I agree that the New Covenant does not
replace, but instead
fulfill, the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants, making them
obsolete and
unnecessary.
If we understand what a covenant is, it typically involves at least two parties regarding a promise that is conditioned upon some sort of terms. (Also, divine covenants involve a
public representative for a certain group or body of people before God, called a
federal head). Even though we don't directly read that the Abrahamic, or Davidic, Covenant was conditioned upon some sort of terms for the fulfillment of their promises at their commencement, yet it was in fact conditioned by the establishment of the Mosaic Covenant. These three covenants are not mutually exclusive to one another, they actual structure what we call the
Old Covenant, or as the inspired writer of Hebrews calls it, the
first covenant. The Old Covenant is the covenant relationship between God and Israel, and each of these covenants builds on that relationship. You cannot have the Abrahamic without the Mosaic, and you cannot have the Mosaic without the Davidic, and here I'll explain.
The Old Covenant, essentially by nature, is the basis for the existence of theocratic Israel. It was
defined by the Abrahamic Covenant,
conditioned by the Mosaic Covenant, and
focused in the Davidic Covenant. Let's discuss each one, (the following is entirely taken from
here, I give full credit to that work).
The Abrahamic Covenant, called the
Covenant of Circumcision by Stephen in Acts 7:8, promised Abraham three things primarily. It promised him a
land, a
people, and a
kingship. In other words, Abraham’s physical descendants would inherit the land and grow into an innumerable people ruled by their own kings. This was called the
Covenant of Circumcision because circumcision was the sign of these blessings and separated Abraham’s offspring from the rest of the world as the heirs of these promises (This is not to say that circumcision had no further significance, but that the national promises were its primary referent).
Abraham was the
federal head of this covenant because the promises were made to him and to his physical seed. All those who were of Abraham, or in Abraham we might say, were heirs of the national promises.
This defined the membership of the covenant.
The
Mosaic Covenant was added and attached to the
Abrahamic Covenant in such a way that it conditioned the enjoyment of the
Abrahamic blessings. God immutably promised Abraham that the covenant blessings would be realized. The extent to which those blessings would be enjoyed, however, depended upon the obedience of the people of Israel. To put it simply, in the
Abrahamic, God promised Abraham a land, nation, and kingship, and in the
Mosaic God conditioned the enjoyment of those promises. The
Mosaic covenant controlled tenure in the land, the boundaries of the nation, and the regulation of the kingship. These conditions were strong enough that although God would inevitably realize the promises, they could be lost through disobedience. That the
Mosaic Covenant conditions the
Abrahamic is evident not only by virtue of the fact that its obedience is directly tied to the enjoyment of the
Abrahamic promises, but also by virtue of the fact that it was made specifically with the
Abrahamic people. Since tenure in the land was what was in view in the
Mosaic law, offenses against that covenant could be addressed within that covenant and
sacrificial system. But concerning true spiritual realities, concerning offenses committed against a Holy God, the sacrifices could do nothing but point ahead to that one true sacrifice, Jesus Christ.
The
Mosaic Covenant lacked a
federal head until the kingship was established. The
Abrahamic people as a whole were judged on different levels, sometimes the individual, sometimes the family, sometimes the tribe, sometimes the nation. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes, and there was no king in Israel.
The
Davidic Covenant brings all of the
Abrahamic promises to consummation and focuses the
Mosaic Covenant into one person. It was under the line of David, specifically Solomon, that at last the nation of Israel reached the fulfillment of being the
Abrahamic people ruling all of the
Abrahamic land, under
Abrahamic, specifically Judean, kings. The biblical authors are careful to record when these promises are fulfilled (Josh. 21:43- 45 and I Kings 4:20). Under David and his line, the national people of Abraham enjoyed the blessings and benefits of the promised-land to the extent to which the
Davidic king obeyed the
Mosaic law. This is the concern of the records of the kings. They did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, or they did what was evil. Israel was blessed or cursed accordingly.
- Micah and Samuel Renihan
In suggesting that the Abrahamic Covenant can part with the Mosaic Covenant, and the Davidic Covenant can part with those two, is utterly impossible. They complement each other, and depend upon each other, and are built exclusively for each other in this divine relationship with Israel. If the Mosaic Covenant is obsolete, then so is the covenant and promises of Abraham, so is the kingship of David. These typologically pointed forward to the True Israel, the True Kingship, and a True Land found in the eternal promises of the New Covenant. Christ does come as the Messiah, but not on the rule of David in the theocratic Israel, but upon the throne of the true Israel of God (the Church). He is King of the Jews, indeed, but
"no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly...but a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart" (Romans 3:28, 29).
If Christ is to be literally the next in line of the throne of David, over the nation of Israel, over the land of Canaan, then the Old Covenant is still enacted and in place. He is either ruling the Kingdom of God under the New Covenant, or he is to rule the temporal kingdom of Israel under the Old Covenant, with the Mosaic law and sacrifical system. This runs into many problems. He cannot fulfill the literal reading of the Davidic covenant, without the requirement to fulfill the Mosaic law. They are interconnected.
I hope this helps
