God’s Covenant (5)               

Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them. Exodus 2.23-25

God and His people
At Mt. Sinai God formalized His covenant relationship with His people in the simplest of terms: “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.’” (Ex. 19.5, 6).

Let’s note a few significant covenantal aspects of this declaration. First, it comes after God had already delivered His people from captivity in Egypt. That is, it follows His act of grace in saving them unto Himself. They were already His people, by an act of His sovereign grace; now He was simply setting forth His expectations for them as His people – as He had done with Adam and Eve, Noah, and Abram.

Second, God refered to His covenant people as a Kingdom, thus reaching back to a statement from the period of the Abrahamic covenant in which God promised to give a king to His people, and to make them a Kingdom over all the nations of the earth (Gen. 49.8-11). This particular terminology, as we shall see, becomes a sub-arch linking Jacob, Israel, and David with the coming Kingdom of God.

Third, as our text indicates, this act of entering into covenant with Israel represented a continuation of God’s covenant with Abraham, which God “remembered”, that is, attended diligently unto, when He sent Moses to lead the people out of Egypt. And, by continuing the covenant with Abraham into this new stage of covenant unfolding, God was also continuing the covenant with Adam and Eve and with Noah – His covenant, that is, a covenant of grace and of the promise of peace.

This simplified statement of God’s covenant would be reduced to a formula, “I will be your God, and You will be my people,” that would be repeated and invoked over and over in the Old Testament as well as the New. The formula itself becomes a kind of sub-arch binding both the Old and New Testaments together under the one overarching covenant of promise, which provides the story and structure of the entire Bible.

Preparing for the land of promise
At Mt. Sinai God prepared His people to enter the land promised to Abraham. That land would come to symbolize all the promises of God’s covenant, as well as all the hopes of God’s people to know Him and enjoy His favor forever. The land would also come to represent the whole earth – all of which God owns – as we see in the New Testament, so that the idea of the land/earth, beginning with Adam and extending through Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus becomes yet another sub-arch in the story and structure of divine revelation.

But now the people God was bringing into His covenant were not just a man and his wife, like Adam and Eve, or a man and his household, like Noah and his sons, or even a man and his immediate descendants, like Abraham and the sons of Jacob, his grandson. Now Israel had become a great nation, and for a great nation to realize the promise of God’s blessing, provision, protection, and greatness and blessing to the world, they would need to have God’s covenant restated in terms more in line with their needs.

The Law and the covenant
This is why God gave His Law to Israel at Mt. Sinai.

We have already seen that, in the context of God’s covenant, commandments are essential to gaining the promises of God. Adam and Eve, created by grace and blessed by grace, were given commandments so that they might know the fullness of life with God. Keeping the commandments did not earn them a place in the presence and favor of God; keeping the commandments gave them fuller, richer access to the life God had given them with Him.

The same was true of Noah and Abraham. Each was given commandments – laws from God, if you will – but not as a way of gaining favor with God. Rather, the commandments came to them as men chosen by the grace of God, so that they could become more fully immersed in the life of God, the life of His presence and peace.

The same is true with Israel at the time of Moses. God did not give them the Law so that, by keeping it, they would somehow merit the grace of the Lord. His covenant with Israel began in grace, and then turned to commandments as a way of illuminating the roadway, so to speak, by which, over time, they would enjoy more of the blessings of the Lord. The Law, God insisted, was given to bring Israel more fully into the life of God’s covenant blessings (Lev. 18.1-5; Deut. 28.1-14).

The Law illuminates more brilliantly the roadway of redemption and restoration. And, as we shall see, that Law becomes a permanent fixture for God’s chosen people, as they cross the river of time toward the eternal presence and peace of God.

For reflection
1.  In what ways is the Law given on Mt. Sinai similar to the commandments given to Adam and Eve, Noah, and Abraham?

2.  Keeping the Law was not for earning salvation, but for proving and improving the salvation freely received. Explain.

3.  How can you see that God’s covenant with Moses only continues and expands His covenant with Abraham, Noah, and Adam and Eve?

Next steps – Preparation: What role should the Law of God have in our covenant relationship with Him? Meditate on Romans 3.31, Romans 7.12, and 1 John 2.1-6? How will you bring more of God’s Law into your walk with and work for Him?

T. M. Moore

You can learn more about God’s covenant and why it’s so important by ordering T. M.’s book, I Will Be Your God, from our online store (click here). For a deeper study of God’s covenant, order the workbook, God’s Covenant, from our online store (click here).

To learn how God’s covenant defines the shape of Scripture, and guides our approach to understanding and using the Bible, enroll in the course, Introduction to Biblical Theology. It’s free and online, and you can study at your own pace or with friends. To learn more and to register, click here. This week’s study is Part 1 of a series on The Word of God, and is available as a free download by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.