In Jeremiah 31:32 you read, "My covenant they brake, although I was an HUSBAND UNTO THEM, saith the Lord."
Do you see that the covenant was not just the ten commandments, but an agreement between the Lord and the nation--the church of Israel? They accepted the terms that He gave to them. They bound themselves by this first covenant to refrain from any adulterous relations with the "gods" of other nations (Ex. 34:12-17). In turn, the Lord promised to remain faithful to Israel, and provide for them and bless them even to a thousand generations (Deut. 7:9).
But what were the conditions of the old covenant to which Israel agreed?
The Terms of the Old Covenant
There is a great deal of misunderstanding about that which constituted the first covenant with Israel. In Exodus the 19~ chapter, God made arrangements to declare the conditions of His covenant to the people. Then in the 20'h chapter God spoke every word of the ten commandments. The ten commandments are a perfect and complete law in themselves. When God finished speaking them "He ADDED NO MORE. AND HE WROTE THEM IN TWO TABLES OF STONE" (Deut. 5:22). The ten commandments were a distinct part of the terms of the old covenant to which Israel agreed. They were the TABLES OF THE COVENANT (Deut. 9:9,11).
Notice Exodus 24:7 where Moses "took the BOOK OF THE COVENANT" and read in the audience of the people: and they said ALL that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient." Besides the TABLES of the covenant containing the ten basic spiritual laws (Rom. 7:14), there was a BOOK of the covenant containing the civil laws of the covenant between Israel and the Lord. From Exodus the 21st to the 23rd chapters inclusive, God revealed these specific CIVIL LAWS, which Moses wrote in a book (Ex. 24:3, 4); these civil laws were based on the principles of the ten great and broad spiritual precepts -- the ten commandments.
After God spoke the ten commandments to Israel and after Moses received the civil laws from God and delivered them to Israel, THEN the first covenant was sealed with blood--it became binding (Ex. 24:8 and Heb. 9: 18-20). Since Israel had accepted God as her husband, she was to be obedient to Him just as the wife is to be obedient to her husband. God was head and ruler of the nation Israel. Israel was to keep herself unspotted from the evil of the world by being faithful to the laws or terms of the agreement which would make their relationship a perfect union.
When God spoke the old covenant to Israel at the time they were brought out of Egypt, He did not command them "concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices: But this thing commanded I them saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people" (Jer. 7:22-23). The ceremonial and ritualistic laws were ADDED LATER BECAUSE OF TRANSGRESSIONS AND AS A REMINDER OF SIN --after the old covenant was sealed. They were not a part of the covenant because they came after the marriage agreement was completed. The spiritual laws of the old covenant DEFINE sin, the civil laws amplify them and prescribe punishment for disobedience. The spiritual and civil laws were not instituted by the old covenant. They were already in existence and had to be included in the covenant (See Gen. 26:5; Ex. 16:28 and 18:16).
Old Covenant Had Only MATERIAL Promises
Since God was as a husband to Israel, He agreed to provide for His nation. Study carefully and notice that IN NO PLACE IS THE BLESSING OF ETERNAL LIFE PROMISED, NOR IS ANY OTHER SPIRITUAL PROMISE GIVEN. Every promise given to them was material--they were to be fruitful and multiply greatly, their cattle and livestock were to be very productive, their land would give abundant produce, they would become the greatest nation on earth IF THEY WOULD OBEY. God promised to walk among them and be their God. He did not promise to dwell IN them through the Holy Spirit as a begettal to sonship.
But if they disobeyed and did not remain faithful they were to be cursed by punishments in this world only. Hunger, sickness, famine, sorrow and war would come upon them just as material troubles ensnare any wife who is disobedient to her marriage vows and seeks promiscuous relations with others than her husband (Lev. 26 and Deut. 28).
Israel Was Divorced
Did Israel remain faithful to the covenant? "They went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah HAVE BROKEN MY COVENANT which I made with their fathers" (Jer. I 1:10).