Baptist Catechism 7

Q. 7. What is God?

A. God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. (John 4:24; Ps. 147:5; Ps. 90:2; James 1:17; Rev. 4:8; Ps. 89:14; Exod. 34:6,7; 1 Tim. 1:17)

Scripture Reading: John 4:1-26

“Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’ (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?’ (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come here.’ The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am he.’” (John 4:1–26, ESV)

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Introduction

What is God? This question, and that answer that is provided by our catechism,  is so incredibly important that I wish to take two sermons to address it. This will be part 1, and next Sunday, Lord willing, will be part 2. 

We should remember that we were created to know God, to glorify him, and to enjoy him forever and ever. And we should also recognize that Christ has redeemed us from sin so that we might be reconciled to God, to know him, to glorify him, and to enjoy him forever. The point is this: when we ask the question, “what is God?”, we are not merely doing heady theology, but are addressing matters that should be very near and dear to hearts. In Christ, we have been reconciled to God. We love God because he first loved us. And if you love someone, you will certainly want to know who they are. So then, this question, what is God? Is not only a vital question theologically speaking, it is also a vital question religiously speaking, and by that I mean, it is vital as it pertains to our love for God and our devotion to him. 

And let me also remind you of how our catechism has led us to this question. Our catechism begins with God, and I love that it does.  The scriptures begin with God, don’t they? “In the beginning, God…” And all things have God as their beginning! “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” And so our catechism beings in a most appropriate way when it is asks, “Who is the first and chiefest being?” The answer: “God is the first and chiefest being.” That is a good place for us to start, isnt it. Question and answer 2 then says what the scriptures say regarding what man should think about God. It states, “Everyone ought to believe there is a God, and it is their great sin and folly who do not.“

So then, our catechism begins by talking about God and establishing that he exists and that man is to live in this world being mindful of his existence. 

Questions 3 through 6 then deal with the question of “knowing”. How can this God be known? The answer is that “The light of nature in man and the works of God plainly declare that there is a God; but His Word and Spirit only do it fully and effectively for the salvation of sinners.” So then, the things that God has made tell us something about his existence. But God revealed himself much more clearly to us in his Word. 

 What is the Word of God? The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, and the only certain rule of faith and obedience. 

May all men make use of the Holy Scriptures? All men are not only permitted, but commanded and exhorted, to read, hear, and understand the Holy Scriptures. (John 5:39; Luke 16:29; Acts 8:28-30; 17:11)

And what things are chiefly contained in the Holy Scriptures? The Holy Scriptures chiefly contain what man ought to believe concerning God, and what duty God requireth of man.

So you can see that question 7 begins to address the first thing that the scriptures are said to contain. The chiefly contain what man ought to believe concerning God… And here in question 7 we ask, “What is God?” The answer that is given here is truly marvelous. But you should know that our catechism will deal with the broader question, what should man believe concerning God?, all the way through to question 43. In these questions, we are taught about God, his nature, his attributes, his plans and purposes, and his actions. 

Question 7 is about the nature of God. Notice, it asks what is God?  When we ask about the whatness of a thing, we are asking questions about the nature of a thing. If I were to ask you what is a rock? You would probably tell me about its makeup or composition and its characteristics. Rocks are made up of minerals, and they are hard. And if I were to ask you what is man? You would need to tell me about the nature of man. What makes a man a man? We would need to say that men and women are composed of body and soul. The body has certain parts, and so too does the soul. Man has a mind, a will, and affections. Man is autonomous but limited.  Man is a creature with a beginning, etc., etc. My point is this: when we ask the question, what is this thing or that?, we are asking questions about the nature or being of a thing. 

And that is what question 7 of our catechism is doing with God. What is he? That is the question. And if I could the matter in a different way, the answer is this: God is not like us! He is different. Yes, he has made us in his image. We are like him in some ways. We have been made in such a way that we can know him, relate to him, and mimic him. But we must not make the mistake of assuming that he is like us – a bigger, better, and more powerful version of us! He is not. God is different from us on the level of whatness. In other words, he has a different nature. We are human. He is Divine.  

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God Is A Spirit

I only wish to focus upon the first four words of the answer to question 7 today.  What is God? God is a spirit, our catechism says. What is man? Man is body and soul. What is God? God is a spirit.

Just a moment ago I read from John 4 which tells us about an encounter that Jesus has with a woman from Samaria who came to draw water at a well. That passage is important for a number of reasons. One reason it is important is because of what Jesus says concerning what God is. Jesus said, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” It’s not as if this was a new revelation concerning God. From the days of Adam, God’s people have known that he is a spirit. But this passage is helpful because Jesus says it directly. 

“God is spirit”, Jesus says. To state the matter negatively, God is not physical. He does not have a body. He is invisible.

You know, it is not uncommon for men and women to be confused about this. Many will think of something physical when they try to imagine God. Some will think of God as a big, powerful, grey haired grandpa in the sky. Others will image him as radiant light. But neither of these things is true. God is spirit. 

Our catechism summarized our confession. Listen to what our confession says about what God is. “The Lord our God is but one only living and true God; whose subsistence is in and of himself, infinite in being and perfection; whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but himself; a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; who is immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, every way infinite, most holy, most wise, most free, most absolute…” (LBC 2.1).

So why do men think of God as a physical being? One, we are prone to idolatry. We have this tendency to think of God as if he were a creature – a bigger and better version of us, perhaps. Two, the scriptures do sometimes use the langue of created things and apply them to God to help us understand what he is like, and men sometimes miss the fact that the langue is functioning in an anological way.  

Christ taught us to pray to God as Father. We have earthly fathers. And there are things about earthly fathers that help us to understand things that are true about God. He is our source. He love us. He is our protector and provider. Through Christ, he is our heavenly Father and we are his children. All of that is true. But we must remember that God is our father in an analogical way, not in an univicol, or one to one, way. We would be wrong to think of him as a big, great, and powerful version of an earthly father in the sky. 

Sometimes the scriptures speak of God’s hand, his arm, his face, or back. These are human things. These are creaturely things. When the scriptures use this langue to tell us something about God, do we learn things that are true of him? Yes! But again, we must remember that the langue is analogical. 

Sometimes the scriptures will speak of God using the langue of human emotion. Humans experience changes in emotion. God does not. But we learn something true about God’s relationship with the world he has made when the scriptures speak of God repenting, grieving, longing, etc. 

All of these passages that attribute human and creaturely characteristics to God are important. We learn true things about God through them. But if we wish to know what God is, then we ought to give priority to those passages that are dealing with the whatness of God. “God is spirit”, Jesus said. The LORD revealed himself to Moses as the great I AM – the self-existent, eternal, and unchanging one.  James calls God “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17, ESV).

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Conclusion

What is God? Our catechism is right to say that “God is a spirit”. And next week we will consider what it means for God to be “ infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.”

Old Testament Reading: Exodus 20:1-21

“And God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ‘You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. ‘You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’ Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.’ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.’ The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.” (Exodus 20:1–21, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Romans 13:8–14

“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (Romans 13:8–14, ESV)

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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.

Introduction

Most Christians are familiar with the Ten Commandments (or at least they should be). And I think it is safe to say that Christians are much more familiar with the Ten Commandments than with the other laws that the LORD gave to Israel through Moses after he redeemed them from Egyptian bondage. There is a good reason for this. The Ten Commandments are much more familiar to us because Christians (and many others) have rightly recognized that they contain a summary of the moral law of God.

When we speak of the moral law we are speaking of those moral principles which apply to all people in all times and places. The moral law comes from God. It reflects his Holy nature. We confess that it was written on Adam’s heart at the time of creation, that it is present even still in the heart of man after the fall (though it is constantly distorted and suppressed by sinful men). And at regeneration, it is this law – the moral law of God – which is written anew and afresh upon the heart of man, so that those in Christ love God’s law and desire to keep it, by the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

There is no one passage of scriptures that we can turn to where all of this is neatly summed up for us. But when we pay careful attention to the way in which the scriptures speak of God’s law from Genesis to Revelation, we see that it is true. When God created man he made him a moral creature. Adam knew the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, for this moral law was on his heart. Man still has this capacity after the fall. Man has a conscience, though it is now perverse and often seared. And when God saves a man – when God draws a man to himself through faith in Jesus Christ – he gives him a new heart. He removes the heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh. There the moral law is freshly written, as it were, so that the man does begin to hate that which is evil and love what is good. It will be by this law – the moral law which is for all people – that all will be judged on the last day, if not in Christ. As I have said, there is no one text of scripture that says all of this, but this section of the book of Exodus, along with Jerimiah 31 and the first seven chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans, are especially important. 

Here I am simply observing that Christians (and others) have rightly observed that the Ten Commandments, or Ten Words, which God gave to Israel do in fact contain a summary of God’s moral law. 

And as you know, these Ten Commandments can be summarized by two commandments. This is what Jesus taught when he was asked to identify the most important law in the law of Moses. He quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5 which says, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” And then he cited Leviticus 19:18, which says, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” So the whole law that God gave to Israel through Moses comes down to these two commandments: “love the LORD your God…” and “love your neighbor…”. 

As I have said, these two commandments summarize the Ten. The first four commandments of the Ten have to do with our love for God. They teach us about how he is to be honored and worshiped. And the last six of the Ten have to do with our love for neighbor. They teach us about how we are to honor our fellow man. Furthermore, these two commandments, and the Ten Commandments which they summarize,  function as the moral foundation, or core, of the other 601 commandments that are found in the law of Moses. In the law of Moses, we will encounter many other commandments besides these two and these Ten, and I am saying that the two and the Ten function as the moral core of all the others.

As we continue on in our study of Exodus, and as we, Lord willing, come to study Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy someday, we will find many other laws. Some of them we call civil or judicial, for they had to do with the governance of the nation of Old Covenant Israel. We will also find ceremonial laws in the law of Moses. These ceremonial laws had to do with the worship of God under the Old Covenant. The way of worshipping God under the Old Covenant was revealed to them by God. Neither the judicial laws nor the ceremonial laws are binding today now that Christ has come and the Old Covenant has passed away with the arrival of the New. But the moral law, upon which these civil and ceremonial laws were established, remains today.  

It is no wonder, then, that Christians are much more familiar with the Ten Commandments, and the two commandments which summarize them, than with the other 601 laws found within the law of Moses. 

But as we encounter the Ten Commandments in the context of our study of the book of Exodus, I want for you to see that they did not only summarize the moral law for Israel. They also functioned as the foundation of all of Israel’s laws, both civil and ceremonial. The Ten Commandments are the first laws given to Israel. And to these laws, God added judicial laws (having to do with government), and ceremonial laws (having to do with worship). All of these laws have the Ten Commandments as their foundation or core. 

We will move rather slowly through the Ten Commandments in the weeks to come. They were so very important to Old Covenant Israel, and they are very important to the New Covenant people of God too. Today, we will only be considering the introduction to the Ten Commandments, which is found in verses 1 and 2. 

I will make two simple but very significant observations. One, it was the LORD who was the source of the law that was given to Israel in the days of Moses. And two, Israel was obligated to obey these laws because the LORD redeemed them. 

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The LORD Was The Source Of This Law

First, let us see that it was the LORD who was the source of this law that was given to Israel. 

In verse 1 we read, “And God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ‘You shall have no other gods before me.’”, etc. 

The point is this: the law that was given to Israel in the days of Moses was from God. It was the product, not of man, but of God. This law was revealed by God and it was received by the people. Certainly, it was not the other way around.  

Now, this observation might seem too obvious to be worthy of mention, but in fact, many have stumbled at this very point. In our day and age, it is not at all uncommon for men and women to think of the religion of Old Covenant Israel, and the Christian religion, the law of Moses in particular, and the Scriptures in general, as the product of man. If you were to ask people on the streets, where did the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments come from? or, where did the laws of Moses come from? I would not be surprised at all if the majority said, from man – they were the inventions of man. 

I suppose we should not be terribly surprised to find this opinion on the streets and among the non-believing world. But sadly this opinion has even crept into the church. There are, in fact, many who claim to be Christians who believe that the Scriptures, in general, and the law of Moses, in particular, are from man. They deny that the Scriptures have been supernaturally revealed from above, and think instead that they have arisen, quite naturally, from below. Those who have studied the history of protestant liberal theology and its effects upon the modern church will know what I mean.  

But what do we believe concerning the Scriptures? In brief, we believe that they are the words of God. The Scriptures, though they were certainly written by men, do not originate with men, but with God. They are divinely inspired. To quote Peter, “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21, ESV). To quote Paul, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16, NKJV).

As we study the Scriptures we see that it has please the Lord, at different times and in different ways, to reveal himself to man, and to make his will known to his people. Think of how the LORD spoke to Adam, to Abraham, and to Moses. Think of how he revealed himself to and through the prophets of Old. Think of how he spoke to the world through Christ. The Lord has, at different times and in different ways, revealed himself to man, and has made his will known to his people. And after doing so, the record of these revelatory acts was committed to writing. The Scriptures were written so that God’s truth might be better preserved and shared, leading to the more sure establishment and comfort of the church.

The Scriptures are necessary, therefore. These former ways of God revealing his will to his people have ceased. And by this, we mean that God does not reveal himself as he did in the days Adam, Abraham, and Moses, for God has spoken to the world supremely through Christ, for he was the eternal Word of God come in the flesh. He was the Final Word, if you will. So what do we have now? We have the Scriptures. And this is why we confess that “the Holy Scriptures are the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.” 

The Scriptures are supremely authoritative for us. Why? Because they are the Word of God. Listen to our confession, chapter 1, paragraph 4: “The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the author thereof; therefore it is to be received because it is the Word of God.”

God has spoken in history at different times and ways. He has spoken supremely through Christ, his Son. And God has inspired the writing of Holy Scripture so that we might know the truth and the implications of what God has said and done in history. Here in Exodus, we find a supreme example of this. God acted to redeem Israel. God spoke his word to Israel. And the Scriptures we now have are a divinely inspired record of that activity. 

The LORD was the source of this law that was given to Israel. And notice a few things about the giving of this law. 

One, it was God who spoke these words to Israel directly. Up to this point in the narrative, God had spoken to Israel through Moses. He will do so again later in the narrative. But here at Sinai the LORD spoke directly to Israel, the end result being that they begged no further word be spoken to them.

That God spoke directly to Israel is evident from what is said in verse 1: “And God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.’“

It is also evident when we consider the response of Israel after the Ten Commandments were uttered. In Exodus 20:18 we read, “Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.’ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.’ The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.” (Exodus 20:18–21, ESV)

So why did God speak these Ten Words to Israel directly with the sound of thunder, flashes of lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking? Why did he not do as he had done before, and would do again afterward, and speak to Israel through Moses? Why did speak these words directly to them? 

One, so that Israel would know for certain that it was the LORD who was giving them this law. In this way, Israel would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the law originated with the LORD, and not the man, Moses. 

Two, he spoke in this way so that Israel would have a reverential fear of the LORD, and respect for his servant Moses. 

Three, he spoke in this way so that Israel would have respect for all of the laws that God would give to them, but especially these Ten Commandments. 

Isn’t interesting how the LORD stressed the importance of these Ten Commandments? All of the other laws that were given to Israel were given to them through Moses. The source is the same. They are all from God. But the method of delivery is different. Here in Exodus 20, the Ten Commandments are spoken directly to Israel. Israel heard the voice of the LORD, and they trembled. And when we finally come to the end of Exodus 31 we will learn that the LORD wrote these Ten Commandments on stone tablets with his own finger, if you will, and gave the tablets to Moses. 

It is not difficult to see that, of all of the laws that God gave to Israel, the Ten Commandments were set apart as especially important. The LORD spoke them to Israel, and he wrote them with his own hand. The reason for this has already been stated. These Ten Words contain a summary of God’s moral law. And God’s moral law functions as the core of all of the other laws given to Israel, civil and ceremonial.  

So we have observed that it was God who spoke these words directly to Israel. Two, let us recognize that when the LORD introduced himself to Israel on Sinai he did so as a powerful King who was initiating a covenant with his subjects.

I will not spend too much time on this, but it should to be said that there is something going on in this episode that would have been far more obvious to the original audience than it is to us. 

In the ancient near eastern world, this is how kings would enter into covenants, or treaties, with other kings. The greater king – perhaps the conquering king, or the more powerful king in an alliance – would enter into a covenant or treaty with a lesser king in this way. One, he would identify the parties involved. Two, he would state the relationship between the parties. Three, he would state the stipulations of the relationship, listing laws or obligations to be followed. Four, witnesses would be mentioned. Five, a commitment would be made to write the document down so that it could be referenced and periodically read. And six, sanctions would be stated which clarify the blessing for obedience and the curses that would befall the kings and their kingdoms in the case of disobedience.  

Those familiar with the books of Exodus and Leviticus will likely recognize that all of these features are present within the story of God entering into covenant with Israel. In other words, God made his covenant with Israel in a way that was familiar to them and to the nations around them. 

Not all of the six features that I mentioned are present here in Exodus 20, but four of them are. In verse 2 we find the preamble wherein the giver and the recipients are identified. YHWH, who is God Almighty is the giver, and the nation of Israel is the recipient. Next, we find the prologue, wherein there is a reminder of the relationship between the two parties. YHWH is the great and mighty King, and he is entering into a covenant with Israel, whom he rescued from slavery in Egypt. After this, the stipulations are listed. They begin at 20:3 and run through to 23:19. They pick up again in 25:1 and continue through 31:18. These are the laws or obligations that YHWH, the great King, set upon Israel, his redeemed. Lastly, sanctions are found in the book of Exodus. These are the blessings promised for obedience and the curses that are warned in the case of disobedience. These sanctions are peppered throughout Exodus, but they are found even in chapter 20 in verses 5-6, 12, and 24. For example, verses 5 and 6 say, “You shall not bow down to them or serve them [refering to idols], for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:5–6, ESV). This remark about blessings and curses is to be interpreted as a part of the sanctions of the Old Mosaic Covenant.  

The point is this: when the LORD introduced himself to Israel on Sinai in these introductory words to the Ten Commandments, he did so as a powerful King who was entering into a covenant with a nation whom he had rescued.

So then, it was the LORD who was the source of this law that was given to Israel. And we have made these two observations: One, the LORD spoke to Israel directly. Two, he introduced himself to Israel as a powerful King who was initiating a covenant with his subjects. Our third observation is this: the LORD introduced himself to Israel as “the LORD your God.”

Israel had heard about the LORD from Moses. They had witnessed his great power in the outpouring of the ten plagues and in the parting of the Red Sea. They saw his glory in the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. And they enjoyed his constant provision as they wandered in the wilderness. But now the LORD spoke to them from the mountain in a glorious and powerful way, and he introduced himself to them, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Exodus 20:2, ESV).

Of course, YHWH is the God of all people, for he is the one true God, Creator of heaven and earth, of all things seen and unseen. But here the LORD is emphasizing his special relationship to Israel, and their special relationship with. 

The LORD had rescued Israel “out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” And this he did because he had determined to make them his treasured possession of all the peoples of the earth, though all the earth is his (see Exodus 19:5). The LORD God was Israel’s LORD God in a special way, therefore. He redeemed them and was making a covenant with them. And this covenant which was made in the days of Moses was the fulfillment of the promises of a previous covenant made with father Abraham. It is no wonder, then, that the LORD introduced himself to Israel, not merely as God, or the LORD God, but as “the LORD your God”, for though the LORD is the one true God, and the Lord of all the earth, Old Covenant Israel belonged to him, and he to them, in a special way. This special relationship was formalized in a covenant and established through the act of redemption. The message for Israel was quite clear. There at Sinai, they were being brought into a special covenantal relationship with YHWH. 

You know, in Deuteronomy, the laws of this covenant are restated in preparation for the conquest of Cannan. It’s interesting to hear how Moses stated things as he looked back upon this event at Sinai which is recorded for us in Exodus 20. About 40 years had passed – 40 years of wilderness wanderings. Listen to the way that Moses describes the events that took place at Sinia which we are considering now. 

In Deuteronomy 5:1 we read, “And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb [another name for Mt. Sinai]. Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. The LORD spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said: ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.’ ‘You shall have no other gods before me.’”, etc., etc. 

So it is as I have said. The LORD was the source of this law that was given to Israel. When he gave this law to them, the LORD spoke to Israel directly, he introduced himself to Israel as a powerful King who was initiating a covenant with his subjects, and he introduced himself to Israel as “the LORD your God.” This is all about the making of a covenant, brothers and sisters. 

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Israel Was Obligated To Obey These Laws And To Keep This Covenant Because The LORD Had Redeemed Them

The second (and last) major point of the sermon today is this: Israel was obligated to obey these laws and to keep the terms of this covenant because the LORD had redeemed them. 

If a great king conquers a lesser king and mercifully offers to enter into a treaty with him, what can the lesser king do except agree to the gracious offer? If a great king offers to free or protect a nation from an enemy more powerful than them, they would be fools to reject the offer, provided that the terms are reasonable. Similarly, when the LORD rescued Israel from Egyptian slavery, Israel was obligated to obey these laws and to keep the terms of this covenant because the LORD had redeemed them. This was the nature of their relationship. The LORD was the Redeemer, and Israel was the redeemed.  Again, listen to the preamble and prologue: “And God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.’” 

It was said in the previous sermon (and rightly so) that covenant that God made with Israel in the days of Moses was a covenant of works. We call it a covenant of works because the people were called to keep the covenant through their obedience to the stipulations or laws that were given. In other words, the covenant depended upon the works or obedience of the people. The Covenant of Grace is different. The blessings of that covenant are not earned by us,  but received as a gift that is freely given. This is possible because Jesus Christ kept the terms of the Covenant of Redemption for us. He lived in perfect obedience to God’s law. He also suffered and died in the place of sinners, so that through faith in him, we might have his righteousness as our own, and the gilt of our sin removed because he paid the price. Substantially (when we consider the terms), the Old Mosaic Covenant, and the New Covenant of Grace, could not be more different. 

But in the previous sermon I did also acknowledge that, in sense, all of the covenants that God has made with man are gracious. I do not mean that they are substantially covenants of grace, but that God was gracious and kind to make these covenants with man. I suppose this could even be said of the covenant that God made with Adam in the garden, though the covenant itself was most certainly a covenant of works (eternal life in glory had to be earned by him!).  But this is especially true of all of the redemptive covenants that God entered into with man after the fall – the Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic. God could not make these covenants with Israel unless he was merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Those words should sound familiar to you, for this is how the LORD spoke of himself when he revealed himself to Moses in Exodus 34:6: “The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness…’” (Exodus 34:6, ESV)

This covenant that God made with Israel in the days of Moses was a covenant of works in substance, but the grace of God was certainly present. If God were not “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”, Israel would not have made it a day. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would not have been used by the LORD to bring this nation into existence. Moses himself would not have been used by God were not for God’s grace. 

And we know where God’s grace is shown supremely. We know where it is made available. Not through the Old Covenant and its terms of obedience, but through the New Covenant, and through the cross of Christ where the blood of the promised Messiah was poured out. God was “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” from the days of Adam to the days of Christ so that he might keep his promises to defeat the Evil One and atone for the sins of his elect through the blood of Christ (see Romans 3). 

Was God’s grace present in the days of Moses? Was his grace available to Old Covenant Israel? Yes, of course, it was. But through the terms or substance of the Old Covenant? No, through faith in the promised Messiah, who is the mediator of the New Covenant, which is the Covenant of Grace in Christ’s blood. 

Here is the point: The LORD graciously redeemed Old Covenant Israel from Egyptian bondage. So them, they were obligated to obey his laws and to keep his covenant out of gratitude for what he had done for them. 

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Suggestions For Application

So what does this text mean for us? 

As I have said before, we must be very careful when applying these passages from the book of Exodus to ourselves, for we do not live under the Old Covenant, but the New. We cannot simply take what the LORD said to Israel as if he has said it to us. That would be a grave mistake. 

The LORD spoke to Israel, and no to us, when he said, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” And when the LORD gave Israel the Ten Commandments, he gave them to them as the first and most foundational laws of that Old Covenant of works. We should not be surprised, therefore, to find some things in the Ten Commandments that were unique to Old Covenant Israel. We have already noted that the introduction was unique to Old Covenant Israel. And in due time we will see that the seventh-day Sabbath was for them, whereas we are to rest and worship on the first day. And what are we to make of the remarks about the children enjoying long life in the land should they obey their parents, or the children paying for the sinful idolatry of their fathers to the third and fourth generation? These are examples of things that were unique to Old Covenant Israel even within the Ten Commandments. 

But I have said that in the Ten Commandments we find God’s moral law summarized, and that is certainly true. That law – the moral law – is still for us, brothers and sisters. It is not a covenant of works for us. But it shows us the way we should go. It also reveals our sin to us so that we might run to Christ for forgiveness. Christians should care deeply about the Ten Commandments, therefore.  We should know them and love them, along with the two that summarize them: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37–39, ESV).

 Listen to our confession on this point. Chapter 19 paragraph 6 says, “Although true believers be not under the law as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified or condemned, yet it is of great use to them as well as to others, in that as a rule of life, informing them of the will of God and their duty, it directs and binds them to walk accordingly; discovering also the sinful pollutions of their natures, hearts, and lives, so as examining themselves thereby, they may come to further conviction of, humiliation for, and hatred against, sin; together with a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ and the perfection of his obedience; it is likewise of use to the regenerate to restrain their corruptions, in that it forbids sin; and the threatenings of it serve to show what even their sins deserve, and what afflictions in this life they may expect for them, although freed from the curse and unalloyed rigour thereof. The promises of it likewise show them God’s approbation of obedience, and what blessings they may expect upon the performance thereof, though not as due to them by the law as a covenant of works; so as man’s doing good and refraining from evil, for the law encourageth to the one and deterreth from the other, is no evidence of his being under the law and not under grace.”

And if we do not earn God’s blessing through law-keeping, what should motivate us to live in obedience to God’s moral law? Answer: gratitude. The New Covenant people of God are to obey the LORD from a renewed heart and mind out of a sense of gratitude for what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. 

To Old Covenant Israel the LORD said,” I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ‘You shall have no other gods before me’”, etc. 

But to New Covenant Isarel he says, I have delivered you from the domain of darkness and transferred you to the kingdom of my beloved Son, in whom you have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (see Colossians 1:13–14), and “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15, ESV).

Baptist Catechism 6

Q. 6. What things are chiefly contained in the Holy Scriptures?

A. The Holy Scriptures chiefly contain what man ought to believe concerning God, and what duty God requireth of man. (2 Tim. 3:16,17; John 20:31; Acts 24:14; 1 Cor. 10:11; Eccles. 12:13)

Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 3:14–17

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:14–17, ESV)

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Introduction

Question 6 of our catechism asks, What things are chiefly contained in the Holy Scriptures?

“Chiefly” means mainly, or supremely. So the question is, what are the Holy Scriptures mainly about? 

We have been learning about the Holy Scriptures, haven’t we? We’ve learned that God reveals truth about himself in his Word. We’ve learned that the “Holy Scriptures made up of the Old and New Testaments the Word of God, and the only certain rule of faith and obedience” (BC 4). And we’ve learned that the Holy Scriptures are for all men and women. “All men are not only permitted, but commanded and exhorted, to read, hear, and understand the Holy Scriptures” (BC 5).

Now our catechism attempts to tell us, in a very short space, what the Holy Scriptures are mainly about. That’s a difficult task, don’t you think? The Holy Scriptures are so long and they are so complex. How could we possibly say what they are mainly about in only a few words? I think the answer that our catechism gives is very good. Again, “The Holy Scriptures chiefly contain what man ought to believe concerning God, and what duty God requireth of man.”

So the teaching of Scripture is here divided into two categories.

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What Man Ought To Believe Concerning God…

First of all, the Scriptures teach us what we should believe concerning God. I think that is a very good summary of the main message of the Bible. The Scriptures teach us about God.

And consider all of the complex topics that fall under that simple category. The Scriptures teach us about the existence of God, his nature and attributes, his plans and purposes, his work of creation, and his ongoing relationship to this world that he has made. Our catechism is right to say that one of the main things the Scriptures teach us about is God.

And yes, we need to be taught about God. Have you ever thought about this? We could know nothing about God if it were not for God choosing to reveal himself to us. Who knows God perfectly and completely? Answer: Only God knows God perfectly and completely. We will never know God in the way that God knows himself, for we are creatures. And as finite creatures, we do not have the ability to comprehend the Infinite One. 

But we can know God truly, for God has made us in such a way that we can know him. This is a part of what it means to be made in the image of God. We have the capacity to know him. He made us with rational minds and reasonable souls so that we might understand who he is and relate to him. But even so, if we were to know God truly, he had to reveal himself to us.

We have already learned about how he has done this. God has revealed truth about himself to us both in nature and also by giving us his word. When we speak of natural revelation we are saying what the Bible also says, that God has made the world in such a way that it “speaks” truth to us concerning God’s existence and his power. When we speak of Word revelation we are saying that God has also spoken more clearly. He has spoken to men directly. He has spoken through the prophets of old. He has spoken supremely through his Son. And now we have the Scriptures. And what do these Scriptures mainly teach? One, they teach us what we should believe about God.

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What Duty God Requireth Of Man

Two, the Scriptures also teach “what duty God requireth of man.” “Duty” means obligation or responsibility. What is man obligated to do before God? The Scriptures reveal it. 

So what are our responsibilities before God? Some are universal and unchanging. Because God is our Creator, and we are his creatures, we are duty-bound to worship and serve him in the way that he has prescribed in his Word. We are also obligated to honor our fellow human beings. In short, we to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. This never changes. It was true for Adam, and it is true for us. 

But there are some obligations that are unique to the times and places in which we live. When God entered into covenants with man, he added laws that were unique to those covenants. Also, some men and women have obligations that differ from others due to their unique callings and situations in life. The Scriptures speak beautifully to all of these things. 

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Conclusion

I think this twofold answer to the question, what do the Scriptures mainly teach? is really good. Everything fits under these two categories. 

The Scriptures reveal that God exists. They tell about what he is and what he is like. They reveal what God has done and what he is doing. The Scriptures open up to us the plans and purposes of the LORD. They reveal his names to us.  

And the Scriptures also reveal how we are to live as God’s creatures. In them, we find God’s law. We learn the difference between good and evil, truth and falsehood, wisdom and folly. The Scriptures tell us about how we can have a right relationship with God and life everlasting. They reveal the Christ to us and why me must be found in him. 

Question and answer 6 not only helps us to understand the contents of Holy Scripture, it also summarizes the contents of our catechism. It is not surprising that the content of Scripture matches the content of our catechism, given that our catechism is meant to summarize the teaching of Scripture. 

Questions 7-43 teach us what we are to believe about God.

Questions 44-114 will teach us about the duty that God requires of man. 

Notice that question 7 asks, “What is God?”

Question 44 asks, “What is the duty which God requireth of man?

What things are chiefly contained in the Holy Scriptures?

The Holy Scriptures chiefly contain what man ought to believe concerning God, and what duty God requireth of man. (2 Tim. 3:16,17; John 20:31; Acts 24:14; 1 Cor. 10:11; Eccles. 12:13)

Old Testament Reading: Exodus 19

“On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.’ So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, ‘All that the LORD has spoken we will do.’ And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD. And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.’ When Moses told the words of the people to the LORD, the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.’ So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. And he said to the people, ‘Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.’ On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the LORD to look and many of them perish. Also let the priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them.’ And Moses said to the LORD, ‘The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’’ And the LORD said to him, ‘Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest he break out against them.’ So Moses went down to the people and told them.” (Exodus 19, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Hebrews 12:18-29

“For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, ‘If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.’ Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, ‘I tremble with fear.’ But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ This phrase, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:18–29, ESV)

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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.

Introduction

The text that is before us today is rather lengthy. I went back and forth in my mind wondering if I should preach Exodus 19  in two or three parts, or all at once. As you can see, I’ve decided to preach it all at once. And the reason is so we might better appreciate the unity of this passage. For although the story of Exodus 19 could be divided into two or three parts, it really tells one story. 

And the story that is told in Exodus 19 is very important. Here we have a record of the LORD beginning to call the nation of Israel into a special covenantal relationship with himself. I said, “beginning”, because the story of God establishing this covenant with the nation of Israel starts here in Exodus 19, but it does not conclude until the end of Exodus 24. So, from the beginning of Exodus 19 through to the end of Exodus 24 we learn about the establishment of the Old Mosaic Covenant. 

In chapter 19 the covenant is proposed. In chapters 20 through 23:19, we find covenant laws. In 23:20-33 we will find a promise concerning covenant land, the land of Cannan. And in chapter 24 the covenant is finally confirmed. So then, Exodus 19-24 describes God entering into a covenant with the nation of Israel. All of this happened as Israel encamped at the base of Mt. Sinai, as Moses went up on the mountain, and as the glory of God descended on the mountain as a consuming fire. In chapter 19, which is our text for today, the covenant is introduced, or proposed. 

An illustration may be helpful here. Think for a moment about the marriage covenant? When is a marriage covenant established or made? It is made on the wedding day when a man and woman stand before God and witness and make vows to one another. That is when the covenant is confirmed. On that day, and not beforehand. But as you know, rarely will a man and woman get married spontaneously on the spur of the moment. No, before the wedding day there will be a proposal and an engagement period. And even if the engagement period is very brief, it will involve planning and preparation, not only for the wedding itself but also for the marriage.

I think this illustrates what is happening here in Exodus 19 through 24. In Exodus 24, the covenant between the LORD and Israel will be confirmed. It is the wedding day, if you will. But in Exodus 19 the covenant is proposed. Again, in chapters 20-23 we find laws and promises which bring clarity concerning the terms of the ongoing relationship between the LORD and Israel. I suppose we may compare this to the engagement or betrothal period wherein a couple makes preparations for marriage. 

If I may push this illustration just a little further, rarely does a couple get married spontaneously or instantaneously, and neither do couples typically get engaged spontaneously either. No, often there is a significant relationship that in time leads to a proposal, and then to marriage. And in a similar way, YHWH’s proposal and covenantal union with Isreal did not appear out of the blue either. No, there was a very significant relationship – in fact, it too was a covenantal relationship – that existed between the two going back to the days of Abraham. 

It is important for us to remember that before the LORD entered into a covenantal relationship with Israel in the days of Moses, he made a covenant with Abraham wherein he promised to, among other things, bless him with many offspring, to give him the land of Cannan, and to make him into a kingdom. You may read all about the covenant that God made with Abraham in Genesis 12, 15, and 17. I’ll spare you the details, for we considered these things when we studied Genesis. For now, I only wish to remind you that when God redeemed Israel from Egyptian bondage, led them into the wilderness, and entered into this covenant with them, all of it was in fulfillment of promises previously made. These were the children of Abraham, remember. These were the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (or Israel). The covenant that God made with the people of Israel in the days of Moses was in fulfillment of covenant promises previously made. As you can see, the story that is told in Genesis and Exodus – indeed, the story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation – is one unified story. 

As I have said, the text that is before us today is rather long. But I believe I can explain the meaning of it in three parts. One, we must consider the parties of this covenant. Two, we must consider the terms of this covenant. And three, we must consider the purpose of this covenant. 

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Parties

First, let us consider the parties, or participants, involved in this covenant. 

YHWH is the first participant in this covenant. It was YHWH who proposed this covenant and set its terms. The text is clear about this. Look at verse 2. ​​“[Isael] set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel…’”, etc.

Covenants always involve at least two parties. Covenants are agreements, after all. It takes two to make an agreement. And yes, YHWH was indeed a participant in this covenant – he was one of the parties involved. But here I am drawing your attention to the fact that, though he was a participant, this does not mean that he stood on equal ground with those he entered into covenant with. And this is true of all of the covenants that God has made with man. When two men make a covenant with each other, it is possible that they stand on an equal plane with each other and initiate the covenant mutually. Not so in the covenants that God makes with man. It is God who initiates and sets the terms, and man must reciprocate. Never is it the other way around. The reason for this is obvious. God is God. He is supreme over all his creation. God is not obliged to give man anything (except justice, which is in keeping with his nature). But man is obliged to give God everything, for God is the Creator and Redeemer, and man is his creature.

In other words, never has man been in a position to initiate a covenant with God. This was true even before man fell into sin. It is certainly true afterward. When we consider the covenants that God has made with man in history we must confess that, though God is a participant, he is always the one to initiate and to set the terms. He initiated the covenant that was made with Adam in the garden of Eden. He set the terms of it. He established the rewards for obedience and the curses for disobedience. In the covenant that was made with Adam, Adam could only respond. The same may be said of the covenant that God transacted Abraham, with David, and with all of his elect in the New Covenant. It is the LORD who initiates. It is LORD who establishes the terms, for he is God, and we are his creatures. 

You can see, then, that there is a sense in which all of God’s covenants are gracious. No, I’m not denying that the covenant that God made with Adam in the garden was the Covenant of Works, nor am I denying that this covenant which we are considering today was a covenant of works (more on that in a moment). But I am observing that all of God’s covenants are rooted in the kindness of God. They are gracious and kind, for God is not obliged to enter into covenant with man. He is not duty-bound to offer us anything beyond justice. But God is merciful, gracious, and kind. He has stooped down and has entered into covenants with man wherein he offers his creatures something more than what they have by nature. 

The LORD is the first party in this covenant. And who is the other party? Answer: In the days of Moses, YHWH entered into covenant with the people of Israel. This is apparent throughout this text, but especially in verse 7 where we read, “So Moses came and called the elders of the people [of Israel] and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. All the people [of Israel] answered together and said, ‘All that the LORD has spoken we will do’” (Exodus 19:7–8, ESV). So then, the parties of this covenant were YHWH and Israel. 

This covenant that the LORD made with Israel is sometimes called the Mosaic covenant. It is called this, not because the covenant was made with Moses, but through him. Moses was the mediator of this covenant. This too is very apparent in our text. The LORD spoke to Israel through Moses. It was Moses who went up on the mountain, spoke with God face to face, as it were, and then came back down again to deliver the word of LORD to the people. Moses was God’s great prophet and priest. He was God’s servant, the mediator of the Old Covenant. The LORD redeemed Israel and entered into covenant with them through Moses. 

You know, this observation that the Mosaic covenant was made between the LORD and Israel may seem very basic, but if we forget this then we are bound to make great errors in our interpretation of the Old Testament scriptures. Look at where we are in the scriptures. We are only at Exodus 19. We are still near the beginning of the story of the Bible. Nearly everything that is written in the Old Testament Scriptures from this point forward took place within the context of the Old Mosaic covenant and the kingdom of Israel which was established and governed by this covenant. 

Think of it. The book of Genesis tells us about the kingdom of creation. It also reveals to us the Covenant of Works that God made with Adam in the garden (which he broke), as well as the covenant of common grace which the LORD made with all creation in the days of Noah. These two covenants – the Adamic and the Noahic – govern the kingdom of creation. But Genesis also tells us about the covenant that God made with Abraham. The LORD called Abraham out from the nations and promised to make a great nation from his offspring. This nation that would come from him would bless all nations, for, from this nation, the Messiah would emerge. This is why some have called the book of Genesis the prologue to the rest of the Old Testament. Genesis tells the back story. But as you can see, in only a few pages, everything comes to focus on the Kingdom of Israel and on the Old Mosaic Covenant which governed that Kingdom. Again, almost everything that is written from this point onward was written in the context of Old Covenant Israel who lived under the Mosaic Covenant, which is established here in Exodus 19 through 24. If we miss or forget this, we will make terrible in our interpretation and application of the Old Testament scriptures from this point onward. 

Before moving on to consider the terms and purpose of this covenant, it would be good for us to take a moment to reflect upon the kindness of God to enter into covenants with man so that we might give him praise. 

I ask you, what does God gain by entering into covenants with man? Answer: nothing at all! The reason for this is simple. It is impossible for God to gain anything, for he is the fullness and source of all life and blessedness. He is the Eternal, Almighty, and Unchanging One. This is what the Apostle means when asks, “who has given a gift to [the Lord] that he might be repaid?” The implied answer is, no one. And then Paul explains why, saying, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:35–36, ESV).

What does God gain by entering into covenants with man? Nothing at all! Who benefits then? His creatures benefit! When the LORD transacted the Covenant of Works with Adam in the garden he offered Adam and his descendants life-abundant, life-eternal, life in glory should he go on living in perfect, exact, and perpetual obedience to the terms of the covenant. Who would have benefited if that covenant were kept? Not God, but Adam and the whole human race in him. And who was to benefit from the covenants that God entered into with Abraham and his descendants, with Israel in the days of Moses, and with David and his descendants?  Well, the answer is twofold, for these covenants all have a dual nature to them. On the one hand, the physical descendants of Abraham would be blessed in the land and in an earthly way should they keep the terms of these three covenants that God transacted with them. On the other hand, all of the spiritual children of Abraham would be blessed spiritually and for all eternity in the new heavens and earth. And who are the true children of Abraham? They are those who have believed in the promised Messiah. They are not only Hebrews but also Gentiles. This is what Paul so clearly teaches in Romans 8 and 9, and in Galatians 3. This is what Jesus himself taught in John 8. Romans 9:8 is very clear. There Paul says, “This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring” (Romans 9:8, ESV). 

So, back to my question. Who are the beneficiaries of these covenants that God made with the Hebrews in the days of Abraham, Moses, and David? Earthy speaking, the Israelites, the physical descendants of Abraham, would be blessed in the land should they obey God and keep the terms of these covenants. This would also be true of anyone who wished to join themselves to Israel physically. Spiritually speaking, it is all who have faith in the unconditional promises made to Abraham concerning the Messiah who would, in the fulness of time, bless the nations by paying the price of our sins, accomplishing our eternal redemption, defeating the Evil One, and undoing his work. Of course, the Messiah has come. He has fulfilled the promises previously made. This is why the Old Covenant has passed away. It has been fulfilled. Now, the Kingdom of Heaven is here with power. It is the New Covenant that governs this Kingdom which has Christ as Lord. And who are the beneficiaries of this new covenant? Again, it is not God, but man. It is all who have turned from their sins and have placed their faith in Jesus the Messiah who is freely offered to them in the gospel, not from the Jews only, but people from every tongue, tribe, and nation.  

The point is this: God’s grace is truly marvelous. He is kind to his creatures. He blesses us with earthly blessings, and he offers us spiritual and eternal blessings too, all through Israel’s precious Messiah. 

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Terms

Let us not fix our minds back upon the covenant that God transacted with Israel through Moses. Who were the parties or participants? The LORD and Israel were. Moses was the mediator.  But what were the terms of this covenant? 

Covenants always involve terms. When men make covenants with one another, they first agree upon the terms. Listen carefully to the wedding vows that people make in the marriage ceremony. Those vows are important, for they summarize the terms of the covenant that the two are entering into. If you finance a house or a car, you will enter into a kind of covenant. The lender will offer to loan you money for a certain time and for a certain interest rate. And you, the borrower, will agree to pay the loan amount back plus interest in a timely manner according to the terms of the loan. If one of the parties of the covenant (or contract) fails to uphold their end of the bargain, then the covenant is broken, and there are consequences. Even these consequences are spelled out and agreed upon ahead of time.

Here is the point. All covenants have terms. The two (or more) parties make commitments to each other. And the rewards for keeping the terms, and the consequences for breaking the terms, must be clearly communicated ahead of time. And so it is here with the covenant that God made with Israel through Moses. 

What are the terms of this covenant? They are sumarized in 19:5-6 where the LORD speaks to Israel through Moses, saying, “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’” (Exodus 19:5–6, ESV)

What were Israel’s obligations?  They were to obey God voice. They were to keep the covenant. Well, what laws were they to obey? What standards were they to keep? As I have said, we will find covenant laws in chapters 20 through 23:19. There we find the Ten Words, or commandments, which are summary of God’s moral law. There we also find civil laws and ceremonial laws. The section is very brief. But the books of Leviticus and Deuternomy will pick up where Exodus leaves off to greatly expand upon these laws. Here in Exodus 19 the LORD states terms very succinctly. Again, the LORD said, “if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5–6, ESV).

What would be the reward for Israel’s obedience? They would be the LORD’s “treasured possession among all peoples.” In other words, the LORD’s blessing would be upon them. What would be the punishment for their disobediece? It is implied that the LORD would cast them off. What is stated succinctly and implied here in Exodus 19 is stated more thoroughly in other places. For example, listen to Deuteronomy 11:13–17. There Moses speaks to Israel, saying, “And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the LORD is giving you.” (Deuteronomy 11:13–17, ESV)

So what was Israel’s side of the deal? In brief, they were to obey God and keep the terms of the covenenat. If they obeyed, they would be blessed. If they disobeyed they would be cursed. And what were God’s obligations to Israel? Simply put, having entered into this covenant he was obligated to have Israel as his ”treasured possession among all people” would they keep their commitments. 

You may be thinking to yourself, well, what about the promises the LORD has made to Israel concerning the land of Cannan, the people being as the sand of the seashore, and of kings arising from them? What about the promises of God concerning the Messiah? Wasn’t the LORD obligated to keep those promises too no matter if Israel was obedient or disobedient? The answer is, yes. Those were unconditional promises that God made to Abraham. They would surely come to pass no matter what the people did, or failed to do. 

But here we see that the blessings of the Mosaic covenant were conditioned upon obedience. This was a natural outgrowth of the conditional elements of the covenant that God made with Abraham in Genesis 17.   

Now would probably be a good time to ask the question, what are the terms of the New Covenant which God has made with his elect? If the terms of the Old Covenant were obey and be blessed in the land, what are the terms of the New? What must we do to be blessed under the New Covenant? The answer is that we must believe in the promised Mesiah. We must trust, not in our own good works, but in the work that he has accomplished for us. The blessings of the New Covenant are indeed conditioned upon obedience. The difference is that they they are condition, not upon our obedience, but upon the obedience of Chirst lived for us, died for us, and rose for us. 

As you can see, the Old and New Covenants are very different. They are not unrelated, mind you. But the terms are very different. Old Covenant Israel would be blessed in the land if the obeyed. Through the New Covenant we bless now and for eternity by placing our faith in Christ who was obedient to the point of death for us. The Old Covenant was a covenat of works, but the New Covenant is the Covenant of Grace.  

That most famous of all Bible verses communicated the terms of the New Covenant well when it says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, ESV). How do we escape the curse of sin? How do we come to have eternal life? By believing in God’s Son who was given up for us.

I think also of what Jesus said in response to the question that the Jews asked him in the wilderness. “Then they said to him, ‘What must we do, to be doing the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent’” (John 6:28–29, ESV).

And what about that wonderful passage in Ephesians 2:8-9, which says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9, ESV). How do we come to be saved? It is by God’s grace recieved by faith, and even this faith is a gift from God. 

The New Covenant is the Covenant of Grace. In this covenant God has committed to give eternal life to all who trust in Jesus the Mesiah and in the work that he has accomplished for them. The Old Mosaic Covenant was a covenant of works. In that covenant God committed to bless Israel in the land provided that they obeyed him and held up their side of the deal. 

Please alow me to briefly mention two common misunderstandings about the Mosaic covenant. 

One, there are some (even many) within the Reformed tradition who call the covenant that God made with Israel through Moses an administration of the Covenant of Grace. I do understand why they have this impulse. They  see that God’s grace was present and active in these days. They see that the  promise concerning the comeing Messiah was contained within this covenant. But when we consider the terms of this covenant, it clearly is a covenant of works – a covenant was could, and would, be broken. Blessings in the land were conditioned upon the obedience of Israel. Was God’s saving grace present in the days of Moses? Was the forgiveness of sins possible? Were heavenly and eternal blessing communicated to people in those days? Yes! But these blessings were not communicated by virtue of the Old Covenant, but of the New. These eternal blessings came to all who beleved the promise concerning the Messiah. But here is the key: promises are about things that will be done in the future. Promises are about things to come. Those who lived under the Abrahamic, Mosaic, and David covenants were not saved from their sins and blessed with eternal life through those the terms covenants – no such things is offered in those covenants! No, those who lived under the Abrahamic, Mosaic, and David covenants were  saved from their sins and blessed with eternal life by believing in the promise of God concerning the Messiah who, from their perspective, would one day come. In other words, they were saved by the same Jesus that you and I are saved by, and by the terms of the New Covenant, which is substantially the Covenant of Grace. 

The second common misunderstanding about the Mosaic covenant is that it offered life eternal to Isael through law keeping. In fact, it did not. Life eternal was offred to Adam through law keeping, but not to Israel. What was offered to Israel should they obey God’s voice and keep his law? Blessings on earth and in the land that God would give them. That is all. Did some in Jesus’ time misunderstand this? Yes, many thought the could earn salvation through law keeping, but they were wrong. Paul wrote things like this to set them straight: “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20, ESV). Its been this way since the fall. Men and women can only stand just or right before God by his grace through faith in the promised Messiah, not through obedience to the law, for all have sinned having violated his law in thought, word and deed.

So what were the terms of the Mosaic covenant? Israel would be blessed by God in the land if they obeyed his voice. That principle is stated in a very brief way here, and it will be amplified in the Exodus chapters 20-24, and especially the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.  

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Purpose

Lastly, let us consider the purpose of the Mosaic Covenant. I suppose this could be a sermon all it’s own, but I will be brief. We will have opportunities to elaborate upon this theme in future sermons, I’m sure. 

When the LORD redeemed Israel from Egypt, entered into this covenant with them, and brought them into the promised land of Cannan, he created a holy nation, governed by holy laws, in a holy land.

God would dwell in the midst of this people in a special way, and they would be invited to commune with him. The worship of God would be central to the life of this people. Holy prophets, priests, and kings would serve amongst them. This nation was set apart from all of the other nations of the earth as holy. They were live for the glory of God and were invited to enjoy his presence. In other words, in Old Covenant Isael the kingdom of God was prefigured on earth. 

So there was a purpose for Israel as Israel under the Old Covenant. They were to worship God. They were to receive, keep, and obey his word. They were guard the precious and very great promises that were entrusted to them. They were invited to commune with God, to enjoy his blessings, and sing his praises. 

But here I wish to draw your attention to another purpose for Israel under the Old Covenant. They were serve the world priests. Again, in verse 5 the LORD speaks to Israel, saying “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation’” (Exodus 19:5–6, ESV). What did priests do except offer up sacrifices and prayer on behalf of the people. They functioned as intermediaries between God and man. And Israel was called to be a kingdom of priests. They, as a nation, were function as intermediaries between God and the world. Did you here the little remark that the LORD made? “For all the earth is mine”, he said. All nations belong to him, not just Israel. But Israel was set apart as the LORD’s treasured possession for a time to be a kingdom of priests. Under the Old Covenant they were to call the nations to come and worship YHWH and to believe in his promised Messiah. And in the fulness of time the Messiah would emerge from them. In other words, God would use Israel to “offer up” the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus the Christ is the true Israel of God, the son of Abraham, the son of David, our great Prophet, Priest, and King.

What was God’s purpose for Old Covenat Israel? There were many purposes. Some were immediate. But the supreme purpose was to bring the Messiah into the world who defeat the Evil One and earn our salvation. His name is Jesus Christ. He is the only mediator between God and man.  

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Conclusion

With all of that said, I think you would agree with me that this passage is very significant, for here the Old Mosaic Covenant is proposed to Israel by the LORD. He establishes the terms. He states the purpose. It is no wonder, then, that the people were called to consecrate themselves and were moved to such reverantial fear of the LORD. This was a vary serious thing. 

Let me know conclude, brothers and sisters, by reminded you of what the writer to the Hebrews said in that passage that was read at the beginning. We who live now under the New Covenant of Grace have come to something even greater – something which cannot be shaken. “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28–29, ESV)