so you've watched the first video on covenant and this the whole idea of the promise response structure and going through the abrahamic the mosaic synaetic and the davidic covenants and how we see this structure encapsulated okay the second kind of um part two of our covenant discussion is something that um i haven't done with a class before so i'm really excited about this this has been something that captured my imagination not too long ago and so i've been really um living into this looking into this this is one of those this is one of my meanderings through scripture that i want to i'm kind of flesh out and share with you so talking about covenant promise response we've seen how that works out but i think that um there are a few key texts that contain what i would say may be considered a formulaic shorthand of what the covenant is and also what the purpose of the covenant is and so and that shorthand is this these simple phrases i will be your god and you will be my people and sometimes just one occurs sometimes just the other multiple times they occur together and so when i think about that god's original intent and therefore his goal of the covenant so that was the original intent we had the fall now the goal of the covenant starting with genesis 12 and abraham is to is to move us back to it from original intent to final intent right it's got the same goal um to be god's people dwelling in god's place with full access to his presence for the purpose of bearing his image into and for the world now look at the phrases i will be your god you will be my people so we have i mean clearly the people idea is there and we've talked about how this idea of bearing god's image is encapsulated in this idea of people though i love the idea that you will be my people is an ever expansive kind of statement there is an exclusivity to that that is set up in the covenantal structure of genesis starting with one man right it's for you abraham and your descendants and yet we know from the very beginning that there's an inclusive purpose so that all the nations on earth will be blessed through you um and so we see this idea of people um and purpose the idea of god being um here with them in his presence and this idea of dwelling in god's place this this coming down to dwell with us this tabernacling with us god the word became flesh and set up tent tabernacled um dwelt with us is the picture that we have in this relational formulation and that's what i love about this it's it's framing the idea of covenant relationally yes i mean we think of god and people um hierarchically and yet there's when we think of it in terms of the covenant there is this beautiful beautiful relational this is a beautiful relational way to think of it so i'm just gonna fly through a few key um passages um this by the way if you wanted to do this this would probably be best done through a phrase study instead of a word study and unfortunately um there aren't any really good resources for you without some original language training to do an original language phrase study um so maybe if you did an english word phrase study phrase search in something like blue letter bible or bible hub just put in quotes your god or i will be your god or i am your god something like that um my people you will be my people you might have to kind of do a few different formulations of it um to kind of get down into some of these texts but i'm going to do a flyover of quite a few of them i want to start in genesis 17. so several of these we've got already gone over so we we've seen it here um i will establish my covenant with you and your descendants and then and on in the next part of the part of the passage i will give you this land but look at this part that i have highlighted here i will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between you and me and your descendants after you for the generations to come so that's emphasizing those descendants to be your god what is this the purpose of this covenant it's for me to be your god and the god of your descendants after you and then as you come down um here it is um the whole land of canaan where um where you now reside as a fortnight i will give you um and to your descendants after you and i will be their god now it's significant i think that we don't see in genesis here in the abrahamic covenant any idea of you will be my people now you can say well that's implied right i mean god is establishing this covenant with you and with your descendant so that those are those are the people um and yet again if we're thinking of this idea especially of this formulaically of this phrase kind of emphasizing the fact that we aren't just god's people um but the thing that makes us part defines us as god's people is that we are shaped into his image and again we don't have that mechanism yet fully um developed here in genesis like we're going to have it after the mosaic covenant now we move to the mosaic covenant so here we are in exodus chapter six it's the beginning of movement toward the mosaic mosaic covenant and god is talking abram excuse me moses again through what it's going to mean um what he's going to do and how he's going to save his people and i will take you as my own people and i will be your god then you will know that i am the lord your god who brought you out from under the yoke of the egyptian so this is back in genesis exodus chapter 6 before they've been brought out of egypt god is telling them that this is what is going to happen um he will be their god and i will take you as my own people so here is this clear picture that god is going to be bringing them into relationship with him before they're shaped into his image though this idea of being his people is going to include the idea of being shaped into his image um this so reminds me of uh the promise that the new testament promise that we have that while we were yet sinners christ died for us i will take you as my own people even though you have not yet been shaped into my image um here in leviticus chapter 26 um we have uh um we're in discussions some the legal discussions of some of the the offerings to be brought and god says i will walk among you i love that again going back to genesis as well as coming down and dwelling with us god i will walk among you and be your god and you will be my people so this this is the way this formula comes up a few times in and around the mosaic synaetic covenant then we move to the davidic covenant and see how it's phrased here this is one of the places and and to be fair when i was doing my search i i was going to the covenantal passages as well to see if i could see this and here look how this formula appears i will be his father and he will be my son same i will be your god you will be my people and yet there's an even tighter closer clearer familial um reference here this is not it's not even fictive kinship this is kinship and of course the significant impact of this and the davidic covenant is that we know that the king of david um who who is going to come is the son of god jesus christ himself so this formulation of of this um at this moment i think is really significant um later um in second same still in second samuel seven david has god um states the covenant through nathan and then david responds with the prayer i'm just gonna read this whole thing therefore you are great o lord god for there is no one like you and there is no god beside you besides you according to all we have heard with our ears and who is like your people like israel i i love that there is no god like you and who is like your people israel how could that even be said unless israel is becoming more and more like their incomparable god um right okay and who is like your people like israel is there another nation on earth whom god chose went to to redeem it as a people and to make a name for himself doing great and awesome things for them by driving out before his people nations and their gods notice david defines who is like your people by the things god has done for them and then we get to this part and you established your people israel for yourself to be your people forever and you o lord became their god statement of the covenant encapsulated in david's prayer here let me go through a few more deuteronomy chapter 26 so again noting that deuteronomy may have been been written later so maybe kind of a reflective view back on the law um deuteronomy is set up um in this moment um this day um when god has his people on the verge of entering the promised land and moses is giving them the law again deuteronomy it's the second giving of the law and he stops and says this particularly is in the section about giving your first fruits offering so all especially when you first enter when you enter into the land everything that you have comes from god and so therefore you will give back the first fruits of all that you have this day the lord your god commands you to perform these statutes and ordinances therefore you shall be careful to perform them with all your heart and with all your soul think back to deuteronomy chapter 6 today you have declared the lord to be your god and that you will walk in his ways and keep his statutes his commandments and his ordinances and listen to his voice and the lord today declared you to be his people his personal possession just as he promised you to shape you into his image so that we can be a holy people in relationship to a holy god in deuteronomy 29 this covenant affirmation moment you stand today all of you before the lord your god so that you may enter into the covenant with the lord your god and into his oath which the lord your god is making with you today in order that so you're standing here to to take to enter into this covenant with the purpose being that he may establish you today as his people and that he may be your god just as he spoke to you and he swore to your fathers to abraham isaac and jacob jacob god's people dwelling in god's place with full access to his presence for the purpose of bearing his image into and for the world that is what god is saying he is doing in the hearts and lives of his people there as they are about to enter into the promised land okay we're gonna we we jump forward there's there's now this formula doesn't come up again with significance until we get to the prophets particularly jeremiah and ezekiel so i'm just gonna go really fast oh i wish i had time i'm not gonna i'm not gonna read all of this to you i'm gonna refrain um okay so this is what the lord um excuse me this is what the lord of armies or lord of hosts the god of israel says so this is jeremiah chapter 7 verse 3 here this is we the enemy is coming from the north babylon is coming jeremiah says this is the beginning of the book of jeremiah so they haven't gone there yet babylon i mean uh jeremiah is warning them that babylon is coming and he says amend your way so he's telling them um to to stop what they're doing and i will let you live in this place so there they can they can remain where they are if they will just respond back to um to how they are supposed to be responding to god but this is what i command your ancestors saying obey my voice and i will be your god and you will be my people i will walk i said i wasn't going to read it all um yet they did not obey and again in jeremiah 11 same thing we're talking about um the this the enemies that are coming um um when i brought you out of the land of egypt i said to them listen to my voice and do according to all that i commanded you so with the so the purpose being so that you shall be my people and i will be your god yet they did not so jeremiah 7 and 11 are looking back at what god had already told them i told you this was the purpose of the covenant and now we get to jeremiah 24 and so jeremiah 24 happens um you see here at the beginning at verse oh no um i guess it's back before that um this is after it's jeremiah 24 verse 1 says after jehoiachin is taken into captivity and and others awaken and others are taken into captivity by nebuchadnezzar so that takes place in 597 bc before the full destruction of jerusalem so this is um jeremiah who has been who had been warning them from multiple chapters before this amend your ways and now some destruction has occurred and so now this now jeremiah begins to give them words of hope um um like these good figs so i will regard these good captives of judah and then for i will set my eyes on them for good oh hear genesis um in there and i will bring them back and i will plant them and i will also give them a heart to know me four i am the lord whenever we see that that that is coming out of the very essence of who god is and they will be my people and i will be their god for they will return to me wholeheartedly um let's jump now to jeremiah 31 oh my goodness jeremiah jeremiah 30 31 32. there's so much we could unpack here um but this is now after we have seen um um the initial destruction before potentially though we don't know exactly how to if 30 30 31 32 are set chronologically but we do see final destruction coming a little bit later in jeremiah but this is god talking to them about um i have watched over them to uproot them to tear down ruin destroy bring disaster so i will watch over them to build and to plant so god is acknowledging that punishment has come but he's also offering the hope behold days are coming declares the lord when i will make a new covenant with the house of israel in the house of judah not like the covenant which i made with their fathers on the day when i took them um when i took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of egypt my covenant that which they broke although i was a husband to them again that that familial that intimate familial language okay so now we want to really think here about the idea of making a new covenant because we often talk about new covenant in new testament terms i want you to make sure you know that this already is happening in jeremiah 31 so what is new god says it is not like the covenant which i made with them so is it is it completely different is it not these same promises with these same expected responses well let's keep reading for this is the covenant which i will make with him so this is the new covenant now he's going to explain it i will make a new covenant and now here he's going to explain it this is the covenant i will make with it with the house of israel after those days i will put my law now stop right there the content of this covenant is the same as the content of the covenant that we've been looking at the covenant that's developed from abraham through moses through into david okay so the content doesn't change so what's different it's not like that covenant in this fact that god will put it within them and write it on their heart and i will be their god and they shall be my people they will not teach again each one to his neighbor and to his brother saying know the lord why do they not need to teach know the lord for they will all know me um that's a simple word it just means i i know an idea but it's also a very intimate word it's the way a husband knows a wife right um this is a this deep or deeply relational idea they will know me from the least of them to the greatest i will forgive their wrongdoing and their sin i will no longer remember i can't not do ezekiel 36 oh my goodness there's there's so much here and this is again in um a hope passage of ezekiel it is likely in in ezekiel's prophecy lays out it's in ezekiel 33 that jerusalem falls so likely we're after the destruction so we're fully in exile and god says it is not for your sake has house of israel that i am about to act but for my holy name which you have profaned among the nations where you went i will vindicate the holiness of my great name i like that translation it's really i will sanctify my great name you might see another translation says that but i like this idea of vindicating my holiness which you have profaned um then the nations will know that i am the lord when i show myself wholly among you in their sight for i will take you from the nations and gather you back from the lands and and bring you into your own land that reiteration of that promises i will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean i will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols listen moreover i will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you this is the difference in the jeremiah 31 passage and in the ezekiel 36 passage god is going to change with him from within to be able to keep his law as opposed to the law something being something external that they that that doesn't change them instead now he's going to put a new spirit within you i will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh i will put my spirit within you and you and bring it about that you walk in my statues god's gonna do that he's gonna change us so that we walk in his statues and are careful to follow um careful and follow his ordinances and um and you will live in the land that i give that i gave to your forefathers so here again is this is the purpose so that you will be my people and i will be your god revelation chapter 21 and i heard a loud voice from the throne saying this is moving from original intent through the covenant to final intent look god's dwelling place is now among the people and he will dwell with them they will be his people and god himself will be with them and be their god wow you're my 31 at the beginning god reiterates this after he has talked about some destruction that's going to be coming and then in verse 3 the lord appeared long ago saying i have loved you israel with an everlasting love therefore i have prolonged kindness to you other other translations therefore i have continued my faithfulness to you therefore with an unfailing love i have drawn you to myself those are all ways you can translate that last line of jeremiah 31 verse 3 and this word kindness faithfulness unfailing love is the hebrew word lots of ways it gets translated mercy in micah 6 8 love kindness favor in some instances loving kindness is a way that you're going to see it goodness the way i like to translate the word is covenantal loyalty and god says there if we go back to oh i have to go out therefore i have prolonged covenantal loyalty for you i have continued my covenantal loyalty to you with covenantal loyalty i have drawn you to myself and this idea of covenantal loyalty um dr catherine dubstock sackenfeld um has written a book the meaning of hesed in the hebrew bible it's great book here's part of her conclusion there are two seemingly contradictory themes that are held in tension in this word god's hesed is delivering protective power delivering protective power exercised should be exercised on behalf of those who are obedient and god's it is also surprising forgiveness offered to the disobedient when they are penitent now i have underlined those who are obedient and um and though the disobedient so the idea here is that hesed can be both protective power and it can be forgiveness it it combines both of those things which is why you get mercy as a significant translational potential alongside love because sometimes it feels like god's protecting but other otherwise times it feels like god's forgiving and the answer is yes that is what god's covenantal loyalty is about here sockenfeld says the sovereign freedom of god and his strong commitment to his chosen people were held together in a single word so the idea that yes he is committed to his chosen people and yet he they receive punishment when they when they don't respond to him when they when they aren't shaped and formed into his people when they aren't the people representing the god that he is um nt wright does some amazing work obviously in the new testament but in his book what saint paul really said chapter six um he deals with the idea of the righteousness of god and that is a significant factor in the writings of paul particularly book of romans and i'm not going to go through his whole um discussion here um but i i want to i want to talk to you about um one way that the best way wright says to understand the righteousness of god is in this covenantal framework of the old testament and he says he would translate the righteousness of god or or what he's saying the righteousness of god is talking to about is god's covenantal loyalty so let me read parts here of romans 3 verses 21-26 and i'm going to replace that word righteousness of god with god's covenantal loyalty but now apart from apart from the law god's covenantal loyalty has been revealed being witnessed by the law and the prophet so we we already saw them there but it is god's covenant loyalty through faith in jesus christ for all those who believe for there is no distinction for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of god so there's not a distinction between jew and gentile because ultimately god's covenantal loyalty is for everyone right he's covenantally loyal to this idea that he will bring all humanity the ultimate purpose of the covenant is to bring all humanity into relationship to him um i've gotten off being justified as a gift as a gift by his grace to the redemption which is in christ jesus whom god displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith this the crucifixion the cross christ the public display of christ this was to demonstrate god's covenantal loyalty because in god's merciful restraint so how did the cross display god's covenant to loyalty it's because in god's merciful restraint mercy being part of his covenantal loyalty he let the sins previously committed go unpunished for the demonstration that is of his covenantal loyalty at the present time so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in jesus right goes on to say god's justice the fact that he is just in in including the gentiles as well as the jews in this saving faith in christ god's justice is his love god's justice is his covenantal loyalty in action to right the wrongs of his suffering world by taking their weight upon himself this leads me to the question to what to whom is god covenantally loyal covenant to loyalty to what is god's to whom is god's hesa demonstrated he is covenanted loyal to his people yes but the argument of romans 9 through 11 is the jews saying well wait a minute i thought god had a covenant with us or is he just kicking us now out now so that he's now going to make this new covenant with the gentiles and the answer to that paul says is no so yes god is covenant loyal to his people but it's more than that he's covenantally loyal to his covenant well yes think about to the purposes of his covenant okay so yes to his people and yes to his covenant but more he's he's covenantly loyal to his purpose that which he has planned for humanity the restoration of his world the bringing us from fallenness back toward his original intent which will be the final intent ultimately i would argue god is covenant covenantally loyal to himself he is covenantally loyal to who he is he cannot act in any way that is not this and this is in no way boiled down easily to a simple word like love that can get used and misused in so many different ways this is the complexity of god's god's protective power to those who are obedient and god's merciful forgiveness to those who are disobedient and i i am god is not on my side right god is on his side god is on the side of his purpose of his plan and if i choose to join him then i am under his protective covenantal um power if i choose to align myself against him then i i will i will experience the the the might of his protection of those who are aligned with him unless i ask for forgiveness in which case if i am on the disobedient side he is merciful to bring me back this is exactly what jonah said in chapter 4 of the book of jonah god this is why i didn't come because i knew that you were this kind of god you were a gracious and compassionate god slow to anger and abounding in abounding in loving kindness and love and mercy and i knew if they repented you would forgive them and that's why jonah's so mad in jonah chapter four because he wanted god to be on his side and not their side right but that is not what god's said is he is covenantally loyal to who he is and to his purpose of redemption and reconciliation of this world praise be to god [Music]