Mount Sinai

Holy Places, Holy People in Biblical Worship

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Although holiness belongs to God, it may be imparted to objects, or even to people, which become the bearers of the holy.

The Holy Place

The men and women who first received the biblical revelation were acutely conscious of the ways ordinary things could take on an extraordinary, numinous quality as bearers of the sacred. The concept of the sanctuary, or holy place, comes readily to mind. The Old Testament records many occasions when the fathers of Israel worshiped at holy places. Some of these places were already sacred sites for the Canaanites, but they became Israelite sanctuaries as the result of a theophany of Yahweh God. When he appeared to one of the fathers to give or reaffirm the promise of the land, the patriarch would mark the site by erecting some holy object such as an altar or a memorial stone.

Altars. At Shechem Abraham “built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him” (Gen. 12:7). This location continued to be a holy place where Joshua later led the people in the renewal of the covenant with the Lord, erecting a stone as a memorial to this event (Josh. 24:1–8). Thus, the Israelite sanctuary was “a token of the covenant and a guarantee of its blessing” (Johannes Pedersen, Israel: Its Life and Culture, 2nd ed. [1959], Vols. III–IV, p. 214). A classic expression of the significance of the holy place occurs in the account of Jacob’s dream at Bethel, in which he sees a ladder reaching to heaven on which messengers of God are descending and ascending; the Lord appears and pronounces his promise of blessing, land, and descendants. Awakening, Jacob exclaims, trembling, “Surely the Lord is in this place.… This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven” (Gen. 28:16–17). Before leaving, Jacob sets up a sacred pillar, the stone on which he had been sleeping, and anoints it as a bearer of the holy, “God’s house” (Gen. 28:10–22). The sanctuary is a place where earth and heaven meet, where “angels ascend and descend”; for this reason, ancient temples were usually erected on hills or, in flat country, on artificial elevations. Ascending Zion in pilgrimage, the later Israelite worshiper cries, “I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven” (Ps. 123:1). The sanctuary is a place bearing a numinous aspect where the divine can break through into the ordinary, where man can sense the presence of the holy and communicate with him.

Mount Sinai. The archetype of the holy place in the biblical narrative is the desert sanctuary of Sinai. Here, the Lord appeared to his people in full and fearful theophany, in a presence of such intensity that only the specially consecrated could approach the mountain. After the Lord had set forth the stipulations of the Book of the Covenant (Exod. 20–23), Moses and the priests and elders of Israel went up the mountain to meet with Yahweh and to eat the covenant meal; there, in a further manifestation of the numinous, they “saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself” (Exod. 24:10).

Ark and Tabernacle. These numinous aspects of the Sinai sanctuary were transferred to the ark of the covenant, where Yahweh was “enthroned between the cherubim” (Pss. 80:1; 99:1), and to the tent of meeting, as the place where Moses “entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him” (Exod. 34:34). Not only the sanctuary structure with its altar, but all its furnishings and utensils, as well as the offerings presented there, were consecrated as “holy,” set apart for the exclusive use and service of the Lord.

The Temple on Zion. Before Israel’s entrance into Canaan, Moses spoke of “the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling” (Deut. 12:5). This unnamed place turned out to be Jerusalem and Mount Zion, which David captured as a center for Israel’s worship (2 Sam. 5:7). Zion had long been a Jebusite holy place, the “Salem” where Abraham had paid a tithe to Melchizedek, the king and “priest of God Most High” or ’El ‘elyon (Gen. 14:18–20). But when David transferred the ark to Zion and when Solomon’s temple assumed the role of the tabernacle, the sanctuary on Zion became, in effect, a continuation of Sinai, where the Lord “appeared” in theophanic majesty in the worship of Israel. Several of the psalms celebrate the numinous appearance of the Lord in his temple or in Zion with imagery that reminds us of the giving of the covenant on Mount Sinai (Ps. 50:1–6). Exactly how the Lord “appeared” in the worship of the temple is not clear, but there are indications in the Psalms that the liturgical recitation of the covenant Law, associated with a procession of the ark of the covenant, was a high moment when worshipers might experience the Lord’s presence in an especially compelling way.

“Holiness adorns your house,” sang the Israelite worshiper (Ps. 93:5). Israel’s theologians understood, of course, that the sanctuary was inadequate as a bearer of the sacred. “But will God really dwell on earth?” asked Solomon. “The heavens, even the highest heaven cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27; cf. Isa. 66:1). In the New Testament we meet with the concept of the heavenly sanctuary, of which the earthly one is but a copy (Heb. 8–9; cf. 2 Cor. 5:1; Rev. 11:19). No human edifice can convey the fullness of the presence of the holy. As Jesus explained to the Samaritan woman, the deepest and most authentic worship of the Father could occur “neither on this mountain [Gerizim] nor in Jerusalem” (John 4:21). Although Christ spoke of Jerusalem as “the city of the Great King” (Matt. 5:35), he foretold the impending desecration and violent destruction of its sanctuary (Matt. 24:2), a judgment on a religious establishment that had violated the Lord’s covenant.

Jesus and the Holy Place. Nevertheless, Jesus understood and accepted the concept of the holy place in its deepest sense. He questioned the focus of the Pharisees, who swore by the gold of the temple or by the offering on the altar—in other words, by the products and symbols of man’s religious commitment. To the contrary, said Jesus, it is the temple that sanctifies the gold and the altar that sanctifies the offering (Matt. 23:16–19). Jesus’ language, incomprehensible as it may seem to us, was not incomprehensible to the early church, which continued to respect those places where God had manifested his presence in a numinous experience. Thus Peter speaks of that time when the apostles were with Christ “on the holy mountain,” by which he meant not Sinai or Zion but the Mount of Transfiguration (2 Pet. 1:16–18). The proliferation of holy shrines in the Orthodox and Catholic traditions, however fanciful it may seem in Protestant perspective, is a witness to the persistence of this biblical concept.

The Numinous Aspect of the Church

When we appreciate the importance of the sanctuary in biblical worship, we can understand why the New Testament authors draw upon the imagery of Jerusalem and its temple to convey the significance of the church. Addressing Christian believers as a body, the apostle Paul asks, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple” (1 Cor. 3:16–17). Again he declares, “we are the temple of the living God” (2 Cor. 6:16). (In both these passages he uses the plural form, speaking not to individuals but to the church collectively.) As a temple, the church of Jesus Christ is “a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Eph. 2:22). These are not simply moralistic expressions; they point to a reality that transcends the idea of the church as a mere human association.

John the Revelator most fully develops the picture of the church as “the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God” (Rev. 21:2). As the bride of the Lamb, the new sanctuary displaces the harlot “Babylon,” the old temple, and its religious establishment. The appearance of the new holy place brings a renewal of the covenant, in the declaration that “the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people” (Rev. 21:3), words that echo the covenant formula of the Israelite prophets. The sanctuary is a picture of the covenant God living among his own, enthroned on the praises of his people (Ps. 22:3). As John takes the concept further, we are brought face to face with the numinous brilliance of the Holy City (Rev. 21:10–11), “for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp” (Rev. 21:23). So overwhelmed is John by the vision that his description strains at the limitations of language. The Holy City is a temple yet not a temple: “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (Rev. 21:22). There is a numinous, awesome aspect to the church as a bearer of the holy, a vehicle through which we may encounter the fearful presence of the King of kings.

Holy People

The mortal who would trespass into the territory of the sacred runs the risk of wrathful outburst and sudden destruction. It is paradoxical, then, that human beings can serve as bearers of the holy, vehicles through whom the numinous makes its presence felt. Study of the history of religions brings to light many instances of “holy” men and women, people whose presence is “larger than life,” awesome, commanding, not to be trifled with. In such personages, the worshiper senses the workings of the divine. Biblical faith, too, is familiar with the concept of people as bearers of the holy.

Priests. The Pentateuch takes pains to spell out the procedures of vesture, sacrifice, anointing, and life-style by which a priest may become and remain consecrated, in order to enter the Lord’s presence (Exod. 28–29; Lev. 8; 21). Through his consecration, some of the holiness of the Lord is imparted to the priest, enough to “inoculate” him against an outbreak of the wrath of the numinous. A special aura of holiness rested upon the high priest. He alone could enter the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctuary containing the ark of the covenant, on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16). A person accused of manslaughter was protected from the avenger of the deceased, provided he remained in a city of refuge until the death of the high priest then in office (Num. 35:25–28).

Prophets. The Scripture often calls the prophet a “man of God”; the term is applied to Moses (Deut. 33:1), Samuel (1 Sam. 9:6), Shemaiah (1 Kings 12:22), Elijah (1 Kings 17:18), Elisha (2 Kings 4:40), David (2 Chron. 8:14), and to a number of unnamed prophets or messengers of the Lord (Judg. 13:6; 1 Sam. 2:27; 1 Kings 13:1). In these instances the term man of God (or woman of God) does not mean a righteous person but one of special endowment, a bearer of the numinous, even one to be feared. The people’s reaction to Moses when he returned to them after speaking with the Lord was one of great fear because “his face was radiant” (Exod. 34:29); as a result, he had to wear a veil whenever he came out from before Yahweh. The biblical narrative ascribes miracles to prophets such as Elijah and Isaiah as the distinguishing mark of the “man of God” (1 Kings 17:24). Especially noteworthy is the numinous aura associated with the person of Elisha; he raises the dead son of the Shunammite woman by lying upon him, body member to member (2 Kings 4:32–37), and even after his death a corpse, thrown hastily into his grave, returns to life upon contact with Elisha’s bones (2 Kings 13:20–21). The earlier prophets seem to have been distinguished by special appearance, having a tonsured head in a manner similar to later Christian monks (1 Kings 20:35–42; 2 Kings 2:23). A man or woman of God can make mistakes, disobey the Lord, and pay the penalty but still be known as a man or woman of God (1 Kings 13:26; 2 Kings 23:17). Samson was consecrated to God by the Nazirite vow (Judg. 13:7) and was moved by the Spirit of the Lord (Judg. 13:25); even when he turned away from the Lord, he remained an awesome man, capable of exploits larger than life.

The Apostles. Although the New Testament uses the expression “man of God” more in the sense of a godly person equipped for the service of the Lord (1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 3:16–17), it also portrays the apostles, like the prophets, as bearers of the numinous. People laid their sick friends in the street in the hope that Peter’s shadow might fall on them (Acts 5:15); it was enough for Peter to confront Ananias and Sapphira with their duplicity, and they fell dead at his feet (Acts 5:1–11). The people of Lystra acclaimed Paul and Barnabas as gods and were prepared to sacrifice to them (Acts 14:11–13). Handkerchiefs or aprons from Paul’s body were carried to the sick, and they were healed (Acts 19:11–12). In recording such incidents, Luke is not simply chronicling the ignorant superstition of ancient peoples. The awe-inspiring aspect of the apostles, despite their lack of formal education, is a recognizable quality in their lives, the result of the fact “that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).

Jesus Christ. The powerful, wondrous impact of the holy is evident throughout the gospel portrait of Jesus Christ himself, from his birth to his resurrection and ascension, and requires no lengthy demonstration here. To those already mentioned, we would add only a few examples. As a woman, suffering from a persistent hemorrhage, touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, Jesus immediately sensed that “virtue,” or power (dunamis), had gone out from him (Mark 5:25–34). Led to the edge of a cliff at Nazareth by a mob angry at his indictment of their lack of response to the love of God, Jesus was able simply to pass through their midst and go on his way. When soldiers came asking for Jesus the Nazarene to arrest him, Jesus replied, “I am he,” and “they drew back and fell to the ground” (John 18:6). The first preachers of the Resurrection referred to the miracles of Jesus, familiar to their audience, as acts that attested him as specially endowed and set apart by God (Acts 2:22). In his own preaching, Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God, a realm breaking into present time and space in supernatural manifestation. We can understand much about the principles and operation of the kingdom of God when we view it as another expression for God’s covenant with his people. As to its inner dynamic, however, the kingdom is a mystery. It cannot be completely comprehended in rational argument and detail; its principles of growth can only be hinted at through picture and comparison, its power suggested through miracle and sign. Above all, it is present in the person of Jesus himself, as the bearer of the holy.

Like the prophets before him and the apostles afterward, Jesus was opposed, vilified, and persecuted by those who could not, or would not, look beyond the external to the reality of the unseen. Yet the final vindication of Jesus’ identity as the incarnate revelation of the holy is that most awesome of all events, the Resurrection, which not only displays the workings of the Creator in the person of his Son, but releases in his worshipers some measure of that same quality of sacred and mysterious power. Thus, the New Testament frequently refers to the body of believers collectively as “the saints” or “the holy ones” (Greek hagios, equivalent to Hebrew qadosh). Scripture makes it clear that the entire covenant community is “a kingdom of priests” (Exod. 19:6), “a royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9), consecrated to approach the Presence in worship. The awesome encounter with the living God is not the preserve of a spiritual elite but the inheritance of all who call on him.

Conclusion

This survey has attempted to demonstrate that in biblical worship there is a numinous dimension of awe, dread, majesty, transcendence in the presence of the Holy One. The worship of God is not confined to the flatness of the rational, the sentimental, or the moral. The error of much of both orthodox and modernistic Christianity is that it has tried, by default or by design, to constrain worship within these limits. Religion has been reduced, in the words of the nineteenth-century theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher, to a “feeling of dependence,” or more crudely, to “morality tinged by emotion” (On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers [New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1958]). Or it has become a matter of words and statements, precise definitions, carefully crafted confessions. Or it has degenerated into a mere social ritual, an exercise in group identification. In such a domesticated form, it lacks the intensity, depth, mystery, and abandon of biblical worship and so fails to speak to the deepest instincts of the soul.

Covenant Worship in Israel

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Although the Lord had granted the covenant to the patriarchs of Israel, the covenant at Mount Sinai was a new departure in the people’s relationship to God. The covenant established the structure of the worship of Israel as a distinct people and formed the basis for the prophetic word and the ongoing religious life of the community.

Israel’s History Begins with the Covenant

The children of Israel, who became the people of Yahweh, were essentially pagans. Although the Lord had appeared to their ancestors and entered into covenant with them, the nation of slaves in Egypt worshiped the same gods their heathen neighbors revered. This is not surprising, in view of the prevailing belief of the times that the jurisdiction of the various deities was confined to a specific geographic location. Those residing in Egypt, for example, paid tribute to whatever gods governed that territory.

The Pharaoh’s objection is understandable, therefore, when Moses requested that the Hebrews be allowed to go into the desert to worship Yahweh, who was not an Egyptian god. The request had dangerous implications, for it revealed a conflict of interests. If the Hebrews were to declare allegiance to a god who reigned in the desert, they might decide it would be to their advantage to go to live in his territory. And whose god would ultimately be in charge—the God of the Hebrews or the gods of Egypt?

The idea was a novel one for the Hebrews as well. If the God of their fathers truly intended to break the yoke of Egypt from their backs, it might be in their best interests to follow Moses into the desert and sacrifice to this Yahweh. On the other hand, who could be sure that he was stronger than the gods of Egypt, especially on their own territory?

Convinced by the mighty miracles the Lord performed, the Hebrews and a large company of Egyptian converts began their trek to Mount Sinai to worship. But they soon discovered that the kind of worship Yahweh required differed from the pagan practices to which they were accustomed. The basis for the relationship was distinctively different. This new worship was to be a response to their God’s mighty acts of deliverance on their behalf, not the placating of a capricious deity who could at any moment withhold his favor and do them harm. Although the covenant Yahweh was to make with them in the desert had its roots in his pact made with Abraham and affirmed with Isaac and Jacob, history for Israel as a worshiping community really begins with the Red Sea deliverance from Egyptian slavery and the subsequent act of worship at the mountain of God. In these events, the God who had entered into a covenant with their ancestor Abraham would now extend the covenant to the entire family of Abraham’s descendants, and to others as well.

The Covenant at Sinai

The agreement the Lord granted Israel on Mount Sinai has the same essential structure as that of the ancient treaty, which described the previous relationship of the treaty partners and then laid down the requirements of the new relationship being enacted. Since, for Israel as a whole, the history of Yahweh’s dealings with the nation really begins in the Exodus from Egypt, the historical prologue of the covenant also begins at that point; Yahweh, as the great King (Pss. 47:2; 95:3; Mal. 1:14; Matt. 5:35) granting the treaty, identifies himself as the one who has delivered his people from slavery (Exod. 19:4; 20:1–2). The stipulations are, of course, the ten words or commandments (Exod. 20:2–17), the basic requirement being total loyalty to Yahweh and a prohibition against alliances with any other authority. Covenant sanctions, in the form of blessings and cursings, do not appear as such in the Sinai narrative but are found in Leviticus (Lev. 26) and in Deuteronomy (Deut. 28–29), Moses’ great reiteration of the covenant just before Israel enters the land of Canaan, the territory granted in the treaty.

These treaty formalities, however, do not obscure the fact that the Sinai covenant is in the first instance an act of worship, an act of reverent submission to one who reveals himself in majesty and power. The narrative introducing the actual granting of the covenant is filled with the imagery of theophany, the divine self-revelation of the Lord in thunder, lightning, smoke, the sound of the trumpet (Exod. 19:16–19). Yahweh has called his people to be his worshipers, a kingdom of priests (Exod. 19:6). The enactment and ratification of the covenant are acts of worship; the covenant is sealed as the people are sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifice and the elders ascend Sinai to eat and drink the covenant meal with Yahweh (Exod. 24:8–11). Instructions are given for the creation of the altar and the tabernacle, a sanctuary at which the covenant may be remembered and maintained through ongoing ceremonies (Exod. 25–27). The tablets containing the covenant text are deposited in the ark of witness and placed in the tabernacle’s inner sanctuary, the shrine of Yahweh. Just as a “great king” granting a covenant to his vassal required the latter to appear in his courts at specified intervals to bring whatever tribute was agreed upon at the making of the covenant, so Israel is required to appear before the Lord for this purpose, to “bring an offering and come into his courts” (Ps. 96:8). These appearances are three annual festivals stipulated in the Pentateuch’s festival calendars (Exod. 23:14–17; Lev. 23; Deut. 16:1–17), times of rejoicing and celebration in the presence of the Lord.

The Covenant Formulary

The covenant between God and Israel is frequently distilled into a short formulary—“I will be their God and they shall be my people” (Gen. 17:7; Lev. 26:12, 45; Deut. 29:10–13; and others). This phrase is found in various forms throughout the writings of the prophets (Isa. 51:15–16; Jer. 31:1, 33; Ezek. 11:20; 37:27; Zech. 8:8; 13:9) as they warn the people of Judah of the judgment that will surely follow their violation of the covenant stipulations. The formula is a basic definition of the relationship that was to exist between God and Israel. Henceforth, Yahweh would be identified with this particular nation—he would be known as their God, the God of Israel. His name would be upon them, as signified by the circumcision of their bodies. They, in turn, were to be exclusively his people. In response to his protection and blessing they must give him their undivided loyalty and complete obedience. They must love the Lord with all that they are and everything they possess (Deut. 6:4–5) and demonstrate that love through joyous and festive worship; they must also love one another as brothers (Lev. 19:18) because they are all in covenant with the same God.

Covenant Liturgics: Sacrifice, Festivals, Declamations

The worship through which Israel expressed its loyalty to the Lord took the form of sacrifice, festivals, and various forms of verbal expression or declamation. The Israelite worshiper brought sacrificial offerings to the designated sanctuary, where the priests offered them on the altar. Elements of the offering differed according to the purpose of the sacrifice. The daily sacrifices included an animal to be burned whole, grain or flour, and wine. Offerings brought to atone for violation of the law were always animals, with the blood used for ceremonial cleansing ceremonies. On festal occasions the major portion of the offering was given back to the worshiper after a certain amount was taken out for the use of the priest. On these occasions the people were viewed as receiving Yahweh’s own food; thus, he hosted them at his table in a reaffirmation of the covenant relationship. The Passover sacrifice, in particular, was understood in this way, as it called to remembrance the miraculous Red Sea deliverance that had formed Israel into the people of God. In the same manner, the Christian covenant meal, the Lord’s Supper, recalls God’s deliverance of his own through the death and resurrection of Christ. The festivals were a fulfillment of Israel’s obligation to enter the courts of the Lord to rejoice and give thanks to him.

Accompanying, and at times even displacing, the sacrifice of animals or grain was the “sacrifice of thanksgiving” or praise (Ps. 116:17; cf. Pss. 40:6–10; 50:7–15; 51:16–17). This outpouring of praise was principally a musical offering of tribute to the God of the covenant, and the Psalms are the literary deposit of this activity. In addition to sacrifice, other aspects of the covenant structure find expression in utterance associated with worship. At the offering of the firstfruits, for example, the Israelite worshipers are to confess their faith in the form of a historical recital of Yahweh’s deliverance in the Exodus (Deut. 26:1–10). Joshua recited the history of Yahweh’s deeds in behalf of Israel in leading the people in a renewal of the covenant at Shechem (Josh. 24:2–13). We often find such recitations in the Psalms (for example, Ps. 136).

The laws of the covenant were sometimes arranged in metrical groups, suitable for recitation in worship (Exod. 21:12, 15–17; 22:18–22; 23:1–9; 34:11–26; Lev. 18:7–18; Deut. 27:15–26), and the Psalms suggest that they were so used (Pss. 50:16; 81:10). The covenant sanctions could also be recited in worship, as with some of the material in the blessings and curses of Deuteronomy (Deut. 28:2–6, 15–19); Moses’ final songs (Deut. 32:1–43; 33:2–29) are musical settings of such material. The prophets of Israel seem to have typically delivered their pronouncements of judgment at the sanctuaries (Isa. 6:1–13; Jer. 7:1–2; Amos 7:10–13), perhaps in association with the festivals when large groups of worshipers would be present (Isa. 1:10–15; Amos 5:21–24; Mic. 6:6–8); the speeches of the prophets are really an extension of the curse element of the covenant ceremony. Occasionally in the Psalms we hear the prophetic voice of judgment (Pss. 14; 50; 95:8–11).

The Covenant Lawsuit

This distinctive form of prophetic address deserves special attention because of its roots in the covenant worship of Israel. As the spokesmen (Hebrew navi’) for Yahweh, the prophets defended the covenant whenever Israel broke its vows of loyalty and drifted into idolatry. Acting as lawyers for Yahweh, the plaintiff, they brought formal charges against Israel for unfaithfulness, in what has been called the “covenant lawsuit” (Hebrew riv). Examples can be found in Deuteronomy 32:1–43; Isaiah 1:1–31; Micah 6:1–16; Jeremiah 2:1–3:5; 34:12–22; and Hosea 4:1–3. In these indictments the Lord, through the prophet, typically protests his own faithfulness to the covenant. He has brought the people of Israel out of bondage and established them in the land he promised them. He has protected them from curses and evil. Israel, however, has not kept the covenant. Yahweh lists their violations: the people have gone into idolatry and forgotten their King; they have oppressed the poor and enslaved their countrymen; they have not observed the Sabbath. The nation is called by the Lord to account for its sins before the covenant witnesses: mountains (Mic. 6:2), heaven (Deut. 32:1; Isa. 1:2; Jer. 2:12), and earth (Deut. 32:1; Isa. 1:2; Mic. 6:2). Because the covenant is legally binding, and the witnesses attest to its violation, Israel has no defense. Therefore, the prophets pronounce judgment on the unfaithful nation. Eventually they come to see the covenant as irrevocably broken. Only a small proportion of the people are faithful to Yahweh. Enactment of the curse of the covenant is inevitable: the nation will be invaded and taken captive to be resettled in other lands. As Micah says, “Her wound is incurable” (Mic. 1:9).

Covenant Renewal

A nation that refused to keep the terms of a covenant in the ancient world ran the risk of being invaded and punished by its lord. The gods were also expected to avenge covenant violations with poor crops, drought, famine, pestilence, and other punishments. God’s covenant with Israel also incorporated a list of curses that would follow its violation, and it was he who would mete out the punishment. Throughout the history of Israel there were periods in which the covenant with Yahweh was neglected or forgotten entirely. Frequently these lapses resulted in God’s judgment on the nation. Kings of both Israel and Judah, who set the religious standard for the nation, led the people into the worship of pagan deities. However, God raised up righteous prophets, priests, and kings who led the nation in a series of covenant renewals, reinstituting the worship of Yahweh according to the stated requirements of the covenant.

The book of Deuteronomy is an example of covenant renewal in the form of a farewell address given by Moses as he prepares to die and as the nation embarks on the conquest of Canaan under Joshua’s leadership. Later, Joshua leads the people in an act of covenant renewal (Josh. 24:1–28) just before his own death. After consulting the Book of the Covenant to ascertain the “due order” for the worship of Yahweh (1 Chron. 15:13), King David appoints musicians to worship in Zion before the ark of the covenant in rotating shifts, twenty-four hours a day, to renew and maintain the covenant in the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving; many of the psalms had their origin in this setting. At the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem, King Solomon led Israel in a festival of covenant renewal (1 Kings 8:1–9:9). Kings Josiah (2 Chron. 34:15–35:19) and Hezekiah (2 Chron. 29:1–31:21) also attempted to restore the covenant by reading its stipulations to the people and commanding that it be celebrated with a covenant meal. Ezra the priest and Nehemiah the governor renewed the covenant with the remnant of Israel who returned to the land from their captivity in Babylon (Ezra 9:1–10:19; Neh. 12:26–13:31).

The New Covenant

In the view of the prophets, the only possible remedy for Israel’s dilemma is the cutting of a new covenant. Not with rebels will this new covenant be made, but only with a believing remnant, which will eventually be saved out of captivity and returned to the land. They will seek the Lord and remain faithful to him. In this way, the covenant people will survive and not be entirely cut off; the nation will have a future. To this remnant the law will be a delight; it will be written on their hearts, not just on stone tablets (Jer. 31:31–34). This people will show forth the glory of Yahweh in covenant worship.

The blessedness that God’s people will experience under the new covenant is described by the prophets in typical covenant terms as a reverse of the curses (Jer. 32:42). Instead of famine there will be prosperity (Isa. 54:2); in place of invasion will be peace and joy (Isa. 55:12; Jer. 33:16); the voice of bridegroom and bride will be returned to the land (Jer. 33:11); wild animals will no longer be a threat but will become harmless (Isa. 11:6–8). The new covenant will come in the form of a person, whom Isaiah calls “the servant” (Isa. 42:1–3, 6–7) and describes as the one who suffers (Isa. 52:13–14; 53:1–6). In the end, Yahweh’s covenant with Israel requires an obedience that only Jesus, the Servant of God, can fulfill (Matt. 12:18–21).