THE FIRST COVENANT -- ITS TYPICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Exodus 19 and Exodus 24

Before entering upon the subject named at the head of this paper, it may be well to make a few remarks upon the value of the Old Testament scriptures as compared with those of the New Testament. In writing his second epistle to Timothy, Paul says "Every scripture is divinely inspired, and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, fully fitted to every good work", chapter 3: 16, 17. Special attention should be paid to the above passage, as appearing in an apostolic epistle intended for the "last days". "Scripture" here includes the Old Testament; indeed the "sacred letters", which Timothy knew from childhood, are the Old Testament scriptures. There is a disposition to discredit or undervalue the Old Testament; this the Spirit of God foresaw, and guarded it by the above passage.

In order to profit by the reading of the Scriptures we must recognise the Spirit of God, by whose aid alone we can understand their meaning; and, further, an important injunction appearing also in 2 Timothy, must be observed. Paul speaks of "cutting in a straight line the word of truth", chapter 2: 15. Observing this, and depending on the Holy Spirit, we shall "behold wondrous things" in the Old Testament scriptures as well as in those of the New Testament. We need both. No Christian should conclude that the New Testament alone furnishes all that his soul needs. The passage quoted shows that all Scripture is inspired of God, and is profitable and necessary for the furnishing of the man of God. The New Testament has, indeed, the first place: it presents to us, in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ, the revelation of God; man as seen in Christ before Him for His pleasure and glorifying Him; accomplished redemption; the exaltation of Christ; the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the consequent formation of the assembly; the counsels of God as regards Christ and the assembly; the disposition of the earth as ruled over by Christ, with Israel restored to their own city and land, according to the promises made to the fathers. These great and blessed subjects, involving the glory of God in Christ, and a creation blessed in Him, are presented to us in divine perfection and fulness in the holy pages of the gospels and the epistles "by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven", 1 Peter 1:12. The words "sent from heaven" are to be specially noted. The Holy Spirit on earth, as given by a glorified Christ, involves a freshness, and vigour in all that is ministered which the earlier scriptures do not afford. The Christian lives, normally, in what is thus presented as in his native atmosphere.

But to be complete, fully fitted, he needs all the holy writings. The Old Testament, in type, gives direct statements of truth, record of experiences and breathings of the Spirit of Christ in holy men of God; it furnishes amplifications, elucidations, and adorning details of New Testament truth, which, if the Christian neglects, he must suffer great loss. In a word, the Old Testament, in every section of it, bears witness of CHRIST. We read in Luke 24 that the Lord expounded "in all the scriptures the things concerning himself". How delightful such an exposition must have been! It is not recorded, but if we are subject to the Holy Spirit, and attentive to Him, we shall be led into the understanding of the things written concerning Christ "in the law of Moses, and in the prophets and in the psalms". Indeed the Spirit has done much for the people of God in this respect through qualified servants who have spoken to us the word of God. In this service, as in all others, the Lord has set the example. He began "at Moses". It need scarcely be said that Moses in the law furnishes the greatest variety of typical teaching. The books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers especially abound in this, as is well known to many.

What may be remarked here is that the term law is not always limited in the New Testament to the Ten Commandments; it is more often referred to as covering the whole Mosaic ceremonial system, and in one or two instances, the whole of the Old Testament. In Galatians and Hebrews the reference is generally to the ceremonial system of which circumcision was the sign. It was "the law of commandments in ordinances". In Hebrews the law is contrasted with the great spiritual system set up in Christ, who came by the "greater and more perfect tabernacle". In Galatians "the principle of works of law", as presented in the literal Mosaic system, including the Ten Commandments, for justification, is utterly condemned. The vigour and zeal with which the apostle combatted the Judaising error is explained by the serious nature of the error itself; and also by the fearful result of it as seen around today in the ceremonial religion of Christendom. It is important that the far-reaching nature of the error, as thus seen, should be understood, lest anyone should labour under the misapprehension that the law in its spiritual significance is abrogated. Its "righteous requirement" is "fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to flesh, but according to Spirit", Romans 8:4. Indeed, this is taught in the Galatian epistle itself. "The whole law", says the apostle, "is fulfilled in one word, in, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself", Galatians 5:14. This involves a debt that is never liquidated, as has often been remarked, nor do we wish it to be! Romans 13:8 says, "Owe no one anything, unless to love one another for he that loves another has fulfilled the law".  Having said so much about the references to the law in the New Testament, so as to clarify and guard our subject, we may now look at the section of Moses in which the law is introduced, namely, Exodus 19 to 24. Our inquiry is, Does this section, with the other parts of the book, afford typical teaching, or is it to be regarded only as recording the historical facts of the giving of the law, as viewed, for instance, in Hebrews 12:18 - 21? As already pointed out, the New Testament writings largely treat the law, the Ten Commandments and the whole ceremonial system connected with them, as given by God, expressing His rights as regards man (Israel) as he was; who being thus tested disclosed the lawless state of his heart. "Why then the law? It was added for the sake of transgressions", Galatians 3:19. It was a schoolmaster to those who were under it up to Christ. By it was the knowledge of sin, and the terrible fact established that those that are in the flesh cannot please God. The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, nor can it be. The law supposed sin in those to whom it was given, for it was "not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient", 1 Timothy 1:9. All this, and very much more on the same line, is seen on the face of Scripture, and hence is of the greatest importance for the saints.

Referring now to the first part of our inquiry, does the section of Scripture which introduces the first covenant afford typical teaching? We would say that there cannot be a doubt that Exodus 19 to 24 occupies a special place in the typical teaching of the book. This, we believe, will be recognised by every spiritual student of Scripture. There is in this passage a "shadow of good things to come" as with the other parts of the law. The first, and perhaps the greatest, of the good things foreshadowed is the love of God towards us. Jehovah said to the people, in His message through Moses the mediator, "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye 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"; Exodus 19:4 - 6.  Comparing this wonderful message with Deuteronomy 32, Psalm 78, and similar passages, we can discern that the heart of the blessed God was peculiarly active at this juncture. The people were to know Him not only as a Saviour God, but as a God who loved them, and would have them in a definite relationship with Himself as priests; yea, as taught later, He would take the place of a Husband to them, Jeremiah 2:2. We have thus here, at least, a shadow of Romans 5, where the love of God is said to be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us. Romans 3 may be said to correspond, in a sense, with Exodus 12; Romans 4 with Exodus 15; and Romans 5 with Exodus 19; these presenting to us the righteousness of God, the power of God, and the love of God. 

All this is on God's side showing what His thoughts were. What follows, alas! brings out what man is. The divine proposal was contingent on Israel's obedience. Was there "such a heart" in them as would respond to such a God? Alas! no, for "the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be". The answer of the people to Jehovah's message only proved how ignorant they were of the utter weakness and unprofitableness of the flesh. The terrors of Sinai that followed, and the barrier set up between God and the people thee, tell only too plainly the state of man in the flesh, and that there could be no true nearness, nor entering the holiest, until redemption was accomplished. Still God had indicated what was in His heart as to the people. In due time He will get a full response, fir in Israel's minds His laws shall be given, and upon their hearts they shall be written.

The general typical position is thus clear. God had borne the people on eagles' wings, and brought them to Himself, and would now have them with Him in the dignity of priests, which could only be on the ground of obedience. They undertook to obey, but their obedience was not proved, hence the barrier raised up between them and God. Had their obedience been fulfilled the terms of the covenant would have been available, "but they kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law", Psalm 78:10. Nevertheless, the will of God is the will of God, and obedience is obedience, and both met in perfect harmony in Christ who had the law in His heart, and delighted to do the will of God. The Christian, too, delights in the law of God, and as walking in the Spirit fulfils its righteous requirements.

A question arises here as to whether the position of Israel, with whom the covenant was made, shadowed in any way that of the people of God in this dispensation. The distance established between God and the Israelites and the terrible solemnity which marked the actual giving of the law speak with great plainness of the divine intent in the scene presented. He had acted in grace up to this time, had borne them on eagles' wings and brought them to Himself. Now the people are to be impressed with the majesty and holiness of the God whose love and power had already been shown. On the other hand, the solemn question of their state had to be raised.

The awful fact is before us that man in the flesh,, however favoured outwardly, is utterly unfit for the presence of God. He is as an unclean thing, and all his righteousnesses are as filthy rags. God knew all this from the outset, but the awe-inspiring scene at Sinai was to impress it on the Israelites, and on the whole race of man. That there may have been a Joshua or others in the camp, who had faith, and who thus were known and loved of God, made no difference. The same solemn lesson must be learnt by all. Even Moses said, "I am exceedingly afraid and full of trembling". This fact shows that the scene was extraordinary, God emphasising His majesty if man in the flesh presumes to undertake to do His will. This testimony being thus rendered, the book of the law and the people were sprinkled by blood, showing that all should ultimately be secured through redemption, the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.

We may return now to the typical feature of the position of the people. Taking full note, as we have, of the main teaching of the scripture before us, we may, point out that there is the general fact of a people taken into relationship with God on the ground of obedience. There is no blood mentioned in chapter 19 but it is introduced in chapter 24. In the latter chapter the blood is directly connected with the undertaking of the people to obey, as if to intimate that the obligation could be fulfilled only through redemption. The challenge on God's part to man to obey is morally right. It cannot be divorced from His expressed will in any dispensation or circumstance. The fact that Israel could not keep the law did not cancel their responsibility; nor could the law fall to the ground. The Lord said that every jot and tittle of it shall come to pass. Hence alongside the anticipated failure of Israel we have the beautiful type of Christ presented in the Hebrew servant in Exodus 21. This is too well known to need much comment. He is in the place of a bondman, the service of love being presented, where obedience is to shine, and as there He loves His Master, His wife and children, and so dying, for Christ in His love was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, He remains a bondman forever. Here we have the headship of Christ foreshadowed, we may say, only it is on moral grounds. Romans 5:12 to the end of the chapter presents Christ as qualifying for headship on the moral line. The obedience of the "one man Jesus Christ", who accomplished righteousness, is dwelt upon.

The truth, therefore, is that whether Israel undertook to keep the law or not, the responsibility was there, for God claimed obedience; but they did not have the heart to obey, as Jehovah in His love exclaimed later, "O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!" Deuteronomy 5:29. But Christ had "such a heart"; He undertook to do the will of God, saying, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God". He had the law in His heart, magnifying it and making it honourable. Christ undertook to obey in becoming Man; He has led the way in obedience, and so Christians are sanctified to His obedience, 1 Peter 1:2. Hence, redemption accomplished, He brings in a people before God who are of His own order and pattern, and they obey. This is true, in principle, of Christians as of those in whose mind and hearts, in the future, God's laws shall be given and written. They obey from the heart the form of teaching into which, they were instructed, Romans 6:17.

The great Head introduced in Romans 5 leads in the way of obedience; His death is the full proof of this. Shall the believer on Him continue in sin?  Far be the thought! He is committed in baptism to Christ, and so to His death, and should, therefore, as Christ is raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, walk in newness of life, a life marked by obedience. In a word, there is a definite committal by believers, normally, as in one like Paul, in baptism, to what is presented on the part of God in Christ, both as regards its blessings and obligations. God is infinitely real in approaching us in Christ, and He looks for corresponding reality in those who by faith embrace the blessed light of the gospel. He can count on this now, for the Christian has "such a heart", through the divine work in him which will obey, a heart that can "delight in the law of God"; thus, as having the Holy Spirit, he does the will of God. It is not a question of being under a legal system, but by definite committal the believer becomes a bondman to that God who loves him and who has saved him. Besides this, he has become dead to the law by the body of Christ, and is married to Him as raised from the dead. The believer is thus in relation with God and with Christ in well known bonds. See Romans 6 and 7.

Peter in his first epistle, chapter 3: 18 - 22 and 4: 1, shows even more clearly the leadership of Christ in the path of the will of God, and how the believer commits himself to Him and to His path. Christ suffered, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. Had this occurred at Sinai, had Christ been there as Mediator instead of Moses, how all would have been changed! But the principles are the same, for the will of God existed then as at the cross. Christ suffered to bring us to God. Evidently here we are brought to God in our souls, for we are still down here, and so baptism follows. It is "the demand as before God of a good conscience". It is the renouncement of the flesh and the world as in the light of the death and resurrection of Christ.

We may say it is the stipulation, or requirement, of the conscience of a man who honestly embraces the light of the gospel. Compare Matthew 3:13 - 15. Then, as Christ suffered in the flesh, the believer arms himself with the same mind; a mind that ceases from sin. It is as if the believer, having accepted the sufferings of Christ in their vicarious value, has committed himself to a have-done-with-sin (if the expression may be used) order of things; but he lives on down here for the will of God. He is committed definitely to the will of God, and consistency with this is to govern his whole course. Drawing back from, or inconsistency with, this position of discipleship is the mark of apostasy.

Lest there should be any misapprehension, we would remark that the believer's justification, his reception of the Holy Ghost, his relationship with God and with Christ, and his place in the divine counsels, are all secured, according to the gospel, through his faith in God and in the work of Christ. God effects all on the ground of pure grace. What we have been dwelling upon has reference to the Christian as left down here in the wilderness. Viewed thus he is regarded as in a spiritual system, set up in Christ, to which he has committed himself. Through baptism and the Lord's supper he commits himself to this spiritual system, which is marked by the perfect law of liberty, as truly, and indeed as formally, as the Israelites committed themselves to the system set up through Moses.

In conclusion, then, we would say that the general thought presented in the section of Scripture before us, is of a people brought to God in grace and in power, and then set up in covenant relations with Him: they accepting the terms of the covenant (the feature dealing with God's holiness and man's sinfulness has already been enlarged upon), and then blood sprinkled both on the book itself and all the people, by the mediator saying, "Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you"; see Hebrews 9:19 and Exodus 24:8. All, therefore, is on redemption ground.

Following on this the representatives of the people ascend to God on the mount, and are, figuratively, at least, accepted: "They saw the God of Israel; and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink". Wonderful scene! Figuratively it is a people in reconciliation. Then follows in Exodus 25 the great truth of the habitation of God. It is with a redeemed people, brought nigh and reconciled, that God dwells. Compare Ephesians 2:11 - 22. The typical feature in the chapters under consideration is perfectly clear and in it the people of God of the present dispensation are foreshadowed.

Mr. J. Taylor, Sr. – Glasgow – October 1914