The Lord says to
His people, “Now if you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all
nations you will be My treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine,
you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation…” (Ex. 19:5-6).
Throughout the
Bible we learn that God wants to bless individuals who faithfully follow Him.
In fact 2 Corinthians 1:20 teaches that all the promises of God are yes and
Amen in Christ. Whatever He promises us, He will do. However, the blessings of God are often
associated with obedience.
Last month we
began considering the covenant that God made with Moses and the Israelites on
Mt. Sinai. At the heart of this covenant is the Ten Commandments. Each
commandment is given out of love seeking to protect us from the dangerous
consequences that can result from disobedience. Yet at the same time, there are
great blessings through obeying God’s covenant of love.
Pastor John Piper
points out five blessings, Divine promises within the Mosaic Covenant. First, Israel will be God’s prized possession. God
mentions that all the earth is His to show that when he calls Israel
His "own possession" (Ex. 19:5), He means more than the general care
and authority He has over the world. He will be Israel's God and they will be
His possession in a special way. According to 1 Peter 2:9 this blessing applies
to all spiritual descendants of Abraham, implying us as Christians today (see http://eugenechristianchurch.blogspot.com/2017/10/covenants-6-battle-for-israelisaac-vs.html)
Second, Israel
will be a kingdom of royal priests (Ex. 19:6). The most striking privilege
of the priests was intimate access to God. According to 1 Peter 2:9, every
Christian is a priest, and we have been granted the amazing privilege of being
able to draw near to God on account of Jesus (Heb. 10:19-22). God blessed OT
believers with a physical Promised Land (Josh. 21:43), and He promises all
believers a place prepared for them in heaven (John 14:3). Even so, our greatest inheritance is the Lord
Himself (Ps. 16:5). This privilege is heightened when God calls us a royal
priesthood or priests in the service of the King. There is no greater
privilege than to have intimate access to the King of the universe.
Third, Israel
will be a holy nation (Ex. 19:6). Israel would be holy in two senses:
one, they would be set apart and distinguished from all the other peoples; two,
she would be granted a moral likeness to God. She would share God's character.
"Be holy, for I am holy" (Lev. 19:2). This is true of spiritual
Israel as well (Heb. 8:10; 1 Peter 1:16). Thus if we, as the spiritual
Israel, keep His covenant we will have the all-satisfying privilege of likeness
to God as a holy nation
The fourth
blessing of obedience, God will defend Israel from all her enemies.
In Exodus 23:22, “If you listen carefully to what He says and do all that
I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose
you.” The Lord is faithful and He will strengthen and protect us (2 Thess.
3:2-3).
And fifth, God will be
merciful, gracious and forgiving (Ex. 34:6–7). To
understand that God’s mercy, grace, and forgiveness originate at Mt. Sinai when
God gave the Ten Commandments are some of the sweetest words in the Bible. For
God understood that we would fail to keep His commands, yet even still there is
grace. In this we also see a harmonious message of grace throughout the Bible.
When the Lord passed in front of Moses, revealing His glory, Moses proclaimed, 'The
Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding
in love and faithfulness, maintain love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness,
rebellion and sin…” (Ex. 34:6-7) So the fifth great promise of the Mosaic
covenant is that God will treat His people with mercy and grace and will forgive
our sins—as we keep His covenants.
Upon the cross of
Calvary, the Mosaic Covenant ended (Col. 2:16-17; Heb. 7:12; 8:13-9:4).
However, the Mosaic covenantal blessings still remain as can be seen in the
references listed! We as faithful followers of Christ are God's special
possession, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a divinely protected people, and
a people blessed beyond measure as a result of God’s amazing grace! Therefore,
may we seek to obey what our loving God commands for He knows best.
In His service,
Matt
No comments:
Post a Comment