Diving In Covenant 5 The Mosaic Covenant – the Status of the Covenant

Review progress of the Covenants to date:

Edenic – provided conditions for mankind’s life and blessing, in communion with God; broken at the Fall

Adamic – brought in curses on the earth, the serpent and mankind but nevertheless provided conditions for continuance of life and limited access to God; however, it resulted in unconstrained evil

Noahic – promised continuance of human life ‘while the earth remains’; brought in human government as a way of constraining evil; resulted in rebellion against God

Abrahamic – a fresh start with a man who would follow “the way of the Lord”, and God promised him a great nation, a land for his descendants and that all families of the earth would be blessed through him; resulted in captivity in Egypt, near annihilation and abject slavery.

Mosaic – so God engineers a rescue plan whereby He would deliver Abraham’s descendants and bring them to Himself, as a man would take a wife. This aspect is unconditional as it’s a fulfilment of God’s promises to Abraham. For the ‘wife’ to enjoy the privileges of this marriage, there is a marriage covenant (ketubah) and that is what is delivered to them at Sinai as we have seen.

The Purpose of the Covenant

• NOT a means of salvation

It should be stated categorically that the Law of Moses was not a means of salvation. This concept is rejected because that would make salvation by means of works. Salvation was and always is by grace through faith. While the content of faith has changed from age to age depending on progressive revelation, the means of salvation never changes. The Law was not given to serve as a means of salvation (Rom. 3:20, 28; Gal. 2:16; 3:11, 21). It was given to a people already redeemed from Egypt, not in order to redeem them.

Arnold Fruchtenbaum – The Eight Covenants of the Bible, Ariel Ministries

• So it’s the grateful response of a redeemed people
  • Who are in a marriage Covenant with their God (Jer. 31:32)

The Mosaic Law was given specifically to the nation of Israel (Exodus 19; Leviticus 26:46; Romans 9:4).

• Display God’s wisdom and greatness

As we’ve said before, the focus at Sinai is less on what Abraham’s descendants must do in order to inherit the land and more on how they must conduct themselves within the land as God’s chosen people (Exod. 19:5-6) and so display God’s wisdom and greatness to the nations around (not just the nations that bordered them, but remote nations too, the land sitting at the junction of the major trade routes of the time, as we saw last week).

• Maintenance of relationship with The Lord

Since human rebellion threatened to jeopardize God’s ultimate objective (i.e., blessing all nations through Abraham’s “seed”), the Mosaic covenant also encompassed the means by which the divine-human relationship between Yahweh and Israel could be maintained: sacrificial worship, particularly on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16), would ritually atone for Israel’s sin and symbolically express God’s forgiveness.

• The preservation of Abraham’s seed

Just as the Noahic covenant guaranteed the preservation of human life on earth, so the Mosaic covenant guaranteed the preservation of Israel, Abraham’s great nation, in the land. Such was crucial for the next stage in fulfilling God’s promises: establishing a royal line through which Abraham’s ultimate seed and covenant heir would eventually come (cf. Gal. 3:16).

This week we move on to looking at the status of the Mosaic Covenant and our relationship to it under the New Covenant.

Some questions to answer regarding the Status of the Mosaic Covenant

Does Israel’s chosenness depend on the Mosaic Covenant?

No, they are loved for the sake of the Fathers (Rom. 11:28). God chose them before He called them out of Egypt and gave them the Mosaic Covenant and the Law (Deut. 7:7-8 Hos. 11:1)

Does Israel’s inheritance of the Land depend on the Mosaic Covenant?

No, their inheritance of the Land depends on the promises God made to Abraham. However, their enjoyment of the Land depends on keeping the terms of the Mosaic Covenant (Deut. 29:1 – 30:10) until God restores them unconditionally for His own name’s sake (Ezek. 36:22-32)

Are Jews saved by keeping the terms of the Mosaic Covenant?

No, they never were and they never will be (Rom. 3:20; 9:31 – 10:4)

What does ‘everlasting’ or ‘for ever’ mean?

Psa. 105:8; Strongs H5769; G155 To the age, or the age of the ages – has the Messianic era in view, not the Greek idea of eternity floating around on some cloud dressed in white robes

We discussed the concept of “forever” in the Bible, and saw that it is connected to the Messianic era and not timeless eternity. We highlighted that the concept of eternity in the Bible is an extension of the millennium and is linked to the Messianic era, governed by the New Covenant.

We then discussed the Messianic era and its relation to the end times and delved into Jewish eschatology and the idea of resurrection into the Messianic kingdom. The conversation also touched upon the idea of work being worship in the Messianic era, which was contrasted with the Greek concept of an eternal summer holiday.

Is the Mosaic Covenant ever said to be everlasting? And if it is in force, who is it in force for?

Covenants said to be everlasting:

• Noahic Gen. 9:16
• Abrahamic Gen. 17:7-8; 1 Chron. 16:17; Psa. 105:10 (land), Gen. 17:13 (circumcision), 19 (descendants)
• Only certain aspects of the Mosaic Covenant
  • The Sabbath Ex. 31:16 (throughout your generations)
  • Levitic/Aaronic Num. 18:19; 25:13; Jer. 33:21b; Mal. 2:4-7
  • Burning Oil in the Menorah and the Bread of Presence Lev. 24:1-9 continually, statute for ever in your generations, everlasting covenant referring back to Num. 18:19 (but obviously stopped when the Temple was finally destroyed in AD70)
• Davidic 2 Sam. 23:5; 2 Chron. 13:5; Isa. 55:3; Jer. 33:21a
• New Covenant Jer. 32:40 (v. 41 includes the Land); Ezek. 16:60-62; 37:26 (the Nation of Israel in the Land of Israel); Heb. 13:20 (God working in us)
• An everlasting inheritance – the Nation of Israel Jer. 31:35-36 contrasted with the Mosaic Covenant; Jer.33:25-26 – based on the Davidic Covenant

We looked at the concept of everlasting covenants as outlined in the Bible and emphasized that the term “everlasting” may refer to the age of the Messianic era. We noted that the Mosaic Covenant is never said to be everlasting (in fact, Paul says in Galatians 3:19, 24 that it was added until the Seed promised in the Abrahamic Covenant had arrived, He being Christ to Whom the Law was meant to guide us). We also discussed the New Covenant, its connection to the priesthood of Melchizedek replacing the Levitic Priesthood which requires a change of Law (Heb. 7:12), and the Davidic covenant and its role in regathering the people as an everlasting covenant. We also touched upon the idea of the Messianic kingdom and the inheritance of the land as an everlasting possession and looked at the progression of the Abrahamic, Sinaiatic, and New Covenants as in the diagram below. noting the disconnection between, but succession of, the Sinaitic and New Covenants, both being based on the Abrahamic Covenant, as were the Land and Davidic Covenants. Gal. 3:17-19; Rom. 10:4; Acts 13:39; Jer. 31:31-34 are relevant in this context.

In Jer. 31:32, the Lord says that they broke His covenant “even though I was a husband to them” (referring to the giving of the covenant at Sinai). When did they break it?

In the incident of the Golden Calf (Ex. 32), the covenant was broken as soon as it was given and therefore qualified the specific promises God made to the nation.

• The kingdom of priests (Ex. 19:6) is narrowed down to one tribe, Levi (Ex. 32:26, Num. 8:6) and eventually to one man, Aaron and his direct descendants (Lev. 9) and then he could only enter God’s Presence once a year (Lev. 16:1-2)
• The ‘holy nation’ and ‘special treasure’ are repeated in Deuteronomy (see Deut. 7:6; 14:2; 26:18) but with additional conditions

It was only God’s grace (Ex. 33:15-16) that kept the people of Israel in relationship with Him til the coming of Messiah.

Did God ever divorce the whole nation of Israel?

Northern tribes sent away with a certificate of divorce (Jer. 3:8) Judah threatened with sending away but no certificate of divorce? (Isa. 50:1) We discussed the history of the Jewish tribes, with a focus on those that were scattered and those that returned and also pointed out that the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Simeon, along with the Levites, remained in the land and were not taken by the Assyrians.

But from being “Deserted”, the nation (represented by Zion) is “Married” to the Lord again in the Messianic age (Isa. 54:4-6; 62:4) – the message of Hosea (Hos. 14:4-5) which is specifically to the Northern tribes

We further discussed the concept of divorce and remarriage in relation to Deuteronomy and Jesus’s teachings, including the possibility of remarriage if a partner dies. The account of Jacob marrying two sisters was mentioned and how this could represent God’s relationship with Israel and Judah. We discussed the New Covenant in this context, noting that a covenant was cancelled by the death of the testator. The discussion concluded with a reflection on the restoration of both the people and the land.

The Mosaic Covenant Fulfilled?

As the Torah, understood as the five books of Moses, includes the Abrahamic Covenant, it is correct to believe that not one jot or tittle will not pass away til all be fulfilled, but hopefully, we will see that the Mosaic Covenant has already been fulfilled in Messiah at His First Coming, while the complete fulfilment of the Abrahamic Covenant awaits Messiah’s Second Coming.

We outlined the four main views on the Mosaic Covenant within Christian theology:

• All obsolete
• Just the 10 Commandments still valid
• Three divisions – moral, civil, ceremonial
• Still applicable in its entirety

and will study these next week to see which conforms most closely to the Bible.