In this message I am burdened to give an additional word concerning Jeremiah's laying the foundation of the new covenant, the covenant of life.
The Bible shows us that the desire of God's heart is to come into man as life and to be one with man. God has always liked to contact man, and in this contact He has made several covenants with man. The first covenant God made with man was the covenant with the created man (Gen. 2:8-9, 15-17), and the second was His covenant with fallen man (3:8-21). Although God had close and intimate contact with Abel, no covenant was made with him. After Noah passed through the flood, God came in to make a covenant with him and his sons (9:8-17). Then after calling Abraham, God made a covenant with him (12:2-3, 7-8; 15:4-18; 17:1-2; 22:17-18), and this covenant was repeated with Isaac (26:3-5) and with Jacob (28:13-15). Later, when God brought Israel out of Egypt to Mount Sinai, He made a long covenant with Israel (Exo. 20—23; 24:3-8). This covenant, the covenant of the law, is called the first covenant (Heb. 8:7, 13; 9:1), the old covenant. After traveling in the wilderness for forty years, Israel came to the land of Moab, and there God made another covenant with them (Deut. 29—30). According to 2 Samuel 7, God also made a covenant with David. Finally, in the New Testament the Lord Jesus established the new covenant (Luke 22:20).
In the Bible God made eight covenants with man, but He counts only two covenants: the covenant made with Israel through Moses and the new covenant, the covenant of life, which is considered the second covenant (Heb. 8:7). All the other covenants—the covenants with the created man, with the fallen man, with Noah, with Abraham, with Israel in the land of Moab, and with David—are considered by God as side covenants. Still, the covenant God made with Abraham corresponds to the new covenant and is the basis for the new covenant (Gal. 3). If we study all these covenants thoroughly, we will see that God cares for only one covenant, the new covenant of life.