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Okay, well you can turn in your 
Bibles to the book of Leviticus, chapter 26. A long chapter, it's similar 
to Deuteronomy chapter 28, and in the language of Gordon Wenham, 
a collection of such blessings and curses was the usual way 
to close a major legal text in biblical times. So this isn't 
unique simply to the Bible. You see ancient Near Eastern 
persons and countries making covenants as well. So when God 
covenants with the nation of Israel, it's not an absolutely 
unique thing. Other nations were doing it. 
It's absolutely unique in the manner in which He did it. And 
so Leviticus chapter 26 is the promise of blessing and curses, 
blessing upon those who obey the law, as they enter into the 
promised land, and curses for those who disobey the law when 
they enter into the promised land. So I thought it would be 
good tonight just to take up the blessings portion in verses 
1 to 13, but before we get there, I wanted to just review kind 
of a bit about covenant and the old covenant and its relationship 
to the New Covenant. So I'll read chapter 26 beginning 
in verse 1 to verse 13. You shall not make idols for 
yourselves. Neither a carved image nor a 
sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves. Nor shall 
you set up an engraved stone in your land to bow down to it. 
For I am the Lord your God. You shall keep my Sabbaths and 
reverence my sanctuary. I am the Lord. If you walk in 
my statutes and keep my commandments and perform them, then I will 
give you rain in its season. The land shall yield its produce 
and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing 
shall last till the time of vintage and the vintage shall last till 
the time of sowing. You shall eat your bread to the 
full and dwell in your land safely. I will give peace in the land 
and you shall lie down and none will make you afraid. I will 
rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword will not go through 
your land. You will chase your enemies, 
and they shall fall by the sword before you. Five of you shall 
chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put 10,000 to flight. 
Your enemies shall fall by the sword before you. For I will 
look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and 
confirm my covenant with you. You shall eat the old harvest 
and clear out the old because of the new. I will set my tabernacle 
among you and my soul shall not abhor you. I will walk among 
you and be your God, and you shall be my people. I am the 
Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that 
you should not be their slaves. I have broken the bands of your 
yoke and made you walk upright. Amen. The chapter continues with 
the curses pronounced for those who do not obey. God willing, 
we'll look at that next Wednesday night. But as I said, I want 
to look first at the nature of the covenant with Israel, and 
then secondly, the blessings of the covenant with Israel. 
Now, when it comes to this concept of covenant, I think most here, 
or many here, were raised in a context where covenant theology 
was sort of the default position of your church. But that's not 
necessarily the case for all churches. Today, in the Reformed 
community, certainly covenant is the way that we approach Scripture. 
Outside of the Reformed community, it's typically either what's 
called dispensationalism, more on that in just a moment, or 
New Covenant theology. New Covenant theology is becoming 
a bit more are increasingly more popular, especially among some 
Calvinistic Baptists. So all Calvinistic Baptists aren't 
necessarily Reformed. They don't necessarily hold to 
Covenant theology. So Reformed includes Calvinism, 
but there's more to Reformed than just Calvinism. So again, 
if you have questions afterwards, I'm happy to entertain those. 
But in terms of the importance of Covenant, if you consider 
creation, Adam was made for covenant, but he wasn't made in covenant. 
So basically, creation is natural and covenant is supernatural. 
Our confession speaks to this in chapter 7, paragraph 1. It 
says, the distance between God and the creature is so great 
that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto him as 
their creator, yet they could never have attained the reward 
of life but by some voluntary condescension on God's part. 
which he hath been pleased to express by way of covenant." 
So in other words, God made Adam in the garden. Adam as creature 
was duty-bound and obliged to obey God. But that God covenants 
with Adam and then subsequent with Adam, all men, there is 
that condescension on God's part. God doesn't owe us anything. 
God is not obligated to us for anything. The fact that he makes 
covenant with us demonstrates that condescension, demonstrates 
that that kindness demonstrates that design in His will to advance 
us to some further state. Now, as well, when we consider 
covenant, it is a structuring device of the Bible. In other 
words, when we look at the Scripture, as James Renahan says, it's the 
central architecture of the Bible. He says, we believe that the 
structure of Scripture is properly defined by what has been designated 
as covenant theology. To grasp this fact is to grasp 
the central architecture of the Bible. So it's a way to kind 
of synthesize the entirety of the Bible. It's a flyover. It's a view of the entirety of 
the forest. We get into the forest in terms 
of exegesis, we look at specific texts, we make connections to 
be sure, but covenant theology treats scripture as a whole, 
treats the doings of God with his people as a whole. So covenant 
is that central architecture. And as I said, there are various 
approaches in Christianity as to how we go to the Bible. So, 
as I've already said, there's Covenant Theology. Now, within 
Covenant Theology, there's a bit of an intramural debate. You 
have Paedobaptist Covenant Theology, and then you have Cradobaptist. 
And Crado simply means believer baptism. So credo from the Latin, 
I believe. So credo-baptism, if you ever 
hear me say that, it's just the opposite, not absolutely opposite 
to pedo-baptism, but it's that sort of a concept. The difference 
between infant baptism and believer's baptism. So there's an intramural 
debate. Now, we do actually agree on 
a whole lot, we just have to always fight about the little 
bit that we don't, because that's our nature. Whatever we can disagree 
on, and whatever we can exacerbate, and whatever we can split on, 
we typically try to do that. So, all that to say, covenant 
theology is one way to approach the Bible. The other is called 
dispensationalism. And dispensationalism is a system 
of biblical interpretation and a theology which divides God's 
working into different periods or different dispensations. Old 
school dispensationalism actually taught this in a way that I don't 
think many new school dispensationalists hold to. That God's workings 
with people in terms of salvation differed depending on the dispensation 
that they were in. That is an absolute difference 
in terms of covenant theology. Covenant theology, whether Paedobaptist 
or Cradobaptist teaches, it's always been by grace alone, through 
faith alone, in Christ alone. Whether you're Abel in the book 
of Genesis, or you're the Apostle Paul in the New Testament. So, 
dispensationalism does that. And one of the things that dispensationalism 
also has unique to it, that probably we have heard of at the popular 
level, is what's called the pre-tribulation rapture of the church. So basically, 
dispensationalism is often viewed based on what they believe concerning 
the end times. So they teach that the Gentile 
church will be raptured out of the way, and then God's dealings 
with Israel, the ethnic Jews, will restart again. And they 
get that from their hermeneutic. So as far as I'm concerned, their 
eschatology is wrong. Their eschatology is strange. 
Their eschatology is odd. Not the pre-mill view. That goes all the way back to 
the early church. But the dispensational variety. 
But the problem is that they divide the people of God. They 
divide the Jews and the Gentiles. That is a fundamental non-negotiable 
when it comes to dispensational theology. That's why the church, 
the Gentile church, has to be raptured so that God can now 
start working again with Israel. because all of the promises made 
to ethnic Jews in the Old Covenant must be applied to ethnic Jews. So it leads them to believe that 
there's going to be a rebuilt temple, there's going to be the 
reintroduction of animal sacrifices, there's going to be all this 
stuff where the Jews are central in terms of God's redemptive 
plan. Old school dispensationalists taught that the Gentile church 
was just a parenthesis. The idea was that Jesus came, 
offered himself as a king, the Jews at that time rejected him, 
so then in a plan B sort of a form, he turned to the Gentiles. So 
once God's dealings with the Gentiles is over, they're raptured, 
then the main business again of the Jews is taking place. 
Now, that may have a surface-level appeal if the apostles didn't 
teach us how to interpret the Old Testament. The apostles do 
not the true Israel, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, made 
up of Jews and Gentiles, all those saved by God's grace through 
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. So there's some pretty fundamental 
differences between a covenant theology scheme and a dispensational 
scheme. And as I said, outside of the 
reform community, typically by default, dispensationalism is 
the majority report. In terms of the big name, big 
gun preachers, certainly John MacArthur represents dispensationalism. There are others that do as well. Now the third one is New Covenant 
Theology. So basically New Covenant Theology 
came along and tried to be a mediating position. Not as extreme as Covenant 
Theology, but not as extreme as Dispensational Theology. Now, 
they're better than Dispensational Theology, but they're not as 
good as Covenant Theology, if I can just be so quick to the 
point here. So that's what New Covenant Theology 
is. There are some things that they 
pick up. from covenant theology, some things that I don't know 
that they pick up from dispensationalism, but they're not quite as hardcore 
as covenant theology. This would be your John Pipers. 
This would be that Stephen Wellam, the book we're studying on Saturday 
morning. In fact, Stephen Wellam and a 
man named Peter Gentry wrote a big book on new covenant theology. I think they call it Progressive 
Covenantalism. Now, when it comes to the issues 
involved with this, again, this is method of interpretation. 
And I've often said, especially in the Saturday morning class, 
a lot depends on methodology and hermeneutics. In other words, 
what you put into the Bible oftentimes is what you get out. If you bring 
an interpretative method to the Bible, say dispensationalism, 
you're going to get some odd things out. You're going to get 
pre-Trib raptures. You're going to get the distinction 
or separation of the Jews and Gentiles. You're going to get 
things out based on your hermeneutic that you bring to it. So again, 
I don't want to confuse anybody, but just want to try to bring 
us up to speed on what's happening here in Leviticus chapter 26. 
Now some issues that we have to take into consideration when 
it comes to covenant or dispensationalism or New Covenant theology is the 
continuity or discontinuity between the Testaments. What continues 
into the New Testament from the Old Testament? That's a good 
question. We've studied the feasts in Israel. Do those continue in the New 
Covenant Israel, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ? Are we 
bound by Passover law? Are we bound by the year of Jubilee? No, we would put that in the 
category of ceremonial law that was unique to the Old Covenant. 
So thus, it doesn't carry on into the New Covenant. But in 
terms of continuity with God's law, we have the moral law of 
God revealed in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. It's revealed 
there, codified, or summarized at Sinai and in the plains of 
Moab, but it simply reflects what God does with Adam in the 
garden. In other words, God revealed his law to Adam. We're all, in 
a sense, hardwired with God's law. Romans 2, 14 and 15 tells 
us that the Gentiles, apart from the Jews, had the law of God 
written on their heart via creation. So does that continue from Old 
Testament to New Testament? Yes. As I mentioned on Sunday 
night, preaching from Ephesians 6, 1 to 3, children, obey your 
parents and the Lord for this is right. It's an appeal to the 
light of nature. And then he says, honor your 
father and your mother. He appeals to the law of God. How could 
he do that with Gentile children in the church at Ephesus? He 
could do that because the moral law or the Ten Commandments is 
trans-covenantal. It doesn't matter which covenant 
you're in, it is always valid, it is universally applied, and 
therefore all persons are subject to it. So continuity and discontinuity 
between the Testaments. Another issue is the role of 
ethnic Israel. If, as dispensationalism teaches, 
there's a special plan for the Jews as the special people of 
God in our future, then that's going to affect the way that 
you interpret Old Testament prophecy. It's going to affect the way 
that you read the apostolic interpretation of Old Testament prophecy. The 
Apostle Paul takes Old Testament prophecy and applies it to Christ 
and his church. So if we want to not be dispensationalists, 
if we want to be covenant theologians, we listen to the way that the 
apostles interpret the Old Testament prophecies, as well the place 
of the church in relation to Israel. It's another very important 
issue that comes up often. Also, the sacraments of the church. 
I think that you probably have recognized, if you've been coming 
here for any amount of time, and you've come from a Reformed 
Paedo-Baptist church, that there's a difference of opinion on sacrament. Well, what drives that difference 
of opinion on sacrament? Why do we only baptize believers 
in our church versus the baptism of believers and their children? 
Well, it's a covenant theology thing. So that's an issue that 
flows from this study. As well, the law of God in the 
New Covenant. And I've already alluded to that. 
The moral law continues. Ceremonial law is fulfilled by 
Jesus. The judicial law expired with 
the Commonwealth of Israel. But there is an abiding principle, 
general equity principle, of wisdom that we can glean from 
the Old Testament judicial law. For instance, you were told that 
if you had a roof, you need to put a fence around it so that 
somebody wouldn't fall off and die. Well, at the very basis 
of that command is the Sixth Commandment. So in the New Covenant, 
we don't have the same sort of a layout in terms of our home, 
but there is wisdom in putting a fence around your swimming 
pool so you don't inadvertently kill somebody because they fall 
into your pool and die. So the judicial law, as judicial 
law of Moses, expired with the Commonwealth of Israel, but there's 
a general equity principle that abides in the New Covenant. So 
that's some of the issues involved. Now if we ask the question, what 
is covenant? Don't know that we always do 
that, but what is covenant? The most basic and simple answer 
is that it's an agreement between two or more persons. An agreement 
between two or more persons. And that's taking the shorter 
catechism and making it even, I almost wanted to say dumber, 
not dumber. bringing it down for little children. So for little children, an agreement 
between two or more persons. But when we look at covenant 
and the concept of covenant in the Bible, that definition as 
a basic working definition is decent, but there's more to it. 
When we look at covenant, we see it's more than just a contract. 
We see that there are sanctions involved. We see that there are 
promises involved. We see that there are threats 
involved. We see that there's more involved than just a simple 
agreement between two or more persons. Nehemiah Cox, who probably 
was the architect behind our Baptist confession of faith. 
He happened to die before it was ratified or signed or brought 
into play. Nehemiah Cox has a treatment 
on covenant theology, and he says, the general notion of any 
covenant of God with men, considered on the part of God or as proposed 
by Him, may be conceived of as a declaration of His sovereign 
pleasure concerning the benefits He will bestow on them. the communion 
they will have with him, and the way and means by which they 
will be enjoyed by them." So basically, it's God's purpose 
and plan backed by God's holy will to bring good to bear upon 
his people. Samuel Renahan, a more modern, 
a man that we went through his book in the Saturday morning 
studies, says, a covenant is a divinely sanctioned commitment 
defining the relationship between God and another party. Again, 
very good working definition. That's the one I think that would 
be helpful for you to kind of have in your mind. A covenant 
is a divinely sanctioned commitment defining the relationship between 
God and another party. So that's definition. Now in 
terms of elements, what is necessary to be in order for there to be 
a covenant? Well, you need to have parties. 
In this case, God and Israel. In the New Covenant, the Lord 
Jesus Christ and His Church. There must be stipulations. And 
in this particular instance, you see, if you do this, there 
will be blessings that flow. If you don't do this, there will 
be curses that flow. So the stipulation is God's law. 
The stipulation is God's command, His statutes, His ordinances, 
His judgments. You need to fulfill that, you 
need to follow that. And then on the heels of that 
is promise and threat. So promise for blessing and threat 
for those who do not obey. And then with reference to an 
identification of the covenants, how many covenants are there? 
I categorize them into two heads. First, the theological covenants, 
and then secondly, the historical covenants. The theological covenants 
would be the covenant of redemption. And the Covenant of Redemption 
is a pre-temporal, that means before time, intra-Trinitarian 
covenant. That means the persons of the 
Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, purpose to save His people 
from their sins. So the Covenant of Redemption 
is referred to in our confession as that eternal transaction between 
the Father and the Son. So that's the Covenant of Redemption. 
Then the second theological covenant is what we call the Covenant 
of Works. So God makes Adam, God puts Adam in the garden, 
and then God makes a covenant of works with him. He basically 
gives him, we've got the parties, God and Adam, Adam representing 
us, according to Paul in Romans chapter 5. You've got stipulations. The stipulation is you can eat 
from every tree in the garden. You may freely eat, except for 
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You're not supposed 
to eat. the promise of life if he obeys, and the threat of death 
if he defies or he rebels. Now there's not a positive promise 
of life, that's implicit by the fact that he promises death. 
So in the day that you eat, die and you shall die. So the threat 
of covenant breach is death, and we see that that's exactly 
what happens with reference to Adam. So the obvious implication 
is that if you don't eat, then living you shall live. So the 
Covenant of Works is that covenant between God and Adam. I'm going 
to argue tonight that the Old Covenant was as well a covenant 
of works. There's a bit of debate between 
especially Presbyterians and Reformed Baptists. Probably the 
Dutch Reformed as well. I'm just not as familiar with 
the particulars in their confession. But with reference to the Westminster 
Confession and the Baptist Confession, a significant difference happens 
on the chapter of Covenant. So the Presbyterians believed 
that the Old Covenant was an administration of the Covenant 
of Grace. The Reformed Baptists said, no, it's a covenant of 
works. Now, the Reformed Baptists were 
not alone. Back then, they were called Particular 
Baptists. But they were not alone. There were Paedo-Baptist men 
that also saw that the Old Covenant was not a covenant of grace. 
It was the covenant of works. So basically the idea is that 
God makes a covenant of works with Adam, God makes a covenant 
of works with Israel, Adam fails, Israel fails, guess who comes 
to fulfill? The last Adam in the true Israel. 
And so for Jesus, what He's operating in terms of is the covenant of 
redemption, the obligation He took on Himself under the Father 
in terms of the economy of redemption to do that will of saving sinners. But for Jesus, the covenant of 
grace for us was a covenant of works for Him. In fact, Sam Renahan 
has well said, the covenant of grace, us, is the covenant of 
works kept for us. So you've got Adam the first, 
you've got an Adam-like figure in Israel, and then you have 
Jesus as the last Adam who comes to obey and fulfill all that 
was stipulated for Adam in Israel. And you see sort of the linkage 
when you kind of think through these things in your Bible. You've 
got Adam. He's placed in paradise. He's 
given a prohibition, and he disobeys and rejects God. Then you've 
got Israel. They're placed in the wilderness. 
They're given stipulations, and they disobey, and they're judged 
as a result. We get to the New Testament, 
and especially in Matthew's gospel, because tonight we're looking 
at the covenant made with Israel. Matthew's gospel really presents 
Jesus as the true Israel. So basically, in Matthew chapter 
2, you have an Old Testament statement concerning God calling 
His firstborn out of Egypt. That's applied to Jesus in Matthew 
2. In Matthew chapter 3, Jesus passes 
through the waters of baptism, similarly to the way that Old 
Covenant Israel passed through the waters of the Red Sea, Jesus 
then goes out into the wilderness, just like Israel did. After they 
pass through the waters of the Red Sea, they go out into the 
wilderness. And what happens there? They face temptation. 
They face hardship. They face trial. It's in that 
context that God communicates to them, you shall not live by 
bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth 
of God. That's precisely what happens to Jesus. So he's out 
in the wilderness, driven out there by the Spirit in Matthew 
4. The devil comes to test him and to tempt him. And what does 
he say? He says, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every 
word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So Jesus is the true 
Israel. So that when we get to the new 
covenant, Jesus as our covenant head, all in him are the true 
Israel. All in him are the spiritual 
Israel. This is why Paul can say in Galatians 
6.16, peace be upon the Israel of God. And he's writing to Gentile 
churches in the region of southern Galatia. So this idea that there's 
this distinction now between Jews and Gentiles, it just doesn't 
mesh. Ephesians chapter 2, the Apostle 
Paul takes great pains to demonstrate the unity of Jew and Gentile. 
He's made one new man out of Jew and Gentile under Jesus Christ. So the whole emphasis in Ephesians 
2 and 3 is that you Gentiles were brought nigh by the blood 
of Jesus so that you're now the one people of God along with 
believing Jews and we call you Israel or the true Israel or 
the spiritual Israel. or the true circumcision in Philippians 
chapter 3. Paul says in Romans 2, he's not 
a Jew, a true Jew who's circumcised outwardly, but the true Jew is 
the one who's circumcised inwardly. So when we come to this, we've 
got covenant of redemption, covenant of works, and then the covenant 
of grace. And the covenant of grace is 
finally realized in the New Testament, when Jesus inaugurates the new 
covenant in his blood. That brings all the promises 
of God to be yea and amen in him for his people. So the three 
theological covenants, Covenant of Redemption, Covenant of Works, 
Covenant of Grace. There will be an exam afterwards 
too, so there's going to be bonus points, you get more cake if 
you pass. Again, this may, I don't want it to go over anybody's 
head, that's not my intention, but we are seeing more people 
coming from a different background in terms of Reformed theology. 
Figured it would be a good time for us to sort of introduce why 
we believe some of the things that we believe. Now in terms 
of the historical covenants, in our confession they're identified 
as the farther steps. So basically the promise of God's 
salvation is given in Genesis 3.15. The seed of the woman would 
crush the serpent. The seed of the woman would crush 
the serpent by his own suffering and death. I think I preached 
on that not too long ago, Genesis 3.15, the proto-evangel, the 
first gospel announcement. So that is given in Genesis 3.15, 
and then it's moved along in farther steps. And the best way 
I have to sort of envision that is football. You get the ball, 
you're on the 10-yard line, and then you move the ball down the 
field. Why? Because you want to get 
it into the end zone. You want to make a touchdown. 
You want to score points. You want to put numbers on the 
board. And so the farther steps move the ball of God's promise 
in Genesis 3.15 all the way down the field. So you've got a covenant 
made with Noah, and Noah's not a special grace covenant. Noah's 
more of a common grace covenant. There's no redemptive promise 
in Noah. Noah sets up the context where 
God's not going to destroy or obliterate the earth to provide 
that framework for the preaching of special grace or redemptive 
grace. You've got the Noahic covenant, 
you've got then the Abrahamic covenant, Then you've got what 
we call the old, sometimes people call it the Sinai, others call 
it the Mosaic covenant. So that's the covenant that we're 
in here. And then you've got the Davidic covenant, and then 
you have the new covenant. So again, chapter seven, paragraph 
three in our confession, I think is very helpful when it comes 
to these particular things. So now when we come to a Leviticus 
26 and the promise of blessing and curses, we need to consider 
specifically the nature of the old covenant. You can turn to 
the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter 24. Exodus chapter 24, I think, indicates 
or highlights for us the nature of the covenant. Specifically, 
that it was indeed a covenant of works. It was a works principle 
at play that if Israel obeyed, they were blessed. If they disobeyed, 
they were cursed. That does not mean that God suspended 
grace, mercy, loving kindness, and patience. They broke the 
covenant after they said they wouldn't. In fact, 24, not long 
after that, is 32, when they're dancing around the golden calf 
that they had made. And yet, we see them continue 
all the way up until the destruction of Jerusalem in the 6th century 
BC. Even back beyond that, once they 
return from the exile, they're gathered in Judah at the time 
of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. So all this, you know, 
obey and bless and disobey cut off, God is long-suffering, God 
is patient, God does not immediately drop the hammer upon these people 
for their disobedience. But when it comes to Exodus chapter 
24, we notice first the ratification of that covenant. Note specifically 
at verse 7, then he took the book of the covenant and read 
in the hearing of the people. And so the parties involved in 
the covenant must understand the terms of the covenant. If 
you go to buy a new refrigerator at the brick and you're going 
to finance it, you better read the fine print. You got to know 
what you're signing and you got to know what you're getting into. 
So the reading of the covenant or the reading of the book of 
the law was absolutely crucial so that Israel knows what they're 
getting into. And then notice as well, they swear an oath of 
fidelity with reference to the covenant. So in verse 7, it says, 
Then he took the book of the covenant and read in the hearing 
of the people, and they said, All that the Lord has said we 
will do, and be obedient. That's not the first time they 
said that. Look back at verse 3. All the words which the Lord 
has said we will do. Now, when you consider the gospel, 
the blessing of the gospel isn't do this and live. The blessing 
of the gospel is Jesus Christ did this so you can live. The do this and live principle 
is works. The do this and live principle 
is a covenant of works. The do this and live principle 
is you must obey in order for blessing to accrue. And they 
understood that, they swore fidelity to that, and thus it's a covenant 
of works. And then notice, there's blood 
sprinkled according to verse 8. It says Moses took the blood, 
sprinkled it on the people. But even before that, look at 
verse 6. Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and 
half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. What do you think 
the blood sprinkled on the altar represented? One of the parties, 
namely Yahweh, or God. Verse 8, the rest of the blood 
is sprinkled on the other party, the nation of Israel. This is 
the ratification of covenant. That's why we shouldn't be surprised 
at the Last Supper of our Lord when He inaugurates the New Covenant 
in His own blood. Or why we shouldn't be surprised 
in Hebrews 10 when the Apostle tells us it's not the blood of 
bulls and goats do not take away sin. It typified, it prefigured, 
it pointed forward to be sure, but it's the blood of Jesus Christ 
His Son by which we have forgiveness. So this old covenant was ratified 
by blood. And again, Renaghan makes the 
observation, the sprinkling of blood is an oath of loyalty and 
a vow of accountability. It is the placement of sanctions 
in the covenantal relationship. The same be done to us and more 
also is the idea behind it. As they had pledged in Exodus 
19, so here they are pledging to be obedient. Now, I think 
that perhaps, I've never asked him, I guess I could shoot off 
a text or an email, this same be done to us and more also suggests 
to me the Genesis 15 background. Remember when Abraham's sort 
of struggling with God's promise of blessing and all this seed 
and land, and he says, how do I know that this is going to 
come to fruition? And so what does God do? He covenants with 
Abraham. And that covenant is very significant, 
because he tells Abraham to go get a bunch of animals, cut the 
animals in half, and again, this isn't unique to Israel. Ancient 
Near Eastern peoples did covenants like this also. But Abraham was 
to take those animals, cut them in half, and put them on either 
side of a particular route. The parties to the covenant would 
march between that particular route, with the idea being that 
if we renege on our covenant obligation, may what was done 
to these animals be done to us. That's why in the Genesis 15 
thing, it's so beautiful, because Abraham doesn't march through 
there. It's God alone. That is not necessarily the enshrouding 
of the covenant of grace, but it sure points to it and speaks 
to it in very powerful ways. God comes to save his people 
from their sins. So then this blood ratifies the 
Old Covenant and then the blood ratifies the New Covenant. And 
then to just quickly summarize the Old Covenant as a covenant 
of works. The people swear their fidelity 
and Yahweh or God commands obedience. And then if you look at Leviticus 
chapter 18, Leviticus chapter 18. We've already seen this principle 
as we've moved our way through the book. Leviticus 18, specifically 
at, let me see, oh, I'm sorry, verse 15. Oh, I'm looking at 
the wrong chapter. Yeah, 18.15. Leviticus 18.15. 
That's not the text, sorry. 18.5. Oh yeah, sorry, 18.5, I put a 
one there. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, 
which if a man does, he shall live by them. I am the Lord. Hard to kind of wrench from that 
covenant of grace. Hard to take from that that, 
oh, this is a gracious plan on the purpose of God to save His 
people by grace. No, it was pretty obvious, which 
if a man does, he shall live by them. Deuteronomy 27, same 
sort of emphasis. And again, these passages are 
invoked by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament to show the 
contrast between Old and New Covenant. The Old Covenant is 
never treated as a bad thing in the New Covenant. Paul never 
says the Old Covenant was terrible, it was bad. No, the Old Covenant 
functioned for the purpose for which it was given. It functioned 
to restrain the people of Israel from going hog-wild and compromising 
the seed of Messiah, but it also functioned to point them to Jesus. 
Every time they broke the law, every time they went to the tabernacle. 
Every time they went to the Day of Atonement. In fact, the Apostle 
says that. In these sacrifices was the reminder of sin. Well, 
what would that impress upon the people? The Promised One 
is coming. We need the Promised One. That 
would help their faith in the promise of the Promised One, 
and it would further that. It would be a good thing for 
them. And then notice in 27-26, again, a passage similar to Leviticus 
26. Cursed is the one who does not 
confirm all the words of this law by observing them. And all the people shall say, 
Amen. Now turn to the book of Galatians, Galatians chapter 
3, just so you can see that Paul says this. I'm not making this 
up. Galatians chapter 3. Verse 10, For as many as are 
of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, 
where does he go? He goes to Deuteronomy. Cursed 
is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written 
in the book of the law to do them. But that no one is justified 
by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall 
live by faith. Yet the law is not of faith. 
The man who does them shall live by them. And then look at verse 
21 in chapter 3, is the law then against the promises of God? 
Certainly not. For if there had been a law given, which could 
have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But 
the scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by 
faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But 
before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law. Paul, 
I think, is using law here in its broader context of Old Covenant. 
Old Covenant. The Old Covenant kept them. The Old Covenant hedged them 
in. The Old Covenant was a protecting measure, so as I said, they don't 
go hog wild, marry all the pagans, and compromise the seed of Messiah. but as well to keep them mindful 
of the coming of the Messiah. So before faith came, and I think 
that's New Covenant, the faith of the New Covenant, the justification 
by faith, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the 
faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore, the law 
was our tutor. The Old Covenant was a tutor. 
It was a child tutor. It was a pedagogue. It was a 
helper, an instructor to cause us to look for Jesus. Therefore, 
the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be 
justified by faith. But after faith has come, we 
are no longer under a tutor." We're still under the moral law. 
We saw that with the Gentile children in Ephesus in Ephesians 
chapter 6. Honor your father and your mother. 
Ephesian children, honor your father and your mother, Gentile 
children. So he's not saying after faith has come, we're no 
longer under the law. No, we've got the Ten Commandments, 
at least some degree of connection to that. After faith has come, 
we're no longer under the Old Covenant. Again, that's the point 
in Hebrews 7 and 8. The old covenant, not bad, but 
now has been fulfilled by Jesus, and therefore the new covenant 
has taken its place, or probably not the best word, has brought 
to fruition God's promise and purpose and plan in and through 
Jesus. So we find in Hebrews 7 and 8, 
Jesus is the surety of what? A better covenant. That better 
covenant affords a better hope because it's founded on better 
promises. So there is a distinctive difference 
between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. In my argument, 
not just mine, but as I said others, they argue that the Old 
Covenant was a covenant of works. One of the Paedo-Baptists that 
held that was John Owen. John Owen famously held that 
the Old Covenant was not the covenant of grace. He differed 
from probably a lot of Pato Baptists. But again, he wasn't alone. There 
was another one by the name Samuel Pato. But John Owen says, they, 
the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, differ in their subject 
matter, both as unto precepts and promises, the advantage being 
still on the part of the New Covenant. The Old Covenant, in 
the preceptive part of it, renewed the commands of the covenant 
of works. and that on their original terms. The Old Testament absolutely 
considered had no promise of grace to communicate spiritual 
strength or to assist us in obedience. So this isn't some completely 
outlandish thing that the particular Baptist did just to be different 
than the Presbyterians. The Bible, the Old Testament, 
the Old Covenant itself announces the works principle. Do this 
and live. Don't do this and die. It really 
is that simple when you identify that, hey, if grace is the feature 
that we find prevalent in the New Covenant, which it is, when 
we go back to the Old Covenant, it's law. It's works. Now, let 
me just qualify. Doesn't mean there wasn't any 
grace in the Old Covenant. Doesn't mean that anybody wasn't 
saved. But it wasn't an essential feature 
of Old Covenant religion that you be saved. It was an essential 
feature of Old Covenant religion that you identify as an Israelite, 
that you get circumcised, that you abide by Torah, that you 
went to the tabernacle, you went to the temple, you maintained 
cleanliness, you maintained holiness. But you could do all that, be 
part of the Covenant community, but not necessarily be saved. 
Now, in the New Covenant, that's not the case. To be in the New 
Covenant, what's got to be true of you? You have to have a new 
heart. You have to be justified freely 
by God's grace. You've got to be a believer in 
Jesus Christ. You have to have had forgiveness of sins. You 
have to have the law of God written in your heart. You have to have 
the Holy Spirit. So when we come to consider these things, the 
Old Covenant is preparatory, the Old Covenant is anticipation, 
and the New Covenant is fulfillment and realization. There is movement 
in the trajectory of redemptive history. Again, it's not that 
no one was saved in the Old Covenant. They were saved by grace through 
faith in Jesus. When Paul's arguing for justification 
by faith alone in Romans 4, he goes back to who? Abraham and 
David. to show that this isn't the new 
thing here. The new thing is that in the 
new covenant, all shall know the Lord. That was not true of 
the old covenant. In the old covenant, you could 
maintain covenant fidelity and play in the games with all the 
other Israelites and not necessarily be saved. But in the New Covenant, 
essential features include being saved. That drives our sacramentology. That drives our understanding 
of baptism. When we ask the question, who's 
in the Old Covenant? Well, if they're an Israelite, 
they've descended by the flesh through Abraham, then they are 
entitled to be circumcised. That's not the stipulation in 
the New Covenant for baptism. We don't ask Abraham, who should 
we baptize? We ask the covenant hat. We ask 
Jesus. And Jesus gives us very clearly 
the directive. He says, go make disciples, baptize 
those disciples that you've made, and then teach those disciples 
in the context of the local church. So covenant theology drives this 
understanding of sacrament. So when it comes to these things, 
when we ask the question, why do you guys only baptize believers? 
Or why do you guys practice infant baptism? Usually it's a view 
of covenant theology that's at the foundation. So all that to 
say, I think we're dealing with a covenant of works here. And 
that's the point here in Leviticus chapter 26, which brings us to 
the blessings of the covenant with Israel. Notice, and we'll 
go through this a bit quickly here. Notice first foundational 
principles in verses one to three. Foundational principles, first 
things before he gets to the actual detail with reference 
to the promises received by virtue of obedience. So when it comes 
to this, notice, he says in verses one and two, you shall not make 
idols for yourselves. Neither a carved image nor a 
sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves, nor shall 
you set up an engraved stone in your land to bow down to it. 
For I am the Lord your God. You shall keep my Sabbaths and 
reverence my sanctuary. I am the Lord. So before he gets 
to the nuts and bolts of the promises for blessing and the 
curses for disobedience, it is as if he summarizes the entirety 
of the law at the level of God's worship and glory. Who God is 
and how you're supposed to deal with Him. so you shall not make 
idols for yourselves we think second commandment we should 
also think first commandment the first and second commandments 
are a package deal they speak to the same thing one describes 
the object of worship you shall have no other gods before me 
or no other gods besides me that's the stipulation of the first 
commandment so you gotta have the right god when it comes to 
worship the second commandment deals with the manner of worship 
so you got the right god Yahweh But you can't worship Him the 
way you worship Baal. You can't worship Him the way 
that you worship Asherah. You can't worship Him the way 
that you worship Molech. So the proper object of worship, 
first commandment, the proper manner involved in worship, the 
second commandment. So it really doesn't do anybody 
any good to say, well, I believe in the true and living God, but 
I'm going to offer my babies as, you know, sacrifices to Moloch 
to get to him and to worship him. No, no, no. The true and 
living God demands that we worship him according to his purpose 
and plan. It's not left up to our own devices. 
It's not to the imaginations of men or the suggestions of 
Satan. We're duty bound to obey God at the point of worship. 
So this sort of summary statement in verse one is a no brainer. Before I get to the blessings 
and the cursings, I just want to remind you, you've got to 
make sure you treat God as God. You've got to make sure you treat 
God as God in the proper way that you worship. And then connected 
to that is a prohibition against Sabbath breaking and irreverence 
with reference to sanctuary. Verse 2, you shall keep my Sabbaths 
and reverence my sanctuary. I am the Lord. Again, you see 
the close connection between the two. You need to identify 
and honor in the way that He commands the true and living 
God. And that's not just a one-time sort of a thing. You need to 
keep His Sabbaths and you need to revere His sanctuary. In other 
words, your religious rhythm of worship must be conducted. It must be engaged in. It must 
be practiced or else you're going to fall prey to all of the curses 
that fall or that are continued in verses 14 to 45. Andrew Bonar 
made the observation that all declension and decay may be said 
to be begun wherever we see these two ordinances despised, the 
Sabbath and the sanctuary. They are the outward fence around 
the inward love commanded by verse 1. In other words, it's 
a hedge or a parameter. So know who God is, worship Him 
the way that He tells you, and you do that specifically related 
to Sabbath and sanctuary. So no surprise that before he 
gets into the details with reference to promise of blessing and curses, 
he sort of reminds them of everything that has preceded this. They 
should not go, wow, I can't believe that God's reminding them. Of 
course He's reminding them. This is, as Wenham says, something 
symptomatic in legal text. The God of the people reminds 
the people of certain truths and facts before he gets into 
the list of blessings and curses. So there then is an emphasis 
on obedience, again to rehearse the works principle, in verse 
3. In fact, you see it so clearly 
marked in verses 3 and 4. If you remember high school geometry, 
you had if-then statements. We might make one now. If it's 
raining outside, then you will get wet, right? If the ceiling 
collapse, then you will get hurt. It's kind of a logical inference. 
If this is true, then this is going to happen. That's the connection 
between verses 3 and 4. If you do this, then these things 
will happen. And then notice in verse 14. 
But if you do not obey me and do not observe all these commandments, 
then these horrors are going to fall upon you. So the works 
principle couldn't be any more clearly specified in this particular 
passage and the ones that we looked at in the Old Testament 
and Paul's use or appeal to these things in the New Testament to 
show the glory of Jesus Christ and the doctrine of justification 
by faith alone, apart from the works of the law. There's no 
mingling of the two. And Galatians, remember, Galatians 
especially is a fighting epistle according to Manchin. What's 
happening in Galatians? uh... the churches in southern 
galatia paul goes through there this first missionary journey 
about eighty forty seven and forty eight it was the first 
time first missionary journey first letter that he wrote most 
likely the earliest of paul's letters what happens after he 
passes through makes disciples and plants churches these guys 
come in and they say oh it's good that you believe that jesus 
is the messiah but you also have to get circumcised you also have 
to obey our calendar you also have to be jews as we are And 
that's why Paul writes Galatians and says, no, it's to turn from 
the grace of God to go backwards in redemptive history to get 
circumcised in a way that you think is going to be acceptable 
to God. He's not condemning circumcision 
as circumcision, he's condemning circumcision as a religious requirement 
to gain acceptance from the Lord. So it's not out of the idea for 
Paul to reach back in Leviticus and Deuteronomy and say, no, 
that's not where we're at right now. You Gentiles in southern 
Galatia, you don't need to become Jews. You just need to believe 
on Jesus. You don't need to believe on 
Jesus and become Jews. You just need to believe on Jesus. 
That's the glory of the book of Galatians. It's not an addition 
or a supplementation or anything like that. It's grace alone through 
faith alone and Jesus alone. So the Old Testament is this 
foil there to show us that, no, that's not binding on the new 
covenant people of God. You don't have to get circumcised. 
You don't have to obey their calendar. So the if-then relationship 
in verses 3 and 4 and then in verse 14 indicates, again, the 
nature that it is a covenant of works. So verse 3 emphasizes 
obedience. If you walk in my statutes and 
keep my commandments and perform them. As I said earlier, that 
doesn't mean that every time they sin, that was it, it's over, 
it's done. God's long-suffering, God's patience, God's endurance 
with them, all of that was in play. And there were true people, 
or true people of God, you see them referred to in the prophets 
as the remnant. Those were the people that believe 
Genesis 3.15, they believe the typology of Genesis 22, they 
believe the shadow of the Messiah in the Old Covenant Law, and 
that's what fed their faith. The way that we look back to 
the cross, they looked forward to the cross. But it was the 
same object on the cross, namely our Lord Jesus, that was the 
ground for justification for Abel, for Abraham, for David, 
just like it was, or is, for Paul and Peter, John and us. 
So the works principle. Then notice the specific blessings. 
First, the promise of rain and harvest, verses 4 and 5. The 
promise of peace, verses 6 to 10. And then the promise of God's 
presence in verses 11 to 13. So you go into the land, you 
do what you're supposed to do, and good things will come to 
you. If you perform my statutes, there will be blessings. Now, 
we know when we turn, you know, past this page, they don't do 
that. And nevertheless, God, in His 
mercy and in His grace, gives them reign. God, in His mercy 
and in His grace, gives them His presence. God, in His mercy 
and in His grace, gives them His peace. So it's not just this, 
okay, here's your works principle, you failed, that's it, you're 
done. No, there is this long suffering of God that continues 
ultimately until the time of Messiah. And then it continues, 
but in not the same sort of a way. Well, kind of in the same sort 
of a way. I don't think there's a strict parallel, but there 
is some sort of a parallel. We don't always do what we're 
supposed to do. and God doesn't just cut us off, but that's because 
the covenant had. He always did what He was supposed 
to do, and we have safety and peace and blessing in Him. So 
notice the promise of rain and harvest. You need this. If you're 
going to get a land, you're going to inherit the land that God 
promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It's a land fruitful. 
It abounds. It's got, you know, milk and 
honey. But it can't do that without rain, can't do that without water 
from on high. So God promises that. Then I 
will give you rain in its season. The land shall yield its produce, 
and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing 
shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till 
the time of sowing. You shall eat your bread to the 
full and dwell in your land safely. Now, you could have all the bread 
in the world. You could have all the Costco's 
in your land. But if you have foreign invaders, 
What are they going to do? They're going to take your Costco's. 
They're going to take your bread. In fact, turn to the book of 
Judges, Judges chapter 6. The Midianites had this campaign 
of going scorched earth on Israel in order to deprive them of their 
food. And so God promises not only 
food, but he promises peace. Because again, if you've got 
a garage filled with freezers stuffed with meat, and somebody 
comes and shoots you, that meat doesn't do you a whole lot of 
good. And in Judges 6 you have this, it's in the Gideon cycle. 
Notice in verse 1, then the children of Israel did evil in the sight 
of the Lord. So the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian 
for seven years, and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. 
Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves 
the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the 
mountains. So it was, this is verse 3 in Judges 6, at least 
in the New King James, has always caused me to smirk or smile a 
little bit. Listen to what it says. So it 
was whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up. Now 
the idea is that they came up to go scorched earth on what 
they had sown, but I think they sowed and then Midianites came 
up out of the earth. That's kind of how I read it. 
I guess that's an odd hermeneutic, but here's the point. So it was 
whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up. Also Amalekites 
and the people of the East would come up against them. Then they 
would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth 
as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither 
sheep, nor ox, nor donkey. Look at verse 11. Now the angel 
of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree, which was 
in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abesarite, while his 
son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress in order to hide 
it from the Midianites. So this promise of peace in Leviticus 
chapter 26 follows naturally on the promise of rain and harvest. 
There's got to be protection. There's got to be safety. There's 
got to be peace for you to enjoy the good things that God has 
given. And that's specified in verses 
6 to 10. I will give peace in the land, 
and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid. I think 
that speaks to the comfort of your home. We saw in the year 
of Jubilee, God actually is pro-liberty. God actually is pro-prosperity. Not prosperity, gospel. Not health, 
wealth for an end of themselves. But God in the year of Jubilee 
shows us something of his heart toward his people. He wants you 
to be free. He wants you to have your land. He doesn't want you 
to be a slave. He wants you to be able to engage 
or enjoy the good gifts that He's given. I think at times 
we treat God as if He's just this cosmic miser just doling 
out a few things. That's not the picture that you 
get of God. God is this overly abundant, 
gracious, and glorious Father that loves to give good gifts 
to His children. And so in that old covenant setting, 
he does that. So this lying down and not being 
afraid I think speaks to having peace in your home, having the 
ability to go out to work, come home from work, kiss your wife, 
hug your kids, play ball, and lay down safely without being 
attacked. He goes on to say, I will rid the land of evil or 
in the margin wild beasts. Why? Because lions and bears, 
they make tough neighbors. So, you know, having those absent 
from the land is a good thing. The sword will not go through 
your land. Foreign invaders, enemies. You 
will chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword 
before you. Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred 
of you shall put ten thousand to flight. Your enemies shall 
fall by the sword before you. Doesn't sound like a miserly 
God. Doesn't sound like Ebenezer Scrooge. 
Doesn't sound like he's just doling out a few pieces of coins 
there. He is beneficent. He is benevolent. He is gracious. He is abundant 
in this goodness. And he promises this contingent 
upon their obedience. So when we get to the New Covenant, 
we have it contingent upon the obedience of Jesus. See what 
I think Paul means in Romans 8. He who did not spare his own 
son, but gave him up for us, how will he not freely with him 
give us all things? And again, not health, wealth, 
prosperity. The idea is that God is not a 
miser in your relationship with him. There's abundant mercy, 
there is abundant grace, there's abundant wisdom, there's riches 
of grace that God gives to His people. And then the final thing 
is the promise of His presence. Verse 11, I will set my tabernacle 
among you and my soul shall not abhor you. I will walk among 
you and be your God and you shall be my people. I am the Lord your 
God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should 
not be their slaves. I have broken the bands of your 
yoke and made you walk upright. This, I will walk among you, 
verse 12, and be your God and you shall be my people, that's 
the pinnacle of covenant blessing in the Old Covenant. You get 
to the New Covenant, it's the pinnacle of covenant blessing 
in the New Covenant. Revelation 21.3, Revelation 21.7, 
Revelation 21.22-25, I think the chapter ends, and then 22.1-6. 
What's the emphasis? You are my people, I am your 
God. So what happened in the garden, 
where God walked in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve, 
was forfeit by them because of their sin. It's recovered for 
us by our Lord Jesus Christ, and that's where we're heading, 
to the new Jerusalem, where there's no need for a temple, a physical 
structure, because God and the Lamb are its temple. Well, let 
us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank 
you for your word. We thank you for this section of holy scripture 
and for the entirety of the old covenant and how it prepares 
us for the blessedness of the new covenant brought by our Lord 
Jesus Christ. We thank you for your grace. 
We thank you for your mercy. We thank you that you are abundantly 
kind to us. And I pray now that you would 
go with us and bring us together on the Lord's day that we may 
worship you in spirit and in truth. And we pray through Christ 
the Lord, amen. Any questions or comments? I 
know that a lot. Yeah. The problem is too much 
of chemistry altogether. No, I am sorry. I do get a question. I'm going to wrap my head around 
this. We've got the people of Israel. And God says, you do these things, 
and you shall live. You do these commands, and you 
shall live. I equate that with salvation. 
I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. 
I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. 
I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. 
I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. 
I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. 
I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. 
I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. 
I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. 
I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am Now they had a process in there 
which was a sacrificial system of covering sins. Where in Christ, 
which is the antitype, it is the removal, they're gone. So 
the question comes down to, you talk about a worse fate, Paul 
says no, it's always being by fate. That is blurry for me when 
I try to put that together for a second. The impression I'm getting from 
what you're saying is that the individual that a true is alike 
would believe God's promises such as Genesis, okay, and going 
through. And because of that, okay, his 
faith was in that and he would trust God and therefore be obedient 
to make an effort to keep these laws. Knowing. That's right. Knowing full well that he's gonna 
falter, or God says in obedience, you're gonna falter, But he will 
go and do this, such as he will sacrifice. But he does it by 
faith in what that sacrifice points to. Exactly. The rank 
and file Israelite that's not converted, he hasn't faith in 
the Lord Jesus Christ. So when he does those things, 
he can maintain participation in the Old Covenant. So Old Covenant 
saints were saved, not because of the Old Covenant, but by virtue 
of the New Covenant. So the Old Covenant did keep 
a covenant people together. It operated at a physical level. 
You know, it's interesting, Paul in Ephesians 1, we've been blessed 
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. 
In the Old Covenant, it runs along physical, in large part. Again, there's reasons. I think 
God wanted to protect, you see this in Nehemiah and Ezra. You 
see them marrying the pagans around them, and God commands, 
or Nehemiah commands that they put away these pagan wives. Why? 
Because God is anti, you know, he's a racist? No, they're going 
to jeopardize the seed. He has to be born of the tribe 
of Judah. So I think that's one of the 
purposes for that covenant. It kind of holds them together. 
But along the way, because of the works that they see themselves, 
the believers, I can't do these things. They would cry out, thankfully, 
that there is one coming who can do these works. So the physical blessings that 
we see here specifically were real. They did benefit. They did go into the promised 
land. There were times when, you know, they sowed and Midianites 
didn't come up. They sowed and they got to enjoy 
the many benefits of it. So old covenant saints had faith 
in the new covenant Messiah. They had him by promise in Genesis 
3. They had him by the types in Genesis 22. They had him in 
the shadow of the law of Moses as well. Deuteronomy 30 reads 
just like Jeremiah 31. It basically says, I know you're 
going to fail. I know you're going to, you know, 
do horrible things in the land, but there's a day coming when 
I will circumcise you in the heart. So I don't know if that 
helps. So the old covenant saint, had 
faith, went through all of the old covenant practices, and he 
was mindful, like Paul says in the book of Hebrews, in this 
there was a reminder every year for sin. So he goes on that day 
of atonement, he presents his sacrifice to the priest, they 
lay the hands on the scapegoat, the scapegoat's driven out in 
the wilderness, but they didn't have that, they had that understanding 
that there's one day coming when that's gonna be for real. Not 
that this was fake and not that it didn't work, but it wasn't 
the end, it was the type. So the faithful or the remnant 
had that understanding, but it wasn't built into the old covenant. The old covenant was the do this 
and live. So the people that had heard 
the Genesis 3.15, they heard of the typology, they heard of 
the shadow of Christ and the law of Moses, and they rejected 
that They were operating on that principle. I've got to do this 
in order to participate in the land. Now, when I take that and 
I go to the New Testament now, now I'm going to take it and 
look backwards, okay? So, as the same day, okay, when we believe 
in the Lord Jesus Christ, we put our faith in there, in the 
Lord Jesus Christ. We know that we have remissions 
of sins. It's done. That's right. It's finished, 
okay? So now we're in a better system 
that we don't have to continually go back to that. That's right. That's right. So therefore, we still live by 
faith, and God is a God that keeps His promises. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, you know, I always 
think that there are definitely analogies between the old covenant 
people of God and the new covenant people of God. Certainly, there's 
connection. There's, you know, all these 
things that we have in common. But I think one of the things 
we need to be careful of is to make the new covenant the old 
covenant. In other words, we see there, 
you know, we need to obey and make sure that we toe the line. 
And then we get into the New Covenant. I'm not suggesting 
we don't need to obey and we don't need to toe the line. But 
we rejoice that Christ obeyed and toed the line for us, and 
we have that righteousness imputed to us and received by faith alone, 
along with forgiveness because of his precious blood. So, the 
motivation for holiness in the Christian life is not, boy, if 
I don't do this, I'm going to be thrown out of the covenant. 
If I don't do this, I'm going to be tossed out on my ear. The 
motivation in the new covenant is because God does this, because 
Christ lived, died, and was raised again. I want to do this. And 
when I don't, I confess it and I seek forgiveness from my master. 
But I don't live with that conditionality where, man, if I don't, you know, 
toe this line just right, I'm going to be out. That's the guilt, grace, gratitude 
versus a guilt, grace, I got to keep myself in. And that's 
why we pick on Roman Catholicism. Roman Catholicism collapses the 
distinction between justification and sanctification. So for Rome, 
it's faith and faithfulness. It's Galatians. faith plus obedience, 
faith plus circumcision, faith plus whatever. But it's not just 
Rome, there's something in Protestantism called New Perspective on Paul. 
They're essentially that same way. Then from them, they have 
a weird Presbyterian cousin called the Federal Vision, and they 
have that same sort of an idea as well. If I don't obey, I'm 
gonna be cast out. If I don't obey, I'm gonna be 
cut out. Now again, I'm not advocating 
disobedience. I'm not suggesting don't obey, 
no. But the ground and the motivation for obedience is not if I don't 
do it, I'm out. I'm doing it because I've been 
justified freely by His grace. That's Paul's point, Romans 6. 
What shall we say? Shall we continue in sin that 
grace may abound? May it never be. Where does he go? He doesn't 
go to the law first, he goes to the gospel. You died with 
Christ, you were buried with Christ, you've been raised with 
Christ. He goes to the truth of the cross to make the argument 
that you don't continue in sin that grace may abound. And then 
he goes to the law later, don't present your members as instruments 
of unrighteousness. So the motivation for the new 
covenant saint isn't necessarily the way it was for the old covenant 
participant. If I don't tow the lion in the 
land, there's going to be wild beasts, there's going to be bears 
at my house, there's going to be lions, I'm going to have Midianites 
whenever I sow, I'm going to have all these problems. And the scripture says, in the 
future, I'm going to write my laws on their minds and on their 
hearts. So when I look at that, I look 
at the life of the believer. Yes, when the believer believes 
in the Lord Jesus Christ, what we have is this grand opportunity 
to live a life of gratitude. But we still have a remaining 
corruption of what we have in front of us today is the means. 
That's right. The means of the work of the 
spirit. We read the word, pray the word, sing the word. So to 
put it in layman terms, God is saying, The tools are all there. If you want to lay it home and 
do nothing, OK, don't be surprised when trouble comes upon you. 
Sure. But when I give you the means, such as go to church, 
we don't do it because it's worse. We do it because there we have 
the word of God preached to us to renew our minds, to build 
us up, to build us into stronger states where He writes the law 
on our minds, out on our hearts. That's right. Absolutely. Amen, 
brother. Preach it. That was good. Alright. No, that was really good. Good. Good to have you back.