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Covenantalism: Charting a Course between Dispensational and Covenantal The ologies (Kindle Locations 390-391). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
2 Motyer, Stephen. "Old Testament in the New Testament, the - Baker's Evangelical Dictionary
of Biblical Theology Online." Bible Study Tools. Accessed July 04, 2016. http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/bakers-evangelical-dictionary/the-old-testament-in-the-new-testament.html.
Another writer that sees the roots of the new covenant in the Old Testament is G.K. Beale.
Beale, G. K. A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the
New. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011.
DeRouchie therefore develops his thesis through the following themes seen already in the Old Testament, themes that explain, predict, and illustrate the transition
from the Old Testament to the New. The following are some of the concepts that I have
pulled out of DeRouchies article that help the reader understand how the shadows and
roots of the Old Testament become the verdant reality of the New:
1.
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6.
Offspring: an analysis of how the concept of seed as seen in the Old Testament
indicates that eventually the seed of Abraham will come to include more than biological descendants.
Expansion of the Old Testament references to Israel as the people of God that go
beyond just ethnic Israel.
Faith: The basis of the inclusion of offspring of Abraham as the people of God will
be by faith, no longer by natural birth.
Adoption: The concept that natural descendants will be expanded to include descendants through adoption.
Connection to the Messiah. The new covenant community, whose identity will
be intricately connected by faith to the messiah Jesus, the true and faithful Israelite. The indications of a coming Messiah led also to the idea that there would
be a new era.
Two Eras. There will be two distinct covenantal eras. From the particular to the
universal: This eschatological era would be characterized by expansion of the
original promises from the particulars of ethnic Israel to a universal application to
all mankind. The inauguration of the New Era will come with the first coming of
Christ and be consummated with his return.
Even Jesus has a twofold comment on the Old Testament. On the one hand he endorsed the
Old Testament down to its every jot and tittle. And on the other hand, he introduced new revelations and new ways of interpreting the text. Chief among the new revelations was that he himself was its fulfillment: "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Luke 4:21
1. The Offspring of Abraham would extend beyond just the biological to include
the Gentiles.
4
Pertinent to our discussion of how the Old Testament reveals this aspect of the New
Covenant, is the notion of mystery mentioned above. Here Paul is using this term to mean
something that was once hidden, or not made known, but is now revealed. But the question
we need to consider is how hidden in the Old Testament was this notion of New Covenant?
What we read in the above passage in Ephesians is that this and other notions regarding Christ
and the New Covenant were previously hidden and only in the time of Christ were they fully
revealed. But how were they hidden and to what degree? Were they completely hidden and
completely unknown? As we will find out, they were hidden in that they were revealed only
partially, in piecemeal fashion, and over a period of time to a people that were not at all open to
hearing or understanding what God was trying to say. But indeed they were revealed. We can
also see that some of the patriarchs (as opposed to most of the people) of the Old Testament
(such as Abraham, but others like Moses, Isaiah, and David) had developed a mature understanding of what God had in mind, even if some of the details were still missing.
So as we will see in this chapter, Abraham and others received from God a robust revelation concerning Christ, and, concomitantly, a revelation concerning the New Covenant,
especially concerning the inclusion of the Gentiles into the people of God. That is why
Paul and Luke can go on to make this seemingly contrary claim that we now read in two
other passages:
Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of
Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would
justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, In you shall all the nations be
blessed. So then, those who are of faith are blessed along
with Abraham, the man of faith. (Galatians 3:7-9 ESV)
Moses said, The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet
like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does
not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people. And all the prophets who have spoken, from
Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed
these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the
covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, And in your ospring shall all the families of the earth
be blessed. (Acts 3:22-25 ESV)
Paul sees a connection between the new covenant Gentile participation in the
people of God as a fulfillment of the Old Testament promises, especially promises given
to Abraham, but also including those given by other prophets. In Pauls ecclesiology
both Jews and Gentiles in Christ are Abraham seed. (Gal. 3:28-29). Pauls reasoning is
that all are included through Gods grace and not just because of biological relationship
or even because of self-efforts to keep the law (Gal. 3: 8-9). Both are included because
they both share the faith of Abraham (Gal. 3:8-9).
Derouchie elaborates on Pauls assertions by focusing on the word seed [/
] seen in Genesis to show that new covenant ecclesiology has its roots in the
Old Testament.5 The dilemma that DeRouchie tackles is that from an initial, cursory
reading of the text the word seed, it appears to refer just to those descendants who
are biological offspring of the patriarch. As DeRouchie writes, Genesis 15: 5 appears to
address most immediately only natural seed: Please look to the heavens and count
the stars if you are able to count them. . . . So shall your offspring be.6
5(2016-04-15).
he shall see his ospring; he shall prolong his days; the will of
the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his
soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the
righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted
righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall
divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul
to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore
the sin of many,
It makes sense that there will be an expansion of the demography of the kingdom and
that this would be seen not only in the New Testament , but also in the Old simply because expansion is a chief characteristic of the kingdom of God:
Hsieh, Nelson S. "ABRAHAM AS HEIR OF THE WORLD: DOES ROMANS 4:13 EX PAND THE OLD TESTAMENT ABRAHAMIC LAND PROMISES?" Master's Seminary
Journal, Spring, 26, no. 1 (2015): 95-110. https://www.tms.edu/m/msj26g.pdf.
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3. Faith
Another important key to understanding the relationship between the Old Testament ecclesiology and that of the New is through recognizing the instrumental role of
faith. Paul delineates in his writings of the New Testament the role of faith as the instrument of salvation. But does this concept find its root in the Old?
As the text of the New Testament makes clear, Paul recognized that inclusion
into the people of God is no longer determined by natural birth, but rather by faith. In
the following passage, Paul states that acceptance into the presence of God and, consequently the individuals receiving of the gift of his Spirit is determined by those who
have faith. And not only that, Paul also links this back to the example of Abraham.
Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles
among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with
faithjust as Abraham believed God, and it was counted to
him as righteousness? Know then that it is those of faith
who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached
the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, In you shall all
the nations be blessed. So then, those who are of faith
are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
(Galatians 3:5-9 ESV)
Those who are of faith are the true sons of Abraham. God has now justified Gentiles by faith and had announced that beforehand to Abraham himself. This revelation to
As Paul recognized, this inclusion by faith had its roots in the Old Testament:
What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by
works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God,
and it was counted to him as righteousness. (Romans 4:13 ESV)
4. Adoption
The New Testament makes the case that one enters into the community of God
through adoption with no distinction to ethnicity, whereas the Old Testament presents
the case that (even though to a degree the Old Testament people of God were also
adopted. See Romans 9:4), they were those that keep the law and were naturally born
into Israel (Gen. 15:4). In other words, only the Jewish nation of Israel constituted the
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For
you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by
whom we cry, Abba! Father! The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirsheirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,
provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:14-17 ESV)
And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the
first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for
adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans
8:23)
In love, he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the
praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:5)
Here he mentions that Abrahams relationship to the nations is primarily a non-biological relationship and that the use of the term father is primarily figurative. For instance,
in Genesis 17:5 Yahweh changes Abrams name to Abraham, which reinforces the
promise that he will be a father of a multitude, but it also indicates a future revelation
concerning the people of God.
The Scripture reiterates this promise many times. In 17:6 Yahweh reinforces the
promise in many ways. A similar promises are given to Sarah (17:15,16) and Jacob,
which are essentially a repetition of the Abrahamic promises. To Jacob the promise
reads like this:
And God said to him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from
you, and kings shall come from your own body. (Genesis
35:11 ESV)
DeRouchie concludes that these promises could not possibly be fulfilled through
just Israel alone (i.e., Jacobs 9 blood line) or even through Edom (i.e., Esaus blood
line), but could only be fulfilled through a non-biological covenantal relationship. 10 Consequently, the fact that Jacob is to bring forth a company of nations suggests his family is larger than Israel proper and will include some adopted from other nations. De
Rouchie goes on to suggest that the language of father can also be interpreted figuratively and therefore non-biologically. Such use of the this term can connote a relationship of authority such a king or shepherd and certainly connote a spiritual relationship!
DeRouchie then goes on to take his investigation into the roots of the New Testament concept of adoption to the book of Isaiah. In chapter 52 of Isaiah we see recorded that Gods salvation will reach all nations (52:10). But regarding ethnic Israel, many
9
10
11(2016-04-15).
DeRouchie, Jason. Father of a Multitude of Nations: New Covenant Ecclesiology in OT Perspective in Progressive Covenantalism: Charting a Course between Dispensational and Covenantal Theologies (Kindle Location 375). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Progressive Covenantalism: Charting a Course between Dispensational and Covenantal Theologies (Kindle Locations 396-398). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Isaiah, in fact, repeats this in another chapter pointing towards the future reality
of salvation of the nations through adoption.
Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your ospring from the
east, and from the west I will gather you, I will say to the
north, give up, and to the south, do not withhold; bring my
sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth,
everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my
glory, whom I formed and made. (Isaiah 43:5-7 ESV)
5. Connection to the Messiah. The new covenant community, whose identity will
be intricately connected by faith to the messiah Jesus, the true and faithful Israelite. The messiah is closely connected with the idea that there will be two distinct eras.
One of the key concepts that unite the two Testaments are the references to the
Messiah. Jesus, himself points to this in his post-resurrection comments to the travelers
on the road to Emmaus:
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning
himself.
(Luke 24:27 ESV)
Then he said to them, These are my words that I spoke to
you while I was still with you, that everything written about
me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms
must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand
the Scriptures, and said to them, Thus it is written, that the
Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,
and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from
Jerusalem.
(Luke 24:44-47 ESV)
So it is not surprising that so much of the Old Testament speaks repeatedly of the
messiah of the coming age.
6.Two Eras. There will be two distinct covenantal eras characterized by an extension from the particular to the universal: This eschatological era would be characterized by expansion of the original promises from the particulars of ethnic Israel to a universal application to all mankind. The inauguration of the New Era
will come with the first coming of Christ and be consummated with his return.
Conclusion
In conclusion, what DeRouchie has done is noteworthy. Not only has he shown
us that the concepts of new covenant ecclesiology have their roots in the Old Testament, but he has shown us how the two covenants relate: not through a narrow duplication, but rather through an expanding transformation centered on the promised messiah, Jesus.