This post focuses on the remaining 3 elements of the Mosaic covenant that were not covered in part 6A.
R C Sproul said much that is beneficial to the born-again Christian. In fact, as I listened through his video numerous times, to note the highlights and to ascertain that I understood what he was saying, it occurred to me that the following speaks much to the born-again Christian about benefits, blessings and obligations.
A born-again believer is taken into the covenant relationship via the Holy Spirit when, at that time, united to Christ, and at that time receiving the benefits of that relationship: forgiveness; reconciliation to God; help of the indwelling Spirit….
I am clearer on the matter of covenant obligations and the reasons for them not, after this study than I was beforehand….
The following 4 elements are very important for the historical unfolding of God’s revelation to His people and should be so to us. Only element one was discussed in Mosaic Covenant part 1; the post of today covers the remaining three.
One: The Exodus
Two: The actual making of the covenant
Three: The Ten Commandments
Four: The ritual / ceremonial law
Mp3 version of lesson:
HIGHLIGHTS OF Sproul’s lecture [bracketed statements, emboldening and underscoring are mine]:
- Earlier covenants were one-sided. In this covenant, promises were initiated by God, but He required allegiance to Him
- RC looked at chapter 19 of Exodus, to explain the context of the giving of the law
- RC noted that verses 1-4 talked about what God had done to redeem His people
- (Exo 19:4) ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself [Deliverance from Egypt…]
- [Please open your Bible to Exodus 19 if you want to read any other verses therein]
- RC noted that verses 7-14, and Exodus chapter 24 contain a lot about what God did in the “drama of expiation” (expiation speaks of the remission of sins)
- God brought the people into relationship with Himself; adopted them as His children; sanctified them – set them apart; made them holy through the ritual of expiation
- Exodus 20, the giving of the law
- The Ten Commandments do not appear here as the ground of redemption because they had already been redeemed from Egypt, by God’s grace
- The 10 Commandments are herein set forth in the context of a national covenant
- [Another progressive element of God’s revelation is the progress from the calling of one man, Abraham; now, we have a nation of people that belong to God]
- The structure of this new nation: a theocracy
- He constituted them as a nation over which He would be their covenant Lord
- RC explained Suzerain treaties to help listeners understand elements of what God was doing in the initial portion of Exodus 20 [one-page article on that topic linked]
- Nutshell definition: Suzerain/Vassal treaties: the Suzerain king would enter into treaty with a people; he would provide them protection… for their loyalty
- Archeological discoveries uncovered evidence of such treaties among the Hittites, etc.
- The giving of the law followed such a format: ‘if you do_____, then I will do_____’
- RC alluded to the following scriptures
- What God did: Exodus 20:1. What the people were required to do in order that the covenant would be confirmed: Exodus 24:6-8
- Exo 20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery
- Exo 24:6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words”
- Israel’s covenant God is a personal God with a personal name and history
- This is important in the Christian faith, we are not united to some nameless force, but to a covenant Lord who is personal
- He has a name and a history wherein He has worked for our redemption
- Such statements as the above scriptures would be recalled from time to time during covenant renewal services
- THE TEN COMMANDMENTS ARE THE TERMS GOD GAVE ISRAEL THAT THEY MIGHT STAY IN THE COVENANT RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM
- Again, the Ten Commandments are not a way of salvation
- [From another source than RC, I read a comparison between Adam and Israel in terms of breaching the covenant: when Adam broke the covenant, he was expelled from Eden; When Israel broke the covenant, they were exiled from the promised land – each failed to remain in good standing via keeping God’s covenant stipulations, in Israel’s case, they had very specific stipulations, the Ten Commandments]
- RC noted Israel’s exile, as in my comment
- He noted that the Ten Commandments ARE a WAY of sanctification: a way of manifesting one’s obedience to the One who saved him by grace
- Just as in the New Testament, Jesus said to His disciples (who were saved by His works, not their own), “if you love Me, keep my commandment”
- The law not only reveals the holiness of God, but it is a mirror through which we see our lack of holiness
- The law is NOT antithetical to the gospel, but prefigures the gospel in that it is the schoolmaster that drives us to the gospel, to Christ [as Paul called it in Galatians]
- One of the most important functions of the law is to reveal to us our need for grace, for the Redeemer, for the gospel
- [Because we are powerless to stop sinning, without the forgiveness available in the gospel, we would be spiritually ruined]
- It had that function then (OT) as it does now
- In addition to the Decalogue, there was ceremonial law: it governed ceremonies, feasts, the Passover, the functioning of the tabernacle…
- In the ceremonial law, we saw glorious anticipation of the redemption in Christ
- What is the significance of the rituals / ceremonies?
- Within them were 1) symbols, and 2) types
- Symbol: a symbol represents something other than itself; it points beyond itself to a present reality
- For example: the tabernacle symbolized the presence of God in the midst of the people
- The tabernacle, however, was NOT the presence of God, it WAS the tent of meeting that called attention to God’s promise to be in the midst of His people
- Type: a second dimension of the symbol, referring to something future that reaches a greater fulfillment later on…
- New Testament types and anti-types:
- THE TABERNACLE: symbol of the presence of God; type of the future presence of God as seen in the incarnation
- The whole tabernacle is a type of Jesus
- Israel itself becomes a type of Christ:
- When Israel came out of Egypt: New Testament words, “out of Egypt have I called my Son”
- RC talked briefly about how the study of typology has led people astray, and gave an example wherein he stated, there would be no end to speculations
- Basically, he suggested that if the NT writers do not spell out a type in their writings, it would be better to not go there
- He noted an example from Hebrews about the laying on of hands on the Scapegoat being a reference to Christ’s work of redemption
- Since the OT ceremonies had their fulfillment in Jesus, they are no longer celebrated…
HELPFUL LINKS:
***A one-page explanation of Suzerain treaties from Westminster Theological Seminary of CA:
“Suzerain Treaties & The Covenant Documents the Bible”
https://www.fivesolas.com/suzerain.htm
***The Promise Keeper series is on sale presently at Ligonier, from $28 to $5: https://store.ligonier.org/the-promise-keeper-god-of-the-covenants-download-and-stream
I purchased the Promise Keeper series from Ligonier at the above link. I used the digital download version, mp3 for this post. The YouTube site I used for the last post lacked part 2 and one other part of the 14-part series.