In His old administrative arrangement God chose the children of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, and made them His people as a type of the church (Rom. 9:11-13; Acts 7:38). In the Old Testament the church is not mentioned in plain words. However, there are types that portray the church. The children of Israel, as the chosen people of God, are the greatest, collective type of the church, in which we can see that the church is chosen and redeemed by God, enjoys Christ and the Spirit as the life supply, builds God’s habitation, inherits Christ as its portion, degrades and is captured, is recovered, and awaits Christ’s coming. What a work that in the old dispensation God prepared such an all-inclusive type of the church!
Paul applies the history of the children of Israel to the New Testament church life. In Hebrews and 1 Corinthians he points out clearly that what happened to the children of Israel is a type of us (1 Cor. 10:6). The entire history of Israel is a story of the church. The Bible, then, contains two histories-the history of Israel and the history of the church. The history of the children of Israel is a type, and the history of the church is the fulfillment of the type. Thus, the entire Bible gives us one revelation, the revelation of God’s economy concerning the church. In the Old Testament we have a type, a picture, of God’s economy concerning the church, whereas in the New Testament God’s economy concerning the church is fulfilled.
Part of God’s work in the old dispensation was to give the law and to make the old covenant. John 1:17 says, “The law was given through Moses.”
The law was also given to expose what man is and where man is. The best way for man to be exposed is to cause his situation to be seen in the light of God’s attributes. The Ten Commandments are composed mainly of four divine attributes: holiness, righteousness, light, and love. God is holy and righteous; He is also light and love. If you look into the Ten Commandments, you will see that they embody the divine holiness, righteousness, light, and love. For this reason, the law became God’s testimony. In other words, the Ten Commandments testify that God is holy and righteous and that God is light and love. God used this testimony to expose man. As man stands before this testimony, his sinfulness is exposed.
When the law was given, the children of Israel promised to obey God’s commandments (Exo. 19:8). Before the children of Israel responded in this way, the atmosphere around Mount Sinai was not threatening. But when the people declared that they would keep God’s commandments, the atmosphere changed and became terrifying. God exercised His holiness, and the people were not allowed to approach further. Frightened by the manifestation of God’s holiness, they asked Moses to go to God on their behalf. This indicates that the function of the law is to expose fallen mankind.
When God gave the law, He knew that the people would not be able to keep it. But He still gave it in order to expose the people. As the law functions to expose people, it keeps them. The law was used by God as a custodian to keep His people, just as a fold keeps a flock of sheep during the winter or during a storm. The time before the coming of Christ can be compared to a winter season. God used the law as a fold to guard the people. Paul makes this basic principle clear in Galatians 3:23: “Before faith came we were guarded under law, being shut up unto the faith which was about to be revealed.” In verse 24 he goes on to say, “So the law has become our child-conductor unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” These verses reveal clearly that the law functions as a custodian. As it exposed man’s transgression, it guarded God’s people until Christ came.
In the old dispensation God not only gave the law to His people; He also made a covenant with them. Concerning this, Hebrews 9:18-20 says, “Neither was the first covenant dedicated without blood. For when every commandment according to the law had been spoken by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded to you.” The sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifices was the sealing of the covenant and the completion of the official enactment of the covenant.
A covenant involves two or more parties. Here the covenant was between God and His people. This making of a covenant was a tremendous matter. Using today’s words, this covenant was an agreement or a contract. The proper way for a contract to be enacted today is for the participating parties to sign it. A time is set, and an official document is prepared. Then all the parties concerned sign this document. In some cases, the parties make an oath or a pledge. Without such an official enactment, the contract would exist as a written statement, but it would not be binding on either party. Although the law had been given to the people through Moses, there was still the need for the covenant to be enacted. Therefore, after God gave the law, He made a covenant between Him and His people.
God’s covenant in the old dispensation was enacted upon His promise. A promise is a common, ordinary word without confirmation. After God made His promise, He sealed it with an oath. He swore by His Godhead that His promise was confirmed. Once His promise was confirmed by an oath, it immediately became the covenant sealed by God. If you read the Old Testament carefully, you will see that God’s promises were all sealed by His oath. That the promises have become a covenant means that they cannot possibly be altered. Once the promises were confirmed by God’s oath, having been made unalterable, there was no possibility of change. The promise had been sealed; it was no longer a promise but a covenant confirmed by God’s oath.
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