knowledge of Himself and His truth to the ends of the earth, so fulfilling the promise to Abraham, `and in thy seed

shall all families of the earth be blessed' (Gen. 12:3; 26:4; 28:13,14).

God raised up Moses as their leader and ruler and could say of the coming Ruler, `I will raise them up a Prophet

from among their brethren like unto thee' (Deut. 18:18). Stephen in his speech recorded in Acts 7 describes Moses

as a `ruler (archon, prince) and deliverer', so the kingdom concept is maintained. In Exodus 19 we have a further

elaboration of the kingdom purpose by God as it touched the people of Israel:

`And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to

the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you

on eagles' wings, and brought you unto Myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My

covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be

unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children

of Israel' (verses 3-6).

There is here a startling difference to what we have seen before in the revelation of the kingdom purposes of God

up till now, all have been unconditional, resting upon the word and the grace of God alone. Now, for the first time,

we have a covenant that is conditional, `if ye will obey My voice indeed', and we know very well that this is the one

thing that Israel did not do. In spite of their promise to the Lord, `all that the Lord has said will we do and be

obedient' (Exod. 24:7), their record is one of continual rebellion and disobedience.

We have now a real problem and might well ask, as Israel has miserably failed to keep God's conditions for them

to be a `kingdom of priests', has the great kingdom plan of God foundered? It would seem on the surface that this

must be so, but the Lord's great purpose for world salvation and blessing does not rest on anything so frail as human

power, determination or obedience.

There is yet another divine covenant made with the same earthly people, as unconditional as those covenants

made with Abraham and David, and it is one of sheer grace. The Mosaic covenant is designated as the `old

covenant'. It is obviously one of works and merit, but God's remedy for Israel's failure is the New Covenant made

known in Jeremiah 31 and this gloriously supercedes the old one. Not that there was anything intrinsically wrong

with the old covenant of law. It was a revelation of God's holiness but it gave no power to attain to it. `It was holy,

just and good' (Rom. 7:12), giving a perfect standard of thought and conduct towards God and man, expressed in the

word `love'. But sinful human nature could never reach this high standard. The law was weak `on account of the

flesh' (Rom. 8:3), and because of this it could never give righteousness, inheritance or life (Gal. 2:21; 3:18,21).

What it did do was to show up sin in its true colours. The Apostle Paul said `I had not known sin, but by the law: for

I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet' (Rom. 7:7).

It is evident then that neither Israel nor any other human beings can become participants in God's great

redemptive plan on the basis of their own efforts or merit. The law given through Moses has one object to shut us

all up to Christ and what His glorious redemptive work has achieved (Gal. 3:24). This was the lesson Israel never

learned in the past but will do so in the future when the New Covenant of grace is put into operation at the Lord's

Second Advent:

`And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away

ungodliness from Jacob (Israel): for this is My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins ... For the

gifts and calling of God are without repentance (change of mind)' (Rom. 11:26-29).

Let us look at the first occurrence of this covenant of grace. It is placed in a context of the re-gathering of Israel to

the land:

`Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the

house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the

hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which My covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto

them, saith the LORD: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days,

saith the LORD, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and

they shall be My people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother,