It was only later after Paul was converted that a fuller understanding of the significance of the Lord Jesus' death upon the Cross was understood. Evidently Paul received a special revelation ("I have received of the Lord...") to give him a fuller understanding of the meaning of the Lord Jesus' words spoken on the eve of the Cross:

"For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you...For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes... When we bless the cup at the Lord's Table, aren't we sharing in the benefits of the blood of Christ? And when we break the loaf of bread, aren't we sharing in the benefits of the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf" (1 Cor.11:23, 26; 10:16-17; NIV).

Paul's words in regard to the "one loaf" are speaking of the one Body of Christ and the Christian's unity in that Body. The truths concerning the Body of Christ were not known until Paul was converted. H. A. Ironside states that "The twelve were, as we have seen, connected primarily with the testimony to Israel. Paul, as one born out of due time, was selected to be the messenger to the nations, announcing the distinctive truths of the present dispensation" (Ironside, Mysteries of God, [Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., 1938], p.74).

The Progressive Dispensations say that the following words are speaking of the New Covenant of Jeremiah 31:31 and since the epistle of Hebrews is addressed to Christians then it follows that Christians partake of Israel's New Covenant:

"For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah...For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away" (Heb.8:8,12-13).

John Valvoord makes the following comments on these veres: "The argument hangs on the point that the Mosaic covenant was not faultless-was never intended to be an everlasting covenant (Heb. 8:7). In confirmation of this point, the new covenant of Jeremiah is cited at length, proving that the Old Testament itself anticipated the end of the Mosaic law in that a new covenant is predicted to supplant it...A further statement is made that the old covenant is 'becoming old' and is 'nigh unto vanishing away.' It should be noted that nowhere in this passage is the new covenant with Israel declared to be in force. The only argument is that which was always true-the prediction of a new covenant automatically declares the Mosaic covenant as a temporary, not an eternal covenant" (Valvoord, "The New Covenant with Israel," Bibliotheca Sacra, CX ; July 1953, p.201).

In the first part of the tenth chapter of Hebrews the author quotes two different OT passages. In both instances the verses quoted are typological in nature. Here is the first quotation:

"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, 'Here I am-it is written about me in the scroll-I have come to do your will, O God.' " (Heb.10:5-7; NIV).

These verses are quoted from Psalms 40:6-8 (LXX). These verses are typical, and the "type" is in regard to David while the "antitype" is in regard to the Lord Jesus Christ (see Appendix # 1). Here the author of Hebrews made comments which would indicate to his readers that the "antitype" was in view and not the "type": "Wherefore, when He cometh into the world, He saith..." (v.5).

The same can be said for the verses we are discussing in regard to Israel's New Covenant. Once again the author quotes from the OT:

"The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds...Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more" (Heb.10:16-17; NIV).

To make his readers understand that it is the "antitype" that concerns them he changes the words from the OT which read "This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel" (Jer.31:33) into "this is the covenant that I will make with them."

So the author writes that "the Holy Spirit testifies to us...this is the covenant that I will make with them."

Those reading this epistle would understand that it is the "type" which refers to the nation of Israel and the "antitype" which applies to them.

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