The new covenant is better than the old. Such a judgment is verified by the history of Israel. The kingdom was not realized through the old covenant since both Israel and Judah did not and could not keep the prescriptions of the covenant.

The Scriptures open in Genesis with God as the sovereign King creating the world and everything in it.

Adam and Eve

Human beings are made in the image of God and appointed to rule the world for God (Gen 1:26–27). They are mandated to rule the world under God’s lordship and for his glory.

Instead of trusting and obeying God, Adam and Eve defied him and refused to submit to him (Genesis 3). Because of their transgression incited by the words of the serpent, they were spiritually separated from God and introduced death into the world.

Nevertheless, death is not the final word, for God promises that the offspring of the woman will crush the serpent (Gen 3:15).

The initial optimism engendered by the promise collapses, for human beings are radically evil. Cain was the offspring of the serpent and murdered Abel. (All the offspring of Adam and Eve come into the world as the offspring of the serpent, and hence those who belong to God are the recipients of his grace.) The offspring of the serpent were triumphing over the offspring of the woman, though God granted Seth to Adam and Eve to continue the lineage through which the promise would be fulfilled (Gen 4:25).

Noah

Because the corruption was so great, because the offspring of the serpent were spreading so rapidly, God had to destroy them with the flood, showing that he rules and reigns even when evil seems to have the upper hand. God established a covenant with Noah, pledging to preserve the world until he accomplished redemption (Genesis 6–9).

Tower of Babel

Still, the story of the tower of Babel reveals that human beings had not changed (Gen 11:1–9); they were still inclined toward evil and lived to make a name for themselves instead of living for the glory and honor and praise of the one true God.

Genesis 1–11 unveils the depth of human evil so that readers will grasp that victory over the serpent is a massive undertaking. The evil in human beings is no trivial matter. A demonic rejection of God and an embrace of evil afflict human beings.

Abraham

Despite human evil, which defies the imagination, God is gracious. He chose one man through whom he would fulfill the promise made to the woman. He promises Abraham that he will have:

• land (Canaan),
• offspring (Isaac), and
• universal blessing (Gen 12:1–3).

Still the story rolls on slowly. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob never possessed the land, and Abraham found it agonizingly difficult to have even one child! The Lord teaches him through the birth of Isaac that the promise will only be fulfilled through God himself, that human beings can’t contribute to the promise’s fulfillment.

Isaac and Jacob learned the same lesson so that, when Genesis ends, Israel was in the wrong land (Egypt), there were only about 70 Israelites (when God promised they would be as many as the stars of the sky), and there was certainly not universal blessing. What is said here could be misunderstood, for there could scarcely be countless descendants in three generations, and Joseph as Pharaoh’s right-hand man did bless the nations.

Exodus

When Exodus opens, the promise of offspring for Israel is being fulfilled, for their population was exploding, which terrified the Egyptians. The Lord intended to show Israel again and again that salvation is his work, not theirs. Hence, he freed Israel from Egypt through Moses with great signs and wonders (Exodus 1–18). The Lord crushed the offspring of the serpent (Pharaoh), who attempted to annihilate the people from whom the offspring of the woman would come (Gen 3:15).

Covenant with Israel

Israel recognized that the Lord had redeemed them, fulfilling his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Israel was adopted as God’s son (Exod 4:22), becoming his special possession and a kingdom of priests if they followed the Lord’s instructions (Exod 19:5–6). The redemption from Egypt becomes a type and anticipation of the redemption that would be accomplished in Jesus Christ.

The Lord entered into a covenant with Israel, choosing them as his special people (cf. Exodus 19–24). If Israel obeyed the covenant stipulations, they would be blessed; but if they transgressed what the Lord commanded, they would experience the curses of the covenant (Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 26–28). The Lord didn’t demand perfection to remain in the covenant, for sacrifices were instituted to grant forgiveness for Israel’s transgressions (Leviticus 1–7, 16).

The Lord also impressed on Israel his holiness. He dwelt with his people in the tabernacle (Exodus 25–40), but those who treated the Lord with contempt would be destroyed (Leviticus 10), as the thunderstorm which gripped Mount Sinai clearly taught the people.

Ultimately, the old covenant was a failure. The sacrifices didn’t cleanse the conscience of sin and provide free access to God, nor did the old covenant inscribe the law on the heart. But we are getting ahead of the story here!

The Land of Canaan

The next element of the promise of Abraham was ready to be fulfilled. Israel was about to take possession of Canaan. We read in Numbers how the people failed to follow the Lord’s instructions. After seeing the Lord’s signs and wonders that routed the Egyptians, Israel, amazingly enough, didn’t believe the Lord could bring them into the land, and hence they disobeyed his instructions.

The story wasn’t over, however, for under Joshua Israel possessed the land of Canaan, though the story clarifies that they didn’t possess the entirety of the land. Israel’s triumphs are the Lord’s work, for they win impossible victories over foes that are far stronger than they are. Joshua concludes by saying that the Lord has given rest to Israel (21:4; 22:4; 23:1). The rest under Joshua was a type and anticipation of a greater rest to come.

Judges

Upon opening Judges, we might think that paradise is around the corner. Two elements of the promise to Abraham are fulfilled: Israel

• had a large population and
• now inhabited the land of Canaan.

Hundreds of years had passed since the promise was made to Abraham, but Israel now seemed to be on the cusp of blessing.

It is rather stunning to see where the story goes next. Instead of moving forward, Israel slipped backward. They were in that sense like Adam in paradise. Instead of trusting and obeying the Lord, they turned toward idols so that the Lord unleashed their enemies upon them. Israel repeated a cycle of sin, defeat before enemies, repentance, and deliverance. Judges concludes with a story that echoes what happened to Lot in Sodom (Judges 20; Genesis 19). Israel was in the land, but they were not submitting to Yahweh’s lordship. Instead of blessing the nations, they were being corrupted by the nations.

Read More