Jeremiah Bereano wasn't ranting this time, not against me, anyway...............
When I answered the phone the other day, I heard, 'Hey, buddy; I was reading in Ezekiel 43 this morning, and thinking about the roller coaster that God's people ( His Old Covenant 'children', in particular ) have been on since day one. I also read, and have been thinking about the article that a friend of ours recently wrote, about the fulfilled land promise that God gave to the 'children' of Israel, and its being typical of the rest that we have in Christ. When you hear all this talk about the New Covenant ( Jeremiah 31:31, etc. ) being the 'covenant of grace' and the Old Covenant ( Exodus 19:5 ) being a 'covenant of works'; you might be thinking, 'well; they have a point there: it was the first covenant that God gave man, that was conditional on his obedience', but was it really, did God really make it conditional on man's obedience?
I replied, good un-orthodox Christian that I was ( I was brought up orthodoxically! );'I've always thought so, but my mind's not really 'set' ( in concrete ) on that': 'what were you thinking?'
'Well', he said,'I was thinking that it's all really just one covenant, the everlasting covenant ( Genesis 9:16, 17:7, I Chronicles 16:17, Isaiah 55:3 ) that Jeremiah speaks about in Jeremiah 32:40.'. He went on to remind me that all the separate 'covenants' that are recorded in Scripture; the so-called 'Adamic' ( Genesis 1:26-29 ), the 'Noachic' ( Genesis 6:13-18 ( 9:8-11 ), the 'Abrahamic' ( Genesis 12:1-3, reiterated in chapters 15, 17, etc.), 'Mosaic' ( Exodus 20, etc ), and so on and so forth, were all covenants of grace!
'But Jeremiah, are you trying to tell me ( I forgot to remind him of all the ones he had skipped, the 'Davidic', most importantly ) that the Mosaic covenant, which said 'if' you do this, then God will do this, was a covenant of grace?'
He continued then, reminding me that, even though the 'children' of Israel, in all their wilderness wanderings, and even in their conquest of the land, had continually rebelled and complained against God, and received the obligatory punishments for their sins, were allowed, withe the exception of those with whom God was not pleased ( Hebrews 8:8-12 ), to enter 'the land of milk and honey'.
'You might have a point there, Jer' I grudgingly said, 'but what about that part that says 'if'?'
'I'm glad you asked', he replied, 'the first commandment with promise ( Exodus 20:12 ), for instance, says 'Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you'. It sounds like God is saying 'if you honor your father and mother, that your days will be long', but such is not the case; it is not, nor ever was, because we do what we're supposed to that God blesses us ( this is not to say that we shouldn't try to do right! )............
As I'm wont to do; I interrupted my friend with, 'I often tell folks in our bible-study at church that, back then, this commandment could have had a very physically literal meaning and consequence, because parents were allowed to have their stubbornly rebellious and defiant children stoned to death..............'
'As I was saying', Jeremiah cut back in, ( rudely ) ignoring my brilliant observation, 'it is because of His grace, because He promised and purposed ( II Timothy 1:9 ) 'in Christ Jesus before time began' to redeem us and 'transformed' ( Romans 12:2 ), 'changed' us ( I Corinthians 15:52 )!' He explained further that, although they were required to obey, to keep His commandments, something we are still required to do, their salvation is not contingent on our obedience ( never was ), but on His grace. The up and down history of the children of Israel shows us that; even though they kept on saying they would follow His rule, but forgot Him and played 'the harlot' ( Leviticus 17:7 ( Hosea 9:1 ) after God had delivered them out of their troubles; He led them into the land, and blessed them anyway!
He had a good point, I had to admit, and of course, with all my Calvinist 'baggage', maybe I'm still a little prejudiced anyway, but I told him that I had to run, but that I appreciated his call, and would continue to think on these things.............
'God bless you, brother.............later, Jeremiah', I said, as I flipped my phone shut, ending our conversation; for now........................
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