The God of Covenants
Notes
Transcript
Last week - we saw the DEATH of Elisha - if you remember...
And YET - IN HIS DEATH - was saw God work.
We saw that Elisha was a TYPE of Christ...
And in being a type of Christ...
he foreshadowed the coming Messiah
he foreshadowed the burial of the coming Messiah
AND he foreshadowed the resurrection POWER of the coming Messiah
Each of these things - POINTING to Jesus - the one to come!
How many verses did we cover last week?
2
Welp - get used to it...
TODAY as well - we’ll cover just 2 verses...
STILL in chapter 13...
22 Now Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.
23 But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them, and he turned toward them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, nor has he cast them from his presence until now.
To set this up for today - we see Hazael - King of Syria still reeking havoc on Israel...
BUT - God’s MERCY shines thru here...
If we remember - Hazael OPPRESSED Israel - as a form of God’s judgment - YET -
We see AGAIN - God’s mercy still active...
And v23 tells us why...
God had COMPASSION on Israel - “because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would NOT destroy them...
SLIDE: The God of Covenants: A Covenant-Making God
The God of Covenants
The God of Covenants
There are 7 Covenants in the Bible between God and Man...
Adamic
Noahic
Abrahamic
Land Covenant (Palestinian)
Mosaic
Davidic
New Covenant
NOW - in our text today - - Why was God merciful?
Because of His COVENANT with Abraham…Isaac, and Jacob.
SLIDE:
A covenant is a solemn promise by which 2 or more parties commit themselves to the rights and responsibilities demanded by their relationship and accept the serious consequences of breaking faith.
So basically, a covenant is a picture of "relationship built on promise".
And it was the PROMISE of GOD - TO Abraham (Abram) - that is the basis for God’s MERCY toward Israel.
So TODAY - I’d like to Investigate the Covenant of Abraham - and trace the covenant - From Abraham - to Jacob...
And then see how NT writers refer to the Covenant themselves...
SO - I know we’ve been thru this before - MANY times - but we have to start with the Abrahamic covenant...
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
So right away - we see the BLESSINGS that God promises in this Covenant...
Land
Descendants
Blessing
God promise that out of Abraham's line, that a deliverer will come to rescue mankind (as promised back in Genesis chapter 3). ...to bless him, so that he would be a blessing to every family on the earth
The land that God promises Abraham is the land of Canaan.
8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
The land of Canaan, reserved for Abraham and who?
His offspring...
His offspring?
At the time of the Call of Abraham, he was 75...
...not exactly the prime of childbearing.
Abraham says to God in chapter 15:
2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”
What's God response?
4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
So we have land promised to Abraham as part of this covenant...
...and descendants promised to Abraham as part of this covenant.
God says - YOUR VERY OWN SON…will be your heir
The last promise that was apart of this covenant was that "in Abraham, all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
And so God's plan for Abraham is not that Abraham would receive all these blessings from God merely for Abraham...
...BUT that Abraham would be individually blessed, for the purpose that now thru Abraham, this blessing would extend to the whole world.
Abraham was blessed...to be a blessing
AND THEN - it’s time for the Covenant Ceremony...
We’ve gone through this so many times - I hope that MANY of us could explain what’s about to happen!
8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.
11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
Here we see God executing a covenant ceremony...
...and He orders Abraham to lay out pieces of dead animals to create an isle (a blood path) that can be walked down.
Ordinarily when a servant would enter into a covenant with a lord, the servant would pass thru the dead animals as he made his promise of faithfulness.
This was a way to say - If i'm not faithful to this promise i make today, may i be torn into pieces and killed like these animals.
The servant is agreeing to take on the curse of the covenant if he does not keep his oath.
Now with this in mind...let's look at what happens here.
17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
So instead of Abraham passing thru the dead animals...
God does!
In the form of a smoking fire pot and flaming torch, God passes thru the blood path (the dead animals), and as He does, He promises to bless Abraham in all the ways He has promised.
Typically the Servant would pass through the blood path...BUT God does...
OR - to view it this way - GOD points to the Son of God (Jesus) who would come to .... SERVE...as a Suffering Servant...
So God walks the blood path....
And then the ceremony ends.
Abraham nevers walks.
This means that God promises to take the curse of the covenant upon Himself...
NOT ONLY if He fails to obey the covenant, but if Abraham does.
He offers to die and be torn to pieces if humanity fails so that He can give us the blessings of the covenant...unconditionally.
This is the Abrahamic Covenant...
made between God and Abraham (and by extension - the people of God).
NOW - remember the PHRASE that we’re focusing in on today...
God often declares Himself to be - the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Let’s trace this phrase to each person here...
Abraham ends up having a son - Isaac - THRU WHOM the promise of God would flow...
12 But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named.
REMEMBER - Isaac was the PROMISED child of God...
Isaac was the one that God promised to Abraham and Sarah.
And so HERE - God REAFFIRMS this truth with Abraham!
THEN - God AFFIRMS this truth to Isaac himself...
1 Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines.
2 And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you.
3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.
4 I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,
5 because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
God HERE - IN TIME - reestablishing the Covenant He had made with Abraham… Isaac’s father.
THEN - we see God speak to Jacob - later on...
10 Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran.
11 And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep.
12 And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!
13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.
14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
So here - GOD AGAIN - reaffirms His COVENANT - with Jacob now...
And OVER TIME - reassuring EACH man that God is in control..
That God’s PLAN is in motion...
And that they can be CONFIDENT that God will do what He says He’s do!
SO up to this point - God has continually AFFIRMED His covenant - To - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
FAST FORWARD now - to God’s people - being ENSLAVED under Pharaoh.
And God comes to MOSES in order to direct him to help FREE God’s people - the people of Israel...
What does God say?
4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
So God INTRODUCES Himself - to Moses - as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob...
GOD HERE moving to DISPLAY His promises within the Covenant...
AND what we see is this...
SLIDE: The God of Covenants: A Covenant-Keeping God
The God of Covenants
The God of Covenants
So God introduces Himself - as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
What would that have done for Moses?
It would have reaffirmed to Moses - that the GOD of MY PEOPLE - was still MOVING - STILL working
AND THIS WOULDN’T HAVE JUST helped Moses...
WHY?
v13
13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”
15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt,
17 and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’
God says - TELL the PEOPLE - MY PEOPLE - that THEIR God..
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is here…and is MOVING to show MERCY!
NOT ONLY THAT - But God was VALIDATING the promise He had made in the Covenant with Abraham.
Remember? In the COVENANT...
He said - ISRAEL - even if YOU mess up and break this covenant - I WILL TAKE UPON MYSELF the curse of the covenant!
And so God here - BEING TRUE to His word!
In being MERCIFUL to Israel...
AS WE KNOW - King after King - did what was EVIL in the sight of the Lord...
And YET - God - is MERCIFUL to them…OVER and OVER again.
NOW ----
- fast forward - Jesus COMES...
Begins His earthly ministry...
And so - some 800-900 or so years after Elisha dies...
Some Sadducees come to Jesus and ask Him about the resurrection of the dead...
23 The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question,
24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’
25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother.
26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh.
27 After them all, the woman died.
28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”
29 But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.
30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:
32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”
33 And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.
Jesus here - REFERENCES this phrase… (the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) in order to SHOW those who DIDN’T believe in a resurrection of the dead...
That God is the God of the LIVING!
That Abraham - Isaac - and Jacob were ALIVE with God at the time Jesus spoke these words!
God had said - I AM the God of Abraham…not I WAS the God of Abraham when he was alive on earth...
NOW - Jump ahead to the time of the early church...
And we’ll see another instance of THIS PHRASE being spoken!
The Message of Christ is spreading - and an instance of this was done through miraculous healing...
Peter and John heal a lame man…and the people rush over to see what Peter and John had just done...
11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s.
12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?
13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.
14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,
15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.
16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
What does Peter do?
Couple things:
HE ENDS BY SAYING WHO DID THIS...
He ends by SAYING - The TRUE GOD empowered this miracle...
AND THEN - He tells them WHO this God is...
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob...
The God of the people’s FATHERS… YOUR Fathers
The Jewish LEADERS - who were ALWAYS attaching themselves to ABRAHAM as their FATHER...
ELEVATING Abraham as their TICKET to God...
PETER says - The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - the PATRIARCHS...
The GOD YOU CLAIM to worship - He GLORIFIED His servant - JESUS!
The God you CLAIM to worship - EXALTED Jesus Christ...
And YOU - YOU just KILLED Him!!
THIS MAN was healed in the NAME of Jesus..
In the NAME of the one you just CRUCIFIED!!
You just KILLED - the AUTHOR of LIFE!
AND THINK THROUGH IT....
This KILLING of Jesus - WAS PART of the Abrahamic COVENANT made between God and His people!!
God had said - “Israel - if YOU mess up and BREAK COVENANT with Me - I WILL TAKE THE CURSE of the COVENANT UPON MYSELF...
You can TEAR ME to pieces (like the animals involved in the covenant ceremony)
And so - the CROSS of Christ - WAS TWO THINGS:
The cross of Christ was the means of God to fulfill His promise of the Abrahamic Covenant
The cross of Christ was an act of rebellion against God of the highest degree, by mankind, an act of which mankind was accountable.
And so IN THIS ACT - the execution of the Son of God -
Mankind did what mankind wanted to do, was accountable for it..
AND - God accomplished His own purposes in it.
*We’ve all heard the phrase - I”M SURE - play stupid games - win stupid prizes...
**Ever see the Yellowstone videos of people trying to feed the Bison? And bad things happen?
**Ever see the video when people stick their head into the open mouth of an alligator - and the Alligator decides it’s lunch time?
Do we ever BLAME the animal?
No - we say - OF COURSE you’re gonna get attacked!
THAT’s WHAT ANIMALS DO!
BY NATURE - that’s what they do!
Well - BY NATURE - man killed Jesus. YES…but Christ LAID DOWN His own life...
He KNEW the nature of man...
Jesus - basically - taped RAW MEAT to his body and jumped into the lion’s den...
WELL - we know where THAT would lead!
Jesus (being LIFE) - coming to earth - stepped into humanity - and by nature - man killed Him - because by nature man is EVIL...
AND SO - we can see - all the pieces of GOD’s PLAN - come into place...
God creates man...
Man falls…and in falling, becomes hopeless
Even so - God promises life to His people, those who cannot attain it
God’s people continually turn from Him
Even so - God purchases that life with His own life, for His people
God supplies what is required to attain an eternity with Him
And i don’t think it’s any coincidence - that IN the phrase we’ve been looking at today -
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob...
We FIND a picture of God’s PLAN of Redemption!
SLIDE:
The God of Abraham: The Father of the Faith
The God of Abraham
The God of Abraham
11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well,
What about Isaac?
SLIDE: The God of Isaac: The Promised Son
The God of Isaac
The God of Isaac
19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.
Not only was Isaac promised - but he was a SECOND away from being Sacrificed on the altar...
9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
So here we see - The PROMISED SON - about to be Sacrificed to God...
And INSTEAD - GOD supplies the offering!
And clearly we see the correlation.
SO what do we have so far?
SLIDE:
The Father: Abraham
The Son: Isaac
But we still have Jacob...
SLIDE: The God of Jacob: Israel
The God of Jacob
The God of Jacob
If you know the story of Jacob...
He was the 2nd born, right after Esau…his brother...
YET - Jacob ends up getting the Birthright from Esau...
HOW?
he DECEIVES Isaac his father.
If we think of Jacob’s name - it MEANS - Deceiver
BUT - God ends up changing his name… to what?
24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.
25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.
26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
So Jacob’s name gets changed to Israel...
ISRAEL - means - - “God’s Fighter” - OR - “He struggled with God”
In this fallen world - I assume most of you FEEL the weight of the world pressing IN...
The WEIGHT of SIN - pressing in - always seeking to take us down… It’s A STRUGGLE for sure...
And Jacob’s STRUGGLE with God - ended in BLESSING to Jacob.
In SPITE of the struggle for US as believers - on this side of the grave… What awaits us - IS BLESSING!!
And so - just looking at this - from a WIDE ANGLE...
There’s NO verse in the Bible that says - YES - these things represent each other...
But it IS interesting to see the connection!
SLIDE:
The Father: Abraham
The Son: Isaac
The Church: Jacob
And we see that even in the New Testament - this phrase is USED by God to MAKE the connection between the OLD TESTAMENT God of ABRAHAM, ISAAC, and JACOB...
…AND - JESUS CHRIST!
For the Jews - They didn’t MAKE the connection between the [God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob] - AND Jesus Christ
THEY experienced ALL of God’s MERCY in Old Testament times...
But they DIDN’T connect - the Abrahamic Covenant with Jesus Christ!
And so TO FINISH today - let’s look at the TEXTUAL connection.
A Verse we already saw today...
17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
Again - this here - God saying - ISRAEL - if you fail and break covenant with me - I WILL TAKE THE CURSE UPON MYSELF - you can TEAR me apart - FOR YOUR MISTAKES
FOLLOWING this - as we’ve SEEN OVER and OVER again in our trek thru 1 & 2 Samuel - and 1 & 2 Kings...
… The People of Israel CONTINUALLY seek OTHER gods...
WORSHIP other gods...
And YET - God CONTINUES to bring MERCY!
Is that a PROBLEM? - YES!!
Even the Bible SAYS that it is!!
15 He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord.
Israel - as we KNOW - over and over again - proved they were WICKED...
NOW - we’re ALL WICKED at heart - BUT - in OT times, God continued to show MERCY to the WICKED!
WHY? and HOW?
It says here - DOING so is an ABOMINATION - - TO GOD!
SO - HOW DOES GOD rectify this problem?
Here’s how - and here’s the connection between God’s OT mercy…and God NOT being an abomination UNTO HIMSELF...
24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
These verses HERE - connect JESUS CHRIST - to the Abrahamic Covenant.
God continued to SHOW MERCY to Israel - even in the midst of their IDOLATRY - because -
1000 - 800 years later - Jesus would go to the CROSS - and SUFFER and DIE for the SINS that God “Passed Over” formerly!
1000 years after David sinned...
800 years after Elisha died....
God says - You wanna KNOW HOW serious I take SIN...
I send my Son - Jesus - to the cross - to TAKE UPON HIMSELF - MY justice against SIN… my WRATH against sin!
SUMMARY
The God of Covenants
A Covenant-Making God
A Covenant-Keeping God