Wednesday June 27, 2012

Read Hebrews 10:24 and seek to put it into practice with one other person or family.

 

Read Exodus 3:16-17, 6:4-8;  Psalm 105:8-12

 

Throughout the Old Testament we see God entering into covenant relationship with Abraham, Moses and David. Each of those covenants does not stand as a separate entity but each successive covenant builds upon the former while continuing the emphasis that had formerly been established.

 

As such we see that Abraham’s descendants lived under the covenant as Abraham did. With each successive renewal of the covenant, God could have wiped the slate clean and begun again but rather, chose to advance the original purposes to a higher level of realisation. So for example, when the Israelites cried out to the Lord in bondage in Egypt, read that God heard their groaning and remembered the covenant with Abraham, Israel and Jacob (Ex 2:24). As the Israelites sit on the shores of the Jordan river they are repeatedly told that God is bringing them into a land flowing with milk and honey because of the covenant with Abraham.

 

As such it comes as no surprise that the Ten Commandments, which form the heart of the Mosaic covenant, rest securely and firmly on the deliverance of Israel from Egypt which in turn, was based on God’s covenant with Abraham.

 

The same pattern of continuity appears when God cuts a covenant with David. There is no break or discontinuity with the past. God speaks to David (and David to God) in terms of the relationship that God has had with his people from the moment he cut a covenant with Abraham. The God who made a promise to Abraham is the same God who led the people out of Egypt and entered into the Mosaic covenant with them. He is the same God who set David upon the throne of Jerusalem.

 

The successive covenants do not annul or interrupt previous covenants. Rather they build upon the covenants and develop them, bringing them to their greater fulfilment in Christ and the new covenant. Interestingly, the New Covenant inaugurated by the Lord’s death and resurrection builds upon and develops these covenants, especially the Abrahamic covenant.

 

Prayer:

¥ Pray for your church’s men’s ministry. It is vital that the men of your church are strong in Christ and solid in their faith. Pray that the men’s ministry would grow the men and give them a firm stability in Christ and in His word.

¥ Pray for our Women’s ministries. Pray that these ministries would bring great blessing to the women, encourage them and grow them in their faith. Pray that both men and women would be using their spiritual gifts to bless the body.