Paul tells us in Hebrews 7:22 that Jesus has become the surety (G1450 – egguos) of a better covenant. The Greek word, translated surety, is found only here in the New Covenant, and it is never used in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Covenant. So, what does Paul mean when he claims Jesus has been made the surety of a better covenant? To help us understand what Paul meant by a better covenant, we need to keep in mind what the Lord declared through the prophets (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:26-27). The modus operandi of the New Covenant (the better covenant) is the Spirit, which points to the work of God, while that of the Old Covenant focused on an external code, which points to the labor of men.
The word surety (G1450) has to do with a guarantee that something will be done. For example, a man might guarantee the loan of his friend by pledging his own property, should his friend be unable to pay. In such a case that man had become the surety of his friend’s debt. In the Apocrypha the book of Sirach has this to say:
Forget not the friendship of thy surety, for he hath given his life for thee. A sinner will overthrow the good estate of his surety: (Sirach 29:15-16)
It is in this sense that Jesus has become the surety of the better covenant. Most scholars believe Jesus has become the surety for man’s sake. That is, if man is unable to hold up his end of the agreement / covenant with God, then Jesus guarantees or “makes good” on the debt. They may put it differently, but, in essence, according to these Biblical scholars, Jesus has become the surety or the guarantee for man in the event that man is unable to hold up his end of the covenant.
The problem with this idea is it didn’t work under the Old Covenant, so why would the New Covenant be any better, if this was its modus operandi? Moreover, why would God need any surety in a covenant with mankind, since he already knows man is unable to hold up his end of any agreement they make with him? It is mankind who has trouble believing God (Genesis 3:1-5). Therefore, Jesus has become the surety of the New Covenant for God’s sake.
I believe this idea can be understood in the type of covenants that were made between men. First of all there was the bilateral covenant. It was a covenant between equals. The first party would pledge he would do something for the second party, and the second party would pledge he would honor that by doing something for the first party. The Mosaic covenant or the Old Covenant was this type of agreement. While it is true that man is not God’s equal, the covenant was made between man and God, as though they were equals! The Old Covenant presumed that each party was able to hold up his end of the agreement. We all know that man found this impossible, but God loves man, despite his casting Israel out of their land he had given them. This was the old, ‘bilateral’ covenant, not the better covenant.
The New or better Covenant in which Jesus was made the surety, was a unilateral covenant. This kind of covenant is not made between equals. The first party dictates the terms of the agreement and the second party must comply, if he wishes to take part in the rewards of the agreement. This was the kind of covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis 15:7-18. Abraham thought he was taking part in a bilateral covenant, but a deep sleep came over him, and when he awoke, he saw the Lord taking full responsibility of the covenant, in that only he walked through the bodies of the animals that Abraham had slain for the purpose of the agreement.
Under a bilateral covenant both Abraham and God would have walked through the animals carcasses, which meant: if either of us doesn’t hold up his end of the agreement, let him be as the carcasses of these animals. However, since only God went through the divided carcasses, he made himself solely responsible for his agreement with Abraham. If he lacked the ability to produce the desired result of the agreement, God would be the surety of it and would pay the price. Under the terms of the New Covenant, Jesus saved mankind by paying the debt mankind owed God for his rebellion. Jesus’ sacrifice, together with his example, which he showed to the world during his three and a half year public ministry, has become the surety of God. All God’s promises to us are found in Jesus (Ephesians 1:3). We need only to end our rebellion against God by embracing Jesus as our Savior (2Corinthians 5:17-21).
Finally, the word unchangeable (aparabatos –G531) is taken from two Greek words a (G1) being a negative and parabaino (G3845) meaning to transgress or violate. Thus, according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, aparabatos (G531) means inviolable or unchangeable. That is, Jesus’ office as High Priest wouldn’t ever pass to another high priest (Hebrews 7:23-24), as it did in the case of the Levitical priesthood. Therefore, because Christ lives forever, his office as High Priest in unchangeable, and unlike the Levitical priesthood, which was unable to bring any man to perfection (Hebrews 7:11, 19), Jesus is able to save us completely (Hebrews 7:25), because he is able to finish what he has begun (Hebrews 12:2).
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