[After the children of Israel entered into the good land of Canaan, and from the time that David became the king and there was peace in the entire nation, David desired to build the holy temple for God. At that time God made a covenant with him through Nathan the prophet, the seventh covenant that God made with man (2 Sam 7:8-16). The One who made this covenant is Jehovah of hosts, the Commander of all the host. This divine title was used beginning with the fall of the priesthood. The one with whom the covenant was made was David, a man after God’s heart and the one who prevailed against the enemies to become the king. This covenant was a strengthening of the covenant which God made with Abraham, especially in the aspect of the kingdom. In this covenant God promised that He would be with David, that He would cut off all his enemies from before him, that He would make him a great name, and that He would cause his territory to rest from all his enemies. Furthermore, God promised that He would make him a house, that He would set up his seed after him, and that He would establish the kingdom and throne of his seed. His seed would build a house for God’s name, and God would be a Father to his seed, Christ, and his seed would be a son to God. If his seed (referring to Solomon and his descendants) would commit iniquity, God would chasten his seed, but His lovingkindness would not depart from his seed. His house and his kingdom would be made sure before God, and his throne would be established forever. The result was that his son Solomon succeeded him to the throne and built the holy temple for God. However, when he was old, Solomon lusted after his foreign wives and followed them to worship idols, so that God was angry with him and tore the kingdom out of the hand of his son, thus dividing the kingdom of Israel into two. When both parts were carried away to the nations, the kingdom of David became the tabernacle that has fallen, and his throne was suspended. When Christ, the seed of David, comes again, He will rebuild the tabernacle that has fallen and will succeed to the throne to reign forever.]
[In the New Testament, through the death of the Lord Jesus, which accomplished redemption for all men, God made a covenant with all sinners, the eighth covenant that He made with man (Matt. 26:28; Luke 22:20; Heb. 8:8-13). This covenant is the new covenant; it is also a better covenant. Hence, everything in this covenant is much better than the things in the old covenant. The contents of the new covenant include the following items: God will forgive the sins of all those who believe in Christ and will not remember their iniquities any more; God will impart His laws into their minds, and on their hearts He will inscribe them; God will be God to them, and they will be a people to Him; and they all will know God and will not need anyone to teach them. The contents of the new covenant are also the contents of the entire New Testament; they include such items as the Triune God Himself, redemption, forgiveness of sins, sanctification, justification, reconciliation, regeneration, and sonship. These bequests which the Lord bequeathed to the believers are inexhaustible and are for them to enjoy unto eternity. The Mediator of the new covenant is Jesus Christ, who executes the new testament, carrying out every item of the bequests of the new covenant in the believers. He is also the Surety of the new covenant, guaranteeing that the new covenant will become effective and that all the blessings of the new covenant will become practical experiences to the believers. The new covenant was consummated with Christ Himself as the better sacrifices and with His better and precious blood, causing the believers to have forgiveness of sins, the law of life, and a union with the Triune God in the Triune God. This is the ultimate issue of God’s making covenants with man throughout the generations.]
[After God created all things and mankind according to His eternal plan, His economy, He uses four distinct dispensations—the dispensation of the patriarchs, the dispensation of law, the dispensation of grace, and the dispensation of the kingdom—to do His work of the new creation on the man whom He created in order to accomplish the purpose of His eternal economy. The dispensation of the patriarchs was from the creation of Adam to the giving of the law by Moses (Rom. 5:14). In this dispensation, God first put the created man under His direct government that man might receive Him as life; then He caused the fallen man, the function of whose conscience had been activated by the knowledge of good and evil, to receive His redemption in Christ. He also caused man to be governed by his own conscience and to be acceptable to Him through sacrifices according to the way of redemption that He ordained. Moreover, He caused man to enjoy His riches by calling on His name so that he might walk and work with Him. Then He subjected the repeatedly fallen man under the authority which He gave to man, causing him to be ruled by man that he might live and be preserved and that He might have the opportunity to visit man. Finally, He called the new race out of the Adamic race, which was fallen to the uttermost, and gave them the promise of grace, leading them to hope in the Christ who would come to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth. In this way, God obtained the chosen patriarchs to be the first part of the new race in His new creation.]