11.0 “My Covenant” Offered at Sinai
March 2008
Topics:
The Sinai Covenant
Two Covenants at Sinai
God Speaks
The Ten Commandments Spoken
References
The Everlasting Covenant, the Covenant of Redemption was established from the foundation of the world. In this covenant the Father gave His only begotten Son, and the Son willingly offered Himself to pay the penalty of the broken law. This is the Covenant of God. It belongs to Him and He makes it a gift to mankind. It is the basis for all the covenants and promises made by God to man throughout the history of mankind.
The term “my covenant” occurs fifty one times in the Bible and is associated with words like establish, remember, make, keep, take hold, give, break, transgress, and this is. It is through “my covenant” that we come to God in faith. It is this covenant that provides redemption for mankind through the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary. And it is this covenant that God offered to Israel at Sinai, and the covenant that God extends to mankind throughout his history.
Israel had now become a nation and it was necessary to bring order and consistency to their society. Beginning in Exodus 19:4 God reviewed their deliverance from Egypt. By His power and grace they were delivered from bondage in Egypt. "Now therefore" by this same power He would make them His covenant people. This set the direction of the covenant. If a person had it in his heart to obey God, he would welcome the promise of grace in verse four. If he intended to go his own way, he would omit verse four as unneeded material.
“Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
“Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
“And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord” (Exodus 19:4-8).
This was not a new or different covenant. It was the same everlasting covenant made from “before the foundation of the world” and given before to Adam and to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Deliverance and grace can come from only one source, that is from the power and grace of Jesus Christ and His willing sacrifice at Calvary.
“If ye will obey my voice.” Quickly He got to the point. The covenant required obedience and obedience implied a law. This would be a mild law, “holy, and just, and good” (Rom 7:12), totally different from the harsh demands of the taskmasters in Egypt. By the grace of God the law would be written on their hearts. He would make of them “an holy nation, a peculiar treasure, and a kingdom of priests.”
They would be “a peculiar treasure unto me above all people:” They were to be set apart, above all people, “the head and not the tail” (Deut 28:13). They were to be blessed for only one reason: because God was with them (Deut 4:6-8).
God would do this “for all the earth is mine.” They were going to the promised land. Canaan was a land flowing with milk and honey. But God had a higher purpose in mind, they were to be His witnesses to reach all the world with His message and with His blessing.
In Israel the priests came only from the tribe of Levi, and only those from the family of Aaron were priests. But wasn’t everyone to know God? Wasn’t everyone to worship Him “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23)? Whatever their position in life, the people of Israel were to be a “kingdom of priests,” to witness of salvation to everyone they met, a priestly responsibility to reach others.(5)
God said, “be ye holy, for I am holy” (Lev 20:7; 1 Peter 1:15). Man was created in the image of God. It was God’s purpose that man be restored to this exalted position. The covenant promise to make them “an holy nation” was by grace, following the law of God.
These verses picture the purpose of God to bring Israel into the everlasting covenant with all its blessings and responsibilities. It was a call to the people to humbly submit to the power and the grace of God to write the law “in their hearts” and to make of them His people.
Was the covenant given by God, “my covenant,” the Abrahamic covenant? Here are some things to consider: The promises of Exodus 19:5-6 are repeated in 1 Peter 2:9. This indicates a span of time consistent with the “everlasting covenant” given to Abraham.
Here are quotations from Our Creator Redeemer, p. 29, by Hans LaRondelle:
“We must ask a question, however: Did God introduce an entirely different way of salvation for Israel than for Abraham when God pronounced him righteous by believing in the divine promise (Genesis 15:6)? ...
“The Jewish theologian Martin Buber tells us that the Sinaitic covenant was not an innovation, but rather a reaffirmation of an already existing relationship – ‘a relationship which had previously been in existence.’”
But if the covenant at Sinai was “faulty, ineffectual, and old” it would HAVE to be a different covenant than what God offered in Exodus 19:4-6. The statement “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do” (Exodus 19:8) HAS to be a covenant different from what God offered. Thus, I see no way but that there IS a separation between verses six and eight.
God next came onto the mount in fire, smoke, a trumpet long and loud, thunder, lightning and an earthquake. It was a demonstration of power and majesty never seen from the gods of the heathen. It was intended to engender awe and a holy fear of God. The people were to recognize the power of God as Creator and Lord (Exodus 19:16,18,19). This was a demonstration of the power God declared in Exodus 19:4; God Himself stood behind His covenant and would fulfill its terms.
God gave Moses specific instructions to sanctify the people for two days and to wash their clothes. After a demonstration of His power and majesty, God spoke to them the ten commandments. If the people had put away all sin, and all worldly thoughts from their minds, leaving a deep hunger to know God, they would have been thrilled. Like Moses at the burning bush, they would remove their shoes, as the place where they stood was holy ground!
Instead, they were terrified, “they removed and stood afar off.” They asked Moses to not let God speak to them again, but rather for God to speak to Moses, who would then speak to them. They missed a wonderful opportunity and a wonderful experience.
Man cannot come casually into the presence of God. Nadab and Abihu died because they offered strange fire before the Lord (Lev 10:1,2). Uzzah died because he touched the ark of the covenant (2 Sam 6:6,7). These persons ignored a specific command of God (2). Only “the pure in heart” can see God (Matt 5:8). To the wicked “the LORD thy God is a consuming fire” (Deut. 4:24).
It is easy to blame the naive faithlessness of the people at that time. Are we today better than they? When Jesus comes again, He is looking for a people (Revelation 7:1-4 and 14:1-5) who will have demonstrated in their lives that His grace is sufficient to save. The wicked will be terrified, as were the Israelites (Revelation 6:15,16), but the righteous will say:
“And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation” (Isaiah 25:9).
The ten commandment law was spoken from Sinai. It was the basis for the everlasting covenant, and the focus for the covenant of works. It requires some thought to separate the everlasting covenant of grace from the temporary covenant of works. The promises of God are of the everlasting covenant. Where man fails to accept God’s grace and depends on his own promises, it is of the covenant of works. In this they focus on the same promises and the same law.
There was an important preamble to both the covenant and the law. The following verse set the tone for the covenant, and the next verse the direction of the ten commandment law:
4 “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself” (Exodus 19:4).
2 “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Exodus 20:2).
The everlasting covenant and the ten commandment law were both promises of what God would do for His people, through grace. After God spoke the ten commandment law, the people “stood afar off” and asked that God speak only to Moses, and Moses in turn speak to the people. Moses was then given details of the civil law, instructions about the feasts, and promises of His guidance and power as they proceeded to the promised land. These things were written in a book and put in the side of the ark.
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