Jewish people and the Gentiles would be effectively One New Man.While Jesus intended for there to be one aule (Israel) and one flock (The Church) according to His words recorded in John 10, this is fully realized only in the eternal state. Even during the Millennium there is a distinction between Jewish believers in Christ and Gentile believers in Christ. Ezekiel 40-48 Presents a Millennial Temple where the Mosaic Covenant is Observed.
In Revelation we see in the eternal state – in the New Heavens and the New Earth – Israel and the Church fully integrated. The New Jerusalem is integrated Israel (The Twelve Gates) and the Church (The Twelve Foundations)
Rev 21:9-14 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” (10) And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, (11) having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal…
Rev 21:9-14 …(12) Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are thenames of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: (13) three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. (14) Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Gal 3:24-29 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. (25) But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. (26) For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. (27) For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (28)There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (29) And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.