Week 9 - The New Covenant
What we talked about in Youth on Sunday
Recap of God’s Covenant with David
In 2 Samuel 7:8-16 God promises to David things similar to Abraham, while also new things unique to David. Like to Abraham, God promises David a son (v. 12), a great name (v. 9), and permanent land (v. 10); and then adds to it by uniquely promising David a never-ending kingdom (v.13/16) and a never-ending house (v.13/16). Through this we learn that David—the king of Israel and sole covenant representative of their people—will produce an offspring who will lead Israel to prominence they had never before seen. After David dies, his son Solomon fulfills some of this by leading Israel to a place of international prominence and prestige never before experienced by them. God blesses Solomon and all of Israel, and for a few decades Israel experiences the blessing promised to David.
From Solomon to Jeremiah
However, at the end of Solomon’s life he turns from God and Israel spirals into disarray. Solomon dies and the throne passes to his son Rehoboam. Rehoboam is asked by Israel and Jeroboam (who God promised at the end of Solomon’s life that he would make into a king) to lighten their load and taxation. However, rather than meet their request Rehoboam listens to unwise counsel and increases the load on the Israelites. Angered by this decision the Israelites rebel and the kingdom divides. Rehoboam is left as king of Judah in the North and Jeroboam is made king of Israel in the South.
In accordance with God’s promise, Jeroboam could have become a great king and received God’s covenant blessing. However, Jeroboam fears the surrounding nations and turns his back on God. Now having both abandoned God, Jeroboam and Rehoboam die and from then on the divided kingdom of Judah and Israel enter a 200 year cycle of conflict, mostly bad kings, and general disobedience to God. In 720 BC the southern kingdom of Israel gets overthrown by the Neo-Assyrian empire as a result of their continued rebellion against God. And in 587/586 BC the northern kingdom of Judah falls and is taken captive by the Babylonians.
It is around this time that we meet Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a prophet during the reign of the last five kings of Judah and shortly into their exile to Babylon. Jeremiah receives a new covenant from God and writes it either right before or right after Judah has been overthrown and taken away to Babylon.
The New Covenant
Before asking for a king, Israel was God’s covenant people. As such, they were to keep his law and obey him because of the ways he had been faithful to them, saved them, and protected them. However, time and time again Israel breaks their covenant with God—even going so far as seeking a divorce from God by asking for a human king. And as we saw from David, the human king becomes Israel’s covenant representative for all of Israel, yet like the people had done the covenant kings do a horrible job of following God.
It is during this terrible time that Jeremiah receives word from God. In Jeremiah 31:31-40 God says that the new covenant will be unlike any covenant before. Because Israel and their kings had continually broken their covenant with God, in the new covenant God will write his law on the hearts of his people in such a way that people obey the law joyfully. Furthermore, God will once and for all forgive their sins, so they no longer have to make sacrifices to atone for their sinfulness. Basically, God says he will so transform people that the law is no longer a burden but simply their way of life and a joy to keep. However, the only way for this to happen is for God to live within his people and so change them as a result.
This new covenant, while not fulfilled until Jesus, provides hope to the exiled people of Judah and Israel. Just as God had not forgotten them in the past, so too God does not forget them now but promises to be faithful and make a way for them to remain faithful covenant participants with God. And when Jesus comes he ushers in the new covenant through the Holy Spirit’s indwelling of God’s people, which changes them by uniting them to Christ. There the Spirit of God gives them the desire to follow him and keep his commands, not out of obligation, but because God has so changed their hearts.
What Do We Learn From This?
First, we learn that while Israel’s sin was great, God’s mercy and grace was greater. From the time God brought Israel out of Egypt, God’s people acted wickedly and continued to turn from God. However, God says his new covenant will be so great that it will remove wicked desires from people’s hearts.
Second, we learn that God is faithful. The Israelites gave God so many opportunities for him to turn his back on them, but he never did. Instead God kept his promises and loved Israel. We can trust that God will keep his promises to us because he has always kept his promises before.
Third, we learn that when we trust in Jesus our whole lives change. Trusting in Jesus changes our desires. When we trust in Jesus we want to love people and serve them and help them. We feel bad for doing wrong. We seek repentance and forgiveness. And we have an unrelenting hope that not even death can overcome.
Continuing the Conversation at Home
Have you ever felt excited for doing something good? Or terrible for doing something bad? Where do those feelings come from? This is what we spent the end of our time together discussing. What is amazing is that those feelings are evidence of our faith. When we believe that Jesus is Lord and that he rose from the grave, we are united with him, and our desires change as a result. We desire to do good and hate when we sin because God has written his law on our hearts. Take a moment this week and remind your kids of this reality. When they are excited about doing something good remind them that God has given them those desires. And when they are ashamed of doing something wrong remind them that God has made them to do good and the shame they feel is a reminder of their brokenness and need for Christ.
In the car or at dinner this week, ask your kids what they remember about the New Covenant. Tell them that you read about it this week too. Ask them if there was anything confusing or weird about the New Covenant. Remember you don’t have to have all the answers and that listening to them share their thoughts is more important in their growth than their hearing what you have to say about it.
REMINDER: Our Advent Wreath Party and Christmas Decorating Party are both this week (Friday and Sunday). As a result we don’t have Redemption Youth this Sunday. We are also off on November 27 because of the Thanksgiving holiday. We will be back together on Sunday, December 4.