This is part 3 of our series on the Old Testament Covenants. Last time, we unveiled the promises made with Noah and Abraham. In this episode, we'll venture further into God's redemptive plan, exploring God's Covenants with Moses and David. These bonds in blood, sovereignly administered, reveal God's unwavering commitment to His chosen people.
This is part 3 of our series on the Old Testament Covenants. Last time, we unveiled the promises made with Noah and Abraham. In this episode, we'll venture further into God's redemptive plan, exploring God's Covenants with Moses and David. These bonds in blood, sovereignly administered, reveal God's unwavering commitment to His chosen people.
Note: All scripture references are from the NIV translation unless otherwise indicated.
Jacqui:
Welcome back to the Bible Basics podcast. If this is your first time joining us, we are so thrilled and excited that you're here. This is part 3 of our series on the Old Testament Covenants. Last time, we unveiled the unshakable promises made with Noah and Abraham. In this episode, we'll venture further into God's redemptive plan, exploring God's Covenants with Moses and David. These bonds in blood, sovereignly administered, reveal God's unwavering commitment to His chosen people. So if you're eager to discover the depths of His faithfulness, stay tuned to this episode of the Bible Basics podcast, as we'll explore God's Covenants with Moses and David. Well, welcome everyone.
Jacqui:
I'm your host, Jacqui Adewole, and this is the Bible Basics podcast, where, weekly, we break down the Bible into understandable, bite-sized chunks. Let's review. We're focusing on the Divine Covenants, those initiated by God Himself. We left off with God establishing unconditional Covenants with Noah and Abraham. After the flood, God made a covenant with Noah. Through this covenant, we are sure that the world will not experience another destruction by flood. God promised Abraham land, descendants and blessings. These first two covenants each layout specific and unconditional promises that God will see through to their fulfillment in spite of human failure. If you missed that episode, I encourage you to go back and listen to it. The link is in the show notes. This episode will be focusing on God's Covenants with Moses and David.
Jacqui:
Now let's turn to the book of Exodus. God used to serve at Moses to lead the Israelites out of their 430 years of slavery in Egypt. At Exodus 19, they've arrived at the base of Mount Sinai. This is the setting of the first covenant we'll discuss today, called the Mosaic Covenant. It's sometimes referred to as the Sinai Covenant or the Old Covenant. So what was promised? What's in this Mosaic Covenant? Well, God instructed Israel to obey all the laws given at Mount Sinai. He promised to bring blessings if they followed his commands and curses if they ignored them. The purpose of this covenant was to show Israel how to live in relationship with God and each other. God promised to make Israel into a holy kingdom of priests that would spread his blessings and glory to all the nations. Israel's allegiance to God would be outwardly reflected in the way they live, the way they obey his commands and, most importantly, how they observed weekly Sabbath rest. Israel would be set apart and distinguished from all other peoples. This agreement included stipulations in the form of the Ten Commandments and the 600 plus other laws. God promised to bring Israel blessings if they keep those commands and laws. Now you heard me say "if Israel keeps his laws, that's the condition.
Jacqui:
It's important to know that the Mosaic Covenant is very different from the others because it's conditional. The blessings that God promised are directly related to Israel's obedience to his commands, which are also called the law. If Israel's obedient, then God will bless them with long life, prosperity, safety and freedom from foreign oppression. But if they disobeyed him, God would punish them. There'd be disasters, tragedies, warfare, exile and foreign occupation that eventually would come after repeated flagrant disobedience. These blessings and curses are detailed in Deuteronomy 28. I encourage you to take a look at that. Now. Here's an important note. God knew that Israel would eventually be disobedient and find themselves in captivity in a foreign land, but he wouldn't be giving up on them. In Deuteronomy 30: 1-10, God tells them that there'll be an opportunity for them to be fully restored back to him. This restoration will take place under the New Covenant, which we'll discuss in the next episode.
Jacqui:
Understanding the Mosaic Covenant is foundational to understanding many topics in the Bible. Examples would be the cycles of blessings and curses in the Old Testament, the exile of Israel and Judah, the disputes between Jesus and the Pharisees and Paul's teachings about law and grace. So that's the Mosaic Covenant. Let's turn to the Davidic Covenant. Now we're in 2 Samuel 7. Visualize this the Israelites have entered the Promised Land of Canaan, but they find themselves in a repetitive cycle of turning away from God, from the law that they received under the Mosaic Covenant. They experienced curses, begged God for forgiveness and blessings, turned back to God and then turned away again. It was an ongoing cycle. After about 300 years of this, israel decided they wanted a king to rule over them, just like the neighboring nations. So Saul is anointed as the first king, but he disobeys God.
Jacqui:
Next, God chose David, the son of Jesse from the tribe of Judah. David's family line can be traced back to Abraham. God made David a successful leader Out of gratitude. David wanted to build God a temple. However, through the prophet Nathan, David discovers that God has other plans. It's God who will establish an everlasting kingdom and a throne for David, not the other way around.
Jacqui:
2 Samuel 7:16 reads, "your house. That means his family line and your kingdom will endure forever before me, your throne will be established forever. God is saying that one of David's descendants will reign as king forever. At first glance, we might think oh, david's son, solomon, is in mind here. Yes, he is David's descendant and will even be king, and he'll build a temple. But will he reign forever? Absolutely not. It's only Jesus Christ who will ultimately fulfill this promise. Matthew 1 and Luke 3 give us extensive genealogies to demonstrate that Jesus, his ancestry, places him in David's family line. Also, if you take a look at Luke 1, 32 and 33, you can see that the angel tells Mary that God will give her son the throne of his father, david. Her son will reign over Jacob's…. Remember, jacob, that's Abraham's grandson will reign over Jacob's descendants forever, a kingdom with no end".
Jacqui:
The Davidic covenant is unconditional. There is nothing David and his descendants could do to undo this covenant. The fulfillment of these promises rests solely on God's faithfulness. Now, though, the Davidic covenant is unconditional, there is a stipulation. If you look at 2 Samuel, 7: 14 & 15, you'll see it says, " I will be his father and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod welded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands Verse 15,. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, who I removed from before you. Here God is saying that if the human king of Israel remains obedient, he'll be blessed. If not, he'll face curses. The historical accounts in the books of kings and chronicles provide numerous examples of kings who did evil in the eyes of the Lord, or those that did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. But despite their actions, god's promises did not change. As for the sign of this covenant, we discover in 2 Chronicles 13.5 that it's salt, a preservative, a symbol of fidelity and loyalty. Salt represents God's unchangeable pledge to fulfill the Davidic covenant. This salt serves as a powerful reminder of his faithfulness.
Jacqui:
The Davidic covenant is everlasting. It's forever. In fact, the word is found eight times in the 7th chapter of 2 Samuel. This shows us the significance of this aspect of the covenant. No wonder this covenant was key to Israel's hope for the future. When God promises to do something forever, all of eternity is being shaped. In conclusion, with this Davidic covenant, god promised an eternal throne to the house of David, which Jesus Christ ultimately fulfills.
Jacqui:
Watch how David responds to this promise In 2 Samuel 7: 18 and 19,. We see that he prayed. He began worshiping God with thanksgiving and praise. David recognized he was unworthy, but this promise would come to pass because God is true and faithful. Can you see the picture coming together from the Mosaic Covenant's law giving that shaped the destiny of Israel to the everlasting throne promised in the Davidic Covenant?
Jacqui:
These covenants reveal God's character as a faithful and loving God who keeps his promises. At every step he's bringing his people closer to him. All of these covenants build on one another. After God's covenant with David, we're now left waiting for that great king, the Messiah, from David's line. He'll make right the fractured relationship that began in the Garden. So don't miss next week's episode, where we'll wrap up this series on covenant with a discussion of the new covenant. To help with your note-taking, I wanted to point out that you can get a transcript of every episode at our website, www. bible-basics. org. Thank you for tuning in. If this has been beneficial to you, please share it with others, subscribe or follow, and all of you Apple Podcast listeners, drop us a review.