The Holy Spirit, Ten Commandments, and Old Covenant Insights

The Holy Spirit and the Ten Commandments Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. For he finds fault with them when he says: Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant Hebrews 8:6-9 ESV

Jewish Tradition Modern Judaism looks to the Day of Pentecost as the day that the Ten Commandments were given at Sinai This tradition was first documented in the Talmud as a saying of about 270AD by Ribbai El azar ben Pedath (Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible, volume 4, page 827) The Jewish Encyclopedia asserts the traditional association of Pentecost with the giving of the law began after the exile (JewishEncyclopedia.com, article PENTECOST "fiftieth") The chronological data in Exodus provide no precise information as to the date upon which the Ten Commandments were given but they do NOT make Pentecost impossible (see timeline charts)

The Old Covenant The Old Covenant established Israel as a vassal nation of YHWH as Suzerain (see article Suzerainty, on https://en.wikipedia.org/) A suzerainty covenant applies stipulations to the vassal and provides benefits from the Suzerain to the vassal: Exodus 19:3-8a ESV The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, All that the LORD has spoken we will do. This is the Old Covenant: Israel, as a nation, agreed to be a vassal of YHWH

Torah Torah To obey YHWH Israel was required to abide by certain stipulations The stipulations of the Old Covenant are the Ten Commandments recorded in Exodus chapter 20 and Deuteronomy chapter 5, and elaborated in many other chapters of the Pentateuch The stipulations of the Covenant came after Israel had agreed to the Covenant they are NOT the Covenant These stipulations are repeated called torah, which means instruction , direction , teaching : NOT law The objective of the instruction was to teach Israel to be a Holy Nation: Leviticus 11:44-45 ESV For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

The Ten Commandments and the Holy Spirt Only through the Holy Spirt is it possible to live by the Ten Commandments Jesus Christ elaborated the spiritual intent of the Ten Commandments in the Sermon on the Mount, as recorded in Matthew chapters 5 through 7 and in Luke 6:17-49 When the Ten Commandments were first given to ancient Israel, they were only capable of obeying them in the letter and they failed at that The Ten Commandments define holiness which was required of Israel under the Old Covenant The Holy Spirit is only available through the New Covenant which make it possible for a Christian to be accounted holy by God

Covenant Benefits The benefits offered to Israel from YHWH for compliance with the terms of the Sinai Covenant are outlined in Leviticus 26:1-13 and Deuteronomy 28:1-14 They all relate to establishing the Nation of Israel as a viable, safe, prosperous nation, for example: from Leviticus 26 ESV I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase (verse 4) And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely (verse 5) I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid (verse 6) You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword (verse 7) I will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you (verse 9)

The New Covenant The New Covenant Jeremiah was given the prophecy of the New Covenant shortly before the final destruction of the Nation of Israel: Jeremiah 31:31-33 ESV Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my [torah] within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Jesus Christ inaugurated the New Covenant on the first Christian Passover: Luke 22:15-20 ESV And he said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood

The Holy Spirit The most important stipulation of the New Covenant is that I will be their God, and they shall be my people as God s people, those under the New Covenant must be holy, for I am holy (see 1 Peter 1:15) Only through the Holy Spirit is it possible for inherently sinful human beings to be accounted Holy by God: God s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5 ESV) May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13 ESV) no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:11-13 ESV) ... he saved us according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, which he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:5-7 ESV)

Better Promises The principle promise of the New Covenant is eternal life as a member of the God Family in the Kingdom of God: Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. (Hebrews 8:6 ESV) he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9:15 ESV) In him we have obtained an inheritance so that we might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it (Ephesians 1:11-14 ESV) And this is the promise that he made to us eternal life. (1 John 2:25 ESV) he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4 ESV) Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians 7:1 ESV)

The Purpose of the Torah The Purpose of the Torah The Ten Commandments define holiness to be holy one must have them written on the heart : they are integral to the nature of God and we must make them integral to our nature The Torah (instruction) contained in the Pentateuch is there to explain: in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this [torah] (Deuteronomy 1:5 ESV) Deuteronomy 4:1-8 ESV And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and [mish pat] that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you. See, I have taught you statutes and [mish pat], as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and [mish pat] so righteous as all this [torah] that I set before you today?

Why Did Israel Fail? From the outset God anticipated the failure of Israel: Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever! (Deuteronomy 5:29 ESV) But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. (Deuteronomy 29:4 ESV) Human nature is inherently disposed to sin this was the fault with the Old Covenant: without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit it is impossible for human beings to become holy Deuteronomy 31:19-21 ESV Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel. For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.

The New Replaces the Old The Old Covenant was inherently flawed by human nature: For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. For he finds fault with them (Hebrews 8:7-8 ESV) Because of the failure of the Old Covenant, a New Covenant is necessary: In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. (Hebrews 8:13 ESV) Hebrews 12:18-24 ESV For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned. Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I tremble with fear. But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant The enabler of the New Covenant is the Holy Spirit

The Paraclete parakl tos, basic meaning: one who is called to the side of (Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible, volume 3, page 654) Translated: helper , advocate , comforter The word is applied to Jesus in 1 John 2:1 in his role as High Priest, intercessor for Christians The Apostle John records Jesus use of the word to personify the Holy Spirit: John 14:15-17, 25-26, 15:26 ESV If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot receive, because it neither sees it nor knows it. You know it, for it dwells with you and will be be in you. These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, which the Father will send in my name, it will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. But when the Helper comes, which I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, it will bear witness about me.

The Plan of God The necessity of Jesus completing his mission of sacrifice and resurrection is critical to the provision of the Holy Spirit to facilitate the New Covenant: John 16:1-15 ESV I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send it to you. And when it comes, it will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, it will guide you into all the truth, for it will not speak on his own authority, but whatever it hears it will speak, and it will declare to you the things that are to come. It will glorify me, for it will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that it will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Be Holy For I am Holy The Ten Commandments define holiness Israel could NOT live by the Ten Commandments because they were NOT given the indwelling of the Holy Spirit Christians are required to be holy The death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ has made possible the provision of the Holy Spirt Only through the Holy Spirit can we live by the spiritual intent of the Ten Commandments and be accounted holy by God Only then will God grant us the promise of eternal life in the Kingdom of God as members of the God Family transformed to be truly Holy