What the Bible Says About the Covenants

Transcript

GR 1696
06/30/13
What the Bible Says about the Covenants
Hebrews 8-9; Selected Verses
Gil Rugh

We've been going through the book of Hebrews and we're going to take a little sidetrack from that today. We just finished Hebrews 8 and Hebrews 8 has been talking about the New Covenant. There has been a contrast being drawn in Hebrews with the New Covenant and the provision of Christ and the Old Covenant, referring to the Mosaic Law given to Moses at Mt. Sinai. I said we were going to take time in our study today to look at what the Bible says about the covenants. I am concerned that we be all together as much as possible in our understanding of what the Bible says about the covenants. This is the backbone of the Scripture, particularly the Abrahamic Covenant and the covenants that come out of that. So we're going to be talking about the covenants today and I've prepared some diagrams, or had some diagrams prepared, to be honest, that I'll share with you that will resolve any questions. And we'll look at those as we go along.

Let's begin with the first covenant of Scripture, though, before we even look at the Abrahamic Covenant. Go to the Noahic Covenant in Genesis, stop in Genesis 6. And I want you to note here, we are getting ready for the flood of Noah and God promises a covenant. And we're stopping in Genesis 6 because this is the first use of the word covenant in our Bibles, if I remember correctly. Verse 18, but I will establish My covenant with you, God speaking to Noah. Then He instructs Noah about the ark. And then the flood comes. Then we come after the flood to Genesis 9 and we don't have time to read the verses leading up to this but we'll break in here in verse 8, then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him saying, now behold I Myself do establish My covenant with you and your descendants after you, with every living creature that is with you. And that includes all the animals and birds and so on. So this is a universal covenant established with Noah and all of his descendants, all of life on the earth now after the flood.

Verse 11, I will establish My covenant with you and all flesh after you. Never again shall He destroy the world with a flood. And the sign of that covenant, God put the rainbow in the sky. So every time you see the rainbow you can be reminded, no matter how hard it has rained, no matter that parts of the earth may be experiencing flooding, life on the earth will never be again wiped out with a universal flood. So that's the Noahic Covenant, the first covenant in Scripture. It's a universal covenant, encompasses everyone.

But we're going to be focusing on the Abrahamic Covenant. We sometimes refer to that as the first redemptive covenant in Scripture because that is the foundational covenant and within it is provided redemption, forgiveness of sins by God. And it's that covenant, the covenant with Abraham, if you turn over to Genesis 12, it's where we will be beginning. And it has three parts to it—land, seed and blessing. Now I'm mentioning these first and as we read through the passages that speak of the Abrahamic Covenant, you'll see all three or one of these three emphasized in the covenant. Land refers to the land of Canaan, the land of Israel, Palestine as it is referred to perhaps more commonly today. The seed refers to the descendants of Abraham, and they are going to be numerous and will be a nation and so on. And the blessing will refer to the salvation that God will provide for the descendants of Abraham. And there will be a provision in that not only for the physical descendants of Abraham, but for the Gentiles as well. And we are benefiting from that.

So let's look at what God says about the Abrahamic Covenant. We'll start in Genesis 12. Remember we're looking for land, seed and blessing. And here you have the first promise relating to the Abrahamic Covenant and what the content of it will be. The Lord said to Abram, verse 1, go forth from your country, from your relatives, from your father's house. God called him out of Ur of the Chaldees, remember, He's going to bring him into Canaan. You go to the land which I will show you. There you have the reference to the land, and that is key because that's going to be part of what God will include as He establishes this covenant. I will make you a great nation, there is seed. He is going to have descendants that will become a great nation. I will bless you, make your name great. You shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, the ones who curse you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. And there is the promise of blessing, blessing for all the nations of the earth. So land, seed and blessing included there.

Come over to Genesis 13, and we won't get the context of these but you'll see he is repeating this promise as the years go by. Here it is after Lot and Abram separate because their flocks and herds have gotten too large to be in the same area. Then the Lord said to Abram, verse 14, now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward, southward, eastward and westward. For all the land which you see I will give it to you. So you see the promise of the land. And to your descendants, or seed, after you. The word is seed, it can be used as a singular or as a collective. And it is used in both ways. Here it is obviously talking about his descendants, his seed, those that will be his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and so on that will have this land. I will make your descendants, your seed, as the dust of the earth. So if anyone can number the dust of the earth, your descendants can be numbered. Arise, walk about the land, its length and breadth, I will give it to you. You see we're talking about a physical land and physical descendants, people. You can walk on this land, this is what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about heaven, I'm talking about this physical land, Abram, it will be yours. I'm not talking about just spiritual descendants, I'm talking about physical descendants of yours. They will possess this land. As you are aware up to this time, Abram and Sarai his wife have no children. And now you're telling me I'm going to have descendants that are like the dust of the earth, you can't number them. And we're going to possess this land. You know that Abram owns nothing here. In fact by the time Abram dies he will own one little plot of land, it's a grave where his wife is buried and where he will be buried. But this is the promise of God in this covenant that He has with him.

Come to Genesis 15. And all twenty-one verses of this chapter focus on the covenant, and we're not going to read them all. Well, let me tell you what it is. God appears to Abram in a vision and tells him about his descendants. But Abram says, Lord, what are you going to give me? I don't have any kids. So I guess my chief slave, servant will be my heir when I die. And so God then reiterates His promise. The end of verse 4, one who comes from your own body will be your heir. He took him outside and said, now look toward the heavens, count the stars if you are able to count them. So shall your descendants, your seed be. Now remember in those days they didn't have city lights or artificial lights. When Abram goes out, it is in the pitch blackness of night. And they could see the multitude of stars as when you have been in a part of our country, perhaps, where there is no other light. And you look up in a clear night and it just seems the stars are so numerous. How would you even begin to count them? That's what Abram is seeing. And He says, that's how many descendants you are going to have.

And then this key verse, verse 6, then Abram, he believed in the Lord and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. I believe you, God. This is the first time in the Bible that we are told that someone believed God and God credited it to their account as righteousness. So this verse becomes a key verse in the New Testament to show that we are saved when we come to believe God and what He has said and what He has done.

He said to him, verse 7, I am the Lord God who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to you I will give this land to possess it. Abram says, this is overwhelming. Could I have something that you would confirm it with me? So God is going to cut a covenant, In the Old Testament the expression to make a covenant is literally to cut a covenant. And here you have what happens. God says to Abram, you get the particular animals, birds, and you cut them in half. And you lay one half of that animal or that bird on one side, the other half on the other side with a path in the middle. And then when a covenant was made the two parties to the covenant would walk between those divided animals. They were cutting a covenant.

So Abram gets everything ready according to the instructions of God. Verse 12, then when the sun was going down a deep sleep fell upon Abram. Terror and a great darkness fell upon him. God said to Abram, know for certain that your descendants, your seed will be strangers in a land that is not theirs. They will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. That's the Egyptian bondage that will begin at the end of the book of Genesis and carry over into the first part of Exodus. Four hundred years. Here is Abram, he still doesn't have any kids here. God keeps promising him descendants, promising him the land. Now he tells him, for 400 years your descendants aren't going to even be living on this land. But here is what I'm going to do. But I will judge the nations whom they will serve and afterward they will come out with many possessions. That's when they are delivered from Egypt through the miracles under Moses. As for you, you will go to your fathers in peace, you'll be buried in a good old age. In other words He's saying, you're not going to see all this because Abram is not going to live to be 400 or 600. He's going to die, he's not even going to make 200. He's going to live to a ripe old age, in Genesis 25 he dies. In the fourth generation, after 400 years, they will return here. So He's telling him what is going to happen in the future. For the iniquity of the Amorite is not complete. In other words the peoples among whom you are living, the land of Canaan with the Canaanites, you can't have it yet. In fact you can't have it for many, many years because you have to wait until the sin of the people that are living on this land is so great that it's time for Me to intervene in judgment and wipe them out. Then the land can be yours.
It came about when the sun had set and it was very dark, and behold there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. Note here now, this is crucial, God's presence is manifest by this flaming presence that passes between these divided animals. What about Abram? He doesn't do anything, he is asleep. That's why we call this an unconditional covenant. There are two parties to this covenant, God and Abram. But only one of the parties has assumed total responsibility for the fulfillment of the covenant by passing through it. It's like if you were going to sign a contract with someone but you signed both places. You guarantee the fulfillment of it and the benefits to the person who is the other party to the contract. So it's an unconditional covenant. God guarantees it, He's the One who passes through.

On that day, verse 18, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, to your descendants I have given this land. Then He lays it out down through verse 21. All the peoples living in this land, the Canaanites. That's why we call it the land of Canaan, inhabited by the Canaanites. They are going to be wiped out and ultimately this land will belong to you. You see the emphasis on the land, the importance of the land, and it's going to belong to Abraham. Doesn't matter, hundreds of years are going to pass before Abraham's descendants can even come back and live in the land. But God promises it.

Okay, unconditional covenant. Come to Genesis 17, and again this goes for 21 verses, covering the covenant, but we'll just touch on it. God open up by giving instructions to Abram. Verse 5, no longer shall your name be called Abram. The previous verse for the context, as for Me behold My Covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations. Now keep in mind he's still waiting for the child of promise. He has had a son with Hagar in Genesis 16 but that son cannot fulfill the promises as will be made clear here. Your name is Abram, that exalted father. We're going to change it to Abraham, the father of a multitude. I will make you the father of a multitude of nations, I will make you exceedingly fruitful, I will make nations of you. Kings will come forth from you. So you see the seed, and the seed includes rulers. I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. I will give to you and your descendants after you the land of your sojourning. So seed, land. All the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession. I will be their God.

Verse 10, this is My covenant which you shall keep. And now the sign of circumcision is given to the Jews, to Abraham and his descendants. Circumcision is the sign, the physical sign that God has established a covenant with Abraham and his descendants. Now be careful, in the New Testament Paul writes about circumcision, that it is not necessary for salvation. He uses this experience of Abraham as an example. Remember God had declared Abraham righteous because he believed Him back in Genesis 15. Now twenty or so years have gone by and now Abraham gets circumcised, but God had already declared him righteous. So circumcision cannot be necessary for salvation. And that's true for all the other physical things. Some people today say you have to be baptized to be saved. When was Abraham baptized? He never was. Well then how can baptism be necessary for salvation? That's Paul's argument in Romans 4.

So circumcision is a sign of the Abrahamic Covenant for the physical descendants of Abraham. In the New Testament when Paul argues with the Jews and the Judaizers and says circumcision is not necessary for salvation, and it's not necessary for keeping the Law. We're not required to keep the Law. That doesn't mean he's undoing the Abrahamic Covenant. The circumcision required by the Law and as part of the Mosaic Law is not operative. But circumcision as a sign for the physical descendants of Abraham will continue to be practiced. That would be true even down to our day.

All right, Sarai's name is changed to Sarah and she will have a son, verse 16, and she will be the mother of nations that will come out of this line. Abraham says, this is amazing. I'm going to be 100, Sarah 90 and we're going to have children? Not able to do it together up to this point. And he asked God to bless Ishmael, and he has had Ishmael with Hagar, the servant girl. God says, no. What he is really saying, Abraham says, God, I'll be satisfied and I'll help you out here. We often think we can help God out because the situation is so difficult, God may be in a box. So we say, Lord, I'll be satisfied if you do this. But God has made a promise. God does not need help to fulfill His promise.

So He says, no, Ishmael can't fulfill the promise. Verse 19, but God said no, but Sarah your wife will bear a son and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish My covenant with Him for an everlasting covenant with his descendants after him. My covenant with you, Abraham, can only be fulfilled through the child that is born to you and Sarah. His name will be Isaac. Now I've heard your prayer, I'll bless Ishmael but Ishmael can't be the one who fulfills the covenant. So the covenant won't be fulfilled through Ishmael and his descendants. The Arabs today say that the Jews changed the Old Testament, that it was really Ishmael who supposed to get the blessing but the Jews changed it. But this is God's Word here. Verse 21, My covenant I will establish with Isaac. All right, so we have that covenant established, the sign of the covenant.

Come over to Genesis 22. There are isolated references we could pick up but . . . Genesis 22, this is where God tells Abraham, go up to Mt. Moriah and sacrifice Isaac, the only son who can fulfill the promise. Now Abraham has waited until he is 100 years old to have Isaac, Sarah is 90. Now he can see how God is going to do it, He will fulfill His word through Isaac as He promised. Then God said, take Isaac out and make him a living sacrifice, slay him on the altar as a gift to Me. So Abraham goes off to do it.

Verse 15, after God intervenes to prevent Abraham from carrying out that command, it was a test for Abraham, He called to him from heaven and said, verse 16, by Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord. You see this. God takes an oath on top of the covenant to show how sure this is. And by Myself, full responsibility, I have sworn, declares the Lord. Indeed I will bless you, I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, as the sand of the seashore. Your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies, in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed. You see land, seed, blessing; land, seed, blessing; land, seed, blessing. That's the Abrahamic Covenant. There is one covenant, it has three parts to it, three specific promises. There are other promises but these are the three central promises of the Abrahamic Covenant. For the Abrahamic Covenant to be fulfilled all three of these will have to be carried out because they are not separate. They are part of the Abrahamic Covenant. There will be individual covenants associated with each of these, we'll look at those in a moment.

All right, after Abraham dies God confirms the covenant with Isaac. So let's go to Genesis 26. Abraham dies in Genesis 25. Now Isaac is the one who will carry on the promise so God appears to him, in verse 2, and said, do not go down to Egypt. Stay in the land of which I tell you, sojourn in this land. I will be with you and bless you. For to you and your seed, your descendants, I will give all these lands. I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. So He is confirming it now to Isaac. I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven, I will give your descendants all these lands, by your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed. So you see we have here and reiterated to Isaac, the land, the seed, the blessing. All the nations of the earth will be blessed by your seed.

Go down to verse 24, the Lord appeared to him, to Isaac, I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not fear, I am with you, I will bless you, multiply your descendants for the sake of servant Abraham. So that reiteration. This is the promise to Abraham.

Come over to Genesis 28. Now Isaac's son, Jacob, is to have the blessing passed on to him as Isaac gets older and anticipates his death. The provisions of the Abrahamic Covenant will be passed on. You have Abraham, Isaac, and then you have Esau and Jacob, twins. But God has chosen to bring the line through Jacob, not Esau. So there will be other peoples, descendants from Esau, the Edomites. But the promise comes through the line of Jacob. So Genesis 28 opens up, Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. Verse 3, may God Almighty bless you, make you fruitful, multiply you that you may become a company of people. May He give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your seed, your descendants, that you may possess the land of your sojourning which God gave to Abraham.

Come down to verse 12. Jacob departs to travel to relatives and he lies down and sleeps in Beersheba. And he had a dream, verse 12, a ladder was set up with the top reaching heaven. And angels of God are coming up and down the ladder. Verse 13, the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham, the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie, I will give it to you and your seed. Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, they will spread out to the west, to the east, to the north, to the south. And in you and in your descendants all the families of the earth will be blessed. I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, bring you back to this land. He will do what He promised. You see land, seed, blessing; land, seed, blessing. It comes down Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That's the physical line of the Jews. We'll talk in a moment, but keep in mind that we as Gentiles, we come under the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant but not in the line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That's the physical line. We come under a provision of the Abrahamic Covenant for those who are not part of the physical line, when God promises to bless all the nations. We'll say more about the fulfillment of all those promises.

Okay, this is the development. You have the three promises in the Abraham Covenant. Each of these is confirmed by a further covenant. Important to understand these, these are not separate covenants. These simply take one of the major areas of the Abrahamic Covenant and give a confirmation and further elaboration, clarification. The Palestinian Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, the New Covenant, and let me say here I've put the kingdom in here because these covenants and the full fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant will not happen until the kingdom is established on the earth under Christ. So this promise centered in the Abraham Covenant. That's why the Abrahamic Covenant is the overarching covenant that comes down through all the Old Testament, the New Testament, but it's fulfillment in all three areas—land, seed and blessing—it won't be until the kingdom is established, under the kingdom of the Messiah, under the ruler ship of the Messiah. So you have the Palestinian Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, we'll look at each of these.

I've called it the Palestinian Covenant because that's become the common name for it. That is a little bit anachronistic because it was never called Palestine during biblical times, either Old or New Testament. There was a Roman ruler, a little sidetrack, Hadrian, who ruled the Roman Empire from 117 A.D. to 138 A.D. He was strongly anti-Semitic, opposed to the Jews. He didn't even want them living in the land. The Jews rebelled against him toward the latter of his reign, around 132. And they were successful. The Jews united in an uncharacteristic way of them, pulled themselves together to fight against the Romans. And Hadrian had a Roman legion stationed in the land of Israel. A Roman legion could be up to 6,000 men. The Jews overran it and destroyed it and they were celebrating. They thought that Bar-Kochba, the man's name leading the rebellion, was really the Messiah. He's bringing deliverance from Rome, look at this. This is what they didn't find in Jesus of Nazareth, physical deliverance. But now we have the Romans overrun and defeated. But that rebellion, it went from 132 to 135 before the Romans asserted control. Hadrian sent in 12 legions of the Roman army, that's somewhere between one-third and one-half of the total Roman army. And they totally destroyed the Jews. And he wanted to cleanse the land from any Jews, he wanted Jerusalem destroyed and a new city built with a new name, not Jerusalem. He wanted the land renamed Syrio-Palestine, Palestine. So that's where the name Palestine and Palestinian come from. It comes from Hadrian around 135 A.D., who wanted to cut off any connection with the Jews to this land. So down today it has become a common name.

So we call this covenant, I've called it the Palestinian Covenant, more accurately it would be called the Land Covenant because there was no Palestine. It was Israel and Canaan in those days. The Palestinian Covenant reiterates the Land Covenant. You'll remember, we won't go back there again, but in Genesis 15:7ff in connection with the confirmation of the covenant that God cut with Abraham there, the emphasis on the land. How do I know I'll have this land? This will be your land, and so there is an emphasis on the land in that cutting of the covenant there.

If you turn over to Deuteronomy 29:1, these are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He made with them at Horeb. So he distinguishes this from the covenant, Horeb is Sinai, another name for Sinai, so this is not part of that covenant, this is an additional. And he tells them, gives them instructions and so on. When you come down into Deuteronomy 30:1, so it shall be when all these things have come upon you, the blessings and the curse which I have set before you, you call them to mind in all the nations where the Lord has banished you. A reminder that the judgment of God will come upon the Jews. They will be removed from the land again, will have the Assyrian conquest and the Babylonian captivity and so on. And you are in all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you, the end of verse 1, you return to the Lord your God, obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today and your sons, the Lord your God will restore you from captivity, have compassion, gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. When you are an outcast at the end of the earth, the Lord will bring you back wherever you are, the Lord will bring you into the land which your fathers possess. You will possess it, you will prosper and multiply more than your fathers. The Lord God will circumcise your heart, now this is what is promised in the New Covenant—the transformation of heart, the removal of sin within. And you will love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and so on. So that's a confirmation. That's why we call it the Palestinian Covenant. Confirming the promise of the land to Israel.

Now that has not happened yet. We look back to 1948 and Israel restored to the land, but the fullness of that promise and their possession of it, their freedom from the opposition of their enemies and so on, that awaits a future time. Their salvation as a nation awaits a future time. That will carry us to the millennium. But that's the Palestinian or the Land Covenant.

The seed, promise of the seed in the Abrahamic Covenant, that is reinforced in what is called the Davidic Covenant. And that is found in 2 Samuel 7, so turn to 2 Samuel 7. This is in the context, David has been reigning. Remember Abraham is about 2000 years before Christ; Moses about 1450 years, the exodus occurs 1445 or 1446 B.C., so we're in that period, about 500 years after Abraham. Then you come to David, he is 1000 years before Christ, so 1,000 years after Moses. You come to 2 Samuel 7, David has been successful in much of his conquests, he realizes he is living in a magnificent palace and they are still using the tabernacle as the center of worship. He thinks the Lord ought to have a more magnificent residence, it's not right that I'm a king serving the King of kings and Lord of lords and living in a mansion and He is being served in a tent. But God says, no, it's not My intention for you to build the temple, your son will.

But He does give a promise and establish a covenant with David. And this will be fulfilled ultimately, verse 10, I will appoint a place for my people Israel, will plant them that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again. So this is connected to the promise of the land when Israel will be placed in the land and they'll be safe and free. It will be in the millennium. We have the Davidic Covenant here, going to fulfill the seed which includes being a nation, having a ruler. The end of verse 11, the Lord declares to you, to David, that the Lord will make a house for you. When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you who will come forth from you. I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, he will be a son to me. Verse 16, your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever. Your throne will be established forever.

So you see here this is a confirmation and elaboration on the seed promise. That will include being a nation, a kingdom with a king that will not have its realization until we are in the kingdom and Christ the Messiah, the King of kings and Lord of lords rules.

Go to Psalm 89, one more passage on the Davidic Covenant. Psalm 89, it just reminds people. This is a psalm written by Ethan the Ezrahite and he is writing down what God has done for David and said He would do. Verse 3, I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to David My servant, I will establish your seed forever and build up your throne to all generations.

Jump down to verse 34, My covenant I will not violate, nor will I alter the utterance of My lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness I will not lie to David. His descendants shall endure forever, His throne as the sun before Me. Be established like the moon and a witness in the sky is faithful. The permanence of this promise. Israel is going to be a great nation; a kingdom, it's going to have a king. That won't be fulfilled until we get into the kingdom, of course.

Then you have the third area of the Abrahamic Covenant, the blessing. This is what we've been talking about in the book of Hebrews. Now you'll note here, I've put the Law out in dotted lines. I want you to see the Law, the Mosaic Covenant, was an add-on. We'll see that in some verses in the New Testament in a moment, we've talked about it. The emphasis in Hebrews has been on when Christ came with His sacrifice as high priest, the Old Covenant, referring to the Mosaic Law, was ended. It never was part of the Abrahamic Covenant. It was added 430 years after the Abrahamic Covenant was established and would function only until Christ came. So it's an add-on, it's a conditional, temporary covenant. And that's what the argument in Hebrews is. That's why we want to see these covenants, the Abrahamic Covenant and all of its provision is unconditional and permanent. And we'll realize its complete fulfillment in all aspects in the kingdom when Christ establishes it on earth. The Mosaic Covenant was established under Moses at Sinai 430 years, as the New Testament says, after the Abrahamic Covenant would have been established. And it was a temporary covenant, only intended to be in force until Christ came. And then it with all that's in it is ended, except what God chose to pick out of it and include as part of His New Covenant provision.

Okay, the blessing part of the Abrahamic Covenant is contained in the New Covenant. And we'll turn to Jeremiah 31, we have looked at this in our study of Hebrews and most of you have probably been here for that. But in Jeremiah 31:31, behold days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of Egypt. So you see this is not saying this is different than the covenant I made with Abraham. This is different than the covenant I made with Moses because this is part of the fulfillment of the covenant I made with Abraham, the blessing part of it. So the contrast is with the Mosaic Covenant.

But this covenant, verse 33, that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. This is going to come after they have to endure all the judgment of God for their rebellion and unbelief. We still haven't arrived at these days for Israel. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, and you'll note it is made with the house of Israel. We've been talking about this, we Gentiles have gotten included but the line of fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant for the Jews is the focal point here. I will put My law within them, on their heart I will write it. I will be their God, they will be My people. Remember we read about the circumcision of the heart? The removal of their sin? And we've talked about this. They will not teach again each man his neighbor, each man his brother, saying, know the Lord. They will all know Me from the least to the greatest. And God establishes this firmly for Israel.

He's the God who gives the sun for light by day and the moon and stars for light by night, who controls the sea. He says if any of that stops, then Israel could cease from being a nation before Me. If the heavens can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out below, then I'll cast off Israel. The point is this is fixed. There are people today who claim to believe the Bible and say God is done with Israel.

I get some theological journals, I have to share this with you. It so happened this week, I'm here at my study and I go get the mail and I have one of my theological journals arrive. That's always a bright spot in my day. So I get this theological journal, thumb through it, see what the articles are, and lo and behold there is an article in it entitled, God's Covenant with Abraham. Perfect. Twenty-one pages on God's covenant with Abraham. Not saying I understood all 21 pages. But the man is writing about God's covenant with Abraham and he makes the point, it's one covenant, it has three promises, the three promises we put up—land, seed, blessing. In fact I just brought the last page because I want to read you a section. Twice on the last page he talks about the triple blessing of the Abrahamic Covenant—land, see, blessing; land, seed, blessing. We're all agreed on that. But a catch, listen. We can be grateful, this is the last paragraph of this 21-page article. We can be grateful that the Lord's covenant with Abraham was both unconditional and conditional. Wait a minute, I didn't see any conditional part. Remember, God says, I have sworn by Myself I will do this. He was the only one who passed through the divided animals, confirming the land, the seed and the blessing that comprise the Abrahamic Covenant, but this man says it is conditional and unconditional. Its unconditionality showed His commitment to the accomplishment of its ultimate salvific purpose. Salvific is salvation.

You see the salvation comes through the blessing side. That's where the salvation will come. The blessing is God's salvation, we'll see that in some New Testament passages explaining this. It's when their sins are forgiven, it's when they're given a new heart. Well he says this is the only part of it that is unconditional. Why would you divide it off like that? Who said this? So he says the unconditional part is accomplishing salvation, which he says is the universal blessing available to all nations by the Spirit. You know what ends up here. Do you know who gets closed out of their own covenant? Israel. Because he says the land and that part of it is conditional. Since Israel wasn't good, that's done. So he says, the conditionality showed God was holy when He punished Israel for their failure to be obedient. We never get tired of beating up the Jews and kicking them out of their own covenant so we can keep it for ourselves.

Finally, we can be grateful that the Lord did see the Abrahamic Covenant through to its fulfillment in and by Christ. But he's not talking about the whole Abrahamic Covenant, he's only talking about the blessing. So that those who have the faith of Abraham may know salvation by faith. In other words after repeatedly saying there are triple promises in the Abrahamic Covenant, but two-thirds of those promises don't count. Only one-third, the one-third that brings salvation to all the nations.

The Abrahamic Covenant no longer functions as a covenant. Well, so much for what we just have read about God guaranteeing it forever. But its great promise has been fulfilled and continues to be fulfilled every day by those who are and become the children of Abraham and have had their hearts circumcised by faith.

I just read that as an example, and this is in an evangelical publication, it's the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. To be a member of that you have to have advanced degrees, most of them are professors as this man is. He has many good things to say in his article, but he gets stuck here in his article of trying to show that we can split up the Abrahamic Covenant and show some of its promises are conditional so that we don't have to see a literal fulfillment. That's where you come with those who don't believe there is any future for the Jews. We say, how can you say that? Well, they say, the land and the seed, that was just conditional. And since Israel was so bad they got kicked out. But the salvation promises.

You know the argument of Scripture is just the opposite. We Gentiles ought to be humble because we have jumped on the Abrahamic Covenant which is a Jewish covenant. And all these provisions and all their fullness will not be fulfilled until the kingdom is established. That includes the blessing because that is directed toward Israel and Israel as a nation being saved. But there is a provision for all nations, in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

So let's look at some of the New Testament. Come over to Romans 4:3, talking about Abraham and his justification. What does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. That was in the context, remember, in Genesis 15:6 when God promised him, look at the stars, your descendants are going to be innumerable like that. Abraham believed God, God credited it to him as righteousness. And what he is talking about there in that blessing and the righteousness, verse 6, just as David speaks of the blessing of the man whom God credits righteousness apart from works. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man the Lord doesn't take his sin into account. That's what happens when God cleanses you. That's provided in the Abrahamic Covenant. Abraham being declared righteous and believing that promise of God was indicative of the righteousness God would provide within that covenant. It's all mixed into that covenant—the land, the seed, the blessing. And the salvation becomes a demonstration. You can't be saved by your works, you can't be saved by your baptism, you can't be saved by your church membership. Abraham never did join a church, but the argument goes on in Romans 4 where he is going on to say Abraham was declared righteous in Genesis 15. He wasn't circumcised until Genesis 17. How could you say circumcision is necessary for salvation? And since there is only one God, there is only one way of salvation and it has always been by faith alone in the promises and provision of God alone. That's it.

People today think they are going to be saved because baptism is necessary for salvation. Well, do you believe in two Gods? That's the whole argument of Romans 4. We have found the way the one eternal God saves people—by faith alone. He declares them righteous when they believe what He has said. Some people think, I go to church, I'm trying to keep the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments hadn't even been given, we're 450 years away from the Ten Commandments when Abraham is declared righteous. He never joined a church, the church won't be started for 2000 years. It's when you believe what God has said and one today in the person and work of His Son.

So jump down to verse 16. He's talking about the blessings of God in salvation. For this reason it is by faith, righteousness, salvation, in order that it may be in accordance with grace so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law but also to those who are of the faith. It's not only to the Jews, but to the Gentiles because remember all the way back in Genesis 12:3 with the first promise given to Abraham of that covenant and its content—in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

As it is written, verse 17, a father of many nations I have made you. In hope against hope he believed, that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken—so shall your descendants be. These are the salvation provisions under the blessing promised in the Abrahamic Covenant. These things, we've marked them out as land, seed and blessing, but they are so intertwined we want to appreciate that. But the salvation had a provision for all the nations and it will be provided for all the nations the same way it was provided for Abraham—only by faith.

Come over to Romans 11. Basically the article I read to you the future for physical Israel has pretty well been done away with. But notice how Romans 11 begins, I say, then, God has not rejected His people, has He? Magnoito, may it never be, such a thing could never be. And Paul says, I am a Jew, I'm an evidence God has not totally rejected the Jews. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Right down to today, verse 5, there has come to be at present a remnant according to God's election of grace. If by grace it's no longer by works.

Come down to verse 11, I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? Talking about the Jews. May it never be. But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles to make them jealous, the Jews jealous. There is going to come a time in the future when the Jews are going to open their eyes and realize, Gentiles are getting saved by believing the promises of the God of Israel, by believing in the Messiah who is the Savior. We need to take what belongs to us back again.

Now if their transgression, verse 12, is riches for the world, their failure riches for the Gentiles. If the rebellion and sin of the Jews has resulted in God opening up salvation to the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be. I'm speaking to you who are Gentiles. Then he goes on in the same line.

Look down in verse 16, if the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; if the root is holy, the branches are, too. So the root and the branches. The root is the Abrahamic Covenant, everything comes out of that, that is holy. Now some of the branches referring to the Jews because it's a covenant made with Abraham the father of the Jews and his descendants—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. You are not a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That's the physical line that pertains only to the physical Jews. But we are beneficiaries of the covenant God made with Abraham in the provision, in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed. That's why the fulfillment of this covenant in its fullness comes in the kingdom is with the Jews and that’s God's provision in there from the beginning for an add-on blessing, if you will, to the Gentiles.

So the natural branches were Jews, they were broken off so that God's plan of salvation could focus on Gentiles for a time. But the warning in verse 18, don't be arrogant toward the branches. If you are arrogant, remember it's not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. We'd be arrogant and anti-Jewish? I realize I am saved by the grace of God through the provisions made with a covenant made with the father of the Jews to bring salvation to me with the coming of the Messiah of the Jews. I've jumped on to the promises God has given to the Jews as a Gentile. We say, the branches were broken off. This was the view of a reformer like Martin Luther, the Jews deserve to be destroyed, the Jews deserve to suffer, the Jews deserve to be punished. They are Christ-killers. Sad aspect of one of the great reformers failing to appreciate and correctly understand Scripture on this. Behold then the kindness and severity of God. To those who fell, severity; to you, kindness. But be careful, God cut them off and God will graft them in again. And that explanation.

So verse 25, I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, something you wouldn't understand without revelation from God. So the Jews didn't fully comprehend this. We're talking about this covenant, Abrahamic Covenant, its provision and ultimate fulfillment in how God brings salvation out of that so all nations of the earth can be blessed. And still the promises are retained for Israel in the ultimate, full sense. The mystery is explained in further revelation from God. I do not want you to be uninformed of this mystery so that you are not wise in your own estimation, think for some reason you are better than the Jews. You are not.

So that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until. It's a partial hardening because some Jews are saved today, not many, the church is primarily a Gentile church. But it's a partial hardening until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. The fullness of the Gentiles is this church age. Look at this church, it's primarily a Gentile church, mostly Gentiles. That's true of the church around the world. But when God is done with the Gentiles, then all Israel will be saved. We see Gentiles wasting their opportunity for salvation. We become more and more open and flagrant in our rebellion and rejection of God and His truth, we despise His salvation, we despise Him, His purposes in creation of man and woman, His holiness. He requires us to be holy in the provision He has made. We don't need that, we don't even want you talking about that. The opportunity is still there for Gentile salvation. The door is not closed, this is a day when God's program of salvation focuses on Gentiles. It comes out of the New Covenant so that God could fulfill in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed. But when that period is over, the fullness of the Gentiles, then the opportunity for Gentile salvation will be closed down. Some Gentiles will be saved, but it will be like the Jews today—they will be a minority. And God will resume His work with Israel to bring them through their final trial so that they are ready to bow before the Lord, declare, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord as Zechariah prophesied. Then the Messiah will return, all Israel will be saved. The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins. You see it is their covenant. Then He promises to take away their sins but in His grace He had made provision with Abraham that in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed. We're experiencing that. What a tragedy that we should let that salvation pass us by. These are days when God graciously offers His salvation in Christ to us Gentiles. Don't neglect it, don't think it will be there tomorrow. It is today, a day of salvation.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Father, that you are the sovereign God and that your purposes are being accomplished and worked in the world. Lord, amazing to see a covenant established 4000 years ago and you are operating according to the promises and provisions that you made, that the promise of salvation for Gentiles who are faithful to your Word. We are here gathered in your presence as believers in Jesus Christ, the truth you have revealed. We know that you are a sovereign God, that your purposes are accomplished, you keep your Word. Thank you for the blessings of salvation available to us today. Lord, may we be grateful day after day. I pray for any who are here, Lord, who have heard about the salvation, been told about it, told about your grace, told about the offer of forgiveness but have chosen to neglect it. May this be a day of salvation for them. We pray in Christ's name, amen.