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God’s Covenant and Law in the Mosaic Era · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome back to Reformed Thinking.
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Today we're doing a deep dive into, well, some really
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fascinating theological architecture from the life of
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ancient Israel. We're looking at that pivotal
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moment right after the Exodus, the Mosaic era, And our goal
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here is to really distill the key ideas around God's special
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calling of Israel, the nature of the covenants he set up with
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them at Sinai, and the constitution that governed that
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new nation. That's right.
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And when we look at this period, we're really tracing a critical
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transition. It's a huge one.
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It is. This is not just about a large
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family, you know, Jacob's descendants who went down into
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Egypt. It's about that family becoming
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a structured, governed nation. What's?
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Laws in every. With a full constitution, Israel
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at this point really steps onto the world stage as God's
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designated instrument for His self revelation to all of
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humanity. It's the establishment of His
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visible Kingdom on Earth. So the story really kicks off
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centuries before with Jacob's family, just 70 people settling
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in Goshen. And our historical sources show
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they grew into this massive population, almost a nation
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within a nation. And pretty soon they find
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themselves in just complete bondage, first possibly under
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the Hyksos and then definitely under the Egyptians.
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And this wasn't just, you know, hard labor.
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It was a real attempt at national annihilation.
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Yes, an effort to stamp out the Abrahamic seed.
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And that background of oppression is so critical
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because it shows that God's deliverance was an act of
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sovereign grace. He heard their cry and he
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decided to bring them out. And that all comes to a head in
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Exodus chapter 12. It does the final terrible
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climax of the plagues. That moment, of course, was when
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God sent the death Angel through Egypt.
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This wasn't just random judgement, it was a display of
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absolute power over life and death.
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Absolutely. And for any household to be
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redeemed from that, there was a very specific act required the
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slaughter of a lamb and applying its blood to the doorposts.
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And that detail is so vital. It establishes a principle that
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just runs through the entire Mosaic system.
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Deliverance wasn't automatic. It wasn't just about being a
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Hebrew. It required a substitutionary
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act, a life for a life, and then an act of faith and obedience to
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apply that blood. If you didn't apply the blood,
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the first born was lost. So the blood was the sign that
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judgement had already passed over that house.
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Vicariously, yes, in the lamb and this literal historical
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deliverance from Egypt, it immediately points to a much
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greater spiritual redemption. A.
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Foreshadowing. A huge one.
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This release from slavery was a theological object lesson
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pointing ahead to the ultimate redemption God would accomplish
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for the whole world through the true descendant of Jacob, the
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Messiah. So once they're redeemed, once
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they're through the Red Sea, God leads them straight to Mount
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Sinai. He's setting them apart as his
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special people. This is the moment he
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establishes the rules for his mediatorial Kingdom on Earth.
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OK, so they gather at Sinai, and God enters into the Mosaic
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covenant with them. Now, you've mentioned before
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that this follows a very specific pattern.
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It does. To really get what's happening,
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you have to understand the Ancient Near Eastern Suzuranti
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vassal treaty. It's the key to their
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relationship with God for the next 1000 years.
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That sounds a bit academic. Can you break that down for us?
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What is that treaty structure? Of course, the structure is
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actually pretty simple. The suzerain is the great king,
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the powerful ruler, in this case that's God Yahweh.
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The vassals are the subjects, the dependent people.
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That's Israel. And in these treaties, the
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suzerain always speaks first. He lays out what he's already
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done for his subjects. His acts of kindness.
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Exactly his provision, and then he lays out the conditions and
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the vassals are obligated to obey the king who rescued them.
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It grounds the commands and grace.
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Which brings up question, if the promise to Abraham was
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unconditional, why is God now introducing this very strict
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conditional layer at Sinai? Doesn't that create some kind of
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conflict? That is the critical insight
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here. The Mosaic covenant doesn't
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cancel the Abrahamic one, it doesn't replace it so.
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What does it do? It provides the means by which
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the nation lives under God's rule and enjoys the physical
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blessings promised in the land. It governs their day-to-day.
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Life, so their enjoyment of the blessings is conditional.
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Entirely. Their prosperity be their
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protection. It's all contingent on their
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obedience to the covenant. If they obey, they're blessed.
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If they disobey, they can expect chastisement, even exile.
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It's a clear legal structure. It is, and we see this perfectly
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laid out in Exodus 19. It's not just a list of rules,
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it's a formal legal document. So you can actually see the
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parts of the treaty in the text. You can.
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First you have the preamble in verse 3B which identifies the
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king of the Lord. Then the historical prologue in
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verse 4. That's the reminder of what God
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has done. I bore you on eagle's wings.
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Right, and brought you to myself.
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This establishes why they're obligated gratitude.
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Then you get the general stipulations in verse 5A, the
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conditions they must keep. If you will indeed obey my
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voice. And finally, the promised
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blessings in verses 5B and 6A, the benefits of that obedience.
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And the ratification, their response is immediate.
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All that the Lord has spoken, we will do.
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Yes, that single binding oath is what formally births the nation
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Israel. It establishes them as the
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mediator of God's theocratic Kingdom on the earth.
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OK, so with the covenant ratified, God then gives Israel
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their title and their mission. He does in Exodus 19.6.
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They were to be a Kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
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That's their job description in the world.
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Let's clarify what that means. This mediatorial Kingdom.
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If God is the suzerain, how is Israel mediating his rule?
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It governs their entire existence, politically,
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socially, spiritually. It means Israel was governed
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directly by God's revealed will, which came to the Law, the
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prophets and the priests. So human leaders like kings were
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secondary. They were vice regions for
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Yahweh. The nation's whole political
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success depended on whether the leaders and the people obeyed
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the covenant of their ultimate king.
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And what about their global role?
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A Kingdom of priests. Well, a normal priest represents
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the people to God, but this universal priesthood meant the
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whole nation was set apart to mediate God's truth to the other
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nations. So.
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It was missionary calling. An active missionary injunction
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there was supposed to be the channel of God's Kingdom to the
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rest of world, fulfilling that promise to Abraham that all
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nations would be blessed through him.
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That was the goal, the divine purpose for them.
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But the tragic reality, as we see almost immediately, is a
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history of failure. Yes, we don't have to wait long
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at all. The golden calf incident happens
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while Moses is still on the mountain receiving the law.
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An act of covenant treason right at the start.
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The ultimate act and later at Kadesh Barnea, they refused to
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enter the land, just complete unbelief that cost them an
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entire generation. They consistently failed to keep
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the conditions of the covenant. Which means they never really
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attained that purpose of being a mediator of truth to the world.
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Right. They were meant to draw the
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nations in, but instead they often just assimilated to the
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corruption of the nations around them.
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Their political failure LED directly to their spiritual
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failure. So because of that consistent
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failure, the prophets become essential.
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They do. Prophets like Isaiah step in to
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provide hope. They look ahead to a time when
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the true Israelite, the perfect servant, the Messiah, will
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fulfill the destiny that corporate Israel never could.
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The Prophet saw that the problem wasn't the law.
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The law was perfect. The problem was the people's
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inability to keep it. So the focus shifts entirely to
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an individual, the Messiah. You see this so clearly in the
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serving passages in Isaiah. The light will finally go to the
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nation's, but not through the failed nation.
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Not through the collective, no, but through His servant, the One
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upon whom God has put His Spirit.
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He's the only one who can perfectly fulfill the law.
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So the Messiah is the one who will effectively bring God's
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light to the Gentiles. Yes, and the result is the
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fulfillment of that Abrahamic promise, the blessing of God
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going to the ends of the earth. And what's more, the Messiah
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will also restore the fallen nation of Israel itself.
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It's a picture of total restoration.
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It is. He'll even restore all that Adam
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lost in the garden. This future picture Isaiah
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paints is glorious. The pre fall conditions of Eden
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will exist again through the Messiah's Kingdom reign.
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And Jerusalem becomes the center of truth.
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The undeniable center. And that's the fulfillment of
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the missionary mandate. The nations of the world will
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stream to Israel for knowledge, honoring Abraham's descendants.
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The whole trajectory, redemption, covenant, failure,
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it was all designed to point to the one perfect mediator.
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OK, let's unpack this. Once Israel entered the
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covenant, they needed a constitution for daily life, and
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God provides it, the law, the stipulations we find in Exodus,
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Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. And obedience to this law was
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the key to enjoying God's blessing in that Kingdom.
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Now, when we talk about the law, we can generally break it down
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into 3 aspects, right? We can the moral law, the civil
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law, and the ceremonial law. It's a helpful way to structure
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it, even though they're all interwoven in the text.
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Let's start with the moral law. The moral law is that unchanging
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standard of righteousness. It's found mainly in the 10
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commandments. It's interesting how they're
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split into two tables. What does that signify?
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It shows that all human duty has 2 dimensions.
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The first table, the 1st 4 commandments, governs our direct
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relationship to God. Worshipping the true God.
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No idols referencing his name. Right, the vertical dimension,
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then the second table, the last six commandments details are
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horizontal relationship to other people.
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Honoring parents. No murder, no adultery, no
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theft. Exactly.
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Together they outline the complete ethical duty of someone
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in the covenant. And the law doesn't just start
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with Thou shalt not, it starts with I am the Lord your God, who
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brought you out of the land of Egypt.
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That's the foundation. The authority is the Redeemer.
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The standard for right and wrong was fixed in the impeccably holy
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character of Yahweh. And because it reflects God's
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own nature, it can't be changed. It's eternally fixed.
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If God is holy, he can't just decide to condone theft or
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murder in a different era. Israel's failure to meet that
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standard is precisely what proves the need for a new
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enabling covenant. OK, so in contrast to that
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eternal moral law, we have the civil law.
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The civil law addresses the practical, day-to-day social
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issues of living in the mediatorial Kingdom.
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It's essentially the legal code for a theocracy.
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So this covers things like treatment of slaves, injury to
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others, property rights. Yes, and things like protections
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for widows and orphans, the law about not charging interest on
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loans to fellow Israelites, for example.
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It shows how even the legal codes were infused with the
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moral character of God. And the third category is the
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ceremonial law. This is all about the prescribed
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system of worship. It's how a sinful people were to
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approach a holy God. So this includes the plans for
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the Tabernacle, the priest's clothing, the sacrifices.
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All of it. The whole system was a constant
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reminder of sin, separation, and the need for purification.
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And unlike the moral law, the civil and ceremonial laws were
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designed for a specific time and place.
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And they find their fulfilment in Christ.
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They do, and as you said, it's not always easy to draw neat
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lines between these three in the text itself.
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But together, the law was Israel's binding constitution,
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and when they broke it, the prophet's job was to call them
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back to it. So when God called this nation,
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the big question was how can a holy God live among sinful
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people without just consuming them?
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And God had to make a very specific structural provision
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for them to meet with him. The Tabernacle was that
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mechanism. The Tabernacle, that movable
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tent of meeting, was the architectural center of the
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theocracy, and its functions were really deep.
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Each one was designed to teach the nation about God and about
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sin. I know our sources list about 5
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primary roles. They do. 1st and most simply, it
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was a way for God to dwell right in the middle of the nation.
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It showed His nearness, His imminence.
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But that nearness was also terrifying.
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It was which leads to the second role.
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It provided A structured way for God to reveal His glory, often
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in cloud or fire, showing both His presence and His Holiness,
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which requires wired distance. And third, it was the center of
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sacrificial worship. So it was the only way for
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sinful people to even approach a holy God.
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Without that system of atonement, his presence would
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have been lethal. And the very structure of the
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Tabernacle itself was a constant lesson.
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A visual reminder of the separation, the outer court, the
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holy place, the holy holies. Only a cleansed priest could go
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so far, and only the high priest once a year could go all the way
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in, and only with blood. And 5th the whole earthly system
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was just a shadow. It was, it anticipated, the
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greater permanent redemption in Christ.
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As the Book of Hebrews explains, the Tabernacle was the copy.
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Christ's work is the reality. Let's look at that structure for
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a second. The most sacred room, the Holy
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of Holies. That's where God told them to
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put the Ark of the Covenant. And inside the Ark were the 2
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tablets of the law, the very law they were constantly breaking.
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A symbol of judgment. It should have been, but
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covering the ark was the mercy seat, the propitiatory cover.
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That's where God met with the nation through the sprinkled
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blood of the sacrifice. So the mercy seat turned a
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throne of judgment into a throne of grace.
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That's it. That's what made it possible for
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God to dwell with them at all. Here's where it gets really
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interesting. If you start outside at the very
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entrance to the court, the first thing you see is the massive
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altar of burnt offering. It's the entry point.
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You can't get past it. And the daily offerings there
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were a constant visceral reminder to the whole nation
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that that it required blood to approach God every single day.
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That constant shedding of animal blood confirmed the need for
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mediation. The Levitical priests were set
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apart as those mediators. Their entire existence under
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score the fact that direct, unmediated access to God was
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impossible for sinners. So if we put it all together,
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the whole Mosaic worship system was teaching a few clear
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concepts. I think we can draw out four
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main ideas. First, God is holy.
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He demands moral uprightness, and you can't approach him
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without a mediator. Second, God is imminent.
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He's not distant. He chooses to dwell with his
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people. Third, blood is necessary as an
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expiation for sin. You can't approach God without
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it because sin has a penalty. And 4th, the priesthood itself
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points ahead. It does the work of the
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Levitical priests points ahead to the ultimate mediator, the
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one who will reconcile A sinful man to a holy God once and for
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all. The whole architecture just
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screams out the need for Christ. So we've established the law and
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the worship system for their life, but this whole blueprint
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was aimed at them possessing the land.
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Let's talk about the covenant that secured that title deed,
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the Palestinian covenant. Right.
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Deuteronomy, which means second Law, is Moses's final address to
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Israel right before they enter the land.
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And the idea that they would possess and inherit the land is
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mentioned, what, 69 times? It's the central theme.
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So the land wasn't just a bonus, it was integral to the Abrahamic
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promises. It was, but Deuteronomy also
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restates the conditional nature of the Mosaic covenant, which
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governs their experience in the land.
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And this is where you get the severe warnings.
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The blessings and the curses. Exactly.
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Obedience means blessing and security in the land, but
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disobedience brings catastrophic judgments.
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The detail of those judgments in Deuteronomy 28 is just
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terrifyingly specific. It anticipates a whole cycle of
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siege, famine and exile it. Does the judgments foretold
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there anticipate the major historical dispersions, the
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Assyrian dispersion 722 BC, the Babylonian exile and 586 BC, and
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even the scattering by Rome in 8070?
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So the covenant predicted their unfaithfulness and the
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consequences. It provided an exact prognosis
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of their future. But this story doesn't end there
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with calamity. God also revealed that even
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after those dispersions, Israel would once again possess the
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land. A promise of national
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restoration. A promise that looks far beyond
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their temporary failures. Our sources layout about 7
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distinct stages in this Palestinian covenant.
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OK, let's walk through those. It starts with the judgement.
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Stage 1. The nation will be plucked off
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the land for unfaithfulness. Historically that happened, but
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then come the stages of Restoration Stage 2, there will
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be a future national repentance of Israel.
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And then the Messiah returns. Stage 3 Yes, His return is tied
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directly to their restoration. Then stages four and five are
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the physical and spiritual restoration.
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So they're brought back to the land.
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Stage 4, they're restored physically to the land, and
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Stage 5, they're converted as a nation.
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They'll receive a circumcised heart, a national spiritual
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regeneration. That's the solution to the
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failure under the Mosaic Law. It is and then finally the
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consummation. Stage 6.
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Israel's enemies will be judged and stage 7.
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The nation will then receive her full blessing, prosperity,
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peace, spiritual prominence. This covenant is just huge in
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scope. It reaffirms their title deed to
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the land unconditionally. Right.
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The conditional Mosaic covenant governs their temporary
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enjoyment, but it doesn't cancel the underlying promise of the
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land. That's why Ezekiel calls it an
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eternal covenant. Because it's an amplification of
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the Abrahamic. Covenant.
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An unconditional one, it secures Israel's existence and future
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place in God's plan, and it's fulfillment is still a future
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eschatological event. So before it's fully realized,
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Israel must come to national repentance and knowledge of the
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Messiah. Following that conversion, they
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must be regathered to the land. The final glorious fulfillment
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will happen in the Millennial Kingdom.
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So what does this all mean? We've covered a tremendous
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amount of ground here, looking at God's blueprint for Israel at
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Sinai. We've seen the centrality of
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God's holiness, the requirement of blood for sin, the
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conditional nature of the law, and the constant need for
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mediation. The overarching architecture is
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clear. God established a special
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people, Israel, and ruled them in a mediatorial Kingdom through
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priests and prophets. But every single part of that
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temporary system pointed forward to the ultimate necessary
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mediator who was to come. We've seen how the Mosaic Law
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laid out these moral, civil, and ceremonial standards, all fixed
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in the holy character of Yahweh. So if the system's greatest
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failure was Israel's inability to actually keep that perfect
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law, what does that failure teach us about the ongoing
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relationship between God's perfect standard and human
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ability today? And, well, what does it tell us
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about the need for a new and better covenant?
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That's something to think about as you continue your own
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studies.