Day4
A Quick Guide to Five Key Covenants
(Continued)
MOSAIC COVENANT
Exodus opens with Abraham’s offspring multiplying rapidly in Egypt, which threatens the new Pharaoh’s ego. He enslaves God’s people, and they cry out to God to rescue them. God hears them, sending Moses to be his instrument of divine power to lead the people out of Egypt and toward the land God promised to Abraham.
After a harrowing escape, the people reach the foot of Mount Sinai, where God shows up to revisit the promises he made to Abraham. Acting as the representative for Israel, Moses ascends the mountain to hear the terms of God’s covenant with the people. God promises to make Israel into a holy kingdom of priests that will spread his blessing and glory to all the nations.
God instructed Israel to obey all the laws given at Mount Sinai, promising to bring blessings if they followed his commands and curses if they ignored them (see Deut. 28). Israel’s allegiance to Yahweh will be outwardly reflected in the way that they live, keeping the commands and, most notably, observing weekly Sabbath rest (Exod. 31:12-18).
DAVIDIC COVENANT
God’s people enter Canaan (the promised land) and eventually demand a king, stoking their desire to be like other nations. (Already, we are seeing the people lose sight of their covenant at Mount Sinai.) Saul is anointed as Israel’s king, but he fails to obey God and is rejected. God then chooses David as king over Israel. David becomes a successful leader, overcoming Israel’s enemies and restoring order, and he wants to build a temple for God to dwell with his people again. God responds to this desire by making a covenant with David, promising to make his name great and raise up a descendant from David’s line, whose throne and kingdom will last forever (2 Sam. 7; Ps. 72, 89, 132).
David and his descendants must remain faithful to God, following the covenantal laws. However, despite David and his sons’ failures, God keeps his promise to provide a faithful descendant of David to reign.
All of these covenants thematically build on one another. After God’s covenant with David, as readers, we are left waiting for the great deliverer, the Messiah from David’s line, who will make right the fractured relationship that began in the garden.
THE NEW COVENANT
For generations, Israel ignored the terms of their covenant with Yahweh, breaking commands and living by their own definitions of good and evil. Amidst rebellion and exile, the Hebrew prophets spoke of a new covenant, saying that God would one day fulfill all of his promises, repairing his relationship with his people and blessing the nations through them (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32).
This new covenant is to be everlasting. God will write his law on the hearts of his people, bring complete forgiveness of sin, and raise up a faithful king from the line of David who will restore all that has been broken.
The anticipation of this covenant pushes the story forward into the pages of the New Testament, where we are introduced to Jesus (Matt. 26:26-29; Luke 22:19-22).
Do you notice how the covenants progressively build upon one another, forming a complete redemptive storyline? God preserved the world through Noah, initiated redemption through Abraham, established the nation of Israel through Moses, promised an eternal shepherd-king through David, and then fulfilled all of his covenants through Jesus. With each covenant, God’s promises and plans to save the world through the seed of the woman become clearer and clearer until we finally see that redemption can only come through King Jesus.
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