The Covenant With Israel

In 1513 B.C.E., Jehovah made a provision that set the scene fro further revelations about the sacred secret. He concluded a covenant with Abraham's descendants, the nation of Israel. Although now no longer in force, this Mosaic Law covenant was an essential part of Jehovah's purpose to bring about the promised Seed. How so? Consider three ways. First, the Law was like a protective wall. (Ephesians 2:14) Its righteous statutes acted as a barrier between Jew and Gentile. Thus the Law helped to preserve the line of the Seed of promise. Thanks largely to such protection, the nation still existed when God's due time arrived fro the Messiah to be born into the tribe of Judah.

Second, the Law thoroughly demonstrated mankind's need for ransom. A perfect Law, it exposed the inability of sinful humans to adhere to it fully. It thus served "to make transgressions manifest, until the seed should arrive to whom the promise had been made." (Galatians 3:19) By means of animal sacrifices, the Law offered provisional atonement for sins. But since, as Paul wrote, "it is not possible for the blood of bulls and of goats to take sins away," these sacrifices only foreshadowed Christ's ransom sacrifice. (Hebrews 10:1-4) For faithful Jews, then, that covenant became a "tutor leading to Christ." -Galatians 3:24.

Third, that covenant offered the nation of Israel a glorious prospect. Jehovah told them that if they proved faithful to the covenant, they would become "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." (Exodus 19:5, 6) Fleshly Israel did eventually provide the first members of a heavenly kingdom of priests. However, as a whole, Israel rebelled against the Law covenant, rejected the Messianic Seed, and lost out of that prospect. Who, then, would complete the kingdom of priests? and how would that blessed nation be related to the promised Seed? Those aspects of the sacred secret would be revealed in God's due time.

Next time: The Davidic Kingdom Covenant

Draw Close To Jehovah, 2002