God Upholds His Covenant Promise—Exodus
-Kandice Barley
cov·e·nant
/ˈkəvənənt/
noun: covenant; plural noun: covenants
an agreement.
THEOLOGY
an agreement which brings about a relationship of commitment between God and his people. The Jewish faith is based on the biblical covenants made with Abraham, Moses, and David.
Last time, Angie taught us that redemption and hope are found solely in Jesus. Jesus is our living Hope because He paid the price and redeemed or purchased us from sin and death by paying with His own life. She beautifully used Psalms 49 to very importantly point out that it isn’t something that anyone can pay for us or something we can pay for ourselves. ONLY JESUS!
This week we will concentrate on the Covenants. Covenant is a word often used in the church world that some of us may not fully understand the weight of. We hear the word covenant in sermons, at weddings, in sunday school, but do we really understand the faithfulness, the loyalty, the deliverance, the promise of hope behind the word itself?
Christians know that the Bible is made up of two testaments. But where does the word testament come from? It actually comes from two passages in the New Testament where the word in the Hebrew translates to covenant. In all actuality, the two testaments of the Bible are in fact the two covenants of the bible--the old covenant and the new covenant. Within the old covenant there are many covenants that create a metanarrative (an overarching account or interpretation of events and circumstances that provides a pattern or structure for people’s beliefs and gives meaning to their experiences). This metanarrative shows us that the covenants are not the central theme of Scripture, but they are the backbone to the story and they all point to the need for the Jesus--the central theme of the Bible.
We think of the word covenant and we think of a contract—a binding agreement between two parties which would require a third party to enforce. There must be a third party because there is the reality that both sides can fail to maintain the agreement. For example, a marriage is a covenant between two people, a binding agreement to love, honor, and cherish. If that covenant is broken, often a third party intercedes in order to police the agreement--maybe a marriage counselor to help the couple work through the problem, or at worst a judge to help civilly end the agreement.
But here is where the covenants of God are different. God, as one participant, is both the one who agrees to the covenant (they are always initiated by God) and is the authority to enforce the situation. You see the authority of His covenant is the relationship itself. In His covenants, God makes promises in order to renew relationships with not only the Israelites, but with all of humanity and because He is who He is--loyal, true, immutable, etc., He fulfills the promise. Through covenant God allows us to PARTNER with Him, and through it all He reveals his faithfulness. God uses the covenant relationship with Israel to make way for a relationship with Him in which all man will be invited.
God uses covenant to do the following:
Establish us as his own people--Exodus 19:5 “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for the earth is mine.”
Redeem us so that we will forever praise Him--Isaiah 43:21 “the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.”
Show us He is faithful in times of our own moral failure--2 Timothy 2:13 “when we are faithless, He remains faithful--- for He cannot deny Himself.”
The following are the covenants of the bible:
The Noahic Covenant- a covenant of preservation, signifying a new beginning for human beings. The rainbow, the sign of the covenant, testifies that God will preserve the world until redemption is accomplished.
The Abrahamic Covenant- Abraham is chosen by God and God makes a promise of blessing, family, and land to Abraham. God also tells Abraham that through his family, God will bless all of the world.
The Mosaic Covenant (also called the Old Covenant)-. God asks Israel to obey a set of laws, which are guidelines for living well as a community of God’s partners and if they do this, He will bless them and make them a people who represent Him to the rest of humanity. A people set apart. Israel is unable to abide by the covenant stipulations because the law did not transform the heart.
The Davidic Covenant- Continues the work of the covenants before it, and God promises a king on the throne. This King must be completely obedient and it only comes to fruition through Jesus.
The New Covenant- This is a covenant of grace and redemption. God regenerates his people and his Spirit renews their hearts so that they are able to obey Him (obedience is possible in the Spirit).
Angie dove into Abram’s, Sarah, and Hagar’s story. The reason that was so significant was because it played out the beginning of the Abrahamic Covenant. This covenant is rooted in 7 promises that testify to the irrevocable nature of God and point to the one who will come from Abraham’s line who will fulfill the law. The story of Exodus and the law is much of what we will concentrate on this morning.
In Exodus, we read over and over that God keeps His end of the covenant and Israel does not. This points to many of God’s attributes, one of those being that He is Gracious.
In Exodus God is moving His wayward people back to Him. In Ch. 1-4, He starts by delivering the Hebrews out of slavery. The Pharaoh of Egypt had become intimidated by the increasing numbers and strength of the Israelites which echoes Genesis and the Garden of Eden. This is not a coincidence. Instead, this is to remind us of the failure that happened there and thus the covenant of Abraham. Pharoah attempts to destroy God’s blessing (the line of Abraham) by putting Israel into bondage and even killing their innocent infant sons. God raises up an unlikely hero to help lead God’s people out--that man is Moses.
Ch. 5-15 We see the confrontation between God and Pharaoh. With the first 5 plagues, Pharaoh’s heart grows hard on his own. However, with the next 5 plagues we see God harden Pharaoh’s heart. The point is that God gave Pharaoh, just like all of us, many chances to change his heart and soften his countenance toward God. The Song of the Sea (Exodus 15:1-18) Israel’s Song, recounts the deliverance of Israel at the Lord’s hand.
Then in Ch. 16-18 we see God provide water in the Wilderness, manna and quail to eat, water from the rock, and deliverance from the Amalekites. But here’s the hard part to swallow, over and over in these chapters we see Israel grumbling and complaining. They even question why they left Egypt, and essentially they want to go back into slavery. One minute we see them crying for deliverance, and the next (because they’re hungry) they want to go right back into bondage. This leaves us wondering if Israel’s heart is as hard as Pharaoh’s. But I need not be hasty to judge—after all how many times have I gone back into slavery, into the bondage of sin? Romans 6:20-22 tells us: “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.” You see when we truly believe, when we are justified through faith, we are also sanctified. That sanctification is decisively the work of God, yet dependently our work. We must do it, but God enabled it to happen.
Here is where the covenant comes into play. After three months in the wilderness, Israel comes to Sinai and they camp at the foot of the mountain. Exodus 19:1-6 is pivotal in the story. It states: In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai. For they had departed from Rephidim, had come to the Wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Israel camped there before the mountain. And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
You see, this covenant issued by the Lord, has laws which exist in a framework that sets them up to reflect the character of God to others. The actions of the people were to reveal who God was, just as His very actions reveal who He is. The Lord wants Israel to be known by what He has done, and how they obey their God. Furthermore, the Lord describes them as priests. As a priesthood, Israel was to be sanctified--set apart by having unique requirements, duties, and privileges among the nations—all pointing back to the wondrous attributes of God.
The ten commandments, which appear in Exodus 20 are like the basic terms of the agreement. Then come 52 more commands about laws and social justice. These are all meant to sanctify the people as a nation chosen by God to represent Him.
Finally, in Exodus 25:8 we see God tell them to “make a sanctuary for me and I will dwell among my people.” Through this covenant, God’s presence is once again becoming accessible. Where once God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden each day, the fall caused an exodus from the garden and thus the tangible presence of God. But in Ch. 25-31 God gives them a blueprint for the tabernacle. It was to have an outer courtyard, a tent with an outer room and an inner room. That inner room, the most holy space, was to hold the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant was to be the hotspot of God’s presence, His resting place. All of the symbols on the Ark echo the Garden of Eden (do you see why we keep circling back to Genesis), the place where God and humans lived together intimately.
But don’t you know that man is flawed? And Israel is unable to keep their end of the covenant. In fact, as Moses is on the mountain receiving the blueprint for the tabernacle the people become restless and tired of waiting (sound too familiar to anyone else? I know I am guilty of this same thing). As Moses is on the mountain with God, they build and start to worship a golden calf. Of course God knows what’s happening at the foot of that mountain and He becomes angry, wanting to wipe them out. But Moses intercedes on the people’s behalf, and we see in 34:6-7 God forgives his people once again and He renews His covenant. It’s in these verses God describes His own character to Moses: And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
Here is the most important aspect to gather from the story of this covenant--The Lord keeps us even when we don’t deserve it...He always provides a way. You see the law was not given to oppress the people, but so that they may be obedient because obedience is love. God tells us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. This doesn’t mean we have to work for it. Instead, we have to put into action what God has already started. Jackie Hill Perry puts it this way: “Being kept by God does not mean we can be lazy about the process of sanctification.” Israel kept forgetting what God had done for them, yet He kept them and continued providing a way out. You and I must not forget what the Lord has done for us. We must surrender to the process of sanctification. How do I do that? You get in your bible and study the Word. You hit your knees and pray, and not just when things are really bad, but you must be disciplined to both speak to and listen to the Lord. Share the story! I know it can be intimidating, but do not confuse being sanctified with being exclusive. We want heaven to be all inclusive—we want everyone we encounter to accept the love and redemption of Christ. So, this week ladies...get out there and start to share the story.