Mosaic Covenant. When God brings the Israelites out of Egypt 430 years after Abraham, he took them to Mount Sinai under Moses’ leadership and established a covenant with them. This covenant operated within the Abrahamic covenant but introduced a principle of works. The covenant is initially ratified in Exodus 19 – 24, but reiterated at great length by Moses in the book of Deuteronomy. The purpose of the covenant was clear: Israel was to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex 19:6). Although God ruled over all the earth and over all the nations, although he already declared his blessing on the Israelites, he wanted them to be a people who were representative of his ultimate plan. In other words, the nation of Israel was to play a typological role – an elaborate example of God’s eschatological assembly. Hence, the apostle Paul will later point out that the Israel under the Mosaic law served as an example (1Cor 10:1-11), but also proved our inability to fulfill a covenant of works (Rom 3:19-26; 7:7-25; Gal 3:10 – 4:7).

 

Along with the law, the Mosaic covenant also provided a particular place for the worship of God (the tabernacle, Ex 25 – 31) and a clear set of commanded sacrifices for approaching God in Leviticus – especially chapters 1 – 7 and 16. The presence of God in the tabernacle (and later the temple) had not been known since the Garden of Eden, and so it also provides the fundamental framework for understanding what it means to experience God in this life. Moreover, the sacrificial system – particularly the Passover supper and the Day of Atonement – becomes the pattern for understanding the gravity of redemption. If the law provided the ethical aspect of this typology, then the temple and the sacrificial system provided the relational aspect.

 

Finally, in this covenantal arrangement the prophetic and priestly offices take shape as the two servant roles in the covenant community. The prophet operates as the agent of God’s covenant decrees – establishing the terms of the covenant and prosecuting God’s case against those who are disobedient. The priest intercedes for the people of God by offering the sacrifices demanded by divine justice. 

 

The Mosaic covenant serves as a great example of God’s final design, but it’s grand failure also illuminates the source of the problem for us. Here the two poles of the apostle Paul’s thoughts on the law become clear – his high esteem for it and his pessimism about its effectiveness.