An often-repeated Hebrew prayer found in Lam 5:21 says, "Chadesh yamenu k'qedem". Again, the first word
shares the same root as chadashah; here it is a verb. The rest of the phrase reads "our days, as of old" or
"like the ancient time". If you want something to be "new" in the sense of "never seen before", you hardly
want it to be just like something ancient! But "renew our days [to be] like those of old" makes sense. It is
another occurrence of the same kind which fills the same role or position. So B'rit Chadashah can just as
properly be translated "Renewed Covenant" as "New Covenant".
Does this hold true in the way ancient covenants actually worked? Yes. In ancient suzerainty treaties, if the
situation changed for one party, a covenant could be amended (or renewed) to adapt to the new
circumstance. But only what was no longer applicable would be revised; everything else remained in effect
exactly as before.
If a covenant is to be renewed, there must be a prior relationship between the two parties. With whom does
our theme verse say the New Covenant is to be made?
― ̳Behold, the days are coming', declares the LORD, ̳when I will make a new covenant with the House of
Isra'el and the House of Judah.‘" (Jer 31:31, KJV)
It is specifically to be made with both segments or "houses" of Isra'el! So to even be a participant in the New
Covenant, we have to fit into one of these categories, Isra'el or Judah. If we are not, why even bother to
argue about covenants that have nothing to do with us? The sins the New Covenant addresses had to have
been committed by someone who had been included in the first Covenant.
Once a covenant is violated, it is considered nullified. That's why a replacement was needed: because they
had no covenant anymore! The covenant itself was not faulty; but because one of the participating parties
(Isra'el) had broken it and it could no longer remain in effect and thus had to be renewed. YHWH had
promised certain curses would come upon Isra'el if they violated the agreement they'd made with Him.
―And for this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, in order that since a death has taken place for the
redemption of the transgressions that were [committed] under the first covenant, those who have been called
may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. (Heb 9:15, NAS)
So the New Covenant does specifically address those who were party to the first. "Those who are called"
refers to those whose "gifts and calling are irrevocable"; that is, Isra'el (Rom 11:29).
Y‘shua initiated the renewal of the Covenant at His last Passover, and set it on a firmer foundation – the
heavenly Altar instead of the earthly copy (John 20:17; Heb 7-9) with His untainted blood:
―for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matt 26:28,
RSV)
The Torah (the Law/Teachings of Moshe) is the written substance of the covenant that the people of Isra'el
took on as a never-ending agreement with YHWH:
(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." (Jer 31:33-34, KJV)
Y‘shua said, ―Not one stroke of the Torah will pass away until all is fulfilled" (Matt 5:18), so this new covenant
must be another of the same kind. Unless we have gotten to the point of needing no one to teach us, the
Torah is still in effect. All Scripture must be interpreted to agree with it. (Isaiah 8:20) YHWH does not change
His mind. The confusion lies in seeing the Torah as a means of justification. But ―it is not possible for the
blood of bulls and goats to take away sin." (Heb 10:4) That was never its purpose. Galatians tells us it is
meant to be our trainer until we see that YHWH Himself is really all we need; after that it is to bring us to full
maturity:
(5) ―Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as [coming] from ourselves, but our
adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate [as] servants of a new covenant,
(6) not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." (2 Cor 3:5-6, NAS)