[When the descendants of Noah violated the covenant which God had made with Noah, forming nations to oppose God and eventually falling into idolatry, Jehovah, the God of glory, came to call Abraham (Abram) as the head of a new race and to make a covenant with him, the fourth covenant that God made with man (Gen. 12:2-3, 7-8; 13:14-16; 15:1-21; 17:1, 5, 6; 22:17-18). God made a covenant with Abraham at six different times, the contents of which mainly included the following items: first, God would make him a great nation, and nations would be made of him and kings would come out of him; second, God would bless him and make his name great; third, God would give the land of Canaan to him and to his seed for an eternal possession; fourth, God would cause Sarah, his wife, to bear a son, would multiply his seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is upon the seashore, and would make him the father of many nations and Sarah, a mother of nations; and fifth, God would give him the promise of grace that all the nations of the earth might be blessed in him and in his seed. The result was that although he kept the covenant, he left the land of promise twice. Furthermore, the house of Jacob, his descendants, all left the land of promise and went down to Egypt, falling under the tyranny and bondage of Egypt.]
[When God through Moses delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt, the land of bondage, and brought them to the foot of Mount Sinai, He made a covenant with them, the fifth covenant that He made with man (Exo. 20—23). They had kept the Passover and had been redeemed by God, they had been rescued out of Egypt by God’s power, and they had been brought through the wilderness by God’s grace. However, not knowing themselves, they thought they were able to keep God’s commands by themselves. Therefore, through Moses, God decreed the law, which was enacted according to what He is, in order to expose their offense that they might know sin, and to guard and shut them up that they might be brought to Christ. The contents of the law are divided into the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances. The commandments, as God’s basic commands, are the general principles of the law. There are ten commandments. The statutes set forth, explain in detail, and supplement the ten basic commandments; their stress is on man’s worship and service to God and on the rituals and regulations pertaining to man’s relationship with God. The ordinances, which are statutes with verdicts, or judgments, also set forth, explain in detail, and supplement the ten basic commandments; the emphasis is on the verdicts that concern the relationships between man and others and between man and God. This covenant was consummated by the offering of burnt offerings and peace offerings and by the sprinkling of the blood of sacrifices on the book of the covenant and on the people. Because God knew that they would break the words of the covenant, He prepared the sacrifices, which typify Christ, that they might be redeemed and have harmony with God to enjoy peace with Him. The result of making the covenant was that before the consummation of the covenant they worshipped the golden calf and thus broke the covenant. Moreover, after the consummation of the covenant, they disobeyed all the commandments, statutes, and judgments of the covenant throughout their generations. However, there were some just men who were perfected by God and who were kept and shut up by the covenant and were thus brought to the way of God’s redemption.]
[Through Moses God brought the children of Israel to the east of Jordan, to the land of Moab, and before they went on to take the good land of Canaan, He made a covenant with them through Moses, the sixth covenant that God made with man (Deut. 29—30). In this covenant, Jehovah God charged the new generation of the children of Israel that after they would enter into the good land, they were to keep all the commandments, statutes, and judgments in the covenant which He made with their fathers at Mount Sinai, and to turn to Jehovah their God with all their heart and with all their soul, to love Him and to cleave to Him. If they would keep the words of the covenant and do them, they would live and be blessed and prosper in all things. If they would turn away in their heart from Jehovah God to disobey the words of His covenant, they would be cursed, suffer calamities, and be rooted out of their land and cast into another land and scattered among the nations. If they would take God’s word of blessing to heart in the land of captivity, and if they would return to Jehovah their God and obey His voice with all their heart and with all their soul, Jehovah God would have compassion upon them and would restore them and bring them into the good land which their fathers possessed. God would circumcise the heart of the returned ones and the heart of their descendants to love Jehovah their God with all their heart and with all their soul, and He would again rejoice over them for good, as He rejoiced over their fathers. The result of this covenant was that the new generation of the children of Israel, like their fathers, turned away from God through all their generations and disobeyed God’s covenant. They were cursed and suffered calamities; they have been carried away to the nations, suffering man’s mistreatment and persecution for nearly two thousand six hundred years. Until this day they still have not turned to God, who has been eagerly expecting their return. Not until the coming again of the Lord Jesus will their whole house repent and be saved. At that time the Lord will send forth His angels to gather them together from the four winds and bring them back to the good land which God gave their fathers.]