[Apologetics] The More Things Change . . .: Parallels Between the Old and New Covenants

Tue Aug 30 12:15:10 EDT 2005

Print this pageCloseby Thomas J. Nash 

Other Articles by Thomas J. Nash The More Things Change . . .: Parallels Between the Old and New Covenants
08/30/05

 In leading the Hebrews out of Egypt to the Promised Land, Yahweh had more in mind than upgrading Israel’s real estate holdings. A nation needs its own land, but Israel, like any other nation, was more in need of its God than possessing its own geographical boundaries.

In This Article...
Mountains, Mediators and Blood
Setting the Redemptive Standard
Sinai and Passover Fulfilled

Mountains, Mediators and Blood

Central to Israel’s national identity was its relationship with God, for Yahweh had long ago sworn to Abraham that He would make a great nation of the patriarch’s descendants (Gn 12:2). Now, with Israel having emerged from its 400-year bondage in Egypt (Gn 15:13-15), God made a covenant with the Hebrews, providing a series of laws in Exodus 20-23, the most important of which were the enduring 10 Commandments (20:1-17).

After coming down from Mt. Sinai, Moses announced God’s laws and the people pledged to follow them (Ex 24:1-3). Moses proceeded to write down all of God’s words, rising the next day and sealing the covenant in an elaborate ceremony (Ex 24:4-11). 

Several hallmarks distinguish the Old Covenant’s ratification and anticipate the consummation of the New. For example, God ratified both covenants at mountains: the Old on Sinai, in the southern Sinai Peninsula; the New on Mt. Zion, i.e., Jerusalem. Other covenant parallels include that both involve a chief mediator between man and God, Moses in the Old and Jesus in the New; both involve representatives of the 12 tribes of Israel, the nation gathered at the foot of Sinai for the Old, and the 12 Apostles in the Upper Room for the New; and Jesus ordains the Apostles as priests during the Last Supper, while it appears that Moses may have performed an ordination ceremony in Exodus 24. We will focus on two other parallels in this column: 1) The “blood of the covenant” seals both; and 2) A communion meal between God and man culminates both.

Moses built an altar at the foot of the mountain and erected 12 pillars to represent each of the 12 tribes of Israel. He then directed the young men of Israel to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings to God. Half of the sacrificial blood Moses put in basins and the other half he threw against the altar: Then he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” And Moses took the blood and threw it upon the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” (Ex 24:6-8)

Setting the Redemptive Standard

What was the significance of Moses’s elaborate ritual? In the ancient Hebrew world, sharing sacrificial blood sealed a covenant between persons. This is what occurred when Moses splashed sacrificial blood first on the altar, which represented God, and then on the people: “The blood is especially vivid,” writes Father Dennis McCarthy, SJ, in his book Treaty and Covenant. “Yahweh and the people are considered to be related by blood, for they have somehow shared the same blood in the rite.” On the down side, adds Dr. Scott Hahn in A Father Who Keeps His Promises, the shed blood signified a solemn curse that Israel placed itself under by swearing the covenant oath. Through this ritual, in effect, Israel declared to God, "Amen, we will share family life with you; you will be our Father, we will be your sons — or else we’ll be damned!”After the covenant was sealed, Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu ascended Sinai with 70 of Israel’s elders for a celebratory communion meal: “[T]hey beheld God,
 and ate and drank” (Ex 24:11). 

In summary, Israel’s union with God was forged in a visible, tangible, sacramental way, with sacrifices and ceremonies and the eating of a communion meal. Charitably stated, Israelites were not redeemed individually by simply saying an Old Covenant version of “The Sinner’s Prayer.” Israel was redeemed collectively and in a sacramental manner, setting the redemptive standard that Jesus would employ and advance in the New Covenant. 

Sinai and Passover Fulfilled

Like the Old Covenant, the New Covenant would be sealed with blood. As the mediator for all mankind, Jesus not only served as a priest but also a victim. There would be no need for the blood of animal sacrifices, for He would be the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. In addressing the Twelve at the Last Supper, Jesus speaks of His impending death on Calvary, yet mysteriously offers His Body and Blood in advance, saying, “[T]his is My blood of the covenant. . .” (Mt 26:28).

For the Apostles, Jesus’s words surely would have evoked memories of the Sinai covenant that their ancestors had made with God. Except that Jesus was not renewing the Old; rather, He said that “this is the new covenant in My blood” (Lk 22:20). Outside of the Letter to the Hebrews, the words “blood” and “covenant” are used together in the New Testament only regarding the institution of the Eucharist.

To ratify the Old Covenant, Israel was covered with the blood of animals. To begin the New Covenant’s ratification, Jesus gave His Apostles his own blood to drink. The New Covenant would be a much more intimate relationship with God, one in which the restored kingdom of Israel would partake of God’s very life by partaking of His eternal Son’s Body and Blood. In addition, unlike the Sinai ratification, which took place only once in history, Jesus commanded His Apostles to renew His covenant on a regular basis. Because of the infinite value of His Sacrifice that comes with being a divine Person, Jesus would only have to die once for all. However, because His Sacrifice culminated in everlasting glory at His Ascension, His Apostles could re-present it again and again in memory of Him. In this light, we are reminded that the Last Supper also fulfills and carries on the work of the annual Passover celebration of the Old Covenant.

Finally, Jesus not only offered a Sacrifice to inaugurate the New Covenant, He instituted a Communion Sacrifice, which His followers would not only re-present but also partake of in memory of Him. Here again Jesus fulfills both Sinai and the Passover in instituting the Eucharistic Sacrifice, a Sacrifice which the Church not only offers in celebrating Mass but of which the faithful also partake. Jesus came to establish definitive and permanent communion between man and God. Indeed, in offering and partaking of His Sacrifice, Jesus tells His disciples they can live forever (Jn 6:51-58).

Thomas J. Nash is Director of Special Projects at Catholics United for the Faith. He is the author of Worthy Is the Lamb: The Biblical Roots of the Mass (Ignatius Press) from which this column is excerpted and condensed with permission of Ignatius Press. He is also a co-author of Catholic for a Reason III: Scripture and the Mystery of the Mass (Emmaus Road Publishing). 

Like a deer that longs for running waters so my soul longs for you, O God.

Ps 42:1

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