Friday, October 6, 2023

Albert Vanhoye and Peter S. Williamson, "Was the Old Covenant Only about Externals?"

  

Was the Old Covenant Only about Externals?

 

 

Several passages from both the Old and New Testament contrast the physical requirements of the Old Covenant with the interior transformation of the New. (See, e.g., Jer 31:33; Ezek 36:26-27; Mark 7:18-23; 2 Cor 3:3; Gal 4:3, 9; Col 2:20-23; Heb 9:9-14) Nevertheless, the Old Covenant was only about externals. The exodus was an external divine intervention calling for a profound interpersonal response: “I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now, if you will really listen to my voice and keep my covenant, you will be my treasured possession among all nations” (Exod 19:4b-5a, author’s translation). Moses clearly believed God’s saving actions ought to evoke a heart response from the Israelites (Deut 10:16). This, indeed, is the central point of the book of Deuteronomy, with its emphasis on “Remember!” and “Love!” (For “remember,” see, e.g., Deut 5:15; for “love,” see especially Deut 6:5 and 10:12) The law too is concerned with an internal response, as the commandments against coveting indicate (Exod 20:17; Deut 5:21). Examples of an interior response under the Mosaic covenant can also be found in prayers of the Psalmer and the experience of the prophets (Isa 6) and martyrs (2 Macc 7). Nevertheless, although God’s acts of salvation in the Old Testament deserved and sometimes evoked the love he sought from Israel (Deut 6:50, a greater interior grace was necessary to overcome the power of sin in the human heart (Deut 30:6; Jer 31:33-34; Rom 7:7-25). (Albert Vanhoye and Peter S. Williamson, Galatians [Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2019], 187)