@wethepeople947 -

*_The Law is not the the difference between the old and new covenant, the difference is the
method and place of application of the law._*

The first covenant was written on stone by the Finger of God whilst the second covenant was still
written by the Finger of God but only in the heart this time around.

Isaiah 66v23 - (Describing the Old vs New Covenant - Same Law but in heart instead of stone.) It
will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them
out of Egypt—a covenant they broke, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.
33“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the
LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and
they will be My people.

Hebrews 8v10 - (Describing the Old vs New Covenant - Same Law but in heart instead of stone.)
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead
them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not abide by My covenant, and I disregarded
them, declares the Lord. 10For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those
days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds, and inscribe them on their hearts. And I
will be their God, and they will be My people.

*_Notice that the chapter above is verbatim... It was Paul after all, the most qualified of the
disciples he being a learned man of the law as a pharisee there he must have aware of what he
was writing._*

OLD TESTAMENT:
...love your neighbor as yourself.... - Leviticus 19v18
...love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength -
Deuteronomy 6v5

IN NEW TESTAMENT:
...love your neighbor as yourself... - Mark 12v3
...love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and
with all your strength... - Mark 12v30

IN HEAVEN:
Revelation 11v19 - Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His COVENANT
appeared in His temple.

Isaiah 66v22,23 - 22“For just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, will
endure before Me,” declares the LORD, “so your descendants and your name will endure.
23From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come to
worship before Me,” says the LORD.

LOVE IS THE ORIGINAL COMMANDMENT

Joseph knew the law of God in his heart even if it was not yet written on stone. Notice how he
reacted to Potiphars wife as he tempted him to commit adultery with her... because you are his
wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God? - Genesis 39v8

Jesus & His agreed on this point too that the whole law is love, and that the commandments are
timeless because Jesus came not to abolish them but to MAGNIFY them.

Romans 13v9 - he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the Law. 9The commandments “Do not
commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other
commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love
does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore LOVE IS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE LAW.…

Mark 10v20 - You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not
steal, do not bear false witness, do not cheat others, honor your father and mother.’”
20“Teacher,” he replied, “I have kept all these from my youth.” 21JESUS LOOKED AT HIM, LOVED
HIM, and said to him,...“_*
So, so far we have learnt that the "newness" of the covenant is not in the dropping of the 10
commandments as the content but in where and to an extent in how the writing of the
commandments is done. I now will explain how and who does the writing of the new covenant.

Sorry the next part will be long but in brief I will explain:

*_1. How the writing is done._* (Finger of God)

*_2. The effects of the writing._* (Sealing by the Holy Spirit)

>>> Two other interesting questions that arise from this study, which I will not address here
because of space and time are

*4. Why was the second covenant given?*

See Moses cry of sorrow knowing too well that Israel would be sure to rebel. Deuteronomy
31v27,29 & Deuteronomy 18v14-18

*5.Who is the Angel of the covenant?*

You will note that He is mentioned in the old testament as non other than Jesus or the Messiah.
See Exodus 23v20-23, Exodus 33v2, Joshua 5:14, Malachi 2v4, Malachi 3v1, Deuteronomy
18v14-18, Matthew 21v11,46; Mark 6v15; Luke 7v16,17; Luke 13v33; Luke 24v19; John 4v19; John
6v14, John 7v40; John 9v17 & last but not least see Acts 3v22,25 (Peter here talks about God
sending His prophet as a herald of the new covenant.)

1. HOW DID/WILL GOD DO THE WRITING? >>>> (The Finger of God)

Do a word search for the phrase finger of God in the Bible and you will notice that the new
covenant is an act of God putting His law in our hearts and thus sealing us by the Holy Spirit.

Exodus 31v18 - ......two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

Luke 11v20 - ….But if I cast out devils by the SPIRIT OF GOD, then the kingdom of God is come
unto you.

Matthew 12v28 - But if I drive out demons by the FINGER OF GOD, then the kingdom of God has
come upon you.

Why is the Holy Spirit to be the agent of writing the Law in our hearts? Because the law is
spiritual... Romans 7v14 - since Jesus is said to have sinned in no place, then we also as David
need the Holy Spirit to act on our hearts and create a new spirit within us so that we can live the
life of victory over sin as Jesus did and be spotless as He was. See Also Col. 1v27, Psalm 51v10

See how the Spirit is working in both Luke and Matthew such that they, probably unknowingly,
end up leaving us no excuse for not clearly knowing what the finger of God is. In an interesting
twist, and as if God is putting His signature in their work, we note that Luke's writings are so
Spirit-focused, you would have expected it the other way around: that Matthew would use "finger
of God" and Luke "Spirit of God". Why would Luke be the one to adopt the phrase "finger of
God" here? What does it tell us? That God forsaw our predicament in knowing about the
covenant that he pulled a fast ones in the minds of Matthew and Luke and switched the words so
that we may know that the finger of God is indeed the Holy Spirit. Possibly, Luke was aware that
Jesus used the term "Spirit of God", because the Gospel of Matthew was completed by 41 of our
Common Era and the Gospel of Luke was by 58 C.E. , so Luke must have been aware that Matthew
used that term , and perhaps knowingly choose to use the other term "finger of God" used also by
Jesus. So, the question still remains.... why did he knowingly choose the other term? I'd say God's
providence through the power of His Holy Spirit. The narration of Luke for example contains about
60 % material that is not found in the other gospels and the rich vocabulary used indicates that
Luke was well educated. Further to this, study Ezekiel's wheels within the wheels account. See
how the Spirit guided the movement. I believe that since a finger always used to points in a
direction, I would say that the Finger of God is the Spirit of God directed towards a specific
purpose.

Zechariah 4v6 - Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of Hosts.
1 Kings 19v11,12 - The LORD passed by, and a great wind, then an earthquake but the LORD was
in neither; then followed a fire but the LORD was not in the fire... then finally came a still small
voice and Elijah heard it and knew it was God.

Even the magicians in the courts of pharaoh knew what the finger of God was when they saw the
mighty works of God in their land. The "finger of God" is mentioned in two passages in the
Hebrew Bible. Once when the magicians of Pharaoh conceded defeat before Moses (Ex 8:19) and
secondly when the two tablets were inscribed with the Ten Commandments (Ex 31:18). In the
context at hand here in Matt 12:27-28 and Luke 11:19-20, where we see Jesus casting out the
demons, the confrontation hails back to the former episode in Exodus, when magicians in the
court of Pharaoh were stymied by "the finger of God."

Thus, like Moses, Jesus had stymied the power of Satan, whom Jesus likens in this context to a
strong man that is bound and plundered (Matt 12:29-30 and Luke 11:21-23). The strong man is
stymied by "the finger of God." Please notice that Jesus makes the connection in the immediate
context at hand. According to Isaiah, the "Holy Spirit" of Yahweh was this power of God, which
enabled Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. The words are 럠Ḓ ၌ Ⴛ ၃ , which literally are
translated as "his Holy Spirit" in Isaiah 63:10 and Isaiah 63:11. It was therefore "the Spirit of
Yahweh" (Isaiah 63:14) who empowered Moses according to these three respec ve passages in
Isaiah.

As we see in the Exodus account, the "mighty hand and outstretched arm" now come into focus in
these passages from Isaiah. It was not the finger of God, but the "mighty hand and outstretched
arm" of God that delivered them from Egypt. The progression of power starts with the finger, the
hand, and then the arm. The visible theocratic Kingdom of God was subsequently established
through the "mighty hand and outstretched arm" of God.

Jesus thus said to the Pharisees that "the Kingdom of God was nigh." He implied therefore to his
listeners who were familiar with the Hebrew Bible that the "mighty hand and outstretched arm"
of God was next, since the "finger of God" was now presently evident to them. In other words,
when Jesus had mentioned that the Kingdom of God was at hand, he signaled the immanency of
the return of the Kingdom of God to earth (just as the Exodus in Egypt resulted in the visible
theocratic Kingdom at the giving of the Ten Commandments on Sinai). Please note that the Ten
Commandments (Old Covenant) was given 50 days (Shavuot) after the Exodus from Egypt in the
same way that the New Covenant was given 50 days (Pentecost) after the resurrection of Jesus
the Nazarene.

Further, in Ezekiel 20:33-44, we see the predictive prophecy at the time that Ezekiel wrote, that
the "mighty hand and outstretched arm" will again save the faithful remnant of Jews but through
God's covenant, which was the New Covenant that was in view (cf. Ezek 20:37 with Ezek 11:19-20;
Ezek 34:25; and Ezek 36:24-28). Therefore Jesus was heralding to his listeners the immanency of
this New Covenant-based Kingdom. The nger of God therefore pre gures "the mighty hand and
outstretched arm" of God, who delivers his people through "his Holy Spirit" (럠Ḓ ၌ Ⴛ ၃ ). The Holy
Spirit therefore is the power that binds Satan.

Jesus is thus the Angel/Messenger of the new covenant who, like Moses with old, heralds the New
Covenant-based Kingdom of God, which arrived at Pentecost by the Holy Spirit. See section 5(the
Angel of the Covenant).

2. WE ARE SEALED WHEN THE LAW IS WRITTEN IN OUR HEARTS BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
Isaiah 8v16 - Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. Which law is being spoken
of here?... definitely the 10 Commandments i.e the moral law because as we can see... in Isaiah
29v11,13,24 & Daniel 12v9.

Revelation 14 helps know those who sealed by pointing to us their characteristics i.e. they keep
the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus which is the Spirit of prophecy. This is why
the Holy Spirit us given them that obey Him Acts 5v32. So therefore, being sealed is clearly linked
to being obedient to God. Therefore if you are not being obedient. You are not being sealed.

The seal is mentioned in Revelation 7v2 i.e the *Seal of the Living God* ... more study is needed
here on the choice of words "Living God" through out the bible. Also, more study is required to
determine what a seal is but the basic idea is captured in Exodus 20v11 which mentions the 3
components of a seal i.e. the seal of God must indicate the name, title and territory of God just
as does any seal does for any sovereign. In Revelation 14v1... the seal is know as the fathers
name written on the forehead of the saints. In Exodus 33v18,19 we see Moses asks the Lord to
show him His glory. The Lord instead answers by saying that He will show Moses His name. Then
He proceeds to list the attributes of His character then to write the law on tables of stone with His
finger.

The Spirit of God and the finger of God are used in Matthew 12:27 and Luke 11:20
interchangeably. The Lord God wrote down the 10 commandments on the stone tablets with his
finger. Ex. 34:1. In Jeremiah 31:33 talking about the new covenant God says,”I will put my law in
their minds and write it on their hearts.” How can God write his law on our hearts? By his Spirit.
Here the law is not external rules written on stone, but an internal truth coming from the Holy
Spirit at work inside us. This is the Spirit of Christ, Roman 8:9. “ You however are not controlled by
the sinful nature, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. Anyone who does not have the
Spirit of Christ, does not belong to him.” As a Christian, I need the finger of God writing his law on
my heart and the Spirit of Christ living in my heart. First his Spirit comes in when I am born from
above ( again) John 3:3. The finger of God in this context is the physical, delicate and surgically
accurate working of the Holy Spirit etching his truth in my innermost being. So in practice, I
cannot separate God’s Spirit who gives me new life, from His finger within me which enables me
to live for Jesus so I can work out my salvation. Phil 2:12,13

Mt and Lk are communicating the exact same concept with "spirit" and "finger". Point being that
only the one true God has power over the devil (immediate context of both Mt and Lk) as the
Gospel writers (all 4) are evidencing that Jesus is the Christ, the Saving Son of the Living God.
Matthew's primary Jewish audience needed no connection to the "finger of God" in Ex 8:19 for
they were already acutely aware that all the plagues (and in particular the plague of gnats which
was a unique plague in that it was sheer ex nihilo, a creation of a living thing out of nothing, a
miracle which the magicians of Egypt could not duplicate) evidenced the power of the Spirit of the
living God. Luke's audience would have been more loosely aware of the details of the Exodus story.
So Luke's Gospel catches his audience with a reference that would give them pause to consider:
either to go back and look at the Exodus story, or more likely, to tie the Holy Spirit's presence and
power directly to this Jesus, who, like God alone, had his own "finger" with Holy Spirit power over
the forces of darkness.

So therefore, if the sealing is by the Holy Spirit referred to as the finger of God, in relation to the
commandments. Then the seal can only be the 10 commandments... in particular, the 4th
commandment is the only one that bears the 3 characteristics of a seal. Take it out and we cannot
tell who is the true and living God. For example in Jeremiah 10, it mentions the true God by
differentiating Him from others by the fact that the "Living God" is the only one that made the
earth and the heavens. The sealing process involves sanctification into truth... see John 17v17 &
John 16v13 and furthermore it is no coincidence that Ezekiel 20v12,20 tells us that God gave us
the Sabbath to be a SIGN between us and Him and to SANCTIFY us that we may know that He is
the LORD our God. Rejecting the Holy Spirit puts us at a place where He cannot reach us any
further and thus we can be said to have commited the unpardonable sin. It then naturally follows
that after the sealing, the unjust will remain unjust and the righteous will remain righteous. Rev
22v11.