Covenant, Knowing God s Covenant Lesson 8, Video, Wayne Barber (36:11) 11/5/2009 God s Language of Covenant: Redemption A. Abrahamic Covenant Promised: Land Seed (Seed determines kind.) Nation B. Old Covenant (Law) The Law exposed man s sin The Tent of Meeting Holy Place Holy of Holies The door (John 10:9) Altar of Sacrifice (John 1:29) Laver (John 15:3; Eph 5:26) Table of Shewbread (John 6:48) Candlestick (John 1:4; 8:12) Altar of Incense (Hebrews 7:25) Veil (Hebrews 10:20) Ark of the Covenant (John 8:24, 58; 10:30 33) The Mercy Seat (Hebrews 10:10 13) Introduction Now, Behold. I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you. Genesis 9:9 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. Genesis 9:13 And He took a cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying, Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is to be shed on behalf of many for forgiveness of sins. Matthew 26:27 28 Like a lamb that is lead to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth. Isaiah 53:7 Video Covenant, God s language of love. Let s begin our session today with a word of prayer. Father, we just thank You so much for just loving us like You love us. Thank You, Father, that You gave Jesus, Your only Son, to die on the cross for us. And Father, we just pray as we re studying Your Word now, that You ll give us revelation and understanding. Help us to see how You have wooed us to Yourself and how You want for us the very best. In Jesus Name, amen. We re going to be in our session today, looking at the three covenants that God used to bring us into faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, how He brings us to Himself. You see, the basic motivation of covenant is love. Remember when Jonathan and David cut covenant, it said that Jonathan loved him as he loved himself. God loves you and I. And through the language of covenant we begin to see how He uses that love, or expresses that love of wooing us back to Himself. Now, we ve seen in Genesis the third chapter that man had sinned. Man chose to disobey God. And so he sinned. As a result of it, the penalty of that sin, was death. We think of it in a very tragic way because when man sinned he was separated from God. There was no hope. He was desperate before God. Well, we re going to begin to see God s plan of redemption unfold. Man was loved by his Creator. And God wanted man back unto Himself. And so we see the first word of covenant even mentioned in about the seventh chapter of Genesis when He covenants with Noah. You see, God was just fed up with the fact of man s turning against Him and so He flushed the whole creation and the animals by the means of a flood. He had told Noah and his family to choose out the different pairs of animals and put them on an ark. And then we see the rainbow as being a sign of His covenant promise that He would never again destroy the world by water. And so we see that word covenant beginning to teach us a little bit about the grace, and the mercy, and the love of a God Who really does care about His creation. But immediately after the flood, and just a few chapters later, we see in chapter 12, God really start unveiling His plan of redemption. He singles out a man by the name of Abram who later became Abraham. We see the first covenant we re going to look at, and that is the Abrahamic Covenant. The Abrahamic Covenant. Now, there re going to be three covenants we re going to be looking at. First of all is the Abrahamic Covenant. Did I spell that right? No, I didn t spell that right. Let s do that again. Abrahamic Covenant. Let s see here. Ab-ra-hamic Covenant. Now, this covenant was given to a man who was a Chaldean, who by grace, later became a Jew. Now, in your notebook you saw that there were two basic things about this covenant. One was that it promised a Seed. The other was that it promised a land. Actually there were three. And I don t mean to go against the notebook cause we ll get into this in the next lesson. He also promised a nation. But, I want you to see how this covenant begins to lay the ground work for what He does later on to bring us into His plan of redemption.
Lesson 8 Video 2 Now, He made the promise to Abraham of a Seed, a land, and a nation. He ratified that promise to Isaac. He ratified it again to Jacob. Jacob s name was changed to Israel and then Israel, of course, had twelve sons. And this became the tribe of Israel. sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God. 24 So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. NASB Now, this is going to be known as an everlasting covenant. If you look in Genesis chapter 17 and verse 7, this covenant that He makes with Abraham is an everlasting covenant. Now, let s distinguish with the next covenant we re going to look at, so this is important to nail down. Verse 7, Genesis chapter 17. He says: Gen 17:7 [reads] 7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. NASB And we know that God certainly was faithful and always is faithful. We see first of all, in regards to the land. If you go back in Genesis 12, let s make sure we nail this down, where He promises him the land. He says in verse 5: Gen 12:5 [reads] 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan. NASB Now, the land was called Canaan. In chapter 15 and verse 13 we see it again. Gen 15:13 [reads] 13 And God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. NASB In our next lesson we ll go back and review that. God is telling him that even though they re given a land, they re going to be taken out of the land and they ll have to come back to it. They re going to be enslaved in another land. And then in Exodus chapter 2, in reference to that, we of course know the story, and we ll talk about it at a little later time. But Exodus chapter 2 and verse 23, we see that land again. They ve gone over to Egypt, you know the story, and now they re going to come back to the land. Ex 2:23-24 [reads] 23 Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the And what God is going to do now is take them back to their land. So God is faithful all the way through. He has promised Abraham a land. That land is forever; it s an everlasting covenant. And you see Him being faithful to keep that covenant promise to Abraham and then to all of his descendants all through the book of Genesis. And Exodus chapter 6 verses 1 through 6, we find it again. Ex 6:1-4 [reads] 1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion he shall let them go, and under compulsion he shall drive them out of his land." 2 God spoke further to Moses and said to him, "I am the LORD; 3 and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, LORD, I did not make Myself known to them. 4 And I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned. NASB So, He s telling him, I m going to take them back into the land. I read all these Scriptures just for one reason. And I recognize that sometimes it seems like we re bogging down. But God promised Abraham land and He kept that promise all through Scripture. That land is as much theirs today, the Jews today, as my own property is, right here where I live in Chattanooga. God promised that land to them, a land called Canaan. But the second thing He promised to them was a Seed, a Seed. Look in Genesis again, in chapter 15 verses 1 through 4. Genesis 15, verses 1 through 4. Gen 15:1-4 [reads] 1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great." 2 And Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what wilt Thou give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 And Abram said, "Since Thou hast given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir." 4 Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir; but one who shall come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir." NASB And in this promise He gives him the promise of a Seed. Now, if you ll turn with me to Galatians
Lesson 8 Video 3 chapter 3 and verse 16, we find out actually who that Seed is. It s not Isaac as it appears in the Scripture. Isaac is just a part of that promise being fulfilled. The Seed is Someone else. Galatians chapter 3 and verse 16. Gal 3:16 [reads] 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. [Now, notice this very carefully.] He does not say, "And to seeds," [plural] as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ. NASB You know, it s very interesting to note why God would even need to promise Abraham a seed. What was the need of a seed? Well, seed determines kind. I remember a couple of years ago, one of my staff members and I were going to plant a garden, and that was a mistake. We didn t know what we were doing. But we got some land, and we broke it up, and we begin to make the rows and that kind of thing. And we went out one day to get some seeds in order to plant. Seed being Christ and us being able to enter in to that final covenant with the Lord God. Now, you see, God had to do something to show Israel their need for the Seed. Remember Moses said in Deuteronomy 9:13, as he repeats God s own words, he called the nation of Israel a stubborn people. Psalm 78 and verse 8 says they were a rebellious people. Deut 9:13 13 "The LORD spoke further to me, saying, 'I have seen this people, and indeed, it is a stubborn people. NASB Ps 78:8 8 And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart, And whose spirit was not faithful to God. NASB Moses, on another occasion, said they re a stiffnecked, stubborn, and rebellious generation. We didn t know one bean from another bean. We didn t know what a climbing bean was. And so they told us to put some poles up and to plant these beans. We had no idea what the poles were for. And low and behold! In several weeks or so we begin to realize that those beans were climbing beans and they would go all the way to the end of those sticks or poles that we had put up. We did not know that. We realized then that you had to look at the seed because the seed determines kind. Now, man was of the seed of Adam and of the seed of Adam he was separated from a holy God. He had the nature of Adam to disobey and to rebel. And so there had to be a new Seed in order for God to woo His people back unto Himself. And so we see then the promise under the Abrahamic Covenant: First of all land and then secondly, the promise of a Seed. Actually there was one more promise and that was a promise of a nation. But right now I want to emphasize the promise of a Seed and how that Seed becomes a part of God s unfolding plan of redemption. Now, Four-hundred thirty years later there is another covenant that God brings with the people of Israel. Now this covenant, remember the Abrahamic Covenant is an everlasting covenant. This next covenant that He brings in is sometimes called the Old Covenant, particularly in Hebrews. But it s also the Covenant of Law. Covenant of Law. And we want to look at that particular covenant because, and we re going to dwell on it the rest of our time. Because that covenant is what readies man for this Seed to finally come down. And, of course, the Now, how in the world can you communicate to a whole nation of their sinfulness and their rebelliousness towards God? How can you do that? Well, the Covenant of Law was God s way of bringing man one step closer, to bringing him to that Seed which would lead to his redemption. Man had to be changed before God could be at peace. His sin had to be dealt with before God and man could ever be back together. They were separated because of sin. There had to be a plan to bring man back to God Himself. So, the Covenant of Law was given to expose the desperate need of Israel. If you look with me in Romans chapter 3 and verse 20, Romans chapter 3 and verse 20, we begin to see some of this worked out. Romans chapter 3 and verse 20. He says: Rom 3:20 [reads] 20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. NASB You see, it s the law that exposed man s sin. God had to set up the people of Israel. He had to lead them into this Covenant of Law or they would of never have understood what their sin was all about. Now, this covenant of Law is not an everlasting covenant. As a matter of fact, in Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 13, if you ll turn there just for a second, Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 13, we find why it is not an everlasting covenant. Why it could not be. Verse 13 says:
Lesson 8 Video 4 Heb 8:13 [reads] 13 When He said, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete.... NASB And by the first he s referring back to the Old Covenant, or the Covenant of Law. How can a covenant that s everlasting ever be made obsolete? It s evidently a temporary measure, a temporary covenant that God had. Now, in Galatians chapter 3, we find what the Law was all about. Why did God give the Law? Well, to expose sin. But it gives a clearer picture of God s giving the Covenant of Law. Galatians chapter 3 and verse 15. Gal 3:20-22 [reads] 20 Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. 21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. [He says in verse 22:] 22 But the Scripture has shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. NASB So, we see all men shut up under sin. Not one thing they can do. Not one thing that they can say. And then in verse 23 it says: Gal 3:15-17 [reads] 15 Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man's covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it. 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. [He s referring now, to the Abrahamic Covenant, how it s everlasting and how it s built on a promise. There are no conditions to it.] He does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ. [Now look at verse 17:] 17 What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. NASB In other words, the Old Covenant of Law does not nullify anything in the Abrahamic Covenant. As a matter of fact, it becomes the means by which these things [land, Seed, nation] are fulfilled. Let s go on. Verse 18: Gal 3:18-19 [reads] 18 For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise. 19 Why the Law then? [here he goes here] It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, [and the mediator, of course, was Moses] until the seed should come to whom the promise had been made. NASB You see, there was something that happened in between the Abrahamic Covenant and the New Covenant down here. And that was the Old Covenant that God had to inaugurate. Something to expose man s sin. Something to get him ready to enter by faith the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Covenant. Now, verse 20 says: Gal 3:23 [reads] 23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. NASB And so, the law becomes like a tutor, or a child, or a schoolmaster. It s something that gives us direction; it s also there to expose us of our sin and it becomes the means that God has of carrying out the everlasting covenant that He made with Abraham. This Seed is very important. It s a new Seed. And why is a Seed important? Because it determines kind. But what is going to make man understand his need for the Seed? It s the Old Covenant and the Covenant of Law. It will expose man of his sin. And once again render him under the point of death. In Exodus chapter 19, we see the Covenant of Law being inaugurated. Exodus chapter 19. We ve looked at this before. But let s put it into this perspective. Exodus chapter 19 and verses 3 through 8: Ex 19:3-5 [reads] 3 And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: 4 'You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to Myself. 5 'Now then, if [Now, watch this] you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; NASB Now, here are the conditions: if you will keep My covenant, if you will obey My voice, then you ll be My possession. Verse 6 says: Ex 19:6-8 [reads] 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you
Lesson 8 Video 5 shall speak to the sons of Israel." [So, Moses comes down. And verse 7:] 7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the LORD had commanded him. 8 And all the people answered together and said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do!" And Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD. NASB Now you see, He had set them up. He had them there, knowing the stiff-necked people and the rebelliousness of their character. He knew that out of their own egotistical manner they would say, Yes, we will obey; whatever God tells us to obey. Knowing all the time, God knowing this, that they could not obey. So, He sets them up with the Law. Now, immediately after they have been given the Law, after they have been in covenant with God with the Law, they have broken that covenant. And this is where God wants them. He wants all men shut up under the Law. He wants us to be exposed by the Law. For instance, what is a man saved from? I mean, we talk about salvation, and that God loves you, and has a wonderful plan for your life. But if you re going to be saved, what are you going to be saved from? The Law shows you that. It s from yourself. It exposes self to be sinful. It becomes a standard to which man cannot attain. And since we re in covenant with God, to obey that, then we are now under the penalty of death. Now, we re set up to be readied for the covenant of grace. Well, since man obviously broke that law just immediately after God set it up, then we begin to see God s mercy and God s redemption still at play. Remember, He s not going to dishonor the Abrahamic Covenant. He s not going to dishonor what He said to Abraham that through your nation all nations on earth will be blessed. He s not going to dishonor the fact that a Seed will come through the nation of Israel. He s not going to do that. But what He is doing is He s setting man up. He s frustrating mankind. He s putting barriers over mankind that man cannot attain. So that in man s frustration under the Law, then he will turn and respond to grace and respond to God s mercy. And he begins to do it immediately, right after the inauguration of the Old Covenant. One of the things that was so important to the Old Covenant was the Tabernacle. Now, the Tabernacle is something we re going to look at in the rest of the lesson today, because the Tabernacle was the means by which sin could be dealt. In other words, sin had to be dealt with if man could ever relate to God. He s broken the Law; the curse of the Law is death and to be punished that way. But God has still in His mercy and in His grace provided a way for man to be able to relate to Him. And that s what we re going to see in the Tabernacle. [Look at the picture of the Tabernacle on page 135 of your workbook for the rest of this lecture.] Now, you had this outline in your book, but we re going to look at it very thoroughly here because I want you to see what God is doing. He s picturing, and how in the world people can misunderstand this and not see it, He s picturing the Lord Jesus Christ. He s picturing the Seed that is found right here in the Tabernacle. Let me see if I can get all the places fixed here. [He s drawing a picture of the Tabernacle on the whiteboard.] We have the laver here; we have the altar here. We have the ark at this particular point with the two cherubim right there. We have the table over here. There s an altar here; and than we have the candlesticks right here. Now, I want us to look at that Tabernacle because the Old Covenant, this Tabernacle, had to do with the Old Covenant. What the heavenly Tabernacle, this was made after a pattern. In other words, this is just an example of something that s in heaven today, as we see in the book of Hebrews. And so this was as important to the Old Covenant as the true Tabernacle in heaven is important to the New Covenant. It s a picture. Everything in it is a picture of Jesus, the Seed, and all the redemptive work that He s going to do for mankind. And there s so many people today who have not fully understood all of this. This is just tying Scripture all together. We see man now, he s desperate. He s entered into an Old Covenant or to a Covenant of Law. And he s already broken it. He becomes a very obstinate people; He s a stiff-necked person, or people. He s a rebellious people and we see than, the Tabernacle being God s means of letting that rebellious man fellowship with a holy God. Now, we have here, the outer court. This is called the outer court. All of this on the outside is called the outer court. And, of course, this right here is the inner court. And inside the inner court we have a little place here divided in half, almost, actually it s not quite half. It s 45 feet long, and it s 15 feet wide, and it s 15 feet high. Now, here we have what we call the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies. Now, there s a veil right here. We ll look at that in a moment. But this Holy of Holies is this one little sacred place back in here. This is the Ark of the Covenant. A perfect picture of the Lord Jesus Christ because in that Ark of the
Lesson 8 Video 6 Covenant was the Law and the rod of Aaron that budded. And everything in it pictured the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course the mercy seat was right over that. John 10:9 9 "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. NASB The veil was fixed. It was about six inches thick. They said, as a matter of fact, that two oxen tied to it could not pull it apart. This veil was to represent the barrier caused by man s sin. Now, what is it that exposed man s sin? It was the Law. And so there was a barrier there and this veil here, became that barrier. Now, we have right outside the veil an Altar of Incense. That was to burn perpetually. And it s a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. It s a picture of intercession. We ll come back to that in a moment. We have a Table of Shewbread; it was to be replaced every single Sabbath and eaten. And that s also significant. And over here were the candlesticks. And I can t draw a candlestick. But that was on the left side. Then we have here a Laver where clean water was put. And Here we have the altar. And of course, the door. There was only one way into this Tabernacle and that was the door right here. Well, see, this was God s way of picturing what the Seed was going to be like. You see, Jesus Christ is the means of God s redemption of man. We see Him promised right here. In Galatians 3 tells us that the Seed promised to Abraham is the Lord Jesus Christ. And by the way, Abraham believed in Genesis 15 and verse 16. And it was accounted to him as righteousness. Abraham knew about the Lord Jesus Christ. That s when Jesus said Abraham rejoiced to see My day. He understood that. But the Jewish nation even are blinded to this. They still think that the Seed was obviously Isaac and that the nation was the Jewish nation and that s the only nation here. They re still waiting on a Messiah. Do not realize He s already come. So, in the Old Covenant, then, we have the Tabernacle, which became a means by which sinful man, having been exposed by the Law as being sinful, could relate to a holy God. Now, let me go through here and show you how the Lord Jesus is seen in all of these things. First of all, there was only one door. There was only one door. Jesus says in John chapter 10 and verse 9, I am the door. No man enters in except by Me to the Father. So, there was only one way then, there is only one way now. The Seed has come. It s the Lord Jesus Christ. He becomes now the means by which we enter in. And we enter in by faith and repentance. The altar [of sacrifice] was a picture of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. This was where sin was dealt with. This is where the animals, the innocent animals, where all the sacrificial lambs were brought. And their throats were split and the blood was put on that altar. You see, this was the place where sin had to be dealt with. All sacrifices in the Old Testament were substitutes for man. In other words, they deserved this. And this is where their sin was dealt with. But obviously God allowing them, out of His grace, an animal to take their place. Whereas that did not appease God eternally for their sin, Jesus became the Lamb of God, as John speaks of Him in John 1:29, to die for our sins upon the cross. John 1:29 29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! NASB And this was just a word picture of Who Jesus is. Isn t it wonderful that God took the pains to illustrate what He was trying to do with mankind? Then the Laver. The Laver is a picture of the cleansing of the Word of God, of the Lord Jesus Christ is the living Word. And He says in John 15:3, the word I have spoken unto you has cleansed you. John 15:3 3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. NASB Eph 5:26 26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, NASB There was a cleansing. The priests had to wash in this. It was made out of mirrored glass. And as they would look in they would see a reflection of themselves. And so here is the picture of Jesus, the Living Word, and how the Word has to cleanse us, all right? Then, when you come into this place, this is called the Holy Place or the tent of meeting. And this Holy Place had in it three basic pieces of furniture. First of all as we said, was the Shewbread. Jesus said in John chapter 6 and verse 48, He says, I am the bread of life.
Lesson 8 Video 7 John 6:48 48 "I am the bread of life. NASB Then we see inside the Holy of Holies the Ark of the Covenant. And the Ark of the Covenant is a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as we said, it was replaced every Sabbath and they had to eat the bread and then they would replace it. Jesus is our Sabbath. And He now becomes the bread that we partake. Then, obviously, here is the candlestick. And, of course, Jesus says in John chapter 4, I am the light of the world. John 1:4 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. NASB John 8:12 12 Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life." NASB And then we have the laver [altar of incense]. And to me this is the picture of the intercession of Jesus. Heb 7:25 25 Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. NASB This is the thing that gives sweet aroma unto the nostrils of God. You see, He intercedes for the saints constantly. The flame of this altar was to burn perpetually. And so we see a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ as He constantly prays and intercedes for the saints. Then we see, as we go into, first of all as we go in, here s the veil. Now, the veil was a picture of the Lord Jesus flesh as He died on the cross. Remember His flesh was torn. As Hebrews says, He became a new and a living way so that men might enter in through Him. Heb 10:20 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, NASB So He became than, the veil. This was the barrier that kept man from going into the presence of God, where the ark was, where the mercy seat was. And Jesus became that veil as He died on the cross. And you remember what happened at twilight, that the veil was ripped from top to bottom. Thus opening it up so that man could enter into the Holy of Holies. Only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies one time, once a year to atone for man s sin. And he had to enter in by means of the blood. John 8:24 24 "I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins." NASB John 8:58 58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." NASB John 10:30-33 30 "I and the Father are one." 31 The Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, "I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?" 33 The Jews answered Him, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God." NASB On top of the Ark of the Covenant is the mercy seat. And it has two cherubim, each one looking down as if in awe. Heb 10:10-13 10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. NASB Remember the last time we see them as they stand guarding with swords, the gate coming back to the Tree of Life in Genesis. Now, we see them looking in awe down at the mercy seat where the blood was always sprinkled. And when the blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat then a person had an audience with the presence of a holy God. And this tent of meeting, this Tabernacle, was taken wherever they would go. They would have tribes, different tribes, camped out around it with different banners. And every one of those banners represented a name of the Lord Jesus Christ later on in the New Covenant. So you see, the Old Covenant became a very illustrative way in which God could reveal His plan of redemption. In the Abrahamic Covenant He had promised a Seed. And He is going to keep that promise. But before man could understand the
Lesson 8 Video 8 Seed, he had to realize his need to be changed, because a seed determines kind. So God then inaugurated the Old Covenant. And once man had agreed with God to obey everything that God told him to do, then God had him exactly where He wanted him. And the law became a frustration to man. It became a child master, or tutor, to keep man pointed in the right direction until Christ could come. When a man is frustrated totally by the law, when the law condemns all of his acts of righteousness, then a man is ready to experience grace. And of course, all of God s grace is pictured right here in the Old Covenant in the picture of the Tabernacle. Now, we re going to see how the New Covenant comes as a breath of fresh air. And we re going to look at this more in our next lesson. And I don t want to say too much this week to pre-empt you on that. I realize we re dealing with a lot of facts. But let s make sure we see that this New Covenant came at a time, it s going to be found in Jeremiah chapter 31, it came at a time when man had so disobeyed God s law, so broken God s covenant that God had put a curse upon man. And here we are, the southern tribes of Israel, the nation of Judah and Benjamin, they re over in captivity in Babylon and the prophet Jeremiah comes on the scene and he makes them this promise out of Jeremiah. He says, I give you the words of a New Covenant. And she said, Wayne, I m not saved. I said, How do you know that you re not saved? And Diana so very sweetly and very beautifully put it. She said, Wayne, until today I have never seen myself as being unrighteous. You see, what a man had done in our church had come for a meeting and during the lunch hour he had put a blackboard up here and basically gone through some of the things we re sharing right now, not in the same way. And he began to share the Tabernacle. And he began to share the need for sacrifices and he began to share the unrighteousness of man as exposed and revealed by Covenant of Law. And that man is seen in his sin. Paul said in Romans 7, I once was without the law and then the law came and sin revived and I died. The Law exposes all men in their sin. Rom 7:9 9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. KJV And then he began to show the purpose of God s redemption and the grace and mercy that is found in the Seed that was promised to Abraham. In other words, he brings the promise of a New Covenant. God says, I m going to do a new thing in the life of Israel. They were rejected, they were frustrated, and they were totally defeated. And the New Covenant comes as a breath of fresh air. He has still not forgotten what He promised Abraham. There will be a Seed. And through your nation, all nations on earth will be blessed. We re going to see the next time which nation He s talking about there, that He uses the nation of Judah. And how a special blessing was put on Judah. And through Judah came David and out of David s line came the Lord Jesus Christ, the Seed that had been promised to Abraham. You know, we go through this and it becomes very factual at times. But I hope it s becoming very practical in your life. You may be watching this program and you may have joined the church years ago, but you missed Jesus about ten miles. Cause you have never seen yourself being an unrighteous person. My wife came to me one day and she said, Wayne, I m not saved. And I said, Come on Diana, you know you re saved; you re just, you re just frustrated or you re doubting for some other reason. The devil s after you. And my wife came home and said, You know, I ve seen myself today as one of those unrighteous people having been condemned by the law. And she said, I need to ask Jesus to come and be my High Priest. To come into my life and to be that mercy seat for me. And so she went to the cross and she bowed down and asked Jesus to come into her life. And she s never been the same. You see, a lot of people haven t seen that yet. When you re saved, ask yourself the question: What are you saved from? If you haven t seen yourself condemned by the law than you don t understand the purpose of why God gave the law to the children of Israel in the wilderness to begin with. And what that law was to do was to prepare them for the grace that would come in the Lord Jesus Christ. And in John, chapter 1 says that the law came by Moses but grace and truth were realized in Jesus Christ. John 1:17 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. NASB
Lesson 8 Video 9 God loves you, my friend. I don t care who you are or what you ve done. He loved Israel and He s loved all the people on the face of this earth. And He s provided a way in which we might enter into the Holy of Holies to His very presence. And it s because of what Jesus did on the cross that gives us that automatic ability to walk in if we repent and if we have faith and belief in Him. I urge you to look at the covenants and understand what this book is all about. It s just nothing more than God s language of love, of Him drawing and wooing His people back to Himself. May we pray together. Father, we just thank You so much for the way in which You went about getting us back to Yourself. Thank You Father, for the covenant that You gave to Abraham. Thank You for the Seed in Jesus. Thank You Father, for the Old Covenant and thank You Father, for the thrill of knowing that there s a New Covenant, of what You can do for us now if we ll come to You by faith and repentance. In Jesus Name, amen.