The covenant of grace was arranged in eternity, before time and the world began. Insights into the gracious and saving nature of this covenant were given through the covenants with, post fall, Adam, Noah and Abraham. They were administrations or revelations of the covenant of grace. We may illustrate this as follows. The well-watered paradise of Eden depicted the refreshing spiritual relationship Adam and Eve enjoyed with the Lord. Their sin dried up their relationship with God into a desert. They needed mercy and grace if they were ever to enjoy a relationship with God again. God's grace was like a vast heavenly reservoir. In Genesis 3, 14-15, God opened a small sluice in the dam wall and allowed a trickle of grace to flow into this sin-dried world. In the covenants with Noah and Abram, God continued to open this sluice further and further. The trickle of grace became a stream and the stream became a river. God's grace was flowing faster, deeper and wider. as he progressively revealed his covenant of grace to lost sinners. The question we must ask is this, what happened to this river of grace at Sinai? Did God slam shut the sluice gate and dam up grace until the New Testament? Did God allow the stream of grace to be polluted with the law at Sinai? Or was the covenant with Moses a further opening of the sluice? As we study the scriptures we shall discover that it is the latter that is true. In the covenant with Moses God further opened the reservoir of grace in order to make the river of grace wider, deeper and faster flowing. This progressive release of grace continued throughout the Old Testament until the river eventually flooded its Jewish banks and poured out into Gentile lands in the New Covenant or New Testament era. Before we turn to look at the covenant with Moses in detail, we shall take a brief look at ancient Near Eastern covenants. Many insights have been gained into the biblical by the discovery of covenant documents from biblical times and cultures. These covenants have been called various names. One of the most popular is Suzerain Vassal Treaties. These treaties a vastly superior king, the suzerain, would address an inferior king, the vassal. The suzerain would first of all give a historical narrative, highlighting all that he had done for the vassal king and nation. After this, the suzerain would then lay specific obligations upon the vassal king and nation, encouraging them with promises of reward and also threats for disobedience. As we shall see, this type of suzerain-vassal treaty is clearly paralleled in the covenant with Moses. It is also seen to greater or lesser degrees in the covenants with Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, and also in the New Covenant. In His covenant dealings with humanity, God never consults men and women. He designs and dictates the terms. It's not a mutual agreement, but a sovereign imposition which humanity rejects at its peril. The vital point to notice is that it is God who initiates and not man. The divine benevolence is stated before stipulating what God expects in response. God does not demand before he is given. In the light of this, we would expect the covenant with Moses to begin with God's mighty acts. That's exactly what we find. God emphasised his redemption of Israel, a redemption that brought the nation into a special relationship with him, which in turn required a special response on the part of Israel. The covenant initiation concluded with a promise of reward and a divine revelation which reminded the people of the difficulties and dangers of disobedience. So, we shall consider these points in turn. Redemption, Relationship, Response, Reward and Revelation. Firstly, Redemption. Exodus 19 opens with Moses and Israel encamped at the base of Sinai, part of the Horeb mountain range. Three months earlier they had been delivered from Egypt, then through the Red Sea and now they had arrived at the destination promised by God, Exodus 3.12. We shall look at the divine deeds, the divine defeat, the divine deliverance, and under the next heading, the divine destiny. Firstly, divine deeds. I did this. God's opening words in this portion indicate the nature of this covenant, whether it be of works or of grace. Ye have seen what I did. 19 verse 4. Moses is confronted with God's sovereign initiative and success before any words of law are heard. This should indicate to us that the covenant with Moses does not begin with Exodus 20 but Exodus 12. Not with the law in Sinai but with Passover night in Egypt. Not with the law but with the Lamb. Not with the human response but with the divine provision. Not with what Israel should do but with what God has done, not with rules, but with redemption. Secondly, divine defeat. I defeated your enemies. You have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, said God in 1904. God brought plagues of increasing severity upon the Egyptians, culminating in the plague of the firstborn and the sweeping away of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea, Exodus 14. Then thirdly, divine deliverance. I delivered you. How I bear you on eagles' wings, says God in 19 verse 4. When young eagles are learning to fly, the mother eagle flies under them with her wings spread out to catch them, lest they fall on the rocks and be injured or killed. In this way, the mother eagle also acts as a shield of the young eagles. so protecting them from hunters and predators. So, if the first phrase, I defeated your enemies, covered the whole Exodus experience, this phrase describes God's loving care of Israel during their subsequent wilderness journey until now. Deuteronomy 32, 10-12. The image is one of the utter dependency of Israel and of the tender and protective care of God. Secondly, relationship. The divine destiny is to myself. I brought you unto myself, God says in 19.4. The ultimate aim of this defeat and deliverance was not to bring them to Sinai, nor to constitute them as a nation. It was to bring them to God. into relationship with him. The aim was, I will be your God and you will be my people. By this covenant, Israel were placed in a unique relationship with God. This covenant relationship language should lead us to see the continuity between the covenants with Abraham and Moses, Exodus 2.24, Galatians 3.17. The defeat of Egypt The deliverance of Abraham's descendants and their destiny of a special national, though not saving, relationship with God was not only the fruit of the covenant with Abraham and the foundation of the covenant with Moses. It also signified the spiritual blessings of the covenant of grace in which God promised to defeat all his people's enemies deliver them from bondage and bring them into a special relationship, a spiritual relationship with himself. Thirdly, response. Having established his relationship with Israel on the basis of redemptive power and grace, God then introduced the requirement of a human response to his grace with the words Now therefore, 19 verse 5. He was saying to Israel, in the light of all I have done for you, should you wish to make a response expressing thankfulness, here is the way to do it. Firstly, obey my voice, verse 5. To put it simply, we might say it is relationship, then rules, rather than rules, then relationship. another way, it is faith then works, rather than works then faith. This distinction is also made by O.P. Robertson. He said, The law in Exodus 20-24 is not the basis of the divine human relationship even during the Old Testament period, but rather the guide for its maintenance. it is not the key to the establishment of relationship with God but rather to its continuance and well-being. In fact, the giving of the law is historically and canonically surrounded by God's gracious acts as it looks back to the exodus and as it looks forward to the conquest and settlement of the promised land." The covenant with Moses was a further step in the developing and progressive revelation of the One Covenant of Grace. It began with Adam and was progressed with Noah and Abraham, each stage having its own distinctive signs and tokens. So, what is the distinctive mark or sign of the covenant with Moses? Although, like the previous covenants, the divine and gracious promise of a saving relationship is at its heart and core, signified by the Passover lamb, there is unquestionably a greater emphasis on the appropriate human response to this divine initiative than we find in the previous covenants. In the covenant with Moses, God clarified the divine requirements of those who had experienced the divine redemption. The divine requirement is often divided into three types of law. Firstly, there is the moral law. In the Ten Commandments we are given a comprehensive written summary of God's ethical requirements. Secondly, there is the judicial law. The descendants of Abraham multiplied so much that they had outgrown the family state and needed temporal institutions to organise them into a successful nation. These God-given laws were graciously given to constitute Israel with the best possible administration and so make them the envy of all other nations. Thirdly, there is the ceremonial law which expanded and systematised the laws of worship, washing, sacrifice and so on. The great question is this, is the law to be viewed positively or negatively? The answer is both. The law may be viewed positively from three angles and negatively from two other angles. We will look at the positive angles and then at the negative angles. there are three positive angles. The Mosaic Law then is portrayed as a great blessing for three reasons. Firstly, the Law is good because it shows us our need of a Redeemer. It convicts us of our sin and shows us the vital necessity of a Saviour. Romans 3.20, Romans 4.15. Secondly, the Law is good because it shows us not only the divine demands but the divine provision of a Redeemer to meet the divine demands. The epistle to the Hebrews especially demonstrates that the ceremonial law was specially designed by God to show forth Christ in its types and symbols and especially in the sacrifices. In this sense also the believing Israelite could say that the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith Galatians 3.25 Christ now having come the believer no longer needs to observe the ceremonial law Galatians 3.26 Thirdly the law is good because it shows us how the redeemed should live to the glory of their beloved Redeemer Psalm 119, 97, John 14, verse 15. We may use the illustration of marriage to further explain this point. When a couple marry, they have a rough idea of what the other likes or dislikes. However, it's only when they begin living together under the same roof that personal likes and dislikes become clearer. A husband may, unthinkingly, bring a bad habit into his marriage. He may leave all his dirty clothes on the bedroom floor and he may leave his used coffee cups and biscuit papers in the living room. Before his marriage, perhaps he was used to his mother picking everything up for him. However, his new wife gets really annoyed. He notices that she is quiet and after a few inquiries as to what the matter is, she eventually makes known her frustration. with his behaviour and says something like this. Please stop doing this. How does he respond? Does he say, but that's legalism? Or does he say, I'm so sorry dear. If I'd known this behaviour offended you, I would never have done it. Thanks for making known your mind to me. I will now change because I love you. Later on in the marriage, both are very busy at work. They're off to work very early in the day, returning home late after hours of overtime. Eventually, they realise that they are not seeing enough of one another and that their relationship is suffering. So, they both agree to take every Saturday as a day off together in order to rekindle and reignite their relationship. When Saturday comes, they wake up and spend a leisurely first hour over breakfast and then sit together talking. However, after just one hour, the wife looks at her watch and says, right, I'm off to the gym. Then I'm going to do some shopping. Then I'm going to visit some friends, have a meal out, watch a movie. I'll be home quite late. Her husband is shocked and says, But I thought we were going to spend the day together and try to revive and reignite our marriage. How does she respond? Does she say, but that's legalism? Or does she say, I'm so sorry dear. Thank you for showing me how I was jeopardising our relationship. Thank you for loving me and making known to me how our love can thrive and prosper. In summary, it's a token of God's love that he makes known what pleases him and what offends him. And it's a mark of the believer's love that he or she wants to comply with this revelation of his mind and will. This is not legalism, but love. The Mosaic moral law, therefore, is not to be despised or demolished. From these three angles, the whole Mosaic Law is presented as a blessing in both the Old and New Testaments. We've seen the positive angles. Now let us see how the Mosaic Law may be viewed negatively. Firstly, the multiplicity and complexity of the various ceremonial laws was a great burden upon the people. This was the case even for true believers who saw through the ceremonies to the Christ they symbolised and signified. This is why the Mosaic era is sometimes represented as a time of bondage and slavery. and why the coming of Christ which rendered these ceremonies unnecessary is represented as a time of freedom and sonship. Galatians 4 1-7 Secondly, the use of the law as a way of being saved condemned multitudes to hell. This was the great mistake of many in the Old Testament Israel and many New Testament Jews. They regarded the covenant with Moses ever increasingly but mistakenly as a covenant of works and saw in the symbols and types a mere appendage to this. As a result, instead of the external administration of the covenant with Moses being a means of grace, they rested their salvation in the means. This was like a thirsty man being told that he could quench his thirst at the tap, but instead of turning it on and drinking freely, he spent his time polishing the tap. The covenant with Moses did not contradict the covenant with Abraham, Galatians 3, 17 and 21. Both contain divine redemption and divine requirements, though the covenant of Moses had more of the latter than the covenant with Abraham. The basic note of the Old Testament covenants is that of promise. But additional features of covenant relationship to God are progressively revealed. Thus, the response of faith is evident in the covenant with Abraham and the ethical demands of covenant relationship to God would explain the prominence of law in the covenant with Moses. The fact that Israel perverted the circumcision in the covenant of Abraham into a covenant of works did not invalidate the gracious nature of that covenant. Similarly, the fact that Israel perverted the law in the covenant of Moses into a covenant of works And so, a ministration of death and condemnation, 2 Corinthians 3, 6-18, did not invalidate the gracious nature of this covenant. Just because some misunderstand or misuse something, does not make it bad. So, the first element of response to the covenant was, obey my voice. The second element was, keep my covenant, verse 5. It's not obey in order to enter into my covenant, rather it is obey in order to keep my covenant. These are quite different. Keeping the covenant presumes an existing covenant bond and obedience is linked to the maintenance, administration, enjoyment and profitability of that existing bond. Keeping the Mosaic Law would not only bring glory to God but cause their relationship with Him to thrive and prosper. We must remember that the words obey my voice and keep my covenant are addressed to Israel already in a redemptive and covenant relationship with God. This is paralleled in the New Testament. If you love me, keep my commandments. John 14-15. We've looked at the redemption, the relationship and the response. Fourthly, we shall consider the reward. The rewarding nature of this gracious relationship is expounded in Exodus 19. Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people for all the earth is mine and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." 19 verses 5 to 6. Firstly you will be precious a peculiar treasure. The Hebrew here suggests a unique and exclusive possession. This image is further developed by the addition of for to me belongs the whole earth." This would suggest that Israel were to God the crown jewel of a large collection, the masterwork, the one-of-a-kind piece. Matthew Henry vividly stated this point. He said, He looked upon the rest of the world but as trash and lumber in comparison with them. By giving them divine revelation, instituted ordinances and promises inclusive of eternal life by sending his prophets among them and pouring out his spirit upon them he distinguished them from and dignified them above all people and this honour have all the saints for they are unto God a peculiar people Titus 2 14 when he makes up his jewels end quote secondly you will be priests a kingdom of priests. The expression a kingdom of priests can also be translated priestly kings, suggesting that the Israelites were to enjoy the privilege of being both priests and kings in relation to other peoples. Just as a priest mediated between God and man, so Israel was to mediate the knowledge, salvation and rule of God to the nations. Thirdly, you will be pure or a holy nation. God redeemed Israel so that she might be separated from evil and be separated unto himself. Israel was to be a people set apart, different from all other people, a display people, a showcase to the world of how being in covenant with Jehovah changes a people. As long as Israel and the individuals in it obeyed God's voice, God would reward them. However, disobedience to the law would cut them off from both the nation and the church. The idea of God graciously rewarding his people's obedient response to his grace is not unique to the Old Testament. In the Gospel of John, for example, we read, If ye love me, keep my commandments and I will pray the Father and He shall give you another Comforter that He may abide with you forever. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest myself to him. John 14 14-15 and verse 21 of interest to note that God's New Testament promise to reveal himself to those who are obedient to him is paralleled in the inauguration of the covenant with Moses as we shall now see. Fifthly, Revelation. Since his call, Moses' aim was to get Israel to Sinai in order to experience the present he had previously known there in Exodus 3. Israel had been prepared for this divine encounter by God's deliverance of them from Egypt and his provision and protection on the way to Sinai. They were further readied by the erection of boundaries and extensive ritual purification. The purpose of this whole narrative indeed is to present an atmosphere electric with God's holy presence in order to energise Israel's relationship with God and to elevate Moses as their vital covenant mediator. Firstly, the people say, we can do everything, verse 8. The people are confident about their ability to perform their God-given duties. all that the Lord has spoken we will do, Exodus 98. When Moses reports this to the Lord, he instructs Moses to prepare them for the revelation of an awesome theophany. And so, secondly, God says, without me you can do nothing, verses 9 to 25. The preparatory washings and warnings all combined to impress upon the people the immensity of the Mosaic Covenant inauguration. The preacher was God, the pulpit was Sinai, the congregation was assembled Israel, the church bells were the trumpets, and the choir was the thunderings and lightnings. The trumpet increased in volume, verses 16 to 19, as Jehovah drew near and summoned them to assemble. All this achieved the desired result as the self-confidence of Israel evaporated. 19 verse 16. As Liam Morris highlights, the purpose was to emphasize the priority and importance of God's grace. He said, there is nothing to indicate that the reason for God's choice of the people was their agreement to carry out his commands. Rather, the picture we get is of God in his free grace, choosing Israel to be his people and having chosen them, imposing upon them his commands. But the choice is first and fundamental, and in it we detect the element of grace. The covenant does not represent the people's endeavours to earn God's favour by performing meritorious works, but the people's acceptance of God's preferred proffered grace, with all that that implies." Thirdly, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, is really the meaning from verse 9 onwards. Because there the people are forced to focus on their sinfulness and their need of Moses to act as their covenant mediator, 19.9. However, the divine purpose was not that the people depend upon Moses for salvation. which many sadly did and many still do. His mediatorship was necessary to bring blessing to the nation, however, it could not save anyone. The purpose of Moses' mediatorship then was to point Israel to their need of a spiritual and perfect mediator between themselves and God in order to bring saving blessings to them. for there is one God and one mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus 1 Timothy 2.5 The covenant inauguration was concluded next is 24 where Israel's public commitment to covenant obedience was followed by Moses sprinkling them with the blood of the covenant 24 verse 8 for Israel this must have reminded them of how this all began with the sprinkling of the shed blood of the Passover lamb. Let's summarise where we are. The revelation of the covenant of grace is advanced further with the covenant with Moses. The external physical signs in the covenants with Adam, Noah, Abraham and Moses revealed inward spiritual realities in the covenant of grace. In the covenant with Adam, the defeated serpent revealed victory over the devil. In the covenant with Noah, the rainbow revealed peace with God. In the covenant with Abraham, the two-edged knife revealed God's solemn pledge to fulfil his promises upon pain of death. but also humanity's responsibility to cut off sin upon pain of death also pointed to the promised seed. In the covenant with Moses, the Lamb and the Law revealed God's gracious pattern of redemption, then relationship, then response. Our cathedral is getting brighter. Sin-darkened humanity is benefiting from light shining through three windows shaped like a snake, a rainbow and a knife. God now cuts two more. One is in the shape of a lamb and the other in the shape of a scroll, both representing the law. The light that shines through them is confined to the nation of Israel. All in Israel reap national and physical benefits from God's redemption of the nation from Egypt. his special relationship with that nation and his promised blessings upon their obedience. Again, some just take the benefits of the natural light and some just admire the lamb and scroll-shaped windows. Others, however, look through the windows by faith and see a more wonderful spiritual reality shining brightly through it. They see the grace of God not only in redeeming them but in bringing them into a well-defined and regulated relationship. They see the grace of God in giving them laws which will help them conduct their relationship with Him in a way that will please Him and bring blessings to them. They see the grace of God also in the types and symbols of the sacrificial system symbolising God's gracious provision for their sin. So, the law in the covenant with Moses revealed sufficient of the covenant of grace to enable Moses to put his faith in the Christ of the covenant, God's lamb and God's law keeper. Have you followed Moses' faith? Have you used the covenant signs of the lamb and the law to bring you to the Lamb of God and the Lawkeeper of God.