I AM...Promising
Part of I AM—A Study of Exodus
October 15, 2023

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I AM…Promising

Dispensations

  • Stages and seasons where God interacted differently with humanity
  • The word “economy” comes from “oikonomia,” the NT Greek word for “dispensation.”

For Example:
The Bible contains the Old Testament and the New Testament, these are two different dispensations, two different periods of time when God’s relationship with humanity changed.

Most of the time these dispensations or seasons changed when a covenant or new covenant was given.

In simplest terms, a covenant is a contract, an agreement between two or more parties.

Covenants in the Bible are about more than contracts, they are about people. A covenant is a commitment that establishes a relationship between two or more persons.

A Biblical covenant establishes a specific relationship between God and his people.

  • The covenant establishes stipulations, makes promises, guarantees blessings, and threatens curses.
  • It sounds gross to us, but in ancient times blood was often used to ratify the covenant. It symbolized that there was a cost to the covenant.

“Covenant” is one of the most translated words in the Bible

  • Appears around 280 times in the Old Testament.
  • Appears around 33 times in the New Testament.

The first explicit covenant in Scripture is between God and Noah after the flood. It’s called the Noahic Covenant.
This is God’s unconditional covenant between God and Noah or between God and humanity. After the Flood, God promised humanity that He would never again destroy all life on earth with a Flood. God gave the rainbow as the sign of the covenant, a promise that the entire earth would never again flood and a reminder that God can and will judge sin. Every time you see a rainbow in the sky it is a visible symbol of God’s covenant with us that he will never again destroy the earth with a flood. A rainbow comes from light passing through water and separating. That’s the science, but God gives us rainbows to remind us of his covenant.

Three of the four covenants God made with Israel are unconditional in nature; that is, regardless of Israel’s obedience or disobedience, God promises to fulfill these covenants with Israel.

One of the covenants, the Mosaic Covenant, is conditional in nature. That is, this covenant will bring either blessing or cursing depending on Israel’s obedience or disobedience.

The Mosaic Covenant is laid out in Exodus 19:3-6. This is where God states the terms of the covenant and promises that if they agree to it, they will be blessed and if they don’t they will be cursed.

“Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
Exodus 19:3-6

If Israel was obedient, God promised them three blessings.

1. They would be a “special possession/treasure” belonging to God.
This means that Israel would enjoy a unique relationship with Yahweh compared with all other nations, due to the unconditional promises of the Abrahamic Covenant.

2. They would be a “kingdom of priests,” representing God before the nations.
A priest mediates between God and humankind. Israel would be a holy people who enjoyed access to God and would go to the nations telling them about God so they could worship Him too. Israel would not be a kingdom known for its politicians, government, and military but for its faith, righteousness, and witness for the glory of God.

3. They would be a “holy nation,” separate and unique from all the other nations.
The word “holy” means “separate from all others.” In order to be a kingdom of priests, Israel could not be like all the other nations in the way that they lived and worshiped. They wouldn’t sacrifice children to some unknown god or worship sex or other earthly kings. They would worship God almighty the creator and sustainer of all things.

Moses took the Words the Lord spoke to him and relayed them to the people. The people agreed to God’s covenant without even asking what was in it.

“The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.”
Exodus 19:8

The Mosaic Covenant was a conditional covenant that either brought God’s direct blessing for obedience or God’s direct cursing for disobedience upon the nation of Israel.

The Mosaic Law covered moral life, religious life, and civil life. The purpose of the Law was not to grant salvation by doing good works, the Law was given in order to pave the way for salvation. The purpose of the Law was to reveal the plan and ultimately the need for a savior.

Why was the Mosaic Law given?

1. The Law revealed the righteousness and holiness of God as well as His standard of righteousness for His people.
For the first time ever, humanity was officially given the requirements God expected of them. As they looked at and studied the Law, they would see the righteousness and holiness of God. They would also learn what it meant for themselves to be righteous and holy as well.

2. The righteous standard of God revealed the sinfulness of man.
As one tried to meet the requirements of the Law, they would find time after time that they could not meet the expectations of the Law.

Prior to the Mosaic Law the people didn’t know what God expected of them. Once the Law was given, they realized they were breaking the Law by not being righteous with God or living in peace with their neighbors as commanded to do. Once the Law was given, they knew what they were doing was wrong and often they did it anyway which revealed how sinful they were.

3. This failure to be able to uphold every law revealed the need for a savior.
When one was faced with the reality that they could not live out the requirements of the Law, then they realized that they needed help to do so and that they needed a savior from the judgment of the Law.

Jesus Himself was hidden within the Law, the sacrificial system, and the tabernacle, and ready to be revealed in His coming.
Jesus is the perfect lamb. Lambs were used in the sacrificial system and they were always looking for the perfect lamb to sacrifice. Jesus is that perfect lamb, the lamb of God. Jesus is also seen in the tabernacle, the holy of holies. He is the presence of God that dwelled in the tabernacle between the cherubim and seraphim, the two angels that stood on top of the arc of the covenant.

Today we look back on the Mosaic Covenant to see that Jesus came to fulfill it.

Now we are living in a different dispensation, the New Testament New Covenant dispensation where we are saved by grace, living in grace, and awaiting the next covenant which is when God redeems His people and calls believers home to heaven.

“But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

For he finds fault with them when he says:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.”
Hebrews 8:6-9