Thoughts on the End Times [7]: The New Covenant of Jeremiah...And Jesus
The case for the pretribulation rapture depends upon keeping the program for Israel and the program for the Church separate and distinct. If there is any intertwining between the two peoples or their programs, the necessity for a pretribulation rapture disappears.
The covenant that made Israel God’s people at Sinai was broken by the Israelites. God dispersed the norther tribes in 722 BC and then sent Judah into exile in Babylon in 586 BC. But Jeremiah predicted to the Jews in Babylon that God would someday “make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (Jeremiah 31.31). That new covenant would write the law, not on tablets of stones as was done at Sinai, but on the hearts of God’s people (31.33) and they would all have their sins forgiven and would know God (31.34). Ezekiel’s description of that new covenant promises a new birth to every one of God’s people, with the Holy Spirit coming to dwell in each heart (Ezekiel 36.27).
At the last supper, Jesus referred to His death on the cross, to be remembered by sharing in a cup of wine, as “the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22.20 cf. 1 Corinthians 11.25). Jesus would be the sacrificial lamb, and His blood would ratify the new covenant, as the blood of bulls ratified the old covenant at Sinai (Exodus 24.5-8).
The book of Hebrews quotes Jeremiah 31 at length and explains in detail that the Christian church is the recipient of the blessings of the new covenant through Jesus and his shed blood (Hebrews 8-9). The new covenant promised to Israel is the new of Jesus’ sacrificial death for the Christian church!
God’s program for Israel is not separated from His program for the Church. The two are inseparably intertwined and possibly even identified with each other, and with that intertwining the key reason for the pretribulation rapture disappears.
The covenant that made Israel God’s people at Sinai was broken by the Israelites. God dispersed the norther tribes in 722 BC and then sent Judah into exile in Babylon in 586 BC. But Jeremiah predicted to the Jews in Babylon that God would someday “make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (Jeremiah 31.31). That new covenant would write the law, not on tablets of stones as was done at Sinai, but on the hearts of God’s people (31.33) and they would all have their sins forgiven and would know God (31.34). Ezekiel’s description of that new covenant promises a new birth to every one of God’s people, with the Holy Spirit coming to dwell in each heart (Ezekiel 36.27).
At the last supper, Jesus referred to His death on the cross, to be remembered by sharing in a cup of wine, as “the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22.20 cf. 1 Corinthians 11.25). Jesus would be the sacrificial lamb, and His blood would ratify the new covenant, as the blood of bulls ratified the old covenant at Sinai (Exodus 24.5-8).
The book of Hebrews quotes Jeremiah 31 at length and explains in detail that the Christian church is the recipient of the blessings of the new covenant through Jesus and his shed blood (Hebrews 8-9). The new covenant promised to Israel is the new of Jesus’ sacrificial death for the Christian church!
God’s program for Israel is not separated from His program for the Church. The two are inseparably intertwined and possibly even identified with each other, and with that intertwining the key reason for the pretribulation rapture disappears.