The Covenants of Scripture, part 2

Transcript

GRM 1133
2/22/2015
The Covenants of Scripture Part 2
Deuteronomy 29, 30; 2 Samuel 7; Jeremiah 31; Ezekiel 36
Gil Rugh

We started to talk about the covenants here because we have been talking about the covenants in our study of II Corinthians. The old covenant or the Mosaic Covenant and the new covenant in II Corinthians and then the prophetic unfolding of events in Daniel is tied to what is promised in the Abrahamic Covenants. I just want to be sure we are together in our understanding of these covenants.

Why don’t you just put up that first slide on Reformed Theology? We covered this, the covenants that are not Biblical covenants. So don’t get confused. These are covenants we would not hear at Indian Hills but since I referred to Reformed Theology and Covenant Theology I wanted you to know where they come from. Not from the Biblical covenants we identify and the key covenant in this is the covenant of grace and if you do read the reformed material sometimes they will talk about two covenants because they combined the covenant of grace and the covenant of redemption. The covenant of grace being the covenant God established with the elect before the foundation of the world to provide salvation for them in Jesus Christ. So the covenant of grace for Reformed Theology is the overarching covenant.

Let me just say the Reformed Theology, Covenant Theology is based out of these covenants but reformed theologians may be pre-millennial, post-tribulation or pre-millennial; sometimes called covenantal pre-millennialists. They may be a millennialists. They don’t believe in a literal 1,000 year earthly kingdom but for the larger portion of them they would say we are in the kingdom now. It is a spiritual kingdom and Christ is ruling through His people and in the hearts of His people and so on.

Post millennialism is also covenantal believing that Christ will come at the end of the kingdom so this is broad. There are variations within covenant theology. One thing they all agree on is they are opposed to dispensationalism. And the foundational disagreement between covenant theology and dispensational theology is our rules of hermeneutics. If you interpret the Bible literally you will be dispensational. There is variations within that but basically you will agree that the Bible should be interpreted literally, normally and the rules of hermeneutics guide you consistently. You will see therefore a distinction between Israel and the church. You will believe that the future prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled will be fulfilled literally just as those prophecies that have already been fulfilled have been fulfilled.

Let me read you an example before we move on because this is one of the often-asked questions: Why are there differences among Bible believing Christians? Well it comes to the rules of hermeneutics so I just pulled off a book that is written by an amillennialist. He’s a covenantalist. He makes that clear and what they believe is for us who interpret the Bible literally we believe that you do start at the beginning of Genesis and you follow through to the end of Revelation and what God says in the Old Testament, what He promises and prophecies in the Old Testament we take literally. And the New Testament continues that. There is further revelation but it doesn’t change what God said in the Old Testament.

Covenantal theologians believe that you re-interpret the Old Testament in light of the New Testament and therefore they don’t believe you take those prophecies of the Old Testament regarding Israel and so on literally.
I read you an example of that this morning from a journal article where the man said that parts of the Abrahamic Covenant were unconditional, particularly the part that relates to salvation. The rest of it was conditional and there is no fulfillment of it.

This man is an amillennialist, a reformed covenantalist. He identifies himself as a Calvinist, an amillennialist. He taught hermeneutics for a number of years and now is retired. Graham Goldsworthy is his name but let me just read you what he has to say without going into great detail and this is in the chapter of those who are evangelical but follow hermeneutical principles which he does not believe are consistent with the Gospel because for him it is Gospel centered hermeneutics. That is the title of his book. So you take the Gospel in light of the coming of Christ you reinterpret all that was said in the Old Testament and so one of the ways evangelicals interpret the Bible that he says is not consistent with the Gospel is they interpret it literally and here is what he says: “It seems to make sense to say that we must interpret the Bible literally but if we believe that literalism (which is a pejorative term as it is usually used) is the way to go just what do we mean by it?” Then he tries to say, “Well, you will be all kind of confusion if you are going to interpret the Bible literally.”

Then he goes on to say, “Literalists have claimed to take the promises concerning the restoration of Israel, Jerusalem and the temple at their face value.” Well what could be wrong with that? Well for a start, determining what the literal meaning is can be problematic. But if it is not going to be the literal meaning, the face value meaning, don’t you have a lot more problems? It would seem to me the least problem is you would take it at face value.
If you say, “Well that has too many problems,” now where do I go? If you are going to pick up the paper and I say don’t take that literally, don’t take it at face value how are you going to know for sure what the paper is saying? But that’s what his criticism is.

Then he goes on to say, “The New Testament clearly does not support such a simplistic hermeneutic as literal fulfillment of prophecy.” I told you scholars disdain literal hermeneutics because if you are going to take it at face value all of us could understand it and then what would all the scholars do with all their scholarship?
So “the New Testament clearly does not support such a simplistic hermeneutic as literal fulfillment of prophecy.” Well if it is nice and simple at least you shouldn’t be saying how can you determine what the literal meaning is? That’s simple. He thinks it’s too simplistic.

Listen, you will like this. “The Old Testament Scriptures are as Jesus says, about Him. He told the Jews of His day (and he has reference to John’s Gospel, John 5, John 8) you search the Scriptures and it’s the Scriptures that testify of Me.” Well Jesus said the Scriptures are about Him. That must seriously qualify literalism since Jesus is not literally in the Old Testament. But don’t Old Testament Scriptures if you take them literally tell you and anticipate the coming of Christ? I am not even sure I know what he is talking about.

When the Holy Spirit came, I am summarizing part of this, the Apostles never varied from the new conviction that the hermeneutical principle was the Gospel, not literalism. In other words the Apostles now knew with the coming of Christ and the Gospel you don’t interpret the Old Testament literally any longer. You interpret by the Gospel. Now of course he goes on to qualify because Jesus is an historical figure an Israelite who has come in the flesh He indeed fulfills some prophecies in a rather literal way. That’s a scholarly way of conceding. He fulfilled them all in a literal way. He indeed fulfilled some prophecies in a rather literal way like He was born at Bethlehem, Micah 5. He was born of a virgin, Isaiah 7 but this doesn’t mean you should interpret the Bible literally. The Gospel requires that we allow Christ to be the hermeneutic principle.

Now if you are not going to interpret the Gospel literally how do you know what it merely means? How does that become your principle for interpreting the Old Testament? This is why I say Reformed Theology, they start with a theological presupposition. He’s got a whole section. Yes, you start with a theological presupposition then you massage it, if I can put it that way, to make Scripture “fit” is basically where he comes to.

Then he does concede, “The literalist must become a futurist since a literalistic fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecy has not yet taken place.” In his presupposition is it can’t take place so we have to interpret not literally.
So you wonder, why do Christians come to different views? Because they come, we come with the presupposition this is the Word of God. We understand it in a literal, normal way. As we have been doing Daniel, we understand figures of speech that there were animals representing kingdoms but those animals had a literal connection. They were selected to represent a kingdom and something of the characteristic of that animal was tied to that kingdom. The animals didn’t just represent angels flying around. They had a connection to something literal and the symbolism was obvious and it was interpreted.

Alright, so that is why we have the differences in interpretation and I want you to understand that covenant theology is broad. Someone was talking to me this morning about R. C. Sproul. He is a preterist, post-millennialist, covenantal in theology. I just mention him because we are talking about him and he is well-known. In fact the person indicated to me he is doing a 13 part series now and wondered if that is why I was doing covenants to respond to that. No, I didn’t know that but some of the prominent and popular speakers are coming at Scripture from a totally different perspective. A preterist means past, means almost all the prophecies of Scripture were fulfilled in 70 A.D. So the only thing yet future is the coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead. So covenantalist go all over.

Alright, we talked about the Abrahamic Covenant this morning. The Abrahamic Covenant is the foundational covenant of Scripture. For the covenantalist it’s the covenant of grace so all other covenants are just a reflection of the covenant of grace. They include the Noahic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, and the Mosaic Covenant. They all are just different ways of seeing the covenant of grace which we said is not in the Bible. So the Abrahamic Covenant is the foundational covenant of Scripture, not the first covenant. The Noahic Covenant is the first covenant. We read about that in Genesis chapters 8 and 9.

The Abrahamic Covenant has three basic parts to it, land, seed and blessing. We noted, we took the time to go through the passages where God reiterates it. The covenant was formerly cut in Genesis chapter 15 and perhaps 15, 16 years later, somewhere in there God gave the sign of the covenant, circumcision in chapter 17 but the covenant and all three of these provisions or one or two of them they are repeated again and again. It was repeated to Abraham’s son, Isaac and it was repeated to Isaac’s son, Jacob as the line of promise comes, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the 12 sons of promise. It is not enough to be a descendant of Abraham. You have to be to be in the line of the covenantal promises Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Now there is provision of salvation for others. We will get to that but the line of the covenant promises are to Abraham.

Israel is not experiencing these blessings now. They are under a judicial sentence because of their unbelief and continual rejection culminating in the rejection of Christ. So as we have been seeing in II Corinthians chapter 3 there is a veil over their heart. That doesn’t mean no Jews are saved but primarily salvation is a Gentile work today. Some Jews are saved but the nation, as a nation, is under the judgment of God. So they are not experiencing these blessing as a nation. Individual Jews experience salvation provisions as Paul did but they will not experience this until the judgments are lifted, if you will.

Now the rest of the covenants of Scripture are an elaboration of the Abrahamic Covenant and the rest of the unconditional covenants will bring in the Mosaic Covenant here in a moment. In other words, the Mosaic Covenant has three parts. Now there are three covenants that elaborate or confirm each of these three areas. The Palestinian will cover the land, put these up on the overhead. You see the three areas that are developed. So it all comes out of the Abrahamic Covenant. The Abrahamic Covenant is the foundational covenant in the Scriptures. The land will be elaborated in what we call the Palestinian Covenant. The seed will be elaborated in the Davidic Covenant because they were promised to be a numerous people, a nation and a nation will have a king so the Davidic Covenant elaborates that provision of a seed that is multiplied and then there is blessing and all nations will be blessed in that. That carries us to the New Covenant which is salvation provision and that’s how Gentiles get tied in here, that provision so we want you to remember that in the Abrahamic Covenant from its beginning, there was a provision for including non-Jews but that in no way replaces the Jews, the physical descendants of Abraham. Now Covenant Theology sees the Jews, their rejection of the Messiah, God is done with the nation as a nation for all intents and purposes but God included the Gentiles, made provision, “in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed” and the new covenant will elaborate that. That is what we are talking about in our study in II Corinthians, the New Covenant. It is contrasted with the Old Covenant which is not the Abrahamic Covenant. It is the Mosaic Covenant. We will say something about the Mosaic Covenant in a little bit.

Let’s look at these different covenants starting with the Palestinian Covenant. Come over to Deuteronomy chapter 29. Now we are in the context of the Mosaic Law, you know, the first five books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy are called the law and the Mosaic Law was given in Exodus beginning in chapter 19 and encompassed here. But we have something I think additional because chapter 29 opens up, verse 1: “These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab besides the covenant which He made with them at Horeb.” The covenant made at Horeb at Mt. Sinai was the Mosaic Law. This is an additional covenant made at a different place as Israel is preparing to cross over finally into the Promised Land. Remember Moses is not going in with them but there is a covenant besides the covenant which he made with Moses at Mt. Horeb, at Horeb. That was the Mosaic Law. I say that because some say well this is just part of the Mosaic Law. No it’s not. It’s an additional covenant. That is what he said. He’s making it in a different place and he says it besides the covenant that he had made with Moses on the Mosaic Covenant, the Mosaic Law.

Then you come down to chapter 30. You can read through the context but verse 1: “So it shall be when all these things have come upon you, the blessings and the curse, the blessings for obedience, the curse for disobedience,” and so on “so I have set before you. You call them to mind in all the nations where the Lord God has banished you,” they are under the judgment of God. Part of that is being dispersed and “you return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart, soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons. Then the Lord your God will restore you from captivity, have compassion on you, will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord God has scattered you if you are outcasts or at the ends of the earth. From there the Lord will gather you.” He will bring you back. “The Lord will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed. You shall possess it. He will prosper you; multiply you more than your fathers. Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart.”

Remember we looked at Jeremiah 9 God’s condemnation on them in the context of the Babylonian captivity. You don’t have circumcised hearts. So as I look at you, you are circumcised physically but you are no different spiritually than the pagan nations around you but here will be the circumcision of the heart and you will love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul that you may live. They will be brought back into the land that God has promised and they will experience the salvation blessings of the new covenant which we have to look at here in the future. That is a pretty solid, sound promise.

So even going into the land God anticipates their persistent rebellion which will result in the Assyrian captivity in 722 of the northern ten tribes and then the Babylonian captivity of the southern tribes and the times of the Gentiles where Jerusalem is under Gentile domination which will ultimately result in them being driven out of the land. Israel is coming back into the land. There is something of a foreboding perhaps 1948 of coming to end time times but that is not the restoration talked about here. This is the final restoration that will take place in the day of the national salvation of Israel which Paul talked about in chapter 11 of Romans when all Israel will be saved. So you see in this context. But here he confirms his promises of the land that are contained in the Abrahamic Covenant with its separate covenant. This is not outside the framework though of the Abrahamic Covenant. This is just further confirming and making clear that God’s promise here will be held. He establishes, if you will, a sub- covenant to emphasize this aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant.

We looked at the land promises and saw how they were repeated in the Abrahamic Covenant. We won’t go back to that.
The seed, the second part of the Abrahamic Covenant; that is the promise that Abraham would have many descendants like the stars of the sky. They would be a great nation and it’s the Davidic Covenant that expands this promise to Israel. There will be a dynasty. There will be a kingdom. There will be a throne. You won’t just be a nation, you will be a great nation and this becomes key in the context of the coming of the Messiah.

Come over to 2 Samuel, chapter 7. Now again we take all these promises literally, at face value. So I am reading what he said about bringing them back to the land, establishing them there as a nation. Goldsworthy says that was fulfilled in the coming of Christ. There is no “literalistic fulfillment” of that for the nation Israel. How is he going to deal with Scripture like that? I think that is pretty clear. You not only have the Abrahamic Covenant now he reconfirmed that and emphasizes it again with a secondary covenant and then you say, “Well, that’s not going to happen. That was all conditional.” God says in that context Israel was going to be disobedient but when I get all done punishing you then I will restore you once for all. I believe God means it. Anything in the coming of Christ would make me go back and say “Well, no, none of that should be taken literally.”

Alright we come to the second, the seed in 2 Samuel, chapter 7. In the context David wanted to build a temple but God says it is not His plan to have David build it but David’s son, Solomon will build the temple but that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t have special promises for David and his descendants so let’s see, 2 Samuel, chapter 7. Let’s pick up with verse 12. The end of verse 11 says, “The Lord also declares to you (he is talking to David) that the Lord will make a house for you. When your days are complete you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you (your descendant after you) who will come forth from you. I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name. I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, he will be a son to me.” Now there may be sin and we saw that in Solomon at the end of his life. His multiple wives turn his heart away from the Lord and some of those things will bring judgment and we find Saul who ruled before David. Now David is established and then Solomon. Those are the only three kings that really rule over the united kingdom. Under Solomon’s son the kingdom divides and it’s not united again into the northern kingdom, southern kingdom but the promise here, there is going to be rebellion. There is going to be correction but verse 15: “My loving kindness shall not depart from him as I took it away from Saul.” Saul rebelled and God cut off his family from the line but he is established with David and he said, “Even rebellion and iniquity will not cancel my commitment, my covenant with you. I am going to establish your throne forever.” We say, “Well, nobody is on the throne.” No, because of disobedience Israel is not experiencing the blessing of this provision of the Abrahamic Covenant but God says He will bring judgment when they commit iniquity but that won’t change the covenant. “My loving kindness will not depart.”

Verse 16: “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever. Your throne will be established forever.” These are unconditional covenants. Now there are conditions within them. In other words as He indicated, when they sin then they are going to be punished. So they don’t experience the blessing. Israel is under the judgment of God now so they are not experiencing the blessings of living under the king in the line of David as they are not experiencing the blessing of peace in the land and the relationships but that doesn’t mean the covenant is over.

Some of the blessings within the covenant are connected to obedience. The time of it is connected to their obedience, a time of the ultimate fulfillment but the covenant is unconditional. It is important to see these in the context. We saw it with the Palestinian Covenant. They may be punished but I will bring them back to the land wherever I have driven them. The ultimate fulfillment is not in question. There may be breaks in times when you are not in the land as I have promised you because of your disobedience but when all is said and done you will be in the land and you will be in right relationship with Me with a circumcised heart.

Here they may be sin in the Davidic line that will bring judgment but verse 16: “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever. Your throne will be established forever.” So the promise to David.

Come over to Psalm 89. You see this covenant reiterated, Psalm 89. It starts out: “I will sing of the loving kindness of the Lord forever. To all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth for I have said loving kindness will build up forever. In the heavens You will establish Your faithfulness. I have made a covenant with my chosen. I have sworn to David my servant. I will establish your seed forever and build up your throne to all generations.” It is clear. It is the Davidic Covenant.

Come down to verse 27: “I will make him my first born, the highest of the kings of the earth” because who is the ultimate Davidic king in the line of David? I mean the Messiah, Jesus the anointed One.

Verse 33: “I will not break off My loving kindness for him nor deal falsely in My faithfulness. My covenant I will not violate nor will I alter the utterance of My lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness I will not lie to David. His descendants shall endure forever; his throne as the sun before me.” I mean what else can He say? And yet they want to tell me that the church has replaced Israel. That’s why the covenant theology is often referred to as replacement theology. The church has replaced Israel. What a terrible, terrible doctrine. How clear can God be? And then you get people that say, “Well, with the coming of Christ we now can go back and reinterpret and change all the promises that we would have thought would have been literal promises.” What does God say? “I will not violate my covenant,” verse 34. “Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness I will not lie to David.” God sees any change in what He had promised to David would be a lie and He is the God who cannot lie. I mean this kind of approach, I don’t care if he claims to be evangelical, it ought to be an offense to Bible believing Christians and yet reformed theology is coming like a tide into the evangelical church. I can’t get my arms around it. What is the appeal on denying the clarity, there is no excuse. What does he say, “Oh yes, but you understand we can’t take this literally because we interpret it through the Gospel.” I don’t see the Gospel of Jesus Christ changing anything here. It fits with literal fulfillment. That’s why you have the genealogies of Christ that connect Him to David and connect Him all the way back to Abraham, of course. It is a literal fulfillment.

Alright, that’s the Davidic. So we call it the seed because we get a seed and you get the nation. That was emphasized. You will have numerous seed. You will be a nation. And with a nation you have a kingdom and a king and that becomes key. So you have that elaborated and confirmed. It is not a different covenant it is a covenant that just makes more firm what God promised in the Abrahamic Covenant, the blessing part of the Abrahamic Covenant is the new covenant and we will talk about that and then we will come back and talk a little bit about the law. The blessing part of it is the new covenant.

Let’s go to Jeremiah 31. This is the only place in the Old Testament where we have it actually called the “New Covenant,” but that doesn’t mean the New Covenant is not talked about in other places. It’s just not the expression, “New Covenant” is used but the same provisions are given. We will pick up with the context here, verse 27: “Behold days are coming declares the Lord when I will sew the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, with the seed of beast as I watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to overthrow, to destroy, to bring disaster so I will watch over them to build and to plant.” Everybody is happy to have Israel. Yes, they had to bear the judgment of God. They had to bear the wrath of God for their unbelief. I don’t know what to make of it among those who claim to be Bible believing Christians, a certain anti-Semitism. I mean I understand it’s in the world because God chose the nation Israel and the unbelievers hate everything God does. I have a hard time putting it together with those who claim to be Bible believing Christians. Why are you happy to say, “Well the judgments that God promised to bring on Israel they came.” How did they come, literally. Well what about the blessings? Oh they are spiritual. They are not going to enjoy those. I fail to understand it.

“In those days they will not say again, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes. The children’s teeth are set on edge.” You know this is a proverb that really offends God. Ezekiel chapter 18, the whole chapter almost deals with this. God says “I am not going to have you say this anymore.” What it is really saying, the children are saying, “It’s not my fault because it is my parents’ fault.” And then Ezekiel where it is elaborated and says, “The fathers won’t bear the responsibility for the son or the children. The children won’t bear responsibility for the sons of the fathers. Everyone will bear their own responsibility.”

In our society, how were you raised, what was your family situation? God says there are no excuses; that’s why we always start with the question, what is my responsibility because I am the one who will give account for me. So this proverb, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes. The children’s teeth are set on edge.” They won’t say that again. They won’t again say those excuses and then when will this all come about? “Behold days are coming declares the Lord when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, with the house of Judah not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.” So the contrast with the new covenant is with the Mosaic Covenant. That’s why I put the little dotted lines out here. You see the Mosaic Covenant is an add-on, added later as the New Testament says but the contrast here is the new covenant and the old covenant. It’s not a contrast with the new covenant and the Abrahamic Covenant. That is where we are in 2 Corinthians. The contrast between the new covenant and the old covenant, between the new covenant of Jeremiah 31 and the old covenant given at Mt. Sinai, the Mosaic Law so really what we are doing is confirming with the new covenant the blessings promised as part of the Abrahamic Covenant. It’s confirmed with covenant. “I make a new covenant with the house of Israel, with the house of Judah not like the covenant I made with their fathers in the day 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 with them, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my Law within them. On their heart I will write it. I will be their God. They shall be my people. They will not teach again each man his neighbor, each man his brother saying, know the Lord for they will all know Me from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the Lord. I will forgive their iniquity. Their sins I will remember no more.” And it goes on down showing how fixed this covenant is.

Now this covenant is made with Israel. I say this because there is a group within dispensationalism now that says the church has no part in the new covenant. They wrote a whole, I don’t know, it must be 350 page book with half a dozen different authors trying to say the new covenant is not in force because it is made with Israel. Well the Abrahamic Covenant was made with Israel, it’s true. Israel is not benefiting from all the provisions of the new covenant as a nation but that does not mean that the new covenant has not been established, is not in operation. The Abrahamic Covenant was established and is in operation but Israel is not enjoying peace in the land, for example. They are not enjoying a king ruling over the nation with the blessing of God. Why? They are under judgment now. This doesn’t mean well we guess the Abrahamic Covenant is done. It is not done. It has been founded, it had been established; the covenant was cut. We saw that in Genesis 15, can’t undo it. The promises just aren’t being experienced by the nation Israel and certainly these provisions are directed to the nation but the blessings for all nations come with what is provided in the new covenant.

Now if you just read it in Jeremiah 31 you wouldn’t know the church would be included or how the Gentiles would be although the Old Testament does talk about the salvation of Gentiles. Now to the New Testament you get clarification on this but it doesn’t change anything. The New Testament will make it more clear how God in establishing this blessing provision of the Abrahamic Covenant with the new covenant accomplishes it. What did Jesus say in the last night? “We observe it every time we have communion. This cup is the new covenant in My blood.” And as Hebrews argues, it takes the death to bring into force the covenant and Christ Himself was the sacrifice that could bring about salvation not only for the Jews but for the Gentiles. Now it’s true. For the nation Israel the full provisions of this covenant they are not entering into because that’s where Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 3. They have a veil over their heart. They are under the judgment of God. In that sense they are in a more difficult position than the Gentiles. We’ll talk about this when we are going into chapter 4. There is a blindness of course in the part of all unbelievers but the Jews are dealing further judicial blindness as the judgment of God for their persistent rejection of His truth as their chosen nation. So it helps explain why more Jews aren’t being saved today. It is not a day of Jewish salvation. God has placed them under judgment, further removed from them the grace that would bring them to salvation. That’s why Paul warns in Romans 9, 10 and 11 and cautions Gentiles, “Don’t you get proud. God is giving you a special day of opportunity, a special day of grace to believe. Don’t think that makes you better than the Jews. The Jews came under judgment because they rejected the opportunity God gave them and He is able to cut the Gentiles off” and we are grafted in in the book of Romans to the provisions of the Abrahamic Covenant because of what Christ has done. So this is the salvation provision.

Come back to Ezekiel, just after Jeremiah. These are men experiencing their prophetic ministry within the same time period of the Babylonian captivity. In Ezekiel chapter 36, we were in this chapter not too long ago. Ezekiel 36, verse 22 and again and this is in the context of God talking about His judgment on the nation Israel and their persistent rejection of Him. Just for context, verse 16: “The Word of the Lord came to me saying, “Son of man when the house of Israel was living in their own land they defiled it by their ways, their deeds. Therefore I have poured out My wrath on them. I scattered them among the nations.” His judgment on them and that still didn’t cause them to turn back to Him. Verse 21: “I had concern for My holy name which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went. Therefore, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned.”

You see the Abrahamic Covenant and its provision including the salvation and provision of blessing was not tied to the obedience of Israel because God says, “You persist and you are still disobedient but I am going to do what I promised for My holy name.” He has to vindicate Himself. Why? Because He promised and He cannot violate His Word. “You have profaned My name among the nations. I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations which you have profaned. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight.” What will He do? Destroy them forever, write them off? No, “I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands; bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you. You will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart; put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh give you a heart of flesh;” the circumcision of the heart. “I will put My Spirit within you; cause you to walk in My statues. You will be careful to observe My ordinance. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers. You will be My people. I will be your God. I will save you from your uncleanness” and so on.

Verse 32: “I am not doing this for your sake,” declares the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and be confounded.” Why is God doing it? For His own holiness. That why we say the difference between covenant theology and dispensational theology; for covenant theology, salvation of man is God’s ultimate goal and in our theology the glory of God and even the salvation of sinners is for the glory of God.

Could it be any clearer how unconditional these promises are? God says, “I am not doing it for you, Israel. You continue in your profane, unbelief but I am going to vindicate my holiness and all the nations will be amazed.” It was the salvation of Israel. It will be a testimony to the nations of the greatness of God’s grace, His holiness. He is God of His Word and He can bring cleansing to this nation that has been so profaned.
So this is a part of the new covenant. The word is not used here but when you read the new covenant in Jeremiah 34 and you read the provisions here you see the overlapping and there are a number of other passages but we are not going to take the time to look through. Now when you come to the New Testament we find the blessings of the new covenant are provided for all the nations.

We were in Romans 4 this morning so come there if you would, Romans 4. I already mentioned Jesus saying, “This is the blood of the new covenant which is shed for the sins of many.” Jews should understand that. What is the new covenant? I mean that’s why Jesus said to Nicodemus remember in John 3, “You must be born again.” Nicodemus said, “I don’t know what you are talking about.” Jesus said, “How can you be the teacher of Israel and not know what I am talking about?” Then he read Ezekiel; then he read Jeremiah. What are you talking about, born again, you get a new heart. You are made new, your sins are cleansed. You are born of water and the Spirit; that water that cleanses you from your defilement. “How can you be a teacher in Israel and not understand this, Nicodemus?”

Romans chapter 4 as we read, the connection of what is promised and what he is arguing back beginning in chapter 3, verse 21, “How do you become righteous before God? Not by the Mosaic Law. It was never intended as a way of righteousness. It was given after the Mosaic Covenant but it’s not part of it.” That’s Paul’s argument. “It will be a later covenant.” And it was to help Israel stay on track and be prepared for the Messiah who would come and bring deliverance. It was temporary from the beginning. We saw that in our study in 2 Corinthians. There was indication of it being temporary when it was given so that is why I put it with dotted lines; it’s not part of the Abrahamic Covenant as Paul talks in Romans and in Galatians. It was added later. These other covenants are part of the Abrahamic Covenant. They further confirm its provisions. The Mosaic Law, that was just added to help the people who were rebellious, who were to be the beneficiaries to be on track. It was the tutor to keep them on track, Galatians, until Christ would come but their rebellion continued.

What Romans the end of chapter 3 and through chapter 4 shows is that when you have the faith of Abraham you become beneficiary of the blessings promised in the new covenant. We don’t become Jews. There are portions of the Abrahamic Covenant, the new covenant that don’t really pertain directly to us as Gentiles but we become participants of the salvation promises. That was part of the original covenant. In you all the nations of the earth will be blessed.
Now just how that would all be realized comes with the New Testament which is the new covenant but further revelation doesn’t change a thing because Israel when the time of the fullness of the Gentiles, Romans 11 is over, all Israel will be saved. Then all the provisions promised to the physical descendants of Abraham will be realized and we will partake in some of those as saved Gentiles ruling and reigning in the kingdom but the nation Israel will be the focal point even in that kingdom. So as you read through he contrasts the old covenant and the new covenant.

Come over to Romans chapter 11. I mentioned that things in this chapter started out, verse 1, “God has not rejected His people has He, May it never be!” God has not rejected His people whom he foreknew, foreknow, carries that idea whom He choose. You only have I known, put My favor on.

So how could people say God is done with the nation Israel? God forbid, may it never be, meganoito, such a thought is inconceivable. God has not he rejected His people whom He foreknew. Well he is talking about spiritual Israel. What does Paul say? “I am talking about physical Israel. I am an Israelite, descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.” So there are some Jews. There’s a remnant even to this time Paul says of God’s grace in verse 5 and 6 but they are under judgment as nation, verse 8, 9 and 10. “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day.” We could say, “Down to this very day, the condition of Israel spiritually.”
“They didn’t stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be!” In other words Israel stumbled and fell on their face and they are never getting up. No, no, no, no, no. May it never be! Their sin and God takes sin and there is never any excuse for the sin. It’s not excuse for the sin of Israel but God brings out of it the salvation of the Gentiles, amazing.

“I am speaking to you who are Gentiles.” I want you to understand your place and be careful. You were grafted in. He’s going on the picture of branches. Grafted in to what? The Abrahamic Covenant. We can partake of the blessings promised there and a new heart, the Spirit within us but be careful you don’t get arrogant. You are not the original recipients of the Abraham Covenant. The fullness of all that’s promised in the Abrahamic Covenant goes to the Jews. I am not minimizing the glory that we have as the church and the bride of Christ but Paul puts it in front of us. Don’t get arrogant, you are a grafted in branch, a root and that is what he talks about here. The root, that’s the Abrahamic Covenant. See where we start? You Gentiles, you were outsiders. I mean it wasn’t until 2,000 years after the Abrahamic Covenant the Gentiles now are getting involved; Abraham living about 2,000 years before Christ. Now with the coming of Christ, His death and Paul preaching the Gospel to Gentiles, they are reminded, you were grafted into the root but you understand you were a wild olive branch. You weren’t one of the original branches there. That is God’s grace, how He provided. That’s why in the Old Testament you may not see clearly the Gentiles. It is absolute arrogance for men to say the Church has replaced Israel. That’s what Paul is saying, “You Gentiles better not be arrogant. You are just a wild branch grafted in, and you know what?” Verse 25: “I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery,” something you wouldn’t understand, further revelation, “lest you be wise in your own estimation.” I think it is unacceptable arrogance to say, “Israel has been replaced.” “Be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel; until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved.” It is a time of Gentile salvation. That will come to a close. It doesn’t mean no Gentiles will be saved but like the reverse of what we have now. Many Gentiles, few Jews. Then it will be many Jews and less Gentiles.

“From the standpoint of the Gospel they are enemies for your sake” because God is giving opportunity of salvation to the Gentiles as part of His program of judging Israel. That is something so terrible as the defiance of Israel against their God can be used to bring about the salvation of Gentiles. This is what Paul said, “Appreciate the greatness of God’s grace.” But from the standpoint of election we have God’s choice here; that word translated ‘choice’ is the Greek word for ‘election.’ “They are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

And he goes on. You just have to be amazed, verse 33, the wisdom and riches of God. You know we Gentiles ought to be so grateful to God for His mercy. I mean we are not part in a sense of the original promises to Abraham. I am not glad that Israel sinned but I am thankful that when Israel sinned it was part of God’s plan of grace to bring them under judgment and open the door of salvation to us. That’s Paul’s whole argument here. Does that mean oh well, now we have replaced Israel? That is the whole arrogance that Paul says is unacceptable. God choose Israel. Nothing can change that. All of His promises to Israel, verse 29, “are irrevocable.”

Now you tell me how a person, who claims to be a believer, claims to believe the Scripture can say, “the church has replaced Israel.” I don’t know. That’s between them and the Lord but I think it is a major issue.
Alright, that only leaves chart 3, 4, 5 and 6 that you have missed. Well, we will see where we go with that. Maybe we will talk about it next week. I will sleep on it.

The covenants are important. That is why we stopped to do this. I don’t want to talk about throwing out covenants and I mention reformed theology, covenantal theology but I want you to understand that is not who we are. The covenants of Scripture are crucial. These are unconditional covenants. The law is a conditional covenant and I will have to say something about this next week. So you see the difference. It was a conditional covenant. It required the agreement of the nation Israel, not just God saying He was going to do it. We will say something about that next week sometimes, Sunday morning or evening.

Let’s pray together. Lord we are in awe how amazing it is as we study that which seems to be ancient history, a man called out of paganism from a family that worshipped idols, one man, and one woman bearing no children and yet promise is given that only You could fulfill. Yet as here we are, 4,000 years after Abraham and Lord we see Your hand at work. Everything on schedule, everything being carried out to Your plan. Lord may we take these things to heart. The nation Israel is under divine judgment for their sin. That is not a cause of arrogance for us. We thank You for Your grace that their sin did not frustrate Your plan but You have brought good out of evil. You have brought salvation to us Gentiles and Lord, may we realize what an opportunity, what a day of privilege we live in. What an opportunity to carry the Gospel to others so they might enter into the blessings promised thousands of years ago, brought to the realization in the coming of Christ, the provision made to bring cleansing and forgiveness. We thank You for Your grace that we, like Abraham, have come to believe Your promises, believe in the salvation You have given and now stand as lights in a world of darkness ignorant that it’s Your plans being carried out in the world to bring it to the ultimate salvation and restoration that You have assured will happen. Use us in the week before us to serve You and make Christ known we pray in Christ’s name, amen.