9. god reaffirms the covenant

8/12/2019 9. God Reaffirms the Covenant

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Lesson #9 God Reaffirms the Covenant

(Exodus 19: 1-25)


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In Lesson #8 the Israelites began their journey through thewilderness, making their way to Mt. Sinai, the mountain of God,along the way passing through the wilderness of Shur, Marah, Elim,the wilderness of Sin and Rephidim.

Three days into the journey the Israelites began complaining,

murmuring: the water is bitter; the food is lousy; theres nowater; the Amalekites are attacking! Leading the whining andcomplaining Israelites, Moses is angry, discouraged andoverwhelmed.

In each instance God comes to the rescue, not as a compassionate,empathetic and nurturing God, but as a tough, no-nonsense drillinstructor whose every action teaches the children of Israel how togrow up, take responsibility and survive.


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In Lesson #9 the Israelites finally reach Mt. Sinai, and there Godreaffirms the covenant he made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying:

You have seen how I treated the Egyptians and how I bore you up on eagleswings and brought you to myself. Now, if you obey me completely and keep mycovenant, you will be my treasured possession among all peoples, though allthe earth is mine. You will be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.

(Exodus 19: 4-6)The people respond: Everything the Lord has said, we will do (Exodus19:8).

In Lesson #9 we examine the covenant in depth, defining precisely whatthe covenant is; the obligations and privileges it imposes on bothparties, God and the Israelites; and what consequences follow formeeting or breaking the terms of the covenant.


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Land of Goshen

RamesesSuccoth

Marah

Elim

Mt. Sinai

Rephidim

Bitter Lakes

Via Maris

Exodus Route


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Mt. Sinai

Photography by Ana Maria Vargas


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On the third new moon after the Israelites departure from

the land of Egypt, on the first day, they came to thewilderness of Sinai . . . they then pitched camp in thewilderness . . . [and] Moses had gone up to the mountain ofGod.

(Exodus 19: 1-3)A literal translation of the Hebrew, On the third new moon, establishes thetone and sets the scene at Mt. Sinai. The new moon is the 1 st phase of themoon, when the moon and the sun have the exact same ecliptical longtitude,making the moon invisible. In other words, as the scene at Mt. Sinai opens it ispitch black, save for the twinkling of the stars. The scene opens ominous andheavy, tinged with tension, fear and anticipation.

Moses had gone up to the mountain expresses the pluperfect tense,suggesting that Moses is climbing the mountain, even as the people are pitchingcamp, heightening the tension in the story.


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You have seen how I treated the Egyptians and how I bore you up oneagles wings and brought you to myself. Now, if you obey mecompletely and keep my covenant, [then ] you will be my treasured

possession among all peoples, though all the earth is mine. You will beto me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.

(Exodus 19: 4-6)

Notice the if/then clause. When God reaffirms his covenant with thepeople, the covenant is conditioned upon the Israelites obeying Godand keeping the terms of the covenant.

When God states that Israel is my son, my firstborn (4: 22) whom hewill never leave or forsake (Deut. 31: 6), he is making an unconditionalstatement about Israels position , relative to God; when he reaffirmsthe covenant in Exodus 19: 4-6 he is making a conditional statementabout enjoying the privileges of that position.


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Notice the up and down movementthroughout Chapter 19. God is up,Moses and the people are down. TheIsraelites encounter with God at Mt.Sinai is the decisive moment in humanhistory when the heavenly and earthlyrealms converge. Such an epic moment

calls for grandeur and solemnity, as wellas accompanying celestial pyrotechnicsand deep, rolling thunder.


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At midnight, Dr. Creasys intrepid band of students prepare to climb Mt. Sinai.



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Dr. Creasy leads the way up the mountain in the black of night!



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Unlike Moses, we stop halfway up for coffee and cookies, served by the Bedouins!



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Sunrise from atop Mt. Sinai.



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Early morning on the mountain of God.



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Later in the morning we descend the mountain up and down, just like Moses!



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I will make of you a greatnation, and I will bless you; Iwill make your name great, so

that you will be a blessing. Iwill bless those who bless youand curse those who curseyou. All the families of theearth will find blessing inyou.

(Genesis 12: 2-3)


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The word of the Lord came to Abram:

Look up at the sky and count the stars,if you can. Just so, he added, will yourdescendants be.

(Genesis 15: 5)

To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the GreatRiver, the Euphrates, the land of theKenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,

the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,the Amorites, the Canaanites, theGirgashites, and the Jebusites .

(Genesis 15: 18)


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To you and your descendants I will giveall these lands, in fulfillment of the oaththat I swore to your father Abraham. Iwill make your descendants asnumerous as the stars in the sky, and I

will give them all these lands, and inyour descendants all the nations of theearth will find blessing.

(Genesis 26: 3-4)


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I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land onwhich you are lying I will give to you andyour descendants. Your descendants willbe like the dust of the earth, andthrough them you will spread to thewest and the east, to the north and thesouth. In you and your descendants allthe families of the earth will findblessing.

(Genesis 26: 3-4)


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The Hebrew word for covenant is berith ,meaning a pact, treaty or binding legalagreement between two parties.Ancient Near Eastern covenants werecommonplace between sovereigns andvassals, and typically they had a 6-partstandardized form:

1. Preamble, or introduction of the speaker;2. Historical prologue;3. Stipulations;4. The document;5. The gods as witnesses; and

6. Blessings and curses.Often, the covenant involved animalsacrifice, sealing the covenant with blood.


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The Torah as a whole (Genesis through Deuteronomy) is thefullest expression of Gods covenant with the Israelites.

The oldest surviving complete Torah scroll, carbon dated A.D. 1155 1225.University of Bologna, Italy.


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Michelangelo, Creation of the Sunand the Moon, detail (fresco), 1512.

Sistine Chapel, Vatican City.

1. PreambleStarting with Genesis 1: 1 we beginto learn who God is: In thebeginning, when God created theheavens and the earth . . ..

As the three panels of the Genesistriptych unfold, we come to knowGod through his interactions in theAbraham/Isaac, Isaac/Jacob andJacob/Joseph stories.


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Preamble, cont.Gods self -revelation continues as wemove into Exodus.

When God appears to Moses at theburning bush in Chapter 3 and instructshim to go back to Egypt and free theIsraelites, Moses replies: But . . . if I goto the Israelites and say to them, TheGod of your ancestors has sent me toyou, and they ask me, What is hisname? what do I tell them? To whichGod replies: I am who I am . . . this iswhat you will tell the Israelites: I AM hassent me to you.


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Preamble, cont.The nature of Gods I AM identity isthen dramatically confirmed in theten plagues, which are designed to dothree things:

1. Teach the Israelites who God is (10: 2);2. Teach the Egyptians who God is (7: 3-5);3. Bring judgment on the gods of Egypt (12:12).


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2. Historical PrologueReminding the Israelites that he isthe God of their ancestors,Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (and indoing so recalling for we readersthe entire book of Genesis), God

summarizes the recent past ofExodus 1-18: You have seen how Itreated the Egyptians and how Ibore you on eagles wings and

brought you to myself . . . (19: 4).


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3. StipulationsThen God spoke all these words . .. (20: 1-17).

The Ten Commandments orDecalogue are ten principles bywhich a covenant people is to livewith God and one another. Thefirst four principles have to do withthe Israelites relationship withGod; the last six, their relationship

with one another.


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4. The DocumentExodus 21: 1 through Leviticus 27: 34contain the details of the covenant:1. How to apply the ten principles in

specific cases (Exodus 21: 1 24: 18);2. The design and construction of the

Tabernacle (25: 1 40: 38);3. Five great sacrifices to be offered at theTabernacle, four of which are bloodsacrifices (Leviticus 1: 1 -7: 38);

4. The Levitical priesthood (8: 1 10: 20);5. Laws of purity (11: 1 22: 33); and6. Sacred time (holy days).


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5. The gods as witnessesWhen you have children andchildrens children, and havegrown old in the land, shouldyou then act corruptly byfashioning an idol in the form of

anything, and by this evil done inhis sight provoke the Lord, yourGod, I call heaven and earth thisday to witness against you, that

you shall quickly perish from theland . . . (Deuteronomy 4: 26)


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6. Blessings and CursesNow, if you diligently obey the voice of theLord, your God, carefully observing all hiscommandments which I give you today, theLord, your God, will set you high above all thenations of the earth. All these blessings willcome upon you and overwhelm you when youobey the voice of the Lord your God:

May you be blessed in the city,and blessed in the country!Blessed be the fruit of your womb,the produce of your soiland the offspring of your livestock,the issue of your herds and the young of yourflocks!Blessed be your grain basket and your kneadingbowl!May you be blessed in your coming inand blessed in your going out!

(Deuteronomy 28: 1-6)


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6. Blessings and CursesBut if you do not obey the voice of the Lord,your God, carefully observing all hiscommandments and statutes which I give youtoday, all these curses shall come upon you andoverwhelm you:

May you be cursed in the city,

and cursed in the country!Cursed be your grain basket and your kneading bowl!Cursed be the fruit of your womb,the produce of your soiland the offspring of your livestock,the issue of your herds and the young of your flocks!May you be cursed in your coming in

and cursed in your going out!(Deuteronomy 28: 15-19)


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1. How does our author set the stage for the great andterrifying theophany of Exodus 19?

2. How do you define covenant? 3. The covenant God makes with Abraham in Genesis

12 is unconditional ; the covenant God reaffirms inExodus 19 is conditional . What is the difference?

4. Why does God tell the Israelites to stay away fromthe mountain and not touch it?

5. What effect does the theophany at Mt. Sinaiproduce on the Israelites?


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Copyright 2014 by William C. CreasyAll rights reserved. No part of this course audio, video,

photography, maps, timelines or other media may bereproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronicor mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by anyinformation storage or retrieval devices without permission inwriting or a licensing agreement from the copyright holder.

9. god reaffirms the covenant

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