 |  |
The word translated "covenant" is the Hebrew berith. The origin of this word is
obscure, although there are many (as Gesenius) who teach that it is derived from an
obsolete root, meaning "to cut", since, in making solemn covenants, it was the custom to
pass between the divided parts of the victim (see Gen. 15: 10, 17). Gesenius however
contains the following note, in the edition edited by Tregelles:
"But the idea suggested by Lee deserves attention, viz., that berith is strictly nothing
more than eating together, from barah No.2, since among orientals, to eat together is
almost the same as to make a covenant of friendship . . . . . in this way we obtain an
explanation of the covenant (or eating?) of salt."
As a matter of dispensational truth, observe the distinction between the relationship of
Messiah with Israel and with the Gentiles:
"A covenant of the people,
A light of the Gentiles" (Isa. 42: 6).
Since the call of Abraham, there is no record in Scripture of any covenant ever being
made by God with a Gentile nation, company or individual. Even the admission of the
Gentile to New Covenant blessings during the early ministry of Paul, which at first may
appear to be the very essence of the gospel to-day, is, upon examination, found to be
hedged about with limitations. It was not so much because the time for Gentile blessing
had fully come, but in order, if possible, "to provoke to jealousy" the failing people of
Israel, to "provoke to emulation" the true beneficiaries of the New Covenant. Old
Testament prophecy and promise never visualize the Gentile coming into full blessing
independently of a restored Israel. Consequently, while in the dispensation of the
mystery the most glorious figure of the Body, with its equality of members, is used to set
forth the relationship of believing Jew and Gentile to one another and to the Lord, the
Head, during the period covered by the Acts, the union of Jewish and Gentile believer is
likened to the ingrafting of a wild olive into a true olive tree, with admonitions
concerning possible consequential Gentile "conceit", and admonitory foreshadowings of
the ultimate restoration of the "natural branches" to their place in their own olive tree.
Here, in Isa. 42:, it will be observed that God's intentional order is maintained:
First, Christ is given for a covenant of the People.
Secondly, Christ is given for a light of the Gentiles.
But by the time chapter 49: is reached a change has come over the face of things.
Soon will come that great prophetic utterance which declares that "He is despised and
rejected of men" (Isa. 53: 3), and the rejection of the Messiah by Israel brought the
Gentile into favour before their, originally, allotted time. This can be seen in Isa. 49::
"And now, saith the Lord that formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring
Jacob again to Him: Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of
the Lord, and my God shall be my strength: And He said, It is a light thing that Thou
shouldest be my Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of
Israel: I will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation
unto the end of the earth" (Isa. 49: 5, 6).