MOSAIC COVENANT
The
Mosaic Covenant was given to Moses and it included the express Will of God provided in the Law, also known as the Ten Commandments. The Civil Law portion contained Judgments governing the social and civil life of Israel,
and the Ceremonial or Ecclesiastical Laws, dealt with their
worship and sin. The Law was mainly made up of judgments. These ordinances were
a temporary fix for sin that
would terminate at the Cross of Christ Jesus.1 The Mosaic Covenant is conditional
and can be explored more deeply in the Book of Exodus (Chapters 20- 31),
as well as other places in the Old Testament of the Bible.
The
Law was given to Moses who was chosen to be the mediator for governing Israel’s
national relationship with God. The Law was literally a Covenant of works. The Law could not impart life to the sinner,
but it served as a tutor, leading those under its jurisdiction to the only One who could redeem man imparting
true Life, Christ Jesus.2
The
Mosaic Covenant brought the Law
that God gave Moses to deliver specifically to the Children of Israel.3 This
Covenant was to be an Everlasting
Covenant made between God
and the Children of Israel.4 This Everlasting Covenant was the establishment of a nation, the Nation of Israel. Its commencement was with
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob’s twelve sons who make up the twelve tribes of
Israel.
Joseph, one of Jacob’s sons was the
envy of his brothers and out of jealousy they sold him into Egyptian slavery.5 This action separated Israel from the Promised Land and put them down in a
place of slavery where they
were under the subjection of a
pagan, ungodly ruler; out of whose hands, God had to deliver them.6 After the Exodus, the nation had come to Mount Sinai. They were ready to receive the foundation of the
next Covenant, the Law. This is where God elevates the Nation of Israel above all the rest
of the nations of the world. They are also called:
Ø
God’s
favored nation
Ø
The
chosen people and
Ø
The
Covenant people
God chose this nation of people and He
set them above all other nations because His plan was to work through them to evangelize the Gentile world.7
The Gentiles were the objects of God’s Grace before the calling of the Apostle
Paul. God reached out to them through the Prophet Jonah back in the Old Testament.8
The Old Testament writings were
not instructions for the Jews to go to the Gentiles, except for the Nineveh
occasion.9 This prophecy of the Jews evangelizing
the world was postponed when the Jews rejected Christ, and now it will have its
fulfillment at future time. The Jews were never instructed to evangelize
Gentiles; they were to keep the things pertaining to the knowledge of God
amongst themselves. They weren’t sharing any Good News with the Gentile world because during that time, God
was not saving Gentiles.10
To define the word Gentile would be to say that a
Gentile is anyone who was not born a Jew. That includes all of humanity:
|
Ø The Asian
|
Ø The Mexican
|
|
Ø The Arab
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Ø The Chinese
|
|
Ø The Indian
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Ø The German
|
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Ø The European
Ø The Jamaican
Ø The Africans
|
Ø The Caucasian
Ø The Italian
Ø The Philippians, you name it
|
All of humanity who is not members of
the Nation of Israel by birth is a Gentile. Gentiles are
simply what the human race is - all the way from the birth of Adam’s first
descendants to the last man or woman who is not born in a Jewish Family. We, as
a people form humanity and God is the only One who can establish a distinction between the peoples. God
chose to make a distinction between the people with the call of Abraham. The
separation occurred when He separates a nation of people giving them their own
name designation of:
Ø
Jews
and
Ø
Gentiles
Separating the Jews from the rest of
humanity made men from Abraham on, according to Scripture Jews and Gentiles.11 The un-circumcised was a degrading term the Jews had for Gentiles.12 While God dealt with Israel under the Covenant promises, the Gentile world
was strangers from the Covenant of promise and lost in the world.13 Gentiles had proven to God down through the
years they had no interest in Him by their idolatry out of which God called
Abraham.14 The Gentiles were
completely satisfied in their lost condition, which is the current position of
the majority of Gentiles today. Judaism embraced works and was a works based
religion.15
The Ten Commandments were God’s format
for that society in that dispensation. The Ten Commandments are the basic Law of God for unbelievers
- but for Grace Age believers,
the Law is not worthy of
consideration or discussion because it has been resolved being
crucified with Christ Jesus.16The unbelieving world is still under
God’s Laws as long as they continue to reject God’s Grace.17
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