HIS COVENANTS
JEHOVAH writes his law into the heart of those who delight to do his will. His beloved Son, always faithfully devoted to his Father, says: "I delight to do thy will, 0 my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, 0 Lord, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation." (Ps. 40:8-10) This Psalm expresses the heart condition of those who are in the new covenant and who are diligent in proving their faithfulness to God. It is entirely unreasonable and unscriptural to conclude that Jehovah would make a new covenant with the Jews and then bring other nations in and make them proselytes to the Jews, causing them to become Jews; and hence the conclusion should be entirely put aside that natural Israel has anything whatsoever to do with the new covenant. (Matthew 11:24) The new covenant is made with Christ Jesus in behalf of those who agree to do the will of God, and those who are brought into that covenant, and who continue faithful, must have the law of God written in their hearts and must from the heart declare the righteousness of Jehovah; otherwise they could not be 'the people of God taken out for his name'.
The preceding chapter gave consideration to the prophecy of Jeremiah concerning the new covenant, and which consideration is now here continued: "And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jer. 31: 34) Clearly this prophecy reaches a climax after the Lord has come to the temple and gathered unto himself his faithful followers. This prophecy has no reference to teaching or delivering the truth to such as 'every man of the world', but applies entirely to those in the covenant and who continue faithful.
According to another rendering of the text the apostle quotes from this prophecy as follows: "And in nowise shall they teach every one his fellow-citizen and every one his brother, saying, Get to know the Lord! because all shall know me from the least unto the greatest of them." (Heb. 8:11, Roth.) This scripture, as here rendered, definitely limits the application thereof to those in the covenant and who are fellow citizens and whose citizenship is in heaven. "We have now reached the end of the world, which means not merely the end of a certain time, and which is often spoken of as 'the end of the age', but the end of the operation of Satan's organization by the sufferance of Jehovah, and hence the time when preparation is being made to completely destroy Satan's power and his organization. The time feature is not the important thing, but the wrecking of Satan's organization is the important thing, because that has to do with the vindication of Jehovah's name. At the present time the Lord has gathered his people into his organization. It is the time of the fulfilment of Psalm 50:5. Jeho-
vah has taken out of the nations a people for his name; hence the climax of the new covenant is reached, and now the teaching of God's people is no longer done by men, particularly by such men as "elective elders", but all in Zion are children of God by his organization and are now taught of God. — Isa. 54:13; John 6: 45.
The Watchtower is not the teacher of God's people. The Watchtower merely brings to the attention of God's people that which he has revealed, and it is the privilege of each and every one of God's children to prove by the Word of God whether these things are from man or are from the Lord. Christ Jesus at the temple is Jehovah's great High Priest in charge of the temple organization, and he is made the Teacher of the temple class; hence he teaches all the children of Zion. Jehovah is the great Teacher, and he and Christ Jesus are the teachers of God's people; hence the Lord says to his children: "Yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers." — Isa. 30:20.
All at the temple will realize that their spiritual food comes to them from their Teachers, Jehovah and Christ Jesus, and not from any man. No one of the temple company will be so foolish as to conclude that some brother (or brethren) at one time amongst them, and who has died and gone to heaven, is now instructing the saints on earth and directing them as to their work. Such a conclusion smacks of the "sin of Samaria". (Amos 8:14) In times past Jehovah and Christ Jesus have been pushed to the side and men have been looked to as the teachers in the church; but not so any more, after the cleansing of the temple. Concerning those faithful ones in the temple, and therefore in the new covenant, the prophecy of Jehovah here considered says: "They shall all know me."
This clearly implies that the revelation of Jehovah's glory from the temple and the revelation of the meaning of his name and titles are made known to all the temple class. Such revelation Jehovah has given to his people taken out for his name, and they appreciate the fact that their greatest privilege is to now have a part in the vindication of his name.
That those at the temple are equally favored is shown by these words: "They shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them"; that is to say, those who are symbolically pictured by Mordecai (Esther 2:5-7) and Naomi (Ruth 1: 2, 3), being first brought into the temple, and those pictured by Esther (Esther 2:7-11) and Ruth (Ruth 1:4-18), who were later brought into the temple, are all on a common level and know God, from the least to the greatest of them.* All of these discern that the chief issue is Jehovah's name. All such have received the "penny" (Matt. 20:1-13), that is to say, the "new name" (Isa. 62: 2; Rev. 2:17), and all are at unity and are joyfully singing the praises of Jehovah and his King. All this in fulfilment of the prophecy uttered by Jeremiah, as above stated.
There was a time when iniquity was upon Jehovah's covenant people, which lawlessness or iniquity embraces man worship, formalism, particularly a failure to bear testimony to the name of Jehovah and his kingdom. That iniquity was due largely to ignorance, and the ignorance of God's law is an excuse; hence Jehovah says concerning those in the covenants "For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jer. 31:34) Such shows that forgiveness of their iniquity is directly related to the great revelation that came to them when gathered unto
the Lord God at his temple. The iniquity here mentioned is not inherited sin from Adam, because the ones addressed have been previously made free of that sin by the precious blood of Christ Jesus applied to them when justified. The iniquity and sin here mentioned by the prophet is the same as described by the prophet Isaiah, when he says: "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar; and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." — Isa. 6:5-7.
This prophecy of Isaiah began to have fulfilment upon God's people about 1919. The forgiveness is not granted in order that the covenant people might be taken to heaven, but is granted for the sake of Jehovah's name, that these cleansed ones might be made a people ready for his name and to testify to his name. "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." (Isa. 43: 25) The basis for forgiveness of such iniquity and sin is the precious blood of Christ Jesus, which is the blood of the new covenant, and which is shed for the remission of sins. — Matt. 26:28; Heb. 9: 22; 12:24.
IMPORTANT
The importance of the new covenant is magnified in the Scriptures. The prophets of old, the Lord Jesus arid the apostles speak of it, and by their testimony Jehovah makes known to his children the importance
of the covenant. Let it be kept in mind that these things were written for the comfort and hope of the church. (Rom. 15:4) This is a further reason that the new covenant applies exclusively to the church and has no application to the world in general. In further support of this conclusion, that the new covenant was made with spiritual Israel, that is to say, with those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, note the words of the apostle written by direction of the Lord: "For by one offering he [Jesus Christ] hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." (Heb. 10:14) Who are the "them that are sanctified" here mentioned? Manifestly those who are brought into Christ: "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified, are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." (Heb. 2:11) And by what means are they sanctified? The answer is, "[By] the blood of the [new] covenant, wherewith he [the man] was sanctified." — Heb. 10:29.
Continuing the apostle says: "Whereof [of all which perfecting of the sanctified ones by the one offering of Jesus' blood] the holy [spirit] also is a witness to us [the church]." (Heb. 10:15) Witness to us how or through what channel? The prophecy of Jeremiah answers, as set forth in Jeremiah 31:31-33. Then continuing the apostle says: "For after he hath said [before], This is the covenant [new covenant] that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws on their heart, and upon their mind also will I write them; then saith he, And their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin." (Heb. 10:15-18, A.R.V.) Here the inspired apostle of the Lord specifically applies the terms of the new covenant to the sanctified ones. This
Scriptural proof should satisfy every child of God who appreciates His Word that the new covenant was made with Christ Jesus at the time of his death for and in behalf of his sanctified ones and that it is the instrument of Jehovah by which he takes out from the nations a people for his name, which people must be his faithful and true witnesses even to the end.
INAUGURATION
The making of the covenant is one thing; the inauguration thereof is another and later thing. The covenant is made by Jehovah with the one competent to enter into an agreement, hence with the mediator, in behalf of all who shall be brought under the terms of or into the covenant. "Inauguration" means the appropriate ceremonies inducting one into office and investing him with specific authority. The inauguration of the new covenant is the appropriate ceremonies inducting into office and vesting with specific authority those who are selected to perform the duties enjoined upon them by the covenant. The primary purpose of the new covenant is the vindication of Jehovah's name, and to this end he takes out from the nations a people for his name who, proving faithful up to a certain point, are invested with authority to be the witnesses to his name.
The making and inauguration of the law covenant foreshadowed the making and inauguration of the new covenant; hence there are certain things done in connection with these covenants that correspond. Years before the law covenant Moses was chosen by the Lord as his priest and mediator and sent to Egypt. The Israelites had refused Moses and he had fled from Egypt. "This Moses, whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God
send to be a ruler and a deliverer, by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush." (Acts 7: 35) In due time God sent Moses back to Egypt to make a name for Jehovah and to mediate the law covenant. Moses received his appointment and authority from God while he was in the wilderness at Mount Sinai. (Acts 7:38) Christ Jesus, the Greater Moses, was likewise refused or rejected by the nation of Israel in A.D. 33 and was crucified in antitypical Egypt and was later raised from the dead and taken to heaven. After waiting a long period of time Christ Jesus is sent back, in the year 1914 (A.D.), clothed with full power and authority to rule. (Heb. 10:12, 13; Ps. 110: 2) After casting the great Pharaoh, Satan the Devil, out of heaven Jesus Christ came to the temple of God, to wit, in 1918, and there sits as a refiner and judge and begins the inauguration of the new covenant.
Those whom Jesus the great Judge found faithful at this judgment are the saints of Jehovah, and these are the ones who thereafter offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. (Mal. 3:3) These are the ones concerning whom the Lord Jesus says: "Blessed is that servant, whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods." (Matt. 24: 46, 47) These faithful ones are inducted into office and clothed with authority to perform specific duties, that is to say, the duties of looking after the Kingdom interests, designated as the Lord's "goods" which he commits to them, and which duties they perform by faithfully bearing testimony to the name of Jehovah.
Paul says concerning the dedication or inauguration of the covenant: "Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated [Diaglott, instituted; Rother-
ham, consecrated; Moffatt, inaugurated; all meaning the same thing] without blood." (Heb. 9:18) The appropriate ceremony was performed at the inauguration of the law covenant, concerning which the apostle says: "For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you." (Heb. 9:19, 20) Some time prior thereto the covenant had been made with Israel in Egypt, but now at the inauguration the Israelites were instructed as to their relationship to God and their duties to be performed according to his commandments.
Concerning the ceremony performed at Mount Sinai it is written: "And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words." (Ex. 24:4-8) The Israelites, although a party to the covenant from the day they left Egypt, were now, at Mount Sinai, told by Moses the commandments and statutes of God which they must obey. Since the coming of the Greater Moses, Christ Jesus,
to the temple, that is to say, to Mount Zion, he, according to the will of Jehovah, has opened up the Word of God's prophecy, giving an understanding thereof, and has set these things before the consecrated people of God, who had previously been parties to the new covenant and under its terms, but who are now made to understand what are the chief duties to be performed by them, to wit, to faithfully bear testimony to the name of Jehovah. These, having taken the new name given them by Jehovah, have fully agreed to all the terms of the covenant.
Moses, at Mount Sinai, set up a witness by building an altar and twelve pillars. (Ex. 24:4) Then Moses sent young men "which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord". Those "young men" seemed to picture the remnant described by the prophet Joel at chapter 2: 28. Since 1918, and more particularly since 1922, the remnant have been sent forth as Jehovah's witnesses to offer to the Lord, and in the presence of the people, 'sacrifices of peace and thanksgiving,' that is to say, an offering in righteousness. — Mal. 3:3; Heb. 13:15.
Paul, quoting from Exodus, says Moses "took the blood of calves and of goats" (Heb. 9:19), whereas the word "goats" is not mentioned in the Exodus record. The apparent reason for this is that the blood of Jesus Christ is the blood that makes valid the new covenant and puts it into operation both at the time of its making and at the time of its inauguration. The "Lord's goat" (Lev. 16:8, 9) pictures those whose lives as human creatures are sacrificed, which must precede their selection as Jehovah's witnesses. The sacrifice takes place at the time of consecration and of acceptance and begetting by God, but only those who are adjudged faithful by the Lord are pictured here
by the Lord's goat. The inauguration of the new covenant does not need to wait until the remnant have actually undergone dissolution of the human organism. Their right to human existence ceased when they were taken into the covenant by sacrifice. Since the primary purpose of the new covenant is the vindication of Jehovah's name, and the covenant is the instrument of Jehovah to gather out from the nations an approved people for his name, who must bear testimony to his name, it follows that the new covenant must be inaugurated or dedicated before the vindication of Jehovah's name takes place at the battle of the great day of God Almighty.
Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins and half thereof he sprinkled on the altar. (Ex. 24: 6) This part of the ceremony foreshadowed that at the inauguration of the new covenant the appropriate time and opportunity had come for God's approved ones to offer an offering in righteousness, that is to say, the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to his name, the altar being the basis on which such sacrifice must be offered. The sprinkling of the blood on the altar signified that it was sanctified for the offering of such sacrifices and that the time had come to make such sacrifice; and thus the ceremony inaugurating the law covenant corresponds with the ceremony inaugurating the new covenant. Then Moses read to the people what was written in the book of the covenant which God had given him. Even so the Greater Moses, the Lord Jesus Christ, "the Lamb that was slain," takes the book of instruction out of the hand of Jehovah, looses the seals thereof, and reveals to the faithful ones what is the will and purpose of Jehovah, and this he does at the inauguration of the new covenant. — Rev. 5: 1-10.
The book of the law was also sprinkled with the blood. "For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people." (Heb. 9:19) The sprinkling of the book with the blood shows that the laws and commandments of God set forth in his Word, the Bible, are now living and in force and effect toward the remnant, his witnesses, and that they must obey his commandments delivered by the Greater Moses. It is therefore appropriate that the Lord should make known to the remnant the meaning of the prophecies after his coming to the temple. The remnant have come to realize that what is written in Deuteronomy 18:19, and at Acts 3:23, now applies specifically to them, and has no application to the world. (See The Watchtower, 1933, pages 147-153.) They have been brought into the agreement or covenant of obedience, and they must obey the Greater Moses.
At the inauguration of the law covenant Moses sprinkled the blood upon the people. This would prove that one must first be in the covenant of sacrifice in order to receive the privileges and benefits of the new covenant. Those, such as Paul, who died faithful prior to the coming of the Lord, actually shed their blood in death, but they must wait until the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ at the temple to receive the crown of life, at which time the new covenant is inaugurated and after which special witness work must be done to the name of Jehovah by his remnant in the earth. Since the coming of the Lord to the temple the saints who died in faith have been gathered to the Lord, and later the faithful remnant are gathered unto the temple, so that all, including those of the
remnant who remain faithful to the end, are 'for ever with the Lord'. (1 Thess. 4:17) Just what the saints in the spirit organism are doing we do not know; but the remnant do know what is required of them, because the Lord has made it plain.
In the ceremony of sprinkling the people, water, scarlet wool and hyssop were used. (Heb. 9:19) The water may well represent the truth concerning Jehovah's name and his purpose, both of which have been revealed to the remnant since the coming of the Lord Jesus to the temple. The scarlet wool, being of royal or kingdom color, and that of a sheep or lamb, refers to the royal Lamb of God who mediates and inaugurates the new covenant in his own blood. He, the Greater Moses, is now upon his throne and reigns. (Pss. 2: 6; 110: 2) The hyssop symbolizes a cleansing of the "sons of Levi" at the temple by a mediator, and at the inauguration of the covenant, which mediator is the great High Priest and Judge acting under specific authority from Jehovah. (Ex. 12: 22; Lev. 14: 4-7) "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." — Ps. 51: 7.
This is further proof that the new covenant has nothing to do with the natural descendants of Israel and with mankind in general, but that it is limited to spiritual Israel. The remnant of Israel after the spirit are 'sanctified by the blood of the covenant'. (Heb. 10:10,14, 29) The sprinkling of the remnant who are of spiritual Israel shows that the life merit of the sacrificed victim, Jesus Christ, has been applied to them and that the covenant has been made firm unto them and they must be strictly obedient to the Mediator of that covenant. Those of the remnant, therefore, are purged from dead works and are made servants of the living God. (Heb. 9:14, 16, 17) It is the
Greater Moses, Christ Jesus, "who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity [lawlessness], and purify unto himself a [company of] people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2:14) Such cleansed or purified ones are the saints who are yet on earth, who are gathered unto Jehovah and made his official witnesses in the earth to declare his name and his works. — Ps. 50: 5, 6.
"ABLE MINISTERS"
At the inauguration of the law covenant Moses foreshadowed the mediator, Christ Jesus, and Moses was accompanied by the elders, who went with him up into Mount Sinai. "Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel." (Ex. 24: 9) The brethren of Moses who accompanied him into the mountain were members of his house and of the prospective priesthood. (Ex. 19:6) They correspond to the "four and twenty elders" seated round about Jehovah's throne, as described in Revelation 4:4. Those who accompanied Moses into the mountain seemed also to bear relation to the seventy elders whom Jehovah commanded Moses thereafter to gather unto himself to assist him in bearing the burdens of his office. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease." — Num. 11:16, 25.
Those seventy men selected by Jehovah were by him enabled and qualified to assist Moses in the administration of the law covenant; and this finds a correspondency in the office of the "able ministers of the new [covenant]". Concerning himself and his fellow disciples the apostle wrote: "God . . . hath made us able ministers of the new [covenant]; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." (2 Cor. 3: 5, 6) For what purpose are these made able ministers of the new covenant? Manifestly for the purpose, as stated by the same apostle in another place, to wit, "for the perfecting of the saints, . . . till we all come [to] the unity of the faith." (Eph. 4:11-13) Such is the work of 'taking out a people for his name', which work the new covenant accomplishes. The ministry of Paul to the church proved him to be such an able minister of the new covenant. No consecrated and spirit-begotten child of God could be counted an able minister of the new covenant, however, until he has attained maturity in Christ, that is to say, has become an elder in fact, and not by mere election of fellow creatures. When all are brought to unity in Christ all such are elders in fact. The "seventy elders" therefore would picture both the resurrected saints gathered unto Jehovah and also the remnant gathered unto the Lord at the temple. These are called "nobles of the children of Israel", which designation appears in the record concerning the inauguration of the law covenant. — Ex. 24:11.
Those who accompanied Moses into the mountain of Sinai saw the manifestation of the glory of Jehovah: "And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his
clearness." (Ex. 24:10) Likewise since Jehovah has builded up Zion and appeared in his glory he has revealed his glory to those of Zion, including the remnant, all of whom are at unity, and hence in the temple, and are taught of Jehovah and have discerned his glory, his name and his purpose. (Ps. 102:16; Isa. 54:13) They also see Jehovah's glorious organization, of which Christ Jesus is the Head, and they discern that this organization includes the faithful witnesses of Jehovah now on earth 'seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus'; upon which organization Jehovah sits and rules. — Deut. 33:26; Ps. 68: 32, 33; Ezek. 1:26.
By his prophet Isaiah Jehovah identifies those of his servant company, which he has taken out for his name: "Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away." (Isa. 41:9) These are the antitypical seventy elders or "nobles of the children of [spiritual] Israel". "And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink." (Ex. 24:11) Upon these Jehovah "laid not his hand" to do them hurt, in spite of the fact that they have a vision of his glory. Likewise Jehovah did not turn his hand against Isaiah when the prophet saw the glory of the Lord at his temple; and there Isaiah pictured the faithful remnant now on earth. "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King: the Lord of hosts." (Isa. 6:5) The remnant here pictured by Isaiah being cleansed and made members of the faithful servant class, and hence Jehovah's wit-
nesses, Jehovah says to them: "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish." — Isa. 41:10, 11.
Compare the foregoing text with the fourth chapter of Revelation. Jehovah God now feeds his own people upon food convenient for them, foreshadowed by the fact that the "seventy elders" "did eat and drink". Jehovah has separated his people from others and has spread a feast for them, and they, the remnant, now on earth enjoy that feast and sing praises to Jehovah. "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over." (Ps. 23: 5) The faithful remnant class shall continue to eat, but those who give glory to creatures and are lawless shall not be spiritually nourished; as Jehovah has declared: "Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed: behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord God shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name." — Isa. 65:13-15.
Mount Sinai, the place of the inauguration of the law covenant, pictured Mount Zion, God's organization, to which his people are gathered and where the new covenant is inaugurated. "And the Lord said
unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them." (Ex. 24:12) Jehovah there made Moses the teacher of those of his house. Now Jehovah by and through Christ Jesus, the Greater Moses, teaches the remnant on earth who are members of his house, and they, that is, the faithful ones, 'see their Teachers,' learn the truth from them, and rejoice.
At God's commandment Moses read to the Israelites the law which he had received from Jehovah while in the mountain, and which reading took place prior to the gathering of Moses and the elders into the mountain at Jehovah's command. Because of the fear of the Israelites they requested a mediator: "And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off: and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was." — Ex. 20:18-21.
Jehovah then spoke to Moses and directed him as mediator to speak to the people, and Jehovah commanded what they should do "in all places where I record my name". (Ex. 20: 24) This shows that the purpose of the covenant was looking to the vindication of Jehovah's name.
So likewise upon the coming of the Lord Jesus, the Greater Moses, to the temple and there gathering unto himself the faithful remnant, they must have a
mediator, or else they would "fall into the hands of the living God", which they would not want to do, because of their imperfection. When the holy spirit ceased to perform the office of helper or comforter and advocate, the Lord Jesus at the temple stands between Jehovah and the remnant and performs the office of mediator and advocate as well as the inaugurator of the new covenant. — Heb. 10: 31.
As hereinbefore stated, the new covenant was made "after those days", meaning after the law covenant had become old, which occurred just prior to the death of Jesus. As to the inauguration of the new covenant there is a proper application of the words "after those days" also. The nation of Israel foreshadowed "Christendom" or "organized Christianity", so called, which were in an implied covenant with God to do his will because they had taken the name of Christ. At the time Jesus inaugurated the new covenant "Christendom" had broken all the laws and commandments of God, which laws and commandments "Christendom" claimed to be keeping. The transgression of "Christendom" included the breaking of the "everlasting covenant" concerning the shedding of blood. "The earth also is denied under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant." (Isa. 24: 5) The inauguration of the new covenant, therefore, may properly be said to be "after those days", that is to say, after "Christendom" had broken all of Jehovah's laws and commandments.
The nation of Israel as a whole was under the law covenant and bound by its terms. That nation broke the covenant, and the covenant did not produce a people for Jehovah's name for that reason. There
were a few individual Israelites, however, who were faithful to God and who accepted Christ Jesus at his coming and who were transferred from Moses to Christ, and hence brought under the terms of the new covenant. "Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace." (Rom. 11: 5) After the making of the new covenant all who made an unconditional consecration to do the will of God, and who were accepted and begotten by the spirit of God, came under the terms of the new covenant, the purpose of which covenant was and is to produce a people for Jehovah's name. Not all, by any means, of such as came under the terms of the new covenant proved faithful, and hence they were not selected as a people for the name of Jehovah. It is only a remnant "in the day of the Lord" who are found faithful. "The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness." — Isa. 10: 21, 22.
It is the remnant found faithful that participate in the inauguration of the new covenant and toward whom the new covenant is inaugurated. Such are gathered unto Jehovah because they have been faithful, and such are the ones made members of the elect servant of Jehovah. "Behold my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench; he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall
wait for his law. Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein; I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am the Lord; that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images." — Isa. 42:1-8.
It is upon the faithful remnant or visible part of the servant class that Jehovah confers the "new name". The new covenant has produced these as a people for Jehovah's name. To them the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ is committed, and because thereof and because they keep the commandments of Jehovah in delivering this testimony Satan attempts to destroy them; as it is written: "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." (Rev. 12:17) Their preservation now depends upon continued faithfulness unto Jehovah in obedience to the commandment. "The Lord preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy." (Ps. 145:20) "And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people." (Acts 3:23) These gathered unto Jehovah must continue to sing forth his praises.
