O.T. Covenant Living

Review

Last week we started our series on the Promises of God and we set the stage for looking at them. We ended up by making certain conclusions about His promises.

His promises are irrevocable.

He is committed to His promises.

His promises are conditional.

I gave everyone some homework and asked you to look at:

Scriptures that pointed to the promises of God.

Personal experiences that spoke of God’s promises.

Today I’d like to open up the floor to anyone who would like to share what they discovered in doing their homework. Would anybody like to share?

This week we will begin to look at the promises themselves.

Old Testament Promises

Introduction

Last week we looked at how obedience, was the key to putting ourselves in the position to receive His promises, and in OT times, obedience was a given because they understood a principle with which we are not really familiar today.

Covenant relationship.

You see, the whole reason that the Jews knew they could rely upon the promises of God is that He had made a covenant with His people. And covenants were a way of life for them. So in order to understand God’s promises we need to understand the principle of Covenant relationship.

Covenants were cut with a blood sacrifice

Beginning with the Garden of Eden, God established the principle of the blood covenant when He made clothes for Adam and Eve. Do you remember what Adam and Eve used for clothing as soon as they realized they were naked?

Let’s read it together:

Genesis 3:6–11 NKJV

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

God then goes on to pronounce the sentence for their transgression by making them a series of horrible promises, but then bringing them hope in the curse against the serpent.

Genesis 3:15 NKJV

And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

Do you see that ? Right here is where God is promising Jesus who would one day bruise Satan’s head! And how does He seal up all of those dreadful promises? With a blood sacrifice! But pastor, it doesn’t say in the passage that God cut a covenant sacrifice with them! Doesn’t it? Read this:

Genesis 3:21 NKJV

Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.

Where did the skin for the tunics come from? Up until now, had the world known death? Hmm… so here is where God is doing two things.

He is demonstrating the cost of sin

He is demonstrating the cost of grace

See, grace isn’t free - it costs something, and in the case of our salvation, it had the most expensive price tag ever put on anything in the Universe! The life of the very Son of God.

But here God was foreshadowing what would be required in order for man to restore right relationship with his creator a relationship based on a covenant, a covenant so serious that it required the shedding of blood to seal.

Eventually as God would make additional covenants with man, He would demonstrate the other requirements necessary to make those covenants. For example:

Faithfulness

There were parts both parties had to be faithful to. If the covenant was broken by one or the other there were often severe consequences. When we are talking about the promises of God, we likewise see that when God makes a promise to us, there is a part that each party plays. God makes a promise — that’s His part, we are obedient to the conditions — that’s our part.

Finally, there is an enduring symbol of the covenant. Much like a husband and wife exchange rings when they enter into the marriage covenant, there is some sort of symbol with God’s promises. With Noah, it was the rainbow, with Jesus it was the cross.

All of our scriptures will demonstrate the promises of God from the perspective of covenant relationship. So let’s get started in Genesis. With the story of Noah

Genesis 8:20 NKJV

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

What do we see happening here? This is the part where Noah cuts the sacrifice. As we just discussed, a sacrifice is require to cut a covenant relationship. This act of faith coupled with Noah’s acknowledgement of a covenant relationship with God, move God to act.

Genesis 8:21–22 NKJV

And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.”

So God makes His promises to Noah.

The promises of God.

No more wiping out the Earth with water.

The establishment of the concept of sowing and reaping.

The establishment of seasons

Next, God pronounces a blessing not only for Noah, but for all of humanity as well.

Genesis 9:1–7 NKJV

So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man. “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man. And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it.”

OK pastor, I get it! God was blessing man, but you said this was about a covenant. Well, cool your horses. That part is next!

Genesis 9:8–11 NKJV

Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

And that enduring symbol?

Genesis 9:10–17 NKJV

and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

The Bible interpretation rule of first reference, says that this first declared covenant provides the template and so that is why we look at Noah, but God wasn’t done making covenants. There is a whole series of men with whom He not only made covenants, but with whom He would continually expand those promises.

The Patriarchs

Abraham

The sacrifice is cut

Genesis 15:9–11 NKJV

So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

The promise of God.

Genesis 15:16–21 NKJV

But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

God adds to the promise.

Genesis 17:1–9 NKJV

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” And God said to Abraham: “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.

The covenant is conditional on faithfulness vs. 1

But what we find is that the additional promise requires a new sacrifice to be cut, and this time it’s personal.

Genesis 17:10–14 NKJV

This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

The promise was so radical that it included a change of identity for both Abram and Sarai. A new name meant more than just a new spelling it meant a whole new destiny. When we come to Jesus, there is a change that hneappens. Not only do we take on the name of Christ, but we have a whole new destiny!

The promise was received by faith

Hebrews 11:8–9

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;

Hebrews 11:17–19

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

NOTE: God doesn't bargain the way man does. When we strike a deal we go to one another and tell each other what we want out of it. We say, "I'm willing to do this for you, now what will you do for me?" We take that same attitude with God, and then blame Him for not living up to His part of the bargain.

The problem is not with God, it is with our perception of who God is. Since we have nothing that God needs, we are at His mercy. He sets the conditions and He makes the promises. There is no bargaining, and no counter-offers.

Isaac

The promise to Abraham passed to Isaac.

Genesis 26:3–4 NKJV

Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;

A great promise indeed. Once again, God adding to the promise which He had already made with Abraham, but with the increased promise came the requirement of continued obedience to inherit it.

There was still the requirement for sacrifice, but this time around, the sacrifice was not a blood sacrifice, rather a sacrifice of self-determination.

By looking at his situation, Isaac knew what was best for him using natural thought, so imagine the confusion when God gave him a contrary plan to what seemed the most logical. The requirement for Isaac, as is often the case for you and me is, that in order to secure the promises of God, we must sacrifice our own plans and understanding.

Jacob

Next up is Jacob

Genesis 28:13–15 NKJV

And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 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 spoken to you.”

Again, just like his father the sacrifice is one of sacrificing his own understanding.

Genesis 46:2–4 NKJV

Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” And he said, “Here I am.” So He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.”

You know, many times the sacrifice that God requires from us is to sacrifice our own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5–6 NKJV

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Israel

A new promise given

We are no longer talking about individuals. We’ve seen His promises made and kept to the patriarchs, now we look at God speaking to an entire nation through Moses. The original promises that were made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are now expanded upon by God as He addresses the nation that bears the same Identity as the last patriarch.

Exodus 19:1–6 NKJV

In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai. For they had departed from Rephidim, had come to the Wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Israel camped there before the mountain. And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

Notice how God starts this interaction. Before He started by introducing Himself to each of the patriarchs in terms of what He had done for the previous patriarch. Now God has 720 years of proving His faithfulness to the children of Egypt. His faithfulness to the promises of Abraham. Now, obviously it hasn’t gone swimmingly for the nation of Israel (after all, they spent years as slaves to the Egyptians) but here they stand, miraculously freed by the hand of God. Saints, I want us to think back to our series on prayer. The answer that we get isn’t always yes. And it may seem sometimes like God has not been there for us. Just remember, that God sees a much bigger picture than we do. God waits to make a promise to Israel until right after He’s proved Himself in a grand way.

What are the terms?

As always, when God makes a promise, He lays out the conditions and terms for the new covenant. In this case, God gives the nation of Israel the Ten Commandments!

The Sacrifice is Cut

Exodus 24:5–6 NKJV

Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar.

Are we beginning to see a pattern here? God comes to strike a bargain with man. Since we really don’t have anything He wants, He gets to set the terms. He makes amazing promises if we meet His terms, and He is perfectly faithful to fulfill His end of the bargain if we fulfil ours. The only thing He requires of us is simple obedience.

OT Men of Renown: Phinehas, David and Jeremiah

Sometimes God is moved to enter into a new covenant, a new promise because of some extraordinary act of faith or faithfulness on our part. How does this look?

Phinehas

Phinehas is a man that we hardly hear much about. He doesn’t seem to catch too many people’s attention, but he surely caught the attention of the King of the Universe. So let me set the story for you. The time is after the death of Moses, while Joshua and the Israelites are still trying to conquer the promise land. The Israelites are encamped at Shittim, before entering Canaan. They are near a place called Baal-Peor in Moab, now how many know that anytime you are near any place called Baal, you’re in a bad neighborhood? Well, this is one of those places. What was this place all about? Well it was a red light district if you will. The women of Baal-Peor would lure the Israelite men for the purpose ritual sexual intercourse. Because of this perversity and because of their disobedience to the commandments that God had just given them through Moses, the Israelites are suffering from a severe plague in their camp. One Israelite man by the name of Zimri, brought a Midianite woman named Cozbi into the Israelite camp in order to thus worship Baal. When Phinehas saw what was happening he followed them into the tent, and well let’s take a look at what happens next:

Numbers 25:6–13 NKJV

And indeed, one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Now when Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand; and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel. And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in My zeal. Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him My covenant of peace; and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.’ ”

It is important to note that the covenants of God are almost never cut with human blood with a few notable exceptions. Here is one of those exceptions.

Zeal for righteousness brings about peace.

It seems as though Phinehas’ zeal for righteousness got the attention of God and produced a covenant of peace between God and the nation of Israel. At least to the extent that it stopped the plague. But the covenant became more personal for Phinehas. God made a covenant with him personally, which included a new destiny for all of his descendants.

David

2 Samuel 7:5–16 NKJV

“Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Would you build a house for Me to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’ ” ’ Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel. And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth. Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the Lord tells you that He will make you a house. “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”

God honors our thoughtfulness, our heart

his new covenant is given after David is moved with a desire to build a house for God. God responds by saying that David’s house is established forever. . David himself cannot build the house for God because of the massive amount of bloodshed with which he is associated, but he is instrumental in casting the vision for it and building a kingdom which could accomplish such a grandiose task. Here’s the thing, this response by God was to David’s heart, it wasn’t to David’s action. God saw what was there, and just because David himself was not the man for the job, the fact that he wanted to honor God in this way was enough to move God on his behalf. Saints, sometimes you may have a dream to do something big for God. You may not ever see it come to fruition, but here’s the good news. The very fact that you have that vision to serve God may be all that is needed to move the hand of God on your behalf. Take heart and continue to dream big dreams for the kingdom.

Jeremiah

The prophet Jeremiah heard from God about a coming covenant. He saw the promises of God from a distance. Listen to what he had to say:

Jeremiah 31:31–34 NKJV

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

A new covenant coming! One unlike all the others! I’ll leave you with that, as we wrap this week’s lesson up. I want us to consider what we’ve learned today.

Putting it All Together

The promises of God are grand

God doesn’t promise little things, but saints, let me tell you, little things are covered by His promises. God promises expensive things! They require sacrifice and they require obedience. And you know they say good things come to those who wait and the best things are worth waiting for, and with God’s extravagant promises, waiting is a given so they require patience. And most of all they require faith. And despite all of these “requirements” they are so worth it. They are worth it for you and for your children and for your children’s children because God’s promises can be inherited, passed from one generation to the next, and sometimes they can even be expanded upon - if the proper ingredient is present - obedience!

Homework

Recount a promise which God made you

That required sacrifice or

That required obedience or

Was made in the middle of the desert

Or...

Recount a promise that you are sure you received because of a parent or grandparent.