THE COVENANTS AND THE SABBATH.
By W. L. Iles
Contrast of the Two Covenants.
"THEN verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary." Heb. 9:1. Many consider this text as positive proof that the sacrifices and offerings connected with the sanctuary were the first, or old, covenant. This text does not say that the first covenant was ordinances of divine service, but that it had these ordinances. We have a similar expression in the third and fourth verses of this chapter, to which we call attention: "And after the second vail the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all [most holy place]; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant." The "first covenant had ordinances of divine service." The "most holy" place had "the golden censer," and the "ark of the covenant," which contained the tables of the covenant. The "golden censer," the ark, and the "tables" were not the "most holy" place, neither were the "ordinances of divine service" the "first covenant." The first covenant had the "tables of the covenant." That which the first covenant had can not be the covenant itself. Therefore the covenant written upon the tables is not the "first covenant." Christ was the foundation and center of the sacrificial system in both the patriarchal and Jewish age, and it therefore pertains to the Gospel or new covenant. "For those priests were made without an oath; but this [Christ] with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek; by so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament." Heb. 7:21, 22. "But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises." Heb. 8:6. The new covenant is as much better than the old as Christ, our high priest, and his ministration, is better than the priests and their ministration of the old dispensation. The first covenant was established upon the promise of the Jewish nation to obey God. It was only the promise of sinful man, and the ministration connected with that covenant (this ministration is not the covenant) was only the works of man. The new covenant was established upon the promise and oath of God, and the ministration connected with the new covenant is the work of the Son of God. The success of the old covenant depended upon man fulfilling his promise, but the success of the new covenant depends upon Christ, for he is the "surety." The Covenant of the Lord.
The Ten Commandments are called a covenant, and the tables of stone upon which they were written are called "the tables of the covenant." Many, without any Bible authority, in order to destroy the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, call them the "first covenant." The Bible nowhere calls them the "first covenant." That they are called the "first covenant" in order to destroy the Sabbath is evident; for, declaring them all abolished at the cross, it is claimed that all but the Sabbath command was re-enacted. We most emphatically deny that the Ten Commandments constitute the first covenant, which has "vanished away," and shall show that there is a distinction made between the Ten-Commandment covenant and the one which has "vanished away." The first covenant dates from Sinai, but the Sabbath and the law existed before the first covenant was made. As soon as the Jews reached Sinai, God offered them great blessings on the condition that they would obey his voice and keep his covenant. Ex. 19:5. Here is a covenant referred to that existed before the first covenant was made, and the Lord calls it "my 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. How can this commanded covenant be the same as the one "entered into," by which Israel became the Lord's people? The covenant of the Lord was written upon the tables of stone by the finger of God (Ex. 31:18), and therefore they are called the "tables of the covenant." They are not the tables of the "first covenant," but they are the tables of the "covenant of the Lord." The "first covenant" had the "tables of the covenant." Heb. 9:1-6. The first covenant and that which pertained to that covenant were written by the hand of Moses in a book. Ex. 24:3-8; Deut. 31:9, 24. It is then called the "book of the covenant." Paul tells us that when the first covenant was dedicated, this book was sprinkled with blood. Heb. 9:18, 19. Therefore the "book of the covenant" is the book of the "first covenant." If the Bible makes a clear distinction between the covenant of the book and the covenant of the tables, then we can safely decide that the Decalog is no part of the "first covenant." "And Moses wrote this law ["in a book," verse 24], and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel." Deut. 31:9. The ark is called "the ark of the covenant of the Lord," because it contained the tables of stone (1 Kings 8:9) upon which was written the covenant of the Lord. The priests had the ark in their possession, with the covenant of the Lord already in it. Moses delivered to them something entirely separate and distinct from that which they already had, and that was "the book of the law," called also "the book of the covenant." That which the priests had in their possession can not be the same as that delivered to them. Therefore the "book of the covenant" is different from the "tables of the covenant." The "tables" were kept in the ark, but the "book of the covenant" was kept on the outside. "And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side [not inside, but in the side] of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee." Deut. 31:24, 26.6 In the above text we have the same fact revealed as in the ninth verse, viz., that Moses delivered to the priests the "book of the law," or "book of the covenant," when they already had the ark, and the tables of the covenant of the Lord in it. We also have the additional fact revealed that the "book of the covenant" was kept outside of the ark, while the "tables of the covenant" were kept in the ark. The book contained laws to regulate the government of Israel. The tables of stone contained commandments which are the standard of righteousness in all ages, and for all people. The law of God is also called the "testimony" (Ex. 25:16), and the ark is also called the "ark of the testimony" (verse 22). The sanctuary of the new covenant (Heb. 8:1-4) has an ark, and in that ark is the covenant of the Lord,—the "testament" (Rev. 11:19), or the Ten Commandments. Therefore the Ten Commandments were the standard of righteousness required of the Jewish nation during the existence of the old covenant; and it is the standard of righteousness required of the Christian church, whose sins have been washed away by the precious blood of the new covenant. The Sabbath of the law is the Sabbath of the new covenant. "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." W. L. ILES.
Boulder, Colo.