He Gave Us Prophets: People of the Covenant

Dear Church Family,

This past Sunday, we had our second lesson in our Sunday school lessons using a video curriculum and discussion format entitled, “He Gave Us Prophets.” The eight lessons in this series are as follows:

1. Essential Hermeneutical Perspectives
2. A Prophet’s Job
3. People of the Covenant
4. Dynamics of the Covenant
5. Historical Analysis of Prophecy
6. Literary Analysis of the Prophets
7. The Purpose of Predictions
8. Unfolding Eschatology

People of the Covenant

In this third lesson, we studied the five major covenants of the Old Testament and how the prophets understood and depended upon these covenants in their ministry.

1. Humanity in Covenant (Universal Covenants)

The first two covenants that we find in Scripture are those covenants which God made with the representative heads of all humanity. As emissaries of divine covenants, the prophets relied on the covenants God made in Adam (Genesis 1-2) and Noah (Genesis 9) with all of humanity. The Adamic covenant emphasized human responsibility, corruption, and the possibility of redemption, while the Noahic covenant spoke of divine patience and human destiny to be fruitful and fill the earth. The prophets relied on these universal covenants to speak to the sins of the nations and the possibility of redemption if only they would repent and turn to the Lord.

As an aside, it should be noted that while the postdiluvian covenant with Adam in Genesis 9 was universal (with all humanity), the antediluvian covenant with Adam in Genesis 6 was particular (with Noah and his family).

2. Israel in Covenant (Particular Covenants)

In addition to the two universal covenants, we studied the three covenants which the Lord entered into with the People of Israel through particular covenant heads. First, God entered into covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12-17) in which He promised to make Abraham into a great nation, to give him the land of Canaan, and to always be with him. The prophets depended upon the Abrahamic covenant by continuing to proclaim these promises.

Second, God entered into covenant with Moses (Exodus 20) in which He gave His holy law to the people of Israel. As the prophets referred to the Mosaic covenant, they emphasized the importance of living and worshiping according to the standards of God’s law. And, the prophets warned of the blessings and curses which would come from the hand of the Lord depending how Israel obeyed or disobeyed.

Third, God entered into covenant with David (2 Samuel 7) in which He promised that the son of David would rule over God’s kingdom. In dependence on this Davidic covenant, the prophets continued to encourage the people and give them hope that one day the Lord would raise up a son of David and this kingdom would extend to the entire world.

The writers of the New Testament picked up these themes – specifically from these three particular covenants – and taught that all of these covenant blessings and promises are fulfilled in the new covenant in Christ (Jeremiah 31:31-33; Luke 22:20; 2 Corinthians 1:20; Hebrews 8). God’s people, through Christ, will inherit the earth, His law will be written on their hearts, and David’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ will sit upon the throne of God’s kingdom.

3. Salvation in Covenant: Three Kinds of People

Today, Christians sometimes speak of only two categories of people in this world: those who are saved and those who are not saved. These are certainly legitimate categories; however, the categories that arise from the Scriptures come from an understanding of the difference between the invisible church and the visible church. As defined by the Westminster Standards, the invisible church “consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the Head thereof” (WCF 25.1). The visible church “consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion; and of their children” (WCF 25.2).

When we understand these distinctions, we find that it is more helpful – and more biblical – to think in terms of three categories of people:

(1) People outside the visible covenant community.
– In the Old Testament, these were referred to as Gentiles; in the New Testament these are those who are not part of the visible church.
(2) People in the visible covenant community.
– In the Old Testament, these were confined to the nation of Israel; in the New Testament these are those who are members of the visible church.
(3) Invisible covenant community.
– In both the Old and New Testaments, these are those who are truly regenerate or born again and are sometimes also referred to as the faithful remnant.

Conclusion

I hope you will join us on Sunday mornings at 9:15 am as we learn how better to interpret the prophetic books of the Old Testament!

The Lord be with you!
Pastor Peter M. Dietsch