The Mosaic Covenant & Its Ministry of Death

God gave Israel his law covenant at Sinai, renewed it in the wilderness, and motivated obedience with a promise of life (Lev 18:5; Deut 4:1; 5:33; 8:1; 30:15–20). Yet centuries later, Paul would claim this covenant bore a “ministry of death” (2 Cor 3:7). To understand why, we must rightly grasp the context, nature, and purpose of the Mosaic covenant. Covenant (Hebrew בְּרִית; Greek διαθήκη) is the Bible’s term for “a chosen [as opposed to natural] relationship in which two parties make binding promises to each other,” often with God as the witness.1 The progression of Yahweh’s five historical covenants (Adamic–Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, new) shapes the Bible’s major plotline that culminates in Jesus Christ.2 The Mosaic covenant is the third of these oath-bound relationships, and its title derives from the Prophet Moses, who served as the covenant head whom Yahweh and the people of Israel set apart to mediate their relationship (Exod 20:19, 21; Deut 5:27, 31). The New Testament refers to the Mosaic administration as “the law [covenant]” (John 1:17; Gal 3:15–19; Eph 2:15), “the old covenant” (2 Cor 3:14; Heb 8:6, 13), and “the former covenant” (Heb 8:7; 9:1, 15, 18). God the...