Covenant Theology 4: God's Covenant with Israel (Exod 19-Deuteronomy)

 

God created us for a relationship with him. When we live in a relationship with God, we live according to our purpose. Originally, God created Adam and Eve as a kind of kingly-priests. As king and queen, they were to rule over the created order. As priests, they cared for the garden in Eden where they dwelled with God on behalf of creation. Adam and Eve sinned against God. They are cast out of God’s presence. Sin increases in the following generations, to the point where God judges the world with a flood in his justice and holiness But Noah found favor with God and serves as the second Adam. We see the flood did not take care of our sin. We need a savior. In Gen 3:15, God promises a savior. Gen 12 narrows this promise to Abraham, a descendant of Noah. God tells Abraham that he will have children and that in him, all the families of the world will be blessed. SIOS: God fulfills his promises to Abraham in Israel.

This is the history between the covenants with Abraham and Israel. In Gen 12–17, God promised Abraham: children, blessing, and a land. Abraham begets Isaac. Isaac begets Jacob. Jacob begets twelve sons who move to Egypt to find food during a famine (Gen 37–50). Abraham’s descendants are slaves in Egypt for 400 years (Gen 15:13). The Lord raises up Moses who tells Pharaoh, king of Egypt, on God’s behalf: “Israel is my firstborn son, … let my son go that he may serve me” (Exod 4:23–24). Appl.: Israel is God’s son. This gets confusing. We know Jesus is God’s son. Christians are children of God. Adam was made after the likeness of God like a son. Later in the OT, Israel’s kings are also called sons of God. Son of God is the name given to those called to have a relationship with God. If you have trusted in Christ as your savior, and commit to serving him as the Lord of your life, you are his children. Pharaoh refuses to let Israel go. We read of the 10 plagues, the Passover, and the crossing of the Red Sea in Exodus 7–15. Israel heads to Mount Sinai where God enters into a covenantal relationship with them. The covenant will teach Israel how to live as a saved people in the Land.

This is God’s covenant with Israel. The books of Exodus through Deuteronomy have much to say about the covenant. To keep it simple, I will discuss the covenant elements: parties, promises/blessings, conditions/obligation, curses, and a sign. I will emphasize particularly that Israel was not saved by works, and God was never concerned merely for Israel, but the whole world. 

(1) The parties are God and Israel. (a) Israel includes the descendants of Jacob and the mixed multitude that came out of Egypt with them (Exod 12:38). Israel as God’s son serves as the New Adam like Noah did (Exod 4:23–24). In Gen 1, the water was gathered to form the dry land for Adam to live. After the flood, the water appeared for Noah to live. God parted the Red Sea so that Israel could walk on dry land and be freed from the Egyptians to serve God. Exod 19 describes Israel. Exod 19:4–6 “⁴You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. ⁵Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; ⁶and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Adam was described as a King who was to rule the world, and a priest who was to take care of the place where God dwells with Man, now the holy nation of Israel was to be a Kingdom of Priests in the Promised Land. 1 Pet 2:9 describes Christians with the same words, we “are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that [we] may proclaim the excellencies of him who called [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light.” So, what does it mean that Israel was a kingdom of priests and a holy nation? In the same way, Adam had the responsibility of ruling the world in a way that properly represented God and his character, now Israel was to show the world what it looked like to live in a relationship with God. Their priestly role was similar to Adam’s as well. Adam and Eve were to live in the Garden of Eden and “work it and keep it.” Those same words: “work it and keep it” refer to the priests’ ministry in the tabernacle (Num 3:7–8, 8:26, 18:5–6). When God enters into a relationship with humans, he expects those select people to be responsible for the way the rest of humanity can access God. God told Abraham he would use his family to bring a blessing to all the families of the world. Israel was to be a light to the nations (Isa 42:6). Appl.: When we think of ourselves then, as a royal priesthood, the church and each Christians must model to the world the right way to relate to God. We are all ministers of the gospel. As priests, we present the message, the Gospel of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins, so that upon belief, the world would have access to a relationship with God. Because we serve a God who is infinitely just, holy, merciful, and gracious, as much as we can we want to represent God as he is. This is how we rule as kings. We must hate every incident of racism particularly when it occurs in our own hearts. We must hate abortion, political corruption, the for-profit criminal justice system, or any healthcare system that takes advantage of the sick to amass wealth. Being kings and priests, we must love God and love people. (b) God is the second party. He is the eagle’s wings that brought his first-born child out of Egypt (Exod 19:4). God saved Noah and then entered into a relationship with him. God chose Abraham. Abraham believed God and God entered into a covenant with him. Now, God is the deliverer of Israel and initiated a relationship with them. First, he saves, and then he commands. They are not saved by works. They are saved because of God’s faithfulness to his promises to Abraham. 

2. The Promises/Blessings (a) remain those of the Abrahamic Covenant. (i) God fulfilled his promise of children. Exod 1:7 states the descendants of Abraham “multiplied … so the land [of Egypt] was filled with them.” And Israel still expects her Messiah who will be born in the tribe of Judah (Gen 49:10; Num 24:17). (ii) The Messiah is the way Abraham brings a blessing to all the families of the world. Jesus, the son of Abraham brings the forgiveness of sin to all who believe. (iii) At Sinai, the promise of land made to Abraham is repeated over and over (Exod 20:12). (b) Now I want to discuss the goodness of God’s law. Christians are so privileged to live on this side of Jesus’ death and resurrection, but we can tend to disdain God’s law in the OT. Ps 1 tells us: “Blessed is the man” who delights and meditates on God’s law! The NT sees it the same way: 1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” Deut 10:13 teaches that God gives law to Israel for their good. God is a parent who lovingly instructs his children on the way that leads to life and avoids the way of destruction. Any loving parent instructs their children. The law is good. Deut 4:6 describes the effect of keeping the law: “observe the law carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about these degrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’” In fact, there are three ways the law points to Jesus and the Gospel. First is the timing of the law. God did not give Israel the commandments and told them, if you keep them well enough, I will consider saving you out of Egypt. No, first, he saved them, and then God gives his saved people a way of life! The 10 commandments begin in Exod 20:2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Then, he gives the law. There was no earning their way to heaven under the covenant with Israel since they were saved before the law! Second, the Law points to Jesus, by teaching us the character of God. He is both just and merciful. God requires the punishment for sin with an “an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” (Exod 21:23–25). The law also teaches that God forgives all those who turn to him. In Deut 4:30–31, we read that the people of Israel will end up turning from God, he will send them in exile, but they will turn to him, and He will be merciful towards them and deliver them! Third, all the sacrificial laws teach that God forgives the sins of his people through the sacrifice of a perfect substitute. We often think that the law is primarily placing restrictions on our lives. We have just seen that the law is good and points to Jesus. (c) A third kind of blessing comes from keeping the covenant. The covenant has requirements. Israel was to obey the law to experience blessings. In Exod 23:22, God says: “If you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.” Lev 26:1–13 and then Deut 28:1–14 are dedicated to presenting the blessings that flow from obedience: e.g. Deut 28:11–12 “The Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. ¹²The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands….” 

(3) There are Terms of the covenant. Everything God has promised, he will do. God promised that Abraham would increase. His descendants would live in the Promised Land. They would be a blessing. But not everyone automatically benefits from the promises. The first generation that came out of Egypt, never entered into the Promised Land, because they did not believe God (Num 14:11). Israel’s entry into the Promised Land was delayed 40 years. Once they were in the Promised Land, the book of Judges teaches us that the People of Israel continually run after other gods so they experience cursing and not blessing. Israel even becomes so bad that God sends them into exile in Assyria and then Babylon. So, there are conditions to experiencing the Blessings of God. Appl.: The same is true for us. We believe that if someone is born-again, they cannot become unborn again. But if we live self-centered lives, and indulge in all our sinful desires, we can expect God to remove his blessings from our lives, and it will definitely affect our intimacy with God and our prayer life (1 Pet 3:7). Also, if we continue in unrepentance from racism, sexual immorality, greed, worry, idolatry of money, comfort, country it is right to question whether we were ever truly saved. 

(4) Breaking the covenant leads to curses. If Israel will not obey the commandments, then Lev 26:14–46 and Deut 28:15–68 also describe what will happen. I already mentioned the 40 years in the wilderness, the attack of foreign nations in the book of Judges, and the exile into Assyria and Babylon. The Lord threatens Israel with the plagues of Egypt (Deut 28:60). These are the curses of the covenant. Appl.: The curse of the New Covenant is Hell for those who do not believe and repent. 

(5) There is also a sign of the covenant. In Exod 31:17, God calls the Sabbath “a sign forever between me and the people of Israel.” Those who did not keep the Sabbath were to be put to death (Exod 31:14). The Sabbath is a gift of rest an enslaved people does not get. In this way, the Sabbath is a sign of Salvation! The Sabbath is also a command. The reason God saved his people out of Egypt, was so that they would worship him. God saves us for himself. If an individual refuses to gather with God’s people to worship the LORD, they have failed to understand the purpose for their salvation. Appl.: In our day, church attendance seems very optional, but the Lord has saved us to be part of the body of Christ. Turning down the body of Christ is turning down the salvation package. It is a sign that people have not submitted to Christ’s Lordship.

Conclusion: This Covenant with Israel is the Old Covenant in the New Testament. God fulfilled every aspect of the Old Covenant. Jesus kept the law perfectly and took the curse our sins deserve, eternal torment, and separation from God. God saves us to be his people, to walk in his ways, to worship him, and to serve his purposes. Our faith depends on the Old Covenant. Jesus was born through the nation of Israel under the Old Covenant. It was the Israelites who recognized Jesus as the Messiah according to the Old Covenant. They shared the gospel to the ends of the earth as it was their mission to be a light to the gentiles, and a blessing to all the families of the earth. Now we have heard, and believed. Today as God’s saved people we live according to his laws, particularly the moral law. We no longer offer sacrifices, and the church is not a nation. We are to share the gospel and make disciples to fill the world with God worshipers for God’s glory