A God of Promise, Part 1

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Short Summary
The discourse explores the theme of God as a God of promise, focusing on the nature and significance of covenants throughout biblical history. It examines key everlasting covenants—such as those with Noah, Abraham, David, and the anticipated new covenant—highlighting God’s integrity in fulfilling promises and the foundational role these covenants play in God’s plan for humanity. The discussion also distinguishes between temporary law-based covenants and everlasting promises, emphasizing the continuity and ultimate fulfillment of God’s word through faithfulness and divine purpose.

Long Summary
Detailed Summary of the Discourse: “A God of Promise” (Part 1)

Introduction to the Topic:
– The discourse is the first part of a two-part study on “A God of Promise,” focusing on the nature of God’s covenants.
– Emphasis on God’s integrity as the foundation for trusting His promises.
– Integrity defined (Merriam-Webster): adherence to moral values, unimpaired condition, completeness.
– God’s promises are viewed as pre-statements of future events; once He promises, the outcome is assured though unseen.

Key Terms Defined:
Covenant: A solemn compact or alliance, often ratified through passing between pieces of flesh (ancient ritual symbolizing firm commitment).
Everlasting (Strong’s #5769): Can mean “to the vanishing point” or indefinitely long duration, like looking to a horizon that seems to have no end.

Early Biblical Promises:
Genesis 1:27-28: God blesses humanity to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and have dominion over it.
– This original blessing is the foundation for all subsequent covenants.
Genesis 9:1-2 and 9:11-16 (Noahic Covenant):
– God reaffirms the blessing to Noah and his sons to multiply and have dominion.
– Introduces the rainbow as a physical sign of an everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures, promising never again to destroy the earth by flood.
– This covenant ensures continuation of mankind’s dominion and life on earth.

The Abrahamic Covenant:
– Begins with God’s call to Abram (Genesis 12:1-3), promising to make him a great nation and a blessing to all families of the earth.
– Initially, this is a promise or guidance, not yet formally called a covenant.
– Genesis 13:15-16 expands the promise of land and descendants “as numerous as the dust of the earth.”
Genesis 14:18-20: Melchizedek, priest of God Most High, blesses Abram after rescuing Lot, highlighting divine approval and connection.
Genesis 15: God makes the covenant official through a solemn ceremony involving divided animals and a passing torch (symbolizing God’s presence), sealing the promise of land and descendants.
– Abram’s faith is counted as righteousness (Genesis 15:5-6).
– This formalizes the promise into a covenant.
Genesis 17:7-8: God renames Abram to Abraham, establishes the covenant as everlasting, and promises the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession.
– God specifically names Isaac as the seed who will inherit the covenant (Genesis 17:18-22).
– The covenant emphasizes meticulous detail and God’s integrity in fulfilling promises.
Genesis 22:15-18: After Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac, God reaffirms the covenant, promising to multiply Abraham’s seed and bless all nations through him.
– The Abrahamic covenant is foundational, prophetic, and everlasting.

The Mosaic (Law) Covenant:
– Centuries later, God delivers Israel from Egypt based on the Abrahamic promise (Exodus 2:24).
– The Passover is instituted as a permanent ordinance (Exodus 12:14), commemorating deliverance.
Exodus 24:6-8: Moses reads the law (book of the covenant) to the people, who pledge obedience.
– Moses sprinkles blood on the altar and people, symbolizing the covenant’s solemnity.
– The law is not labeled an everlasting covenant but rather an age-lasting or perpetual covenant.
Exodus 31:15-17: The Sabbath is declared a perpetual (everlasting) covenant between God and Israel, rooted in God’s own example of creation.
– Distinction made between:
Permanent ordinances/statutes (like Passover), which are perpetual within the context of the law, but not eternal.
Everlasting covenants (like Sabbath, Abrahamic covenant), which extend beyond the law’s duration.
– The law and its statutes were designed as tools to bring imperfect humanity to the point of receiving the ultimate everlasting promise.
– The law covenant was broken by Israel, necessitating a new covenant.

Davidic Covenant:
– God makes an everlasting covenant with King David promising an eternal royal lineage (2 Samuel 23:1-5).
– Jeremiah 23:5-8 and Ezekiel 37:24-26 affirm this promise of an everlasting kingdom through David’s line.
– Jesus Christ is understood as the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant.
– Ezekiel 37:26 introduces the “covenant of peace,” an everlasting covenant distinct from the Mosaic law covenant.
– This covenant of peace is the New Covenant, a major future promise.

Introduction to the New Covenant:
– Jeremiah 31:31-32 promises a new covenant with Israel and Judah, distinct from the broken Mosaic covenant.
– This new covenant is future, different in nature, and designed to replace the old covenant.
– God’s integrity ensures He will fulfill this new and everlasting covenant despite Israel’s past failures.
– The new covenant is built upon the Abrahamic covenant foundation.
– Psalm 105:8-11 reiterates God’s everlasting remembrance of the Abrahamic covenant.
– Ezekiel 37:26-28 emphasizes the new covenant’s focus on Israel, promising God’s sanctuary among them and an everlasting relationship.
– Although exclusive to Israel, the blessings of the new covenant extend to all nations through the Abrahamic promise.

Summary and Reflections:
– Several biblical covenants are explicitly labeled everlasting: Noahic (rainbow), Abrahamic, Davidic, Sabbath covenant, and the New Covenant.
– The Mosaic law covenant is age-lasting but not everlasting.
– God’s promises demonstrate His absolute integrity: what He says, He means and accomplishes.
– The unfolding pattern shows God’s meticulous plan to bless humanity through covenants, each building on the previous for the ultimate fulfillment.
– The study aims to deepen appreciation for God’s unchanging and faithful nature.
– The next discourse (part two) will explore the New Covenant in detail, including its differences from the old covenant and the church’s role.

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Selected Bible Verses Mentioned:

– Genesis 1:27-28: God created man in His image; be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, have dominion.
– Genesis 9:1-2, 11-13, 16: God’s covenant with Noah; the rainbow as a sign of an everlasting covenant.
– Genesis 12:1-3: God’s promise to Abram to make a great nation and bless all families of the earth.
– Genesis 13:15-16: Promise of land and descendants to Abram.
– Genesis 14:18-20: Melchizedek blesses Abram.
– Genesis 15:1-6, 17-18: God formalizes the covenant with Abram through a ceremony.
– Genesis 17:7-8, 18-22: Covenant established as everlasting; Isaac named as heir.
– Genesis 22:15-18: Covenant reaffirmed after Abraham’s test.
– Exodus 2:24: God remembers covenant with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob to deliver Israel.
– Exodus 12:14: Passover as a permanent ordinance.
– Exodus 24:6-8: Moses sprinkles blood, establishing the covenant.
– Exodus 31:15-17: Sabbath as a perpetual covenant.
– Psalm 119:111-112: The statutes (law) to be kept forever, “even to the end.”
– Exodus 29:7-9: Aaronic priesthood established by a perpetual statute.
– 2 Samuel 23:1-5: David’s everlasting covenant.
– Jeremiah 23:5-8: Prophecy of Davidic ruler.
– Ezekiel 37:24-26, 28: Covenant of peace as everlasting.
– Jeremiah 31:31-32: Promise of the new covenant.
– Psalm 105:8-11: God remembers His covenant with Abraham forever.

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Key Takeaways:

– God is a God of integrity whose promises are trustworthy and unbreakable.
– The concept of covenant is central to understanding God’s dealings with humanity.
– Several covenants are everlasting, symbolized and ratified through various means (rainbow, sacrificial ceremonies).
– The Abrahamic covenant is foundational, providing the basis for future promises including the new covenant.
– The Mosaic law covenant is age-lasting, designed to guide imperfect humanity toward the ultimate promise.
– The New Covenant is a future, everlasting promise to Israel, replacing the broken old covenant and fulfilling God’s eternal plan.
– Understanding the nature and sequence of these covenants enhances appreciation for God’s eternal purpose and faithfulness.

Transcript

Let us get down to business, the business of the hour. Our subject for this morning, this is going to be a two part talk and it’s a very simple subject. The subject, the name is a God of promise.

And this is part one. Part two will be tomorrow morning and it’s going to be sort of an overview of a God of promise. Now it’s about covenants, but it’s probably a slightly different approach than maybe we might be used to. So hopefully it’s not disappointing. Okay, but so to get started, when someone makes you a solemn promise, what gives you the confidence that they’re going to keep it?

What makes you think this is something I can count on and what that is? That quality is integrity. The online edition of the Merriam Webster Dictionary defines integrity as first definition, the firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values. Second, definition, an unimpaired condition, third, the quality or state of being complete or undivided integrity. Our Heavenly Father is the model of integrity.

And that’s something that struck me as we approached this particular study. This study, these two discourses are results of our Thursday night study with many new brethren on the God of promise. God’s promises, his everlasting promises are actually simply pre statements of future events. It’s like telling you history that hasn’t happened yet because when he makes a promise, it’s done. You just haven’t seen it unfold yet.

And that’s what we want to look at today. We want to look at that from the beginning all the way through. Because the Scriptures unfold a very powerful story of our God of promise, our God of integrity. So to begin, let’s just look at what covenant actually means, and a lot of this brethren I know, you know, but we need to put it all in place so we can build the building blocks, what the word covenant means and what the word everlasting means.

Because those are two very important words as we unfold this. In Genesis 17:7, the scripture is, I will establish my covenant. That’s Strong’s number 1285, between me and you and your descendants after you, throughout the generations. For an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your descendants after you. Now we’re going to come back to this verse.

We’re not commenting on the verse, we’re just putting the words out on the table. We all know that the word covenant means a compact, literally in the lexicon, a covenant alliance, a pledge between man, between God and men, and so forth, and in the strongest definition it says a compact because it’s made by passing between pieces of flesh. That is a very ancient ritual of solemnity and reverence. When you were to make a promise, you’d sacrifice an animal.

And you’d pass between the pieces of flesh of that animal. To say that this is a firm commitment on my part. So that’s what covenant actually means. The word foreverlasting. It means, can mean and strong.

Number 5769 concealed the vanishing point. Generally time out of mind, past or future, of long duration, and so forth and so on. So you get a sense of going to the vanishing point. Now, that can have a couple of different meanings. If you’re standing outside and there’s no trees and you look, you see the horizon, and things seem to end.

But do they? No, there’s. That’s the vanishing point. You can’t see beyond the horizon. So it means to go to the horizon, to the vanishing point.

And we’ll understand that as we go a little bit further. So we’ve got these two words that we want to really be focused on as we go through this. Our first example of a promise of God doesn’t sound like a promise of God at all. But it is a statement of God that we take as a basis for all of these other things. God’s very first proclamation to his human creation in Genesis, chapter 1:27 to 28, Genesis 1:27 28.

And it says, God created man in his own image. In the image of God created he him, male and female. He created them, and God blessed them, and God said to them, here are his words, and you all know them.

Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth. This was his proclamation. This becomes the basis for all of what he does with mankind afterwards. God’s proclamation gave his blessing to multiply and fill the Earth and have dominion over it, and in spite of corruption and sin and death, they have filled the Earth.

They’ve had dominion. Mankind has had dominion. These blessings have continued. So what was promised, what was given, what was said by the Creator to his earthly children was that he blessed them and gave them the ability to fully populate the Earth over which humanity would maintain dominion. This is the basis for everything else.

We’re going to remember that, and those statements are going to come back several times as we go through this examination of a God of promise. As we look at our second example. That’s the Baseline, that’s the foundation. Hang on to that.

We go to our second example of a promise of God, and we’re going to see a significant connection to God’s very first blessing. Next, we’re going to see God speaking to Noah when they’re coming off of the ark and they’re going back to life on earth with their feet again, literally on the ground. Their feet are literally on the ground, and he says to him, to them, or it says rather in Genesis 9:1:2, God blessed Noah and his sons, and he said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Same thing.

He’s going back to what humanity was there for. He’s going back to his original proclamation, and then he says, the fear and terror of you will be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the sky, and everything that creeps on the ground, and all flesh of the sea. Into your hands they are given. Populating the earth and having dominion, are the basis for God’s next major covenant.

So he tells them exactly what he said in Genesis. This is humanity again being given the opportunity to unfold what I have given them from the beginning. Because God is a God of integrity. He says it, he means it, he does it. That’s what we want to take from this.

And brethren, I know you know this, but put that thinking in the context of putting all of these things in order, and for me, it was a real, real blessing to see how they just work so well together. God is very, very specific in his next covenant, his next promise, his next words. In Genesis 9 verses, we’re going to look at verses 11 to 13 and verse 16, he says, I establish my covenant with you. Now there’s the word covenant.

And I established my covenant with you. This is to Noah, and with all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth, and God said, this is the sign of the covenant which I am making between me and you and every living creature that is with you for all successive generations. I will set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of a covenant between me and the earth.

And then on to verse 16. When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on this earth. So now you have the word of God saying, this is my everlasting covenant to you and, and to the earth. This is my.

The integrity of my promise in an everlasting sense. It’s called an everlasting covenant, and so we have that as a basis right after God said, be fruitful and multiply, and it puts God’s promise making into a very specific light. The interesting thing is that God gave them a symbol.

God gave them something to look at, and he said, when you see the rainbow, remember my promise. He didn’t have to say it that way, but he did it so that we. So that the human race could see the depth of his integrity. Every single time you see the rainbow, it is a physical reminder.

So what was promised with this everlasting covenant? Through the sign of the rainbow, the protection of the earth and of all life from the devastation of any future universal flood, this everlasting covenant protected the ability for humanity’s dominion to continue on the earth. So now we’ve run through the first 1600 years of creation. We have be fruitful and multiply. We have it restated in the time of Noah.

We have this everlasting covenant. This is building the foundation for how God would work with his human family. The pattern that’s going to begin to emerge here is that each of God’s big and everlasting promises is built upon those that come before it all for the purpose of fulfilling his ultimate goal. That goal is the blessing of all the families of the earth, and God’s next big covenant in scripture, you know, was made with Abraham.

So we’re going to spend some time with Abraham and look at the development of the Abrahamic promise. God’s covenant with Abram started out as. Abram was not initially framed as a covenant. It was initially framed as a guidance. But it wasn’t called a covenant until a little bit later.

As we’re going to see though, this promise had many specifics which would be revealed over time. Genesis chapter 12, verses 1 through 3 is where this, the covenant, the. The seeds of the covenant first appear. Genesis 12:1,3. Now the Lord said to Abram, go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. We always think about the promise from the standpoint of and you’ll be blessed, you’ll be blessed. But in this initial phrase from the heavenly Father, he’s telling Abram, you will be a blessing, and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you, I will curse, and in you, in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed.

Doesn’t say it’s a covenant, doesn’t call it, but this is what Abram is given. Abraham Abram is 75 years old and has no children. We all know. We all know the context. We all know the story.

This promise was based on a straightforward test of faith and a test of allegiance. Go to an unnamed land and I will bless and make you a great nation, and in you, all others will be blessed. So in Genesis 13, next chapter, God showed Abram the land that he was being given after Lot had separated from him. Remember, they separated.

And God says to him, look around, and what you see, this is all that I am giving to you. Genesis 13, verses 15 through 16. For all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. Not officially a covenant yet.

Not officially, but God is saying very unequivocally, I am doing this for you. So God is giving these statements, and there’s a tremendous lesson in that. You don’t have the absolute verification yet that this is a quote, unquote, covenant from God. But by the way, God is speaking to him. You know that this is a yea and amen statement.

You know, this is a statement of integrity. God said it, God means it, and God does it. That’s what we’re seeing here. Now let’s go a little further. We need to unfold this as we move through the development of the covenant.

In Genesis chapter 15, Abram had a vision in which. Which verified. In which. I’m sorry. In which God verified this covenant.

Now, it gets to a whole different level in Genesis 15. The context. We don’t have time to go through the entire context, but the context leading up to this vision was after the War of the Kings, if you remember Abram’s rescue of Lot and his meeting with Melchizedek, which added some very powerful aspects to the covenant that was about to be officially made. So what we’re going to see happen in Genesis 15 is literally God is going to make this a promise. He is essentially going to sign a contract.

And when we think about that, there’s a great, great, great power in that because we can see the. There was a literal sign in the heavens in the rainbow. Literal sign. That was God’s stamp. I said it.

This is my will. This is what I will do, and with Abram, the same thing was about to happen. Let’s get into that, and again, we won’t take the whole thing apart.

This could have been like a six part talk, and the condensing of all of the pieces was very painful in some ways. Trying to make it so, you know, you can just fit it into a. Into something that’s digestible. Before we go to Genesis 15 though, let’s just touch on Genesis 14 because we want to address Melchizedek in Genesis 14, 18, 20.

This, brethren, I think has a lot to do with this coming covenant that’s going to be acted out essentially. Genesis 14, 18, 20, and Melchizedek, King of Salem, brought out bread and wine. Now he was a priest of God Most High, and he blessed them.

He blessed Abram. He blessed them, and he said, blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth. So Melchizedek said, blessed be Abram, he is of God Most High, who is possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High.

Pause and put yourself in that reverential moment where Melchizedek is pronouncing this blessing.

And blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. Abram gave him a tenth of all. So you have this solemn blessing in the very next event in Scripture after Abram speaks with the king of Sodom because he had rescued everybody. Here’s what happens in the very next event in Scripture after that conversation. Genesis 15:1.

After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, do not fear, Abram, I’m a shield to you, and your reward shall be very great. Your reward shall be very great. Now again we’re summing up verses so we have to skip a lot. Abram’s response to that is, well, wait a minute, I don’t have any children.

You’ve told me that I will. I don’t have any. So how can I receive what Jehovah is promising me?

So God makes it official.

Does he have to? No. So why does he? Because humanity needs to see. We need to see the promises.

So in Genesis 15, verses 5 to 6, it says, and he took him outside and said, now look towards the heaven and count the stars, if you’re able to count them, and he said to him, so shall your descendants be. Then he believed in the Lord and he reckoned it to him as righteousness. So now you have him saying, look, I’m giving you something to hold on to. But God’s not going to stop there.

Keep in mind the powerful connection between Melchizedek, King of Salem, just before this, bringing the bread and the wine and the blessing to Abram, and now he says, go look outside at the stars of heaven. That’s those. That’s how your descendants shall be.

Abram. Abraham proceeded to follow God’s instructions, and God said to him, we’re going to do the covenant ceremony, and I’m doing a lot of paraphrasing. Okay, so he divides the animals in half.

There’s several. We’re not getting into all of that. Then at night, a vision came of a smoking oven, and this is in Genesis 15, and perhaps symbolizing great troubles and afflictions.

And a torch, perhaps symbolizing the light of God’s presence. This torch passes through the pieces of. Of the animals. The light of God’s presence passes through the pieces of the animals that are divided specifically to say, this is the official ratification, the signing of this promise, this covenant. God literally sealed his promise of Abram’s descendants and inheriting the land by literally.

By literally, according to the definition of the word, saying, this is my promise to you. So there is an unequivocal understanding of what happened with Abram. He sees it, he understands it, because that’s what a covenant was in those days. Genesis 15, 17, 18. On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram on that day.

Because it was that day that it was official, that there was nothing to stand in the way. There’s no wondering. The official presentation of this promise from God is sealed. On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying to your descendants, I have given this land from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, as river Euphrates. Now God’s promise is now a literal covenant.

As the ceremony, ceremonial aspect was now complete. Fast Forward Genesis 17. Abram’s 99 years old, and God’s promise to him is labeled, and as everlasting, his name is going to be changed to Abraham. So now the covenant that was stamped and approved in Genesis 15 is going to be looked at even further. Another development.

Genesis 17, 7 and 8. It says, I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you, throughout the generations, for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your descendants after you. So now you have the introduction of not just a promise, but an everlasting promise that has been sealed with the integrity of God’s word and his willingness to do it by way of ceremony so Abraham could understand it. Verse 8, I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Caning Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.

So now the promise that was made and sealed is now called everlasting, and the inheritance is labeled as everlasting. God further verifies the promised seed will be isaac. In Genesis 17, 18, 22, he says, but my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year. Still doesn’t have the child, but he’s saying this is what is going to happen. It is yea and amen.

When he finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. So the promised seed, Isaac would be born a year from then and inherit God’s everlasting covenant. What’s the point of all of this? Because you all know the story. The point of all of this is, is to understand the meticulous detail that Jehovah went through with Abraham to help him to see, to grab hold of, to hold onto, and to never forget the depth and the magnitude of his promise.

This is the model that we want to look at when we look at other promises to come, because this is labeled as an everlasting covenant. The rainbow was a symbol of an everlasting covenant. These are the two that we have thus far that are labeled as such. So now with these pieces, we go a little bit further. Several years later, Abraham shows a willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac for his obedience.

God reiterates the precious covenant he made with Abraham. Abraham. Genesis 22, verses 15 through 18. Indeed, I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and the sand which is on the seashore, and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.

And your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice.

So God blessed Abraham, multiplied his seed and gave him land. Now, he says he’s going to be doing all of that right now. All he’s got is his son, whom he was willing to sacrifice. But this is the. It’s the reality of the plan of God unfolding before Abraham, before he had any idea how it could unfold.

Literally, Isaac has just gotten up off of the altar and you have this, this. This clarity of what the future is for Abraham. See, God is a God of integrity. What he says he means, and what he means he does. God blessed Abraham, multiplied his seed, and he gave him the.

And gave him the land. Interestingly, it sounds very much like the proclamation to Adam and Eve, be fruitful and multiply and have dominion. There’s a similarity here. So what was promised here, the depth and power of God’s covenant with Abraham was all about the everlasting blessing and dominion of the entire human race. Coming through a very specific lineage.

Okay, we spent a lot of time, Abraham, and the reason for spending all of that time is because out of the Abrahamic promise grows everything else, and the fact that Jehovah went as far as he went to put those pieces in place tells us of the importance of recognizing this is the basis, this is how my blessing will work. Everybody pay attention to this. Because out of this grows everything else.

Let’s go. Let’s fast forward now. Generations later, God’s deliverance of Israel was squarely built upon his everlasting promise to Abraham. So we know Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, name change to Israel. 12 sons, 12 tribes, they’re in slavery.

We’ve got all of those pieces. We just. We’re running through and going to the point of deliverance now.

Genesis chapter 2:24. The basis, why does God deliver them? Genesis 2. I’m sorry, Exodus 2. 24.

So God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Why did he deliver them? Because he promised. He promised and he allowed things to happen. But his promise could not be broken.

It could not be interfered with. It could not be deterred. It could not be broken. As God delivered them, the first aspect of their new law was introduced as the Passover, and it’s interesting.

Here’s how it’s described. Exodus 12:14. Now, this day, talking about the day of deliverance, their Passover will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord through your generations. You are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.

And incidentally, I’m reading from the New American Standard Bible. I should have told you that at the beginning. Sorry, that’s where we’re getting the scriptures from. As a permanent ordinance. Not a covenant, but a permanent ordinance.

What’s the difference? That’s a good question. Hang on, we’ll get there.

After presenting all of God’s words to the people. Okay, they’ve been delivered, and now Moses is presenting what God has told him to give to the people. After presenting all of his God’s words to the people, and after their enthusiastic willingness to obey, Moses builds an altar and called for the peace offerings, for peace offerings to be made to God. So he is, Moses is following instructions and now putting Israel in order to be able to receive the blessing of their deliverance.

Let’s touch on that Exodus 24:6,8. So we spent a lot of time with Abraham. Now we’re fast forwarding a lot of details and to try to put what’s going to be the law covenant in order with everything else. Exodus 24:6, 8. Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on their altar.

Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. So he took the book of the law, what he had there, and he read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, what? All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient. So there’s this, this, this, this, this magnetism toward serving he who delivered them.

So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and he said, behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all of these words. So God has given you a promise, and in that promise it was reflected in their Passover, which was to be a permanent ordinance. We’ll get back to that.

The solemnity of this event that Israel is now receiving as they have been freed from slavery can’t be overstated. With all that we have observed regarding the institution of law, the one thing that we haven’t seen thus far is the law being established as everlasting. Because it wasn’t. We need to understand that in great detail. Here’s one important detail.

Now, I just said the law was an everlasting. Now it’s going to sound like I’m going to contradict myself. Stay with me. One important detail of the law that was labeled everlasting. Very, very specifically labeled as everlasting.

Exodus 31, verses 15 through 17. Exodus 31, 15, 17. For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall surely be put to death. So the sons of Israel shall observe the Sabbath to celebrate the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual.

That’s the word for everlasting covenant. It is assigned between me and the sons of Israel forever. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day he ceased from labor, and it was refreshed, and he was refreshed.

Is there a difference between a permanent ordinance like the Passover and a perpetual covenant of the Sabbath? Is there a difference between the two? We believe there is. Before we get to that, though, understand the concept of the Sabbath being a perpetual covenant was built upon the fact that God fashioned humanity after his own example of the seven creative days, and when God rested on the seventh day, so humanity therefore should rest on the seventh day day.

And he said, that will be forever. So what’s the difference between a perpetual covenant, the Sabbath, and that permanent ordinance, the Passover? Different words. Why are they different? Because the meanings, the, the, the, the longevity of these things ends up being different.

So here now we’re going to get into some details on how to break this down, and it really helps us to understand how the law actually works.

We’re going to look at a few scriptures in psalms that help to put this in order. These psalm scriptures we’re going to go to. Psalms 119Give us a sense of a layered approach to the concept of everlasting. Okay, Remember, the word for everlasting can mean on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on, and on. Or it can mean to the.

To the. To the horizon, to the point where you can’t see anymore. Psalm 119, verses 111 and 112. I have inherited your testimonies forever. That’s the word forever lasting, for they are joy to my heart.

I have inclined my heart to perform your statutes forever, even to the end. Statutes. That word is related to the word for ordinance, not different form of the same word. So David is writing, I have inclined my heart to perform your statutes forever, even to the end. It’s interesting that it says even to the end.

The word for statute means an inactive, a prescribed task. The law was filled with statutes. So let’s give another example. The Aaronic priesthood was established perpetually, quote, unquote, that word foreverlasting under the law as a statute. Exodus 29, 7:9.

Then you shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them. You shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and bind caps on them, and they shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute. So you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.

That’s the same word as ordinance from previous. So when we look at the law and the pieces of the law covenant, we see the word perpetual come into play. But it’s perpetual in relation to the statute, not in relation to a bigger promise. The law covenant was not labeled as an everlasting covenant. The fact that several statutes within the law, where you use the word for perpetual or everlasting, makes us okay Think, what does this really, really mean?

A statute is a part of the law. The context is not eternity, but rather the context is the law itself. Statutes can be perpetual until such a time as the law of which they are a part of, ceases or changes. So when it says a perpetual, a forever statute of the law, it means that the context you have to look at the law and we know, you know, looking back, that the law, Jesus nailed the law to the cross. So all of those things would have by definition been perpetual until the law was of none effect.

And that’s an important distinction because in Scripture we purposely don’t see the law covenant labeled everlasting. The way the new covenant will be labeled everlasting. The way the Abrahamic covenant was labeled everlasting, the way the keeping of the Sabbath was labeled everlasting, the way the Rainbow covenant was labeled everlasting. It is different, and this is important when we unfold the whole story of the covenants.

This helps us to put it all in place, and for me brethren, you know, looking at this, it’s like man, Brother Rick, will you get beyond the details already? But for me, this is really important because as I understand this, you see the absolute foresight and brilliance of Jehovah God in putting his plan in place and giving humanity exactly what they needed that would work forever until it was done, and then move on to something else that would not have an ending. There’s a tremendous beauty in putting these things in order. So where are we thus far?

What was promised? The law covenant promised a way for God’s chosen people to live in harmony with Him. It was a promise, and if they had kept it, they would have received that promise. They could be fruitful, they they could multiply, they could have dominion if only they followed God’s law.

God knew they could not and therefore designed the law covenant as an age lasting, not everlasting covenant. It ended up being a tool to work with imperfect humanity to bring them to something that would never go away. In his foresight, he put that in place. As we mentioned, the other everlasting covenants that God made were solidly built not upon the law, but upon the broad and strong foundation of the Abrahamic promise. So now the next major covenant in chronological sequence was a promise to David to have God honoring royalty come through his lineage.

So we’ve got the law. We understand that the law has a beginning and an end, and there’s a perpetual keeping until such a time as the law itself ends, and then we have these other promises that Just show you on and on and on, on and on, on and on. That is backed up and built upon in these next, in this next promise. King David.

King David was truly a man after God’s own heart. In spite of his many mistakes, he always came back to God’s will and God’s way and was given a very, very promise for that faithfulness. When we look at 2nd Samuel, chapter 23, verses 1 and 2, and then to verse 5, 2nd Samuel 23, 1, 2 and 5.

Now these are the last words of David. So now you have a very important point in time. David is expiring and these are the last words of David, and he says, the Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and his word was on my tongue. So you can see his absolute connection to Jehovah.

The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me and his word was on my tongue in verse 5. Truly is not my house so with God. For he has made an everlasting covenant with me, ordered in all things and secured for all my salvation and all my desire. Will he not indeed make it grow? These are some of the last words of King David.

And he’s reiterating that God had made an everlasting promise with him that his house would be the house of God. Now this plainly stated covenant from David’s lips is verified by the prophets. So it’s not something David said on his deathbed, and that was the end. The prophets put this in order and helped us to see the magnitude of that in Jeremiah 23, verses 5 through 8.

Jeremiah 23, verses 5 through 8 says, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, and we’re going to come back to these verses in part two, when I will raise up David as a branch and he will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely, and this is his name, by which he will be called the Lord, our righteousness. So Jeremiah plainly points to David as the King. Ezekiel 37:24-26 My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd, and they will walk in my ordinances and keep my statutes and observe them.

They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob, my servant, in which your fathers lived, and they will live on it, and, and they and their sons, and their son’s sons forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. That was the promise given to David. Now, David don’t know how much he understood of that, but obviously, obviously we see Jesus plainly and profoundly being the fulfillment of this. So in David’s last dying breaths, he reiterates this everlasting promise.

And the prophets carry that promise long after he’s gone, and then Jesus comes and becomes the physical, literal fulfillment of that promise. It’s an everlasting promise. It doesn’t come to an end. Well, how does all this happen?

Let’s go one verse further in Ezekiel 37. Okay, let’s go to verse 36. 37, verse 26. I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it will be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will place them and multiply them and set my sanctuary in their midst forever.

This is not the law of covenant. Ezekiel is taking that promise to David and saying, here’s the word of Jehovah God that I will make an everlasting covenant with them. The law was never called an everlasting covenant covenant, and here is something new. Here is something different.

What is this covenant of peace? You all know the answer. It’s called the New Covenant. We’re going to spend. We’re just going to touch on the new covenant today and tomorrow.

We’re going to spend a lot of time on it, and then we’re going to spend some, a lot of time looking at the church’s role in administering the new covenant and how it’s made with the nation of Israel and so forth forth. It’s called the New Covenant, and just taking a glimpse, let’s look at Jeremiah 31, 31, 32. Behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make with them a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

Not, not like the covenant I made with them and their fathers in the day. I took them by the hand and I brought them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, declares the Lord. So the new covenant is introduced in Old Testament scripture as a dramatically different approach. Not like that covenant which they broke even though I was there for them.

This is going to be different. How’s it going to be different? Well, that’s a lot of that is going to be in part two. The new covenant is in direct contract to the law covenant. Here the prophet is revealing that the old covenant was broken by the people, not by God.

Because when God says something, God means it and he does it. He is a God of integrity. Humanity at this point aren’t followers of integrity. Just. That’s why we’re in such a mess.

Take a look around You God knew this result far ahead of time and allowed it to be an eternal teaching tool for Israel and for the rest of the world. So we’re going to see that the terminal nature of the law covenants was put in place as a marker so that humanity could have that, amongst many other things to look back upon and say that’s not the way it needs to be be moving forward.

Let’s take Jeremiah 31, 31, 32. We just read these verses, let’s take it apart and begin to examine what it’s telling us about this new covenant, and again, we’re just going to get started on that. We’ve got a few minutes here, and in our next discussion tomorrow morning, we’re going to really dwell on that and take apart the, the differences and how the church relates to the new covenant and so forth.

Jeremiah 31, verse 31 and 32. Let’s look at verse 31 again. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Okay, this is clearly a future promise. The days are coming.

So the question is when? When? We need to just establish the when. This would clearly be a new promise. So the question is, well, how?

How is it a new promise? What’s so different about that promise versus the law covenants? So we’ll discuss that, and it says it would be for all of Israel. So we need to understand, well, who does that specifically apply to?

So we want to be able to just take some time and tomorrow. I’m really setting you up for tomorrow, and just be able to draw the pieces into place, and the reason that we want to go small step by small step by small step for me, and again, this is kind of like a personal testimony on this particular study is that it helps us to more deeply appreciates the eternal integrity of Jehovah God.

There is something that is beyond our capacity to understand, and when we begin to look at the Scriptures in this way and we take them small step by small step and get down into some of these details and recognize why he did something that looks so incomplete, so that what he does in the end that is so absolutely complete, it helps it make more sense, and by putting it together and just breaking it down, it helps me to grasp it. So a lot of this is just me talking to you from my heart about this is what I learned. This is what moved me in terms of my own personal study.

So we’ve got the when and the how and the whole in Jeremiah 31, 31. Now, Jeremiah 31:32. Notice we’re not giving you any answers yet. Okay, Jeremiah 31, 32. Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

My covenant, which they broke, although I was a husband to them, declares the Lord. So this is a different promise. What’s different? What is different from the covenant they broke to the covenant they’re going to be given? What are the fundamental differences?

Because it’s all about the same thing. It’s all about learning to adhere to the laws of God Almighty and be able to follow him, honor him, worship him, sanctify him in our hearts. What’s different from what was given and what will be given? And a lot of you already know the answers to these questions, but you’re just going to have to listen to me anyway.

So the next point is this is a replacement promise. God made a promise. He made a covenant with them and they broke it. So it needed to be replaced because God couldn’t fix, wouldn’t fix what they broke because it wasn’t meant to be eternal. So why?

What’s the why in that portion? And then finally, and this is the probably easiest part of all, okay, where does this all happen? Well, you all know the answer, but we’re going to talk about it anyway. Where does it would this covenant be put into practice? It’s a very simple answer because pretty much every scripture that talks about the new Covenant tells you where, but we just need to put the stamp on it.

Okay, so in the last few minutes that we have here today, we are going to begin by establishing the who, who receives this very specific and very, very, very dynamic new covenant promise, and we know, brethren, we know it is Israel. This is very emphatic the way it’s stated.

While this new covenant is in direct contrast to the law, it’s built squarely upon the foundation of the Abrahamic covenant. That’s the foundation for the new covenant. Psalm 105, verses 8 through 11. He has remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. The covenant which he made with Abraham and his oath to Isaac, he then confirmed it to Jacob for the statute to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying to you, I will give the land of Canaan and as the portion for your inheritance.

So the psalm scripture is pointing back to the Abrahamic covenant that he has remembered forever. The word he commanded to a thousand generations, the covenant made with Abraham. That’s the baseline and brethren. It’s essentially borrowing from. From tomorrow for a moment.

That’s why we’re here. We’re here because we are part of that Abrahamic promise called according to his purpose, and that’s the power of everlasting covenants. Everlasting means there is no way that they come to an end. There’s no way they minimize themselves over some point.

We’re here as a tool of the Abrahamic covenant. So because Israel was founded on the basis of the Abrahamic covenant, they must therefore be recipients of the new covenant because it’s put in its place after their prophesied regathering. Ezekiel says in Ezekiel 37, and I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel, and one king will be king of all of them. So you have this clear stated reunification. A reunified nation will be given a renewed hope as the God of Abraham’s covenant will bless them.

So when we look at this and we are asking about the who, okay, who receives this? There’s a very, very, very straightforward, clear scriptural answer that is given to us again and again and again.

Ezekiel 37, 26, 28. I will make a covenant of peace with them. There will be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will place them and multiply them and set my sanctuary in their midst forever. My dwelling place also will be with them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

The law covenant theoretically gave Israel the chance to fulfill that, but they couldn’t keep it. Everything that went before couldn’t be kept.

This promise is made exclusively with Israel, but the exclusivity does not preclude the world benefiting from it, and we know that. We know that unequivocally. We know that because in thy seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. So as we wrap this first portion up, what we’re looking at is we’ve got several covenants in the Old Testament that are called everlasting covenants.

You have. The rainbow is a symbol of an everlasting promise. We got the Abrahamic covenant, showed us that blessing would come. You’ve got the promise to David that says there will be rulership through your line in an everlasting fashion, and we’ve been introduced to this new covenant, which is told to us many times that it is everlasting.

What we’ve done this morning is set the foundation of the pattern of God’s mind working through these things, the integrity of his word being fulfilled, even when we can’t yet see how it’s exactly going to unfold and the clarity of the Scripture showing us this is the God that we serve. He is a God of integrity. What he says he means, and what he means he does. May the Lord add his blessing.

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