Mosaic Covenant part 1 by RC Sproul
From the YouTube site, ISI27:17 [Iron sharpens iron, Proverbs 27:17], links below highlights.
In this post, R C Sproul provided an explanation of God’s plan of redemption via covenants. He explained how the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants are related and many significant facts about the formation of the nation of Israel.
If you are trying to understand the plot of the Bible and God’s plan of redemption, then you must understand the covenants.
The Bible is a huge book and there are many things to understand about it, but the idea of covenants is a central theme around which everything else unfolds.
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Highlights [any bracketed statements, underscoring or emboldening are mine]:
- The Mosaic is the most complicated of the covenants
- The 10 commandments are integral to this covenant; many wrongly believe they are a means of salvation
- Orthodox Christianity, based on Paul’s work in Romans 3 and 4 believe salvation to be grounded in Christ in both the Old and New Testaments
- [Some verses to consider: Rom 3:10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; Rom 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. Rom 3:28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
- Rom 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Rom 4:6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: Rom 4:16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise [of the covenant with Abraham] may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, ]]
- Therefore, we have to see the Mosaic covenant as an extension of the Abrahamic covenant, the covenant of grace
- The significance, purpose and function of the law in the Old Testament, OT; as well as its application to the Christian in the NT, remains a source of division
- In the OT, certain individuals rise to titanic importance:
- Abraham, the father of the faithful…
- Moses, because of his role in the exodus and formation of the nation of Israel…
- And David, the model king for the future of the Messianic kingdom to be inaugurated by Christ
- Moses became a key figure in the most important redemptive historical activity of the entire OT
- God’s plan of redemption is unfolded by His divine revelation in history
- In that unfolding, there is progressive revelation: new revelation does not correct older revelation but it expands the content and information regarding God and His relationship with His people
- Moses’ role in the aforementioned anticipates and approximates that of the ministry of Jesus Himself
- Moses is called the great prophet to Israel: through Moses, God revealed His word
- In the NT, Christ is the great prophet, having revealed God’s word
- Before Aaron was consecrated, Moses was assigned the task of priestly work
- Christ is our great NT prophet, priest and king
- Moses had no opportunity to be king, as Israel had no king in Moses time
- Moses most significant role was mediator of the Old Covenant; as Jesus is of the New
- [Hebrews contrasts and compares Moses and Christ’s significance as mediators]
- Under Moses ministry we saw the promises that God made to Abraham actualized in history:
- One: that Abraham would be the father of a great nation
- Two: Abraham’s people would possess the promised land (which Abraham never saw)
- Three: Abraham was blessed to be a blessing
- Under Moses, the people were gathered out of Egypt and organized as a nation
- God sanctified this group of slaves, gathered them to Himself, adopted them, established them in a theocratic political structure wherein God was their King
- They became His chosen people, organized as a distinct nation with laws and a political structure, prepared to enter into the promised land
- The giving of the law contributed to the promise that Abraham would be a blessing to the nations
- The roots of contemporary civilization can be traced to –>England –>Rome –>Greece –> to the political structure found in the law of the Decalogue of the OT
- RC contrasted the number of appearances of God to the Patriarchs and to Moses
- Very many to Moses, including: the burning bush; the pillar of fire/cloud; the tabernacle (via which God’s presence was among the people)
- The idea of divine presence was significant in the unfolding of this covenant mediated by Moses
- The elements of the covenant mediated by Moses, simplified:
- The following 4 elements are very important for the historical unfolding of God’s revelation to His people and should be so to us:
- The Exodus
- The actual making of the covenant
- The Ten Commandments
- The ritual / ceremonial law
- Regarding the unfolding of these things, God did not first give the law and then on the basis of the people’s obedience to the law, God redeemed them
- Their redemption and deliverance came before the Decalogue
- Thus, He did not redeem His people from bondage in Egypt because of their goodness, merit or obedience
- Salvation is/was of the Lord’s grace and sovereignty
- The Red Sea was parted miraculously by God…
- The Exodus anticipates the coming of Christ: it was an deliverance from external bondage; Christ will deliver from bondage of sin and the wiles of Satan
- Christ’s deliverance transcends human and national boundaries
- God did not just release some slaves from captivity to live however they want to live, but He brought them into freedom to be nurtured and brought to Himself via His covenant promises
- To be a blessing to the whole world
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