GOD’S PLAN IN DETAIL – THE STUDY GUIDE

The Old Covenant – When, What and Why?

The Old Covenant was established between God and the Israelite people. They saw all of the amazing miracles that God did to demonstrate his great power when Moses led them out of Egypt. Even so they were not willing to obey God. They refused to put aside the gods that they worshiped while in Egypt and they complained and refused to follow the instructions that God gave them through Moses. Acts 7:35-43 NIVThis is the same Moses whom they had rejected with the words, 'Who made you ruler and judge?' He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. He led them out of Egypt and did wonders and miraculous signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the desert.

This is that Moses who told the Israelites, 'God will send you a prophet like me from your own people.' He was in the assembly in the desert, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to us.

But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. They told Aaron, 'Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt - we don't know what has happened to him!' That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and held a celebration in honor of what their hands had made.

But God turned away and gave them over to the worship of the heavenly bodies. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets: 'Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? You have lifted up the shrine of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Babylon'.
, Ezekiel 20: 5-26 NLTGive them this message from the Sovereign LORD: When I chose Israel and revealed myself to her in Egypt, I swore that I, the LORD, would be her God. I promised that I would bring her and her descendants out of Egypt to a land I had discovered and explored for them - a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the best of all lands anywhere.

Then I said to them, `Each of you, get rid of your idols. Do not defile yourselves with the Egyptian gods, for I am the LORD your God.'

But they rebelled against me and would not listen. They did not get rid of their idols or forsake the gods of Egypt. Then I threatened to pour out my fury on them to satisfy my anger while they were still in Egypt. But I didn't do it, for I acted to protect the honor of my name. That way the surrounding nations wouldn't be able to laugh at Israel's God, who had promised to deliver his people.

So I brought my people out of Egypt and led them into the wilderness. There I gave them my laws so they could live by keeping them. Yes, all those who keep them will live! And I gave them my Sabbath days of rest as a sign between them and me. It was to remind them that I, the LORD, had set them apart to be holy, making them my special people.

But the people of Israel rebelled against me, and they refused to obey my laws there in the wilderness. They wouldn't obey my instructions even though obedience would have given them life. And they also violated my Sabbath days. So I threatened to pour out my fury on them, and I made plans to utterly consume them in the desert.

But again I held back in order to protect the honor of my name. That way the nations who saw me lead my people out of Egypt wouldn't be able to claim I destroyed them because I couldn't take care of them. But I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful place on earth. I told them this because they had rejected my laws, ignored my will for them, and violated my Sabbath days. Their hearts were given to their idols. Nevertheless, I pitied them and held back from destroying them in the wilderness.

Then I warned their children and told them not to follow in their parents' footsteps, defiling themselves with their idols. `I am the LORD your God,' I told them. `Follow my laws, pay attention to my instructions, and keep my Sabbath days holy, for they are a sign to remind you that I am the LORD your God.'

But their children, too, rebelled against me. They refused to keep my laws and follow my instructions, even though obeying them would have given them life. And they also violated my Sabbath days. So again I threatened to pour out my fury on them in the wilderness. Nevertheless, I withdrew my judgment against them to protect the honor of my name among the nations who had seen my power in bringing them out of Egypt.

But I took a solemn oath against them while they were in the wilderness. I vowed I would scatter them among all the nations because they did not obey my laws. They scorned my instructions by violating my Sabbath days and longing for the idols of their ancestors. I gave them over to worthless customs and laws that would not lead to life. I let them pollute themselves with the very gifts I had given them, and I allowed them to give their firstborn children as offerings to their gods - so I might devastate them and show them that I alone am the LORD.. God was so angry with them that it was only Moses’ intervention that saved them from total destruction. Exodus 32:7-14 NLTThen the LORD told Moses, "Quick! Go down the mountain! The people you brought from Egypt have defiled themselves. They have already turned from the way I commanded them to live. They have made an idol shaped like a calf, and they have worshiped and sacrificed to it. They are saying, `These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of Egypt.'"

Then the LORD said, "I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. Now leave me alone so my anger can blaze against them and destroy them all. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation instead of them."

But Moses pleaded with the LORD his God not to do it. "O LORD!" he exclaimed. "Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and mighty acts? The Egyptians will say, `God tricked them into coming to the mountains so he could kill them and wipe them from the face of the earth.' Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you are planning against your people! Remember your covenant with your servants - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You swore by your own self, `I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. Yes, I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.'"

So the LORD withdrew his threat and didn't bring against his people the disaster he had threatened..

Knowing fully what they were like, God inspired Moses to draw up a contract, a legal code of behaviour, which would govern every aspect of their lives - even making allowances for their hard hearts. Galatians 3:19 NLTWell then, why was the law given? It was given to show people how guilty they are. But this system of law was to last only until the coming of the child to whom God's promise was made. And there is this further difference. God gave his laws to angels to give to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people., Matthew 19:3-9 NLTSome Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: "Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for just any reason?"

"Haven't you read the Scriptures?" Jesus replied. "They record that from the beginning 'God made them male and female.' And he said, 'This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.' Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together."

"Then why did Moses say in the law that a man could give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away?" they asked.

Jesus replied, "Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended. And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery - unless his wife has been unfaithful.". He promised to bless them with prosperity and good health - but only if they kept their part of that contract. Leviticus 25-26. However, even though they agreed to follow God's Old Covenant laws, their hearts were not in it.

This was totally different from the promises made to Abraham, which were unconditional because Abraham had already proven his faith by obeying God.

The Old Covenant didn’t replace the promises made to Abraham nearly 430 years earlier – those promises couldn’t be changed. Instead, the Old Covenant was provided as a care-taker, a set of written laws that spelled out what God expected, until Yeshua came nearly 1,600 years later. Yeshua died to save us and to replace that Covenant with a new and much better one. Galatians 3:17-29 NLTThis is what I am trying to say: The agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his promise. For if the inheritance could be received only by keeping the law, then it would not be the result of accepting God's promise. But God gave it to Abraham as a promise.

Well then, why was the law given? It was given to show people how guilty they are. But this system of law was to last only until the coming of the child to whom God's promise was made.

And there is this further difference. God gave his laws to angels to give to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people. Now a mediator is needed if two people enter into an agreement, but God acted on his own when he made his promise to Abraham.

Well then, is there a conflict between God's law and God's promises? Absolutely not! If the law could have given us new life, we could have been made right with God by obeying it. But the Scriptures have declared that we are all prisoners of sin, so the only way to receive God's promise is to believe in Jesus Christ.

Until faith in Christ was shown to us as the way of becoming right with God, we were guarded by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until we could put our faith in the coming Savior.

Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian and teacher to lead us until Christ came. So now, through faith in Christ, we are made right with God. But now that faith in Christ has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian. So you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have been made like him.

There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all Christians - you are one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and now all the promises God gave to him belong to you..

The Old Covenant was a contract between God and the Israelite people – the physical descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. It concerned the physical benefits that God would provide if they obeyed all the laws that he gave them through Moses.  Leviticus 26:1-13 CEVI am the LORD your God! So don't make or worship any sort of idols or images. Respect the Sabbath and honor the place where I am worshiped, because I am the LORD.

Faithfully obey my laws, and I will send rain to make your crops grow and your trees produce fruit. Your harvest of grain and grapes will be so abundant, that you won't know what to do with it all. You will eat and be satisfied, and you will live in safety. I will bless your country with peace, and you will rest without fear. I will wipe out the dangerous animals and protect you from enemy attacks.

You will chase and destroy your enemies, even if there are only five of you and a hundred of them, or only a hundred of you and ten thousand of them. I will treat you with such kindness that your nation will grow strong, and I will also keep my promises to you. Your barns will overflow with grain each year.

I will live among you and never again look on you with disgust. I will walk with you - I will be your God, and you will be my people. I am the LORD your God, and I rescued you from Egypt, so that you would never again be slaves. I have set you free; now walk with your heads held high.. It didn’t provide any promise of participation in God’s Kingdom even though God offered that to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as well as to a very few specially chosen individuals during the time that followed. Matthew 8:11-12 CEVMany people will come from everywhere to enjoy the feast in the kingdom of heaven with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the ones who should have been in the kingdom will be thrown out into the dark. They will cry and grit their teeth in pain..

The Old Covenant Failed

There were many benefits from the Old Covenant for those who were willing to live according to God’s laws. Romans 3:1-4 CEVWhat good is it to be a Jew? What good is it to be circumcised?

It is good in a lot of ways! First of all, God's messages were spoken to the Jews. It is true that some of them did not believe the message. But does this mean that God cannot be trusted, just because they did not have faith? No, indeed! God tells the truth, even if everyone else is a liar.

The Scriptures say about God, "Your words will be proven true, and in court you will win your case." . God really wanted to bless and prosper the Israelite people. Romans 9:1-5 CEVI am a follower of Christ, and the Holy Spirit is a witness to my conscience. So I tell the truth and I am not lying when I say my heart is broken and I am in great sorrow. I would gladly be placed under God's curse and be separated from Christ for the good of my own people.

They are the descendants of Israel, and they are also God's chosen people. God showed them his glory. He made agreements with them and gave them his Law. The temple is theirs and so are the promises that God made to them. They have those famous ancestors, who were also the ancestors of Jesus Christ.

I pray that God, who rules over all, will be praised forever! Amen., Malachi 2:5 NLT"The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and this is what I gave them. This called for reverence from them, and they greatly revered me and stood in awe of my name., Malachi 3:8-12 CEVYou people are robbing me, your God. And, here you are, asking, "How are we robbing you?"

You are robbing me of the offerings and of the ten percent that belongs to me. That's why your whole nation is under a curse.

I am the LORD All-Powerful, and I challenge you to put me to the test. Bring the entire ten percent into the storehouse, so there will be food in my house. Then I will open the windows of heaven and flood you with blessing after blessing.

I will also stop locusts from destroying your crops and keeping your vineyards from producing. Everyone of every nation will talk about how I have blessed you and about your wonderful land. I, the LORD All-Powerful, have spoken!.

The Jews living in Jerusalem could have enjoyed all the benefits that God offered under the Old Covenant - but they refused it. Ezekiel 33:10-11 ESVAnd you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: 'Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?'

Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?
, Luke 19:41-44 NLTBut as they came closer to Jerusalem and Jesus saw the city ahead, he began to cry.

"I wish that even today you would find the way of peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from you. Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you. They will crush you to the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you have rejected the opportunity God offered you."
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Also, while there were many good people scattered throughout Israel’s history, no-one except Yeshua succeeded in living completely according to the Old Covenant laws without sinning. Romans 3:9-12 NLTWell then, are we Jews better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin. As the Scriptures say,

"No one is good - not even one.
No one has real understanding;
no one is seeking God.
All have turned away from God;
all have gone wrong.
No one does good,
not even one.".

Overall, the Israelite people as a nation, having received God’s commandments under the Old Covenant, were never able to get it right. They either lapsed into idolatry or they swung to the other extreme of setting up a Jewish state based on their legalistic interpretation of God’s laws without any understanding or concern for keeping the intent of those laws.

That was the situation when Yeshua was born. The Jews were trying to please God through what they did, imposing their interpretation of God’s laws as a burden instead of as a way of living a full and happy life. Romans 9:31-33 CEVIt also means that the people of Israel were not acceptable to God. And why not? It was because they were trying to be acceptable by obeying the Law instead of by having faith in God.

The people of Israel fell over the stone that makes people stumble, just as God says in the Scriptures, "Look! I am placing in Zion a stone to make people stumble and fall. But those who have faith in that one will never be disappointed." . In practise, God’s laws only served to convict all those who knew about them. Romans 3:20 NLTFor no one can ever be made right in God's sight by doing what his law commands. For the more we know God's law, the clearer it becomes that we aren't obeying it..

Trying to please God by keeping the Old Covenant laws is doomed to fail and God has provided a better way through faith in Yeshua. Romans 10:1-8 NLTDear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is that the Jewish people might be saved. I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. For they don't understand God's way of making people right with himself. Instead, they are clinging to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. They won't go along with God's way. For Christ has accomplished the whole purpose of the law. All who believe in him are made right with God.

For Moses wrote that the law's way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands. But the way of getting right with God through faith says, "You don't need to go to heaven" (to find Christ and bring him down to help you). And it says, "You don't need to go to the place of the dead" (to bring Christ back to life again).

Salvation that comes from trusting Christ - which is the message we preach - is already within easy reach. In fact, the Scriptures say, "The message is close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.".

What we can learn from the Old Covenant

The most important lesson that God wants us to learn from the Old Covenant is that we just don’t have within ourselves the ability and strength to keep his laws. That was the reason he established this covenant with the Israelite people.

We have to learn this the hard way. It is part of our nature to want to trust in our own ability and to want to do everything our own way.

God respects the decisions that we make. We were not created to be robots. While God wants us to make right decisions and to live, if we chose the way that seems right to us instead of listening to him, then he will allow us to go that way.  However, we must also expect to be allowed to experience the result of going that way otherwise we would learn nothing from the experience.

Look at some of the choices made by Israel as a nation:

They refused to put aside the false gods that they worshipped in Egypt. When they complained bitterly because they were afraid of the people living in the land that God had promised them, they ended up spending an extra forty years in the desert until all of that generation died before their children were allowed to enter the land. Numbers 14:26-35 NLTThen the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "How long will this wicked nation complain about me? I have heard everything the Israelites have been saying.

Now tell them this: `As surely as I live, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. I, the LORD, have spoken! You will all die here in this wilderness! Because you complained against me, none of you who are twenty years old or older and were counted in the census will enter the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

"`You said your children would be taken captive. Well, I will bring them safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised. But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness. And your children will be like shepherds, wandering in the wilderness forty years. In this way, they will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies dead in the wilderness.

"`Because the men who explored the land were there for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years - a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins. You will discover what it is like to have me for an enemy.' I, the LORD, have spoken! I will do these things to every member of the community who has conspired against me. They will all die here in this wilderness!"
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God promised to drive out the corrupt nations living in Palestine by sending an angel before them, Exodus 33:1-3 NIVThen the LORD said to Moses, "Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.", Exodus 34:10-11 NIVThen the LORD said: "I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you. 11 Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.", and by using hornets, Exodus 23:28 NLTI will send hornets ahead of you to drive out the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites. and Deuteronomy 7:17-24 NLTPerhaps you will think to yourselves, `How can we ever conquer these nations that are so much more powerful than we are?' But don't be afraid of them! Just remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all the land of Egypt. Remember the great terrors the LORD your God sent against them. You saw it all with your own eyes! And remember the miraculous signs and wonders, and the amazing power he used when he brought you out of Egypt. The LORD your God will use this same power against the people you fear.

And then the LORD your God will send hornets to drive out the few survivors still hiding from you!

"No, do not be afraid of those nations, for the LORD your God is among you, and he is a great and awesome God. The LORD your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once, for if you did, the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you. But the LORD your God will hand them over to you. He will throw them into complete confusion until they are destroyed. He will put their kings in your power, and you will erase their names from the face of the earth. No one will be able to stand against you, and you will destroy them all.
. But the Israelites never really trusted God to do what he promised and chose to fight instead. Many died as a result. Even after they occupied the land they were never free of fighting, except for a short time under King Solomon.

When the Israelites wanted a king to replace the Judges that God had given them, he also allowed that. The prophet Samuel warned them of all the problems that would result, but God allowed them to have a king when they refused to listen. 1 Samuel 8:9-20 NLTDo as they ask, but solemnly warn them about how a king will treat them."

So Samuel passed on the LORD's warning to the people. "This is how a king will treat you," Samuel said. "The king will draft your sons into his army and make them run before his chariots. Some will be commanders of his troops, while others will be slave laborers. Some will be forced to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, while others will make his weapons and chariot equipment. The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him. He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his own servants. He will take a tenth of your harvest and distribute it among his officers and attendants. He will want your male and female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle and donkeys for his own use. He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you will be his slaves.

When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but the LORD will not help you."

But the people refused to listen to Samuel's warning. "Even so, we still want a king," they said. "We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will govern us and lead us into battle.".
King David made some really bad choices and suffered terribly as a result. However, he was also quick to admit his mistakes and seek God’s forgiveness when he realized his error. Read 2 Samuel 11-12 and then Psalm 51.

Making wrong choices won’t necessarily separate us from God, but we will be required to learn from the choices we make.