The Messiah and the Covenants of Israel (Continued)

The Messiah and the Covenants of Israel

Sinclair Patterson wrote: “Take away from Christianity the name and person of Jesus Christ and what have you left? Nothing! The whole substance and strength of the Christian faith centres in Jesus Christ. Without Him there is absolutely nothing.” This is also the case with the Covenants of Israel. Without the Messiah, there would be no true seed of Abraham through which the Abrahamic Covenant could be realized. Without the Messiah there would never be any single individual Israelite who could have fulfilled the Mosaic Covenant. Without the Messiah, the Land of Israel will never be fully recovered for the Hebrew nation. Without the Messiah there will never be a righteous reign by one of David’s line, and without the Messiah there could never be a New Covenant providing forgiveness of sins and a new heart of obedience for the Jewish people.

Let us state clearly, the Covenants of Israel have held the nation together. Without the Covenants they could easily have lost their individual identity when dispersed among the other nations. It is the covenants that have molded their identity and been at the heart of their history. They have controlled its people, and given them purpose. For them, they hold the revealed will of God - how they should act, where they should live, what their future is. They give the nation its purpose and form. They are glue that holds the Jewish race together. The substance and strength of Israel rest in their Covenants with God, and the Messiah is the substance and strength of the Covenants.

Because the Covenants themselves are inter-twined and each one either progresses from the previous agreement or supplements it, it is difficult to consider them in isolation. Similarly, when we look at the relationship of the Messiah to the Covenants we will have difficulty in treating His relationship with each covenant separately, which means we will inevitably have to repeat some truths more than once when they apply in more than one instance.

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