Understanding God's Covenants with Dr. Michael Svigel - Session Four

so just a reminder where we're at we've talked about the Adamic covenant the arrangement originally the idea of Adam and his posterity being the means by which God continues his work of ordering and filling the earth which went awry was derailed the noahic covenant reaffirming the Adamic covenant and and calling them to be fruitful multiply fill the earth but also promising preservation but in a a new world that was washed clean by the flood which is a type or anticipating also the next heavens and earth as Peter told us in 2nd Peter then the Abrahamic

covenant we looked at this land blessing nation extended through Isaac and Jacob and this whole concept of the seed to whom the promise is given does change and expands and tracks from generation to generation of the promises to the seed in general but the specific identity of the elect seed obviously changes from generation to generation and it may be seven thousand one generation it may be one as long as there is a seed preserving this promise and passing it on and we see that it ultimately centers on Christ who is the seed capital T capital

S to whom the promise is ultimately given and from that point on only those who are incorporated into Christ are partaking of the the blessing of the Covenant we're going to then get into today the Mosaic Covenant and most likely through the Davidic covenant and will reserve the new covenant most likely for for next time but mosaic covenant land centered blessing and cursing and we'll see how that works what is promised and what is not promised for keeping the law and then a Davidic covenant and how Christ relates to the Davidic covenant this is where

we'll begin to answer the question of what is Christ's current relationship to the Davidic promises is it partially fulfilled is it already not yet there's a fully fulfilled is he sitting on the throne reining in some sense and we're just progressively to be subdued or is it all future and will will address that issue as well all right so we're moving on then from the abrahamic to the Mosaic Covenant and the dispensation of theocracy we've already discussed that that God is ruling he is ruling people say well if the oxys got directly ruling God doesn't

really do that he he just uses means and mediators prophets priests kings etc and in his theocratic arrangement it is God's nation placed among the nation's to serve as a light a positive example the the Word of God was intended there to be a delight to the nation's but also right away as a means of promoting righteousness and punishing and holding back in judging wickedness God is using this nation in a unique situation like no other nation there will be no other kind of theocratic nation like that until the Millennium which is Christ's government but

the theocracy through patriarchs through judges prophets priests Kings etc we are and I mentioned that when I gave an introduction to this that ultimately all of these offices that are means by which God is governing theocratic aliy in Israel are summed up in Christ he's the everlasting patriarch that's how I understand everlasting father and Isaiah at 9 he's the judge the prophet capital Peter he's the high priest he's the killer so I think all of these things ultimately are anticipating and pointing to Christ which makes sense right he is the image of God and we

are but you know fallen state especially poor reflections partial reflections of that image so on this law is placed and I said dispensational II remember now dispensational II and covenant aliy the law has kind of a dual purpose the law functions dispensational II by holding back wickedness in God's theocratic nation that's that's its dispensational purpose it does serve a covenant 'el purpose in each generation living out obedience or disobedience to the law determines how the Abrahamic blessing is going to come to them in that generation dispensation of the law this is going back just a

review Paul addresses this when he says what was the purpose of the law it was added to hold back wickedness what I'm saying is this the law which came 400 years and 30 years later does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God so as to nullify the promise if the inheritance is based on law it is no longer based on a promise but God has granted to Abraham by means of a promise that is any generations disobedience is going to have effects on that generation or subsequent generations because of the patience of God but

it's not going to invalidate the promise there's no way that God is going to say alright I'm gonna revoke the promise I made to Abraham Isaac Jacob and all his descendants forever the promise still stands there's repercussions in that generation or so but then another chance and you see this as we'll discuss later the cycle of obedience and disobedience under the law covenant but then why was the law given and then he touches on this idea of it's holding back wickedness in a sense it's promote it was added because of transgressions until the seed would

come to whom the promise had been made ultimately Christ is going to be the one who is the personal means through his person and work who's going to fulfill purely by grace the Abrahamic promise ultimately it's going to be through him but the law does have even in this passage a covenant 'el purpose but it's not validating the earlier covenant and but it's temporary it's a temporary arrangement even in the Old Testament the law of Moses is regarded as temporary as you'll see when we talk about the New Covenant so the Covenant the Mosaic Covenant

was a temporary means of governing Israel's covenant relationship with God until the arrival of the promised seed yes it is anticipatory it is tip illogical there are things that are foreshadowing the sacrificial system itself we're told in the New Testament is foreshadowing in many ways Christ's one single sacrifice we are as we not we but if you lived at that time as you're sacrificing the animal and you place your hands on this animal you know that the idea is this should be me this animal is really dying because of your sins not because of some

sins it it but because it's an animal it can't and you're kind of stuck in this realization that there's no sufficient sacrifice for my sins ah they're built right into that is this anticipation of the ultimate sacrifice so it is redemptive in that sense in an anticipatory sense but ultimately it's going to be supplanted until when the promised seed comes the background of course is the Abrahamic covenant especially the land promises because in a moment we're going to see look God never promises eternal life in heaven or in the new heavens of the new earth

for keeping the the the law never he promises blessing in the land life and death that is blessing and cursing and if you don't keep the law of there's exile yes that's probably we could look at that TIPA logically I guess in terms of something much bigger but the stipulations of the law are pretty clear what is often what isn't be careful that you don't read into that I know that a lot of Sunday School answers is you know had they kept the law perfectly they would have gone to heaven no had they kept the

law perfectly they would have been blessed in the land let's not put promises in God's mouth that he didn't make so some key passages we're gonna walk through these Moses went up to God this is from Exodus 19 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 you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians judged them and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself now then if 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 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation these are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel so they're making this he's making this offer of this covenant then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances and all the people answered with one voice and said can we think on it for a few days

no there's instantaneous look all the words which the Lord has spoken we will do Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord then he arose early in the morning built an altar at the foot of the mountain with 12 pillars for the 12 tribes of Israel quite a solemn ratification here he sent young men of the sons of Israel and they offered burnt offerings and sacrifices as peace offerings to the Lord Moses took half of the blood put it in basins and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar then he

took the book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people so now they got it a second time and they said all that the Lord has spoken we will do and we will be obedient scouts honor you know I don't know what they're I don't know that they completely understood their own depravity here right because instantly they're disobeying the Covenant but here it is this is the story so Moses took the blood sprinkled it on the people and said behold the blood of the Covenant which the Lord has made with you

in accordance with all these words and so you have it detailed we're going to look at some of these passages but here's what's offered you obey all the stipulations of the cup of the Covenant of the commandments and the ordinances and the statutes all of this if you obey all of that you'll be blessed in the land that I'm going to give you if you disobey if you disobey you're going to be cursed from the land first in the land to remind you because God is patient it's interesting God's pattern is not instantaneous smiting in

the moment someone disobeys its patience in fact the whole sacrificial system the tabernacle of the temple and the sin offerings in the Day of Atonement and all this is a system set up for obtaining what I'm gonna call covenant forgiveness you should be kicked out of the land you should have disease and pestilence and drought and locusts because of your disobedience of the Covenant technically and justly immediately but God graciously allows this in the alternative fulfill the this priestly these sacrifices and you will it will cover over your sin it's all in a covenant --all

sense disobey the covenant ah sacrifices it's kind of delaying or covering over your sin and keeps you in the land just a little longer pretty soon that becomes route and routine mere ritual and God he's not having none of that eventually though way longer than any of us would probably hold out God finally you know sends the armies okay drives them from the land so judgment does come but it's interesting blessing comes much quicker than judgment with God it's inexplicable ultimately the Mosaic Covenant is fulfilled in Christ in the sense of it's displaced it's the

given until the seed should come but there are also we are told foreshadowings these are but a shadow of things to come and so it is right to look at the law and see at least depends on your view of you know topology and foreshadowing and you know the prophetic nature of law etc some have gone into great detail finding Christ at every implement of the temple or tabernacle others are more generally saying you know it's sacrifice and sacrifice temporary and temporal versus permanent and eternal others will see at least we can agree that here's

problem my sin here's solution Christ and so between these two extremes you see a fulfillment ultimately in Christ you know in a anticipatory prophetic sense at least Jeremiah 31 new covenant verses the old it's not like that it's a comparison in contrast Romans 10 for Christ is the end of the law he's the fulfillment of it he keeps the law on our behalf day 1 those those Israelites were breaking the law and Christ all his days fulfills it in our stead on our behalf that is one of the dimension you know he talks so much

about Christ's substitutionary death and we sometimes neglect the equally true statement that Christ lived a righteous life as our substitute positively did what we could not do so the Davidic covenant okay the Davidic covenant so you have Israel file that makes it into the land you know the story right and they are going through their cycles of faithfulness sorta covered by sacrifices and then they start to stray and Deuteronomy cursings kick in right and sometimes that's enough to pull them back again but oftentimes they just keep going incrementally worse and worse and then you have

all kinds of things but in the midst of this is the kingship first of all they start with obviously Saul it's like all right we want a king like all the other nations you really want that you know some be careful sometimes God does thankfully the examples of God giving them something that he doesn't want them to have and it's not good for them is it's rare actually there's a lot a lot of examples of that but he will do it sometimes do this to teach them a very hard lesson and he does this with

Saul David on the other hand in the deep into Saul's reign David is anointed as king remember the first he's I actually noted three times he's anointed as king of Israel when what's his first anointing what's that yeah remember all right Jesse line up your sons yeah here they are okay I hope it's that one that's my favorite you know like are these all the sons cuz none of these God is telling me these are not oh you mean David you know so David comes in hey guys you know gawky kind of geeky annoyed some

his King and what does he do grab the sceptre and you know make me a throne brothers starts raining and it goes back to the sheet right he's the anointed king hanging out with the Sheep and then of course he's on the run from Saul Saul still in charge he's on the run and he gathers around him his mighty men you know they're out in the wilderness most of the time running from the King Saul is the illegitimate David is the legitimate King already anointed when is the second time he's anointed king Sol's defeated and

he's anointed king of a couple of the tribes right Judah and Benjamin or whatever well I don't remember I'm bad ask an Old Testament scholar look or Google it okay but then the other the other tribes eventually submit to his rule as well it's kind of a cubs and phases and he's anointed king over those tribes as well so yeah it's actually kind of like a three phase anointing as king but he becomes king and he builds himself palace and all these kinds of things which by the way they're unearthing in in Israel in Jerusalem

as we speak and then thanks wait a second look at me I have this wonderful house God doesn't have anything gods living in a tent that's not right of course no nothing can contain God but you know the thought it's the thought that counts right I want to build God a house and so God comes back with the Covenant 2nd samuel 7 you know the the passage so the Davidic covenant establishes the elect honesty through which God would ultimately fulfill the promises of all biblical covenants in Christ and from the Davidic covenant on it it

narrows now now it's going to be one of the heirs of David in fact it's already functioning in an anticipatory sense that as goes the king so goes the nation and there is this this headship kind of function this identity this corporate solidarity between the head of the state and the people and this is kind of foreshadowing in an ultimate sense Christ as the head of those who are incorporated into him we'll come back to that though 2nd Samuel 7 first chronicles 17 is the is the reiteration of this and chronicles but here's the establishment

of the Covenant thus says the Lord of Hosts I took you from the pasture from following the Sheep normally sheep are supposed to follow you but those of you in Pastoral Ministries know that's probably a little bit more accurate to be ruler over my people Israel I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you and I will make you a great name like the names of the great men who are on the earth great name remembered that was what the Tower of Babel come on let's

get together we're gonna make a name for ourselves we're gonna have a great name Oh squish and then calls Abraham from or and he says I'm gonna make you a great name but make your name great God is doing the same thing with David he's raising him up and it's true David is a great name everybody's heard of him even people who don't believe in him he's a great name like the names of all who are on the earth I will also point a place for my people Israel and we'll plant them that they may

live in their own place and not be disturbed again now we're God's people disturbed from their place after the Davidic covenant ever several times right so this is still something that is it's a promise God's gonna keep his promise but if we would say it's yet future are they being disturbed today they're in a place now since 1948 and actually they were there in that place for a while since the 19th century in fact there's always been a Jewish population in Palestine but the 1948 day it's still a very disturbing place unlike what's promised here

so there is a something yet prophetic here built in says nor will the wicked afflict them any more as formally even from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel and I will give you rest from all your enemies the Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you and there's a little bit of God likes word-plays I'm gonna build a house for God I'm gonna make a house for you really but I have this really nice paneled house there's lots of gold have you noticed isn't

that nice God he's using house in a in a different sense when your days are complete and you lie down with your father's I will raise up your descendant after you who will come forth from you and I will establish his kingdom house in the sense of a dynasty is what he means he shall build a house for my name that's a temple and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me when he commits iniquity I will correct him with

the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men so he's talking about yes Solomon I guess you're I mean immediately Solomon but also his descendants and also each Davidic King who is in that dynasty is going to be have this unique relationship of of this Davidic covenant 'el sonship where you're my adopted son and I'm going to treat you like a son discipline you when you go astray and bless you when you are faithful but my loving kindness shall not depart from him as I took it away from Saul whom I removed

from before you your house and your kingdom shall endure before me forever your throne shall be established forever it's pretty clear what's promised here this everlasting dynasty everlasting kingship over this this nation that God is going to have preserved in this place undisturbed so from this point forward going back to our little kind of narrowing seed stack here after the Davidic covenant has established all covenant elopes Center on the Davidic King as a mediator of the Abrahamic promises even in in Judaism where they talk about about the future age of restoration they talk about it

as the messianic age because they know it's centered on this anointed king ultimately so the king and the age and the fulfillment and the land and all of these promises that were already given an Abraham have narrowed now to this dynasty so the Abrahamic covenant had the land the blessing of the nation and through them all the other nations the seed to whom the promise is given Isaac Jacob Judah the tribe of anticipated as the the one from whom the Kings will come and then sure enough the Davidic line the seed promises narrowing on them

then with David the line perpetual line of Kings a throne though he does say look disobedience is gonna lead to discipline which means just as as David was the anointed king was not raining on the throne yet there are some people who are anointed king who will be removed from the throne temporarily or suffer other consequences because of disobedience but the promise still still holds of the eternal line and then the eternal kingdom that will never end so there are some developments here now let's take a look at a couple things here go to Psalm

89 oops wrong way it's an Old Testament it's been so long since I've read the Old Testament I don't generally you know that's not going backwards just kidding I'm in the I'm in the fourth century now I'm I don't go back to no but seriously that the the the Davidic promise is now all over becomes that the DNA of the whole prophetic plan of the Old Testament so Psalm 89 3 through 4 you have said I have made a covenant with my chosen one I have sworn to David my servant I will establish your offspring

or your seed forever and build your throne for all generations look at 19 of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one and said I have granted help to one who is mighty I have exalted one chosen from the people I have found David my servant and my holy oil I have a with my holy oil I have anointed him this is what Messiah core Chris Christ means The Anointed One the one who's been anointed to this position so that my hand shall be established with him my arm also shall strengthen him the

enemy shall not outwit him the wicked shall not humble him I will crush his foes before him and strike down those hate him my faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him and in my name shall his horn be exalted I will set his hand on the sea and his right hand on the rivers he shall cry to me you are my father my god in the rock of my salvation notice verse 27 I will make him my firstborn the highest of the kings of the earth and what sense is he the firstborn was

either firstborn of Jesse quite the contrary preeminent the parallelism notice here the highest of the kings of the earth God is adopting him in a sense it's a it's a adopted as the firstborn of God in a regal sense my steadfast love I will keep for him forever and my covenant will stand firm for him I will establish his offspring forever and his throne as the days of the heavens if his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my rules if they violate my statutes and do not keep my Commandments then I

will punish their transgressions with the rod and their iniquity with stripes but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips at you I don't think you can be more clear than this Wow but if he really disobeys I mean really seriously do something like offers just own children to Moloch then maybe God I'll withdraw his covenant faithfulness to the know she can discipline them but his faithfulness to the Covenant will last once for

all I've sworn by my holiness I will not lie to David his offspring shall endure forever his throne as long as the Sun before me like the moon it shall be established forever a faithful witness in the skies okay God is serious about this covenant it's permanent the stipulations of the covenant are not revoked now Isaiah go to Isaiah 9 I've mentioned this in passing now let's just start with let's just start where Handel's Messiah starts for unto us a child is born to us a son is given the government shall be upon his shoulder

and his name shall be called wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting father Prince of Peace of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this so now we have in Isaiah an anticipation of a of a single figure whose government will have no end and it will continue to increase and grow in its power and influence as a

11 many of these myths great messianic passages there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit who's Jesse again yeah father David so going back to the out of this out of this dynasty is going to come this little shoot and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of law of the Lord and his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord he

shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide disputes by what his ears hear but with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked righteousness shall be the belt of his waist and faithfulness the belt of his loins go to 61 I think that's Roppongi to publish or they into the recipes now yeah probably part of it that's that cut that images is more

common than just that but yep okay Isaiah 60:1 the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me now who read this and she said it referred to him yeah thank you so nice cool answers usually right Jesus okay to bring good news to the poor he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted to proclaim Liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all who mourn

to grant to those who mourn in Zion to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes the oil of gladness instead of mourning the garment of praise instead of a faint heart that they may be called oaks of righteousness the planting of the Lord that he may be glorified so Isaiah is anticipating these same things yes it's it's it's it's figurative language and it's but it's it doesn't make it less real i I don't you're gonna notice that yes the the Old Testament images of the future very probably figurative in many ways poetic but that

doesn't mean they're not pointing to something that's actually real too often I hear people say well that's just poetry that's just figurative imagery yeah but it has a referent it is it is putting in figurative imagery something that's real okay and it's not always imagery so you interpret the imagery in light of clear prophecies Jeremiah 23 five through six behold the days are coming declares the Lord when I will raise up for David a righteous branch and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land we're in

the land thank you I appreciate that oh really I'm not asking for anything more than let's just read the text as it is written without picking bits and pieces out of it and leaving other pieces on the ground okay okay 3089 getting there we're getting close to the we're gonna kind of get to the new covenant passage and kind of skip over it but it's all gonna come together wait till we get to the cluster we're talking with the Millennium the great cluster of all of these interrelated promises and images it's gonna be wonderful thirty

eight through nine and it shall come to pass and that day declares the Lord of Hosts that I will break his yoke from off your neck and I will burst your bonds and foreigners shall no more make a servant of him but they shall serve the Lord their God and David their King whom I will raise up for them okay when is this supposed to happen if you go back to verse seven alas the day is so great there's none like it what is this this is the day of the Lord it is a time

of distress for Jacob yet he shall be saved out of it its distress the time of Jacob's trouble as the old translations say but he's going to be saved out of it and then he's going to raise up David their king now some have taken this as resurrected David which of course we would believe David is going to be resurrected as well but most scholars are going to say this is a David is a figure for the Davidic King right we call the Messiah or Christ alright look at 3314 gesundheit behold the days are coming

declares the Lord when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah in those days and at that time I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land in those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell securely and this is the name by which he will be called the Lord is our righteousness for thus says the Lord David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel and

the Levitical priesthood shall not lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings to burn grain offerings and to make sacrifices for ever now this is going to bring up an interesting question which we'll get to another time if the David portion is literal is the Levitical portion also literal or do we have a after the comma do we you know switch gears I don't know it's a good question and he's kept people up at night and it will keep you up at night we're not dealing with it yet okay 22 21 dust is

the Lord if you can break my covenant with the day a my covenant with the night so that day and night will not come at their appointed time which you can't do have you ever tried to do it well we try to do it with lights at night but we can't do it we have no control over that then also by covenant with David my servant may be broken so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers so he's making our reiterating has

already said it it's a firm covenant and a firm fulfillment of this Ezekiel 37 24 and 25 my servant David shall be king over them and they shall all have one Shepherd they shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes they shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob where your fathers lived they and their children and their children's children shall dwell there forever and David my servant shall be their Prince for ever I will make a covenant of peace with them it shall be an everlasting covenant

with them and I will set them in their land and multiply them and will set my sanctuary in their midst forever my dwelling place shall be with them and I will be their God and they will be my people then the nations will know that I am the lord who sat sanctifies Israel when my sanctuary is in their midst forever so once again notice it's a it's not just the king it's not just the kingship but it's a king over a nation in fulfillment of promises and covenant stipulations that were made in the past let's

go to I want to go to whichever one I buy it first let's go to Amos 911 in that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old restoration of Israel here in this context but tied back to David so the promise of today vyd is not separated from the Abrahamic promise of blessing in the land okay he's now the means of fulfilling this promise alright so the fulfillment ultimately Christ we know is the ultimate

son of David heir of the Davidic line Matthew 1:16 Luke 1:27 Christ is the ultimate recipient of the Davidic throne Luke 1:32 I take a look at that you know there's this kind of an idea that yeah the Old Testament okay keeps talking about the land and the kingdom and the Davidic throne Jerusalem and restoration of Zion and the remnant but when you get to the New Testament that's kind of set aside or downplayed not at all it's assumed he's already sitted to the Old Testament he doesn't have to keep saying it over and over

and over again but he incorporates it he alludes back to it he quotes from it God does in the New Testament so look at Luke 1:32 Verte start with verse 30 and the angel said to her do not be afraid Mary for you have found favor with God and behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you should call his name Jesus he will be great and will be called the son of the Most High where is this coming from this is not this is not right now talking about divine sonship

that's those are different passages specifically the son remember Psalm Psalm 89 this the firstborn the sonship people be a son to me I will be a father to him this is a Davidic image and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end the Gabriel knows his Bible he's just quoting the Bible okay well what does he mean by that well what the Bible means by it okay Christ is the ultimate ruler of

the Davidic Kingdom as we saw so kingship kingdom ruling over Judah over Israel is not really modified here at least not in Gabriel's lips do angels have lips temporary lips lips on loan