GOD’S COMMANDED COVENANT.
By C. A. Russell
In the Scriptures, the ten commandments are called a covenant. They are not the covenant the Lord made with the children of Israel, but God’s commanded covenant. “And he declared unto you his covenant which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.” Deut. 4:13. Webster gives the definition of the word covenant in substance as follows: 1. A mutual agreement between two or more persons; 2. A writing containing the terms of agreement; and 3. The promises of God to man on condition of obedience. It is certain that the old covenant answered to the first definition given above; for it was an agreement between the Lord and the people. See Ex. 19:5–8; 24:3–8. This all must admit. The ten commandments could not have been the first or old covenant, for the following reasons:— 1. They only contain the words of the Lord, uttered in terrible majesty, while the people were speechless with fear. This fact is alone sufficient forever to refute the idea that they were the old covenant, which was a mutual agreement between the Lord and the people. 2. The old covenant was annulled by being broken on the part of the people; but the law is still binding upon all men, Rom. 3:19; its transgression is sin, 1 John 3:4; its penalty is death. Rom. 6:23. Transgressing a law does not abrogate it. 3. The first or old covenant was made before the tables of the law were delivered to Moses, as will be seen by Ex. 24:12. 4. The law exists since the old covenant has passed away, and occupies an important place under the new. Jer. 31:31–33. Please notice the wording of this scripture: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah.” The new covenant, too, is a contract; and in making it the people, as well as the Lord, have something to do. It may be asked why the ten commandments are called a covenant. The reason is obvious. The great Creator has an undoubted right to demand obedience of all his creatures; and as he is not only a God of justice, but of love also, it inevitably follows that his blessing will rest upon all who do his will. This is implied. Indeed, he has, in two of the ten commandments—which are a brief epitome of his will—promised the divine favor, once in the second commandment, which, with the one preceding and the two following, relates to our duty toward him; and once in the fifth, which, with the five following, defines our duty to our fellow-men. He says, Obey me, and you shall be blessed. Hence with the strictest propriety his law may be called his covenant. It relates to all created intelligences. The ten-commandment law was the condition of the first covenant. Indeed, that covenant consisted in the agreement of the people to keep the law, and the Lord’s promise to them of special blessings if they did. The many references in the Bible to the Lord’s covenant confirm the above positions. See Deut. 17:2; 1 Kings 11:11; Ps. 111:7–9; Isa. 56:1–7. Some seem to believe that Christ gave a new code of precepts which were to supersede the law of his Father. If this is a correct view, it will of course be in harmony with the Scriptures. In Deut. 18:18, the Lord promised to raise up a prophet, which was Christ, and said that he should speak the words that God should command him. David, speaking prophetically of Christ, says, “I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart.” Ps. 40:8. Isaiah, chap. 42:21, says, “He shall magnify the law, and make it honorable.” And immediately after commencing his ministry we find him fulfilling the divine prediction. Matt. 5:17: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law. . . . Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law.” John 12:49: “For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak,” exactly fulfilling Deut. 18. The prophet declared that he should magnify the law, and make it honorable. This he did in showing that the law has jurisdiction, not simply over the overt actions, but also over the desires of the heart. But in a pre-eminent sense did he magnify the law when he, as man’s substitute, stepped forward and received its penalty. His dying groans on Calvary speak in tones louder than the thunders which shook Sinai, that the law is immutable. Here, it seems to me, the zenith is reached, and the argument stops. The inevitable conclusion is forced upon us that God’s law is still the law of the universe; and that all except those who accept Christ as their Saviour must suffer its penalty, which is death.