Chapter 127—The Promises of Men
All the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath
spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto
the Lord.
Exodus 19:8
.
Another compact [other than the Abrahamic covenant]—called in
Scripture the “old” covenant—was formed between God and Israel at Sinai,
and was then ratified by the blood of a sacrifice. The Abrahamic covenant
was ratified by the blood of Christ, and it is called the “second”, or “new”
covenant, because the blood by which it was sealed was shed after the blood
of the first covenant.
Soon after the encampment at Sinai, Moses was called up into the
mountain to meet with God.... Israel was now to be taken into a close
and peculiar relation to the Most High—to be incorporated as a church and a
nation under the government of God. The message to Moses for the people
was: “... 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 an holy nation” (
Exodus
19:4-6
).
Moses returned to the camp, and having summoned the elders of Israel,
he repeated to them the divine message. Their answer was, “All that the Lord
hath spoken we will do.” Thus they entered into a solemn covenant with God,
pledging themselves to accept Him as their Ruler, by which they became, in
a special sense, the subjects of His authority.
In their bondage the people had to a great extent lost the knowledge of
God and of the principles of the Abrahamic covenant.... Living in the midst
of idolatry and corruption, they had no true conception of the holiness of
God, of the exceeding sinfulness of their own hearts, their utter inability, in
themselves, to render obedience to God’s law, and their need of a Saviour....
God brought them to Sinai; He manifested His glory; He gave them His law,
with the promise of great blessings on condition of obedience.... The people
did not realize ... that without Christ it was impossible for them to keep
God’s law.... Feeling that they were able to establish their own righteousness,
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