A Better Covenant

I am so glad to not be living in the days of the Old Testament!  Last night I caught a second showing of The Bible on television.  I had wanted to see it Sunday night on the History Channel, but we had a special service at church that I didn't want to miss.  The things the patriarchs lived through!  What an incredible test of faith Abraham was given when he was asked to sacrifice his son, Isaac. 

The mini-series captured the emotions not only of Abraham, but also of the frightened, trusting youth, and the incredulous, desperate Sarah when the situation dawned on her, and her impassioned cry when, though at first not seeing Isaac returning with his father, she glimpsed her son at the mountain.  Though these scenarios are not graphically described in the Bible, it is not hard to imagine their feelings as portrayed by the actors, especially the relief of each one when God did provide a sacrifice with the ram caught in the bushes.

Watching the tenuous faith of Moses grow into a tenacious surety showed both his humanness and his determination to trust in God.  The cataclysmic events highlighted in the drama brought reality to the almost unimaginable happenings, such as the destruction of Sodom, the parting of the Red Sea, and the plagues of Egypt.

Lately I have been reading again the wonderful book, Two from Galilee, A love story of Mary and Joseph. In her inimitable style, Marjorie Holmes depicts in vivid detail the awfulness of animal sacrifice, especially as it dawns on young Mary when she takes refuge at the home of her Aunt Elizabeth and the priest, Zachariah.

At first, Mary is in wonder at the beautiful, quiet, priestly home and reveres her uncle as almost divine.  Then she becomes aware of what being a priest entails, the bloody business of killing innocent animals, the burning of their flesh, and the wafting of the sweet incense that did not wholly obscure the odor. 

When Mary's time has come to deliver the Babe who would put an end to the endless sacrifices, her agony and suffering from which she hoped she might be spared echo across the centuries in the author's words and resonate with mothers everywhere.  An infant's birth in a crude animal stable is hard to wrap one's mind around, let alone the incongruity of the Royalty of heaven being born in such a place. 

God used the years of animal sacrifice to instill in the people the need for the shedding of innocent blood for the remission of sins.  Then in the fulness of time, the new and better Covenant was given when the Lamb would die once and for all for the forgiveness of sins of those who would accept Him.  How blessed we are!