Wednesday, April 7
Read Exodus 6:1-8 and then answer these questions:
1. What covenant was He talking about? See Genesis 12:1-3.
2. How was the Exodus to be a fulfillment, on His part, of the covenant promises?
3. What parallel can you find between what God promised the people here and what He promised Noah before the Flood?
After the Exodus, the children of Israel received the covenant at Sinai, given in the context of redemption from bondage (Exodus 20:2) and containing God’s sacrificial provisions for atonement and the forgiveness of sin. It was, therefore, like all of God’s covenants, a covenant of grace, God’s grace extended to His people.
This covenant reiterated, in many ways, the major emphases in the covenant with Abraham:
1. Special relationship of God to His people (compare Genesis 17:7-8 with Exodus 19:5-6).
2. They would be a great nation (compare Genesis 12:2 with Exodus 19:6).
“Note the order here: the Lord first saves Israel, then gives them His law to keep. The same order is true under the gospel. Christ first saves us from sin (see John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 15:3; Galatians 1:4), then lives out His law within us (Galatians 2:20; Romans 4:25; 8:1-3; 1 Peter 2:24).” — The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 602.
Read Exodus 6:7. What is the one thing that comes through in the first part, where the Lord says they will be His people and He their God? Notice the dynamics there. They will be something to God, and God will be something to them. Not only does God want to relate to them in a special way; He wants them to relate to Him in a special way, as well. Does the Lord not seek the same kind of relationship with us today? Does that first part of Exodus 6:7 reflect your relationship with the Lord, or are you just someone whose name is just on the church books? If your answer to the first part of the question is Yes, give reasons why.
