Mosaic Covenant
by Paul George
The Mosaic Covenant is a conditional covenant made between
God and the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19-24).
It is sometimes called the Sinai Covenant but is more often
referred to as the Mosaic Covenant since Moses was God’s
chosen leader of Israel at that time. The pattern of the
covenant is very similar to other ancient covenants of that
time because it is between a sovereign King, God, and his
people or subjects, Israel. At the time of the covenant God
reminded the people of their obligation to be obedient to
His law (Exodus 19:5) and the people agreed to the covenant
when they said; “All that the Lord has spoken we will do!”
(Exodus 19:8). This covenant would serve to set the nation
of Israel apart from all other nations as the chosen people
of God. The Mosaic was as equally binding as the
unconditional covenant that God made with Abraham because it
was also a blood covenant. The Mosaic Covenant is a
significant covenant in both God’s redemptive plan and in
the history of the nation of Israel.
The Mosaic covenant differs significantly from the Abrahamic
Covenant and later covenants because the blessings that God
promises are directly related to Israel’s obedience to the
Mosaic Law. If Israel is obedient then God will bless them,
but if they disobey then God will punish them. The blessings
and curses that are associated with this conditional
covenant are found in detail in Deuteronomy 28. The other
covenants found in the Bible were unconditional promises, in
which God bound Himself to do what He promised, regardless
of what the recipients of the promises might do. The Mosaic
Covenant is a conditional agreement, which specifies the
obligations of both parties to the covenant.
The Mosaic Covenant differs from the Abrahamic Covenant
because in it God promises to make Israel “a kingdom of
priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6) Israel was to be
God’s light to the dark world around them. They were to be a
separate and called out nation so that everyone around them
would know that they worshiped Yahweh, the covenant keeping
God. The Mosaic Covenant contained the Mosaic Law that was
to be a schoolmaster pointing the way towards the coming of
Christ. (Galatians 3:24-25) The Mosaic Law would reveal to
people their sinfulness and their need for a Savior and it
is the Mosaic Law that Christ Himself said that He did not
come to abolish but to fulfill. This is an important point
because some people get confused by thinking that keeping
the Law saved people in the Old Testament, but the Bible is
clear that salvation has always been by faith alone and the
promise of salvation by faith that God had made to Abraham
as part of the Abrahamic covenant still remained in effect
(Galatians 3:16-18).
Also the sacrificial system of the Mosaic Covenant did not
really take away sins (Hebrews 10:1-4), it simply
foreshadowed the bearing of sin by Christ, the perfect high
priest Who was also the perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 9:11-28).
Therefore, the Mosaic Covenant itself, with all its detailed
laws, could not save people. It is not that there was any
problem with the law itself, for the law is perfect and was
given by a Holy God, but the law had no power to give people
new life, and the people were not able to obey the law
perfectly (Galatians 3:21).
At Mt. Sinai God revealed His glory to Israel (Deuteronomy
5:1-5, 23-29) this was a new revelation of God's character.
Abraham and the other patriarchs knew the Lord as El Shaddai,
the God of power, but they did not live to see Him keep His
covenant promise to give the land of Canaan to the seed of
Abraham. To Moses and Israel of his day, God revealed
Himself as LORD, so that the full significance of the
covenant name of God became manifest as it had not been
before (Exodus 6:2-8; 34:5-7).
The Mosaic Law given at Mt. Sinai established boundaries for
the land and a system of cities, courts, worship and
welfare. Israel had a “constitution” given by God to direct
her in her priestly service to the world. The family was
strengthened as an institution by a gift of land that could
not be taken away, by implicit limits on taxation, and by
limits on the authority of the magistrates and priests.
For the first time in history, the authority of priests and
kings is clearly divided. The priesthood belongs to the
tribe of Levi, no other tribe could legitimately assume the
privileges granted to it. Prophets might be from any tribe,
and, though only an occasional office, they had a special
authority transcending priests or kings if necessary, though
both priests and kings too could be prophets. Kings would
eventually come from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:8-12).
From this point onward, no man could be both priest and
king.
The Law revealed God's righteousness. The sacrifices
revealed His grace.
The law, like the elements of every covenant includes the
threat of the curse for disobedience and the promise of
blessing for obedience, but it was not, nor could it have
ever be considered a “legalistic” covenant. The law was
given as a blessing for Israel to lead them in the way of
joy, prosperity, and peace. The greatest blessing of the law
was the tabernacle, provided by God as a sanctuary, His
dwelling place among His people.
Though the law was a blessing for the people and a
manifestation of grace, it was also, at that point in
history, the most emphatic revelation of God's righteous
wrath against sin that had ever been given to man. The
profound definition of sin and the just punishment required
by the law were intended to impress upon Israelites their
need of the grace of God. Moreover, the law warned
repeatedly that if Israel departed from God's ways, she
would be rejected from her position of covenant leadership
and privilege (Deuteronomy 28:15ff.).
However, this is not "legalism" by any reasonable
definition. The curse of the law is applied to those who
reject the covenant blessing since the covenant is a two-way
relationship. What must be clearly understood is that the
curse and the blessing are not set before Israel as two
equally possible destinies that she chooses by her free will
or determines by her works. God blessed Israel. That was
where her covenant life with God began. The blessing of the
covenant would be given if she responded to God's love with
love. However, the curse warned, if she betrayed that love,
she would reap the wrath of God.
If Israel would keep the covenant, she would lead the
nations of the world to blessing and, by bringing blessing
to the entire world, inherit the earth.
Although Israel tested the patience of the Lord in the
wilderness, the next generation under the leadership of
Joshua conquered most of the land of Canaan and began to set
up a God-fearing nation with God's covenant law serving as
the Law above the law. After the death of Joshua, however,
repeated apostasy brought repeated covenantal discipline.
Israel did not heed Joshua's final warning (Joshua 24). She
intermarried with her pagan neighbors, and fell into
idolatry (Judges 2:1-3, 11-15). By spiritual compromise, she
subverted her own authority as God's priestly nation.
When Israel cried out to God, He sent them judges to deliver
them from their enemies (Judges 2:16-18). Thus, periods of
relative faithfulness were followed by periods of apostasy
in cycles of sin, judgment and repentance.
God sending judges to deliver the people from their enemies
is evidence that God kept His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. God sending His Son to earth to save His people from
their sins is evidence God kept His promise to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. When our Lord Jesus Christ returns to this
earth and binds Satan and his demonic hosts and cast them
into the lake of fire and we have fought the good fight we
can rejoice knowing God has kept His promise to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob.
To top of
page |
