The Coming of Christ and our Worship 1
VBS Christmas in July • Sermon • Submitted
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The Mosiac Covenant
The Davidic Covenant
I’ve been saying it is important to understand just how Jesus truly does fulfill those things that is said about him in the Christmas story
The promise of Abraham’s seed
The law of moses
The son of David
The more we understand this the greater our worship can be
But it is also
Important we understand how these three major covenants (Abrahamic—Mosaic—Davidic) have to do with each other and with the New Covenant so we don’t make major hermeneutical blunders
Dispensational side:
God still has yet to make good on his promises to Israel
This period today is the gentile church period only and...
Thus we are still looking to a Israeli state with old testament worship
The NT and OT are cut in half with no connection
Presbyterian Side
Even though baptism is always told to be dipping in water and for disciples
Since the Old Testament is essentially the same as the New we can let the Old Testament tell us how to do baptism today
When in reality the Old Covenant is different from the New in that the New is established off the eternal fulfilled realities
Thus circumcision is the conditional aspect of the Law given to the bloodline of Abraham—it is not an equal connection to baptism for us who are the spiritual unconditional people to Abraham
Theonomy (created in the circles of Presbyterian covenant theology)
God’s law in the Mosaic Covenant should be reproduced for all nations today
Federal Vision
Babies should be baptized into new covenant as true members
And they can lose this membership status based off their obedience or not
Understanding how these three covenants have to do with each other and how they are fulfilled in the New Covenant is vital so we don’t make such mistakes
By the way—I would call myself a 1689 Federalist
1689 federalism claims to go back to the theology of the 17th century particular baptists
In which the Baptist differed from their presby brothers in baptism based off their understanding of the covenants
The Mosiac Covenant
The Mosiac covenant is the next step from the Abrahamic covenant in God making good on providing a seed from Eve who would destroy the work of Satan
1. The context of the Mosiac Covenant
Abraham was promised a land and people. And from that a blessing to the world
The Mosaic Covenant would govern the land and bloodline people of Abraham
Thus, the Mosaic Covenant is God making good on his temporal promise to Abraham
And this is found in the context of the people of Abraham being slaves to Egypt and needed to be rescued to be given their land
13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
1 But the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” 2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant.
Thus the backdrop of the Mosaic covenant is redemption from Egypt
(Just as the backdrop of the New Covenant is redemption from slavery)
2. The Kind of Covenant
The Mosiac covenant is a development off of the Abrahamic covenant in which God intends to bless the people with physical wellbeing if they keep the conditions
a. Its laws
There is an emphasis in the Mosiac covenant on law keeping
We see a taste of that in the Abrahamic covenant with circumcision but here it is furthered tremendously.
The theme goes like this: I, Yahweh, your covenant God have blessed you. Based off this initial blessing keep my laws, and if you do then you will continue in my blessing
The beginning of God giving the law through Moses
3 while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” 7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord.
This is identical with Genesis 17 how God promises blessings to Abraham and he and his offspring is to obey to keep blessings of the physical nature
Moses comes down from the mountain the first time with the finished law and God places the Israelites under sanction to keep it (conditional)
3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
The blood represents: So be it to us if we do not keep the law
The blood also purifies the people in a physical way for the physical blessings
18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. 23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Thus since the Mosaic covenant was a covenant of blessings for obedience, there are extensive laws for the people to obey for these blessings
This is a conditional kind of covenant
b. The Promises of the Mosiac Covenant
The Israel will be the people of God and enjoy the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey.
3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. 4 Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’ 5 “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, 6 if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.
The true prophets told the people to keep the conditions of the covenant
The false prophets claimed that simply having the physical temple in Jerusalem was enough for God to be good to them
(70AD and Jesus’ warning to go to the mountains when you see the armies of Rome coming, because usually you would go to temple, since surely God will protect that).
c. The Threats of the Mosiac Covenant
The blessings come with the possibility for cursings
15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
Thus the Mosaic covenant was a conditional covenant like what God established with Adam in the garden
Blessings for obedience, curses for disobedience.
But instead of the promise of God’s presence in the garden, this is the promise of God’s presence in Canaan
Real quick…we will talk more about the connections when we get to NT, BUT
Israel is a retelling of what happened to Adam
Garden is Canaan—The command not to eat of the tree is later the Mosaic Law
Adam’s Failure is Israel’s failure
Why not skip the whole Israel thing and let Jesus come right away after Adam falls? Why not have Eve’s immediate offspring be Jesus?
20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.
What’s going on with Israel is God is
giving greater context to just how much we transgress God’s eternal law
giving greater context to exactly what law Jesus is coming to fulfill
giving greater context to the sacrifice needed to redeem sinners
giving greater context to what kind of greater kingdom this Jesus will give
Another words, the initial promise in the garden was a little light of hope, while God’s dealings with Israel provides much greater light to what Jesus is truly going to do.
Okay but that is what kind of covenant the mosaic covenant is
It has laws, promises, and threats (depending on if those laws are kept or not)
3. The Kindness of the Mosiac Covenant
Just because it was a covenant based off obedience for blessing does not mean the covenant is unkind or harsh
a. The very nature of God making a covenant is his kindness. He does not have to commit himself to act in kindness if there’s obedience
b. the sacrificial system
Where the agreement God had with Adam allowed for no disobedience at all, the Mosaic covenant did allow for certain failures for the Israelites.
The Mosaic covenant did not promise a renewed changed heart but it did allow for a way to cover the sins committed in the land that would otherwise pollute it
Leviticus and Numbers seems like tedious books for the positive laws of God in conjunction with the old testament sacrificial system, but it was essential for the Isrealites to be able to stay in the land despite their sin
(positive meaning it can be negated, and has been for us which makes it even harder to read through)
Once a year the High Priest would offer a sacrifice on behalf of all the people of Israel and make them clean in the land again
21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. 22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.
30 For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins. 31 It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever. 32 And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments. 33 He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 And this shall be a statute forever for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” And Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses.
These sacrifices have to do with the physical promises—did not save eternally
13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
c. The kindness of God in the Mosiac Covenant is seen in the history of Israel
Despite chronic failures, God is patient not to bring the covenant curses on the nation....yet
25 “When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. 28 And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. 31 For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.
Now again, such kindness is rooted in the fact that it fit the paradigm of the coming Messiah. Israel would stay a nation with its typological laws long enough for the promise seed to come and fulfill.
But nevertheless, God is patient with Israel as they fail over and over
4. The Function of the Mosiac Covenant
The main function is one of governance
Israel was promised from Abraham and before the people were connected with the land it was to be given a code of governance
a. Governs the People
Through moral and positive law
Moral—Ceremonial/civil
b Governs the priesthood
c. Governs the kingship
14 “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. 18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.
Side point…this principle that a king should not be the law, or above the law is found in Scripture.
OT law was above the king and the king was to submit to it.
d. Governs the prophets
19 And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.
e. Governs blessing and cursing
45 And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. 47 For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”
Conclusion:
The Abrahamic Covenant promised Abraham a people and land
The Mosaic covenant gave government to that people before they entered the land
This would ensure that the promise seed would be born into a nation that sets a context of what the promise seed of Eve was meant to do
Fulfill a law of righteousness
Fulfill a law of sacrificial atonement for sins
Fulfill the law of being a proper prophetic voice of God
Jesus is our prophet, priest and king. The Mosaic law gives context to the prophet and priest part…the next covenant gives context for king.
The Davidic Covenant
The Davidic Covenant is very similar to the Abrahamic Covenant
Both have an unconditional element that there will be THE promise seed to come and be king (Christ)
And have a conditional element for the rest of the bloodline offspring of David
The people of the nation, and the kings of the nation all have conditions to their well being in the land
The Davidic Covenant is connected intimately with the Mosiac Covenant as well
The Mosaic covenant had a typological mediator: Moses
But it did not have a federal head
(Adam is the federal head over all men, Jesus is federal head over all his bride, the Mosiac covenant took on a federal head as well)
The Davidic Covenant provided the Mosiac covenant with a federal head
That is why 1 and 2 Kings and through out the history of Israel, Israel’s righteousness is based off whether the king was good or bad…or did what was right or wrong in God’s eyes
1. The context of the Davidic Covenant
a. Failure for the people to keep the Mosaic Covenant
Joshua details the success of Israel to conquer the land and thus God make good on his promise to give Abraham a land
But it is plagued soon after by the people’s failure to obey the Mosaic covenant and enjoy the fruit of the land
10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. 11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.
20 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died,
Connected with this failure is there is no central leader to lead the nation into righteousness
25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
It’s not coincidence that once David assumes the throne he conquerors the greatest extent of Israel’s borders
b. prior kingship woes
David was not the first king. Saul was. He was the picking of the people
They wanted a king like the nations—they wanted to be like the nations
God gives them their wish to show how a king after man’s own heart is failure. Only the king after God’s own heart (first David and ultimately Jesus) will due.
c. Consummation
Not only did the mosaic covenant provide the law for the kings of Israel but it promised something that would come upon taking of the land
The permanent temple instead of a tabernacle
8 “You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes, 9 for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the Lord your God is giving you. 10 But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety, 11 then to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the Lord. 12 And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male servants and your female servants, and the Levite that is within your towns, since he has no portion or inheritance with you.
Who becomes central in this project? King Solomon
Thus the king of Israel is intimate with the permanent dwelling place of God
The King of Israel, Jesus, will take on flesh and tabernacle among us (John 1)
2 The Blessings of the Davidic Covenant (no conditions)
8 Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. 9 And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ”
The blessings here can be summed up in three ways
a. An established throne
Verse 16…unlike the turmoil and short reign of Saul’s dynasty
b. Rest and prosperity in Canaan
Verses 10-11 Partially given through Joshua but more fully realized in David and Solomon
Solomon’s dedication of the temple
56 “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant.
c. The presence and protection of God
Verses 9, 13, 15
9..God has been with David
13…David’s descendant will build the temple
15…God’s steadfast love will not depart
Thus it was after this covenant and realization physically with David that Israel reaches its zenith
At the completion of the temple under Solomon:
The people of Abraham had possession of the land promised to Abraham
The nation was rich and prosperous
The temple of God’s presence was built
“Through the Davidic Covenant, God gave Israel an established throne, rest and prosperity in Canaan, and His own presence and protection.”
These, however was the “I wills” of the covenant
There were also conditions
3. The conditions of the Davidic Covenant
a. Keep the Mosaic Law
Deuteronomy 17 details this
b. represent God’s people
The Davidic kings became the federal head of the Mosaic Covenant
Just like how Adam is the federal head of all men, and Jesus the federal head of his elect people
Moses was the mediator of the Mosaic Covenant but not the federal head
When he struck the rock he bore his own sins
But a common statement is said in the Kings and Chronicles account:
So and So began to reign and he was (either good or bad) in the sight of God
And the nations standing before the sight of God became funneled through the king of Judah
4. The Sanctions of the Davidic Covenant
(or what happens when the conditions fail?)
Judgement from God
Expulsion from the land
The Old Covenant represents the Abrahamic, Mosiac and Davidic Covenants
Mosiac Covenant has become synonomous with the Old Covenant because Moses controls Abraham and David
In order to enjoy the promises given to Abraham, one must obey Moses’ law
Another words, the blessings of Abraham and David hing on the Mosaic covenant
The Davidic Covenant narrows down the field of the coming Messiah
And it gives greater context to his work to accomplish
Not only will he be priest and prophet, but he will be the true king of Israel
Thus he will take the conditions of these covenants and succeed perfectly
while bearing the curses of the people
so he can pass on the blessings of the covenants to his people he represents.
21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”