Week 7 - God's Covenant with Moses
What we talked about in Youth on Sunday
Recap of God’s Covenant with Abraham
A couple of weeks ago, we discussed God’s covenant with Abraham. In it, God promised Abraham he would bless him and through him bless all the people of the earth. He promised him that he would be the father of more descendants than there are stars in the sky. He promised him land. And he promised that nations and kings would come from him. God chose Abraham and his family to spread his goodness throughout the world, and in so doing invited Abraham and his descendants to participate in God’s redemptive activity.
As incredible as this promise was, such a massive promise inevitably led the recipients to questions. In particular, Abraham and his family wondered, “How exactly will God keep his promises to us and make us a blessing to the whole world?” This question becomes the driving force that much of the Old Testament sets out to answer. So, how does God go about keeping his promises?
From Abraham to Moses
First, God gives Abraham a son in his old age, named Isaac, who receives the covenant inheritance of his father. Isaac then has Jacob (whose name is later changed to Israel). Jacob/Israel then has 12 sons, one of whom is Joseph, who he loved more than his other sons. As a result of their jealousy and hatred for Joseph, the brother’s sell Joseph into slavery in Egypt. However, once in Egypt, God looks favorably on Joseph and gives him great power. Some years later, there is a famine in all the land and Joseph’s brothers and father come to Egypt in search of food. Seeing his family, Joseph welcomes them to Egypt, where they remain and increase in numbers. Many years later, after Joseph dies, a new Pharaoh comes to power. This Pharaoh fears the Israelites because of their size and decides to make them his slaves. As the years go by, the Israelites cry out to God and he hears them. God sends Moses to deliver his people out of slavery, and once freed from Egyptian captivity, they cross the Red Sea and arrive at Mount Sinai.
God’s Covenant with Moses/Israel
Having been in Egypt for 430 years and now standing at the foot of Mount Sinai the Israelites wonder again how God will keep his promises that he made to Abraham. As we look at Exodus 19:1-8, we see that God is faithful to keep his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by establishing Israel as a theocratic nation through a common ancient covenant known as a Suzerain-Vassal Covenant. In this theocracy, God is the king, the priests mediate between God and the people, and the people are God’s subjects. However, unlike other theocracies at the time, God installs himself as the Suzerain (or king) and Israel becomes his Vassal (or subjects).
Like was typical of other Suzerain-Vassal covenants at the time where a strong, independent party known as the Suzerain would promise protection and security for the smaller, weaker party known as the vassal, here God—being the strong, independent party—promises to keep Israel—the smaller, weaker party—as his “treasured possession” (Ex. 19:5) as long as they “obey my voice and keep my covenant” (Ex. 19:5). Like we see through the rest of the Old Testament, Israel’s inevitable future disobedience does not actually preclude God from keeping his promises. While God wishes for his people to obey him, his fulfillment of his promises is not dependent upon their ability to obey. Rather, the condition of Israel’s obedience is a necessary part of an ancient near east Suzerain-Vassal Covenant.
A typical Suzerain-Vassal Covenant consisted of seven elements:
Title/Preamble (Exodus 20:1) – declares who is participating in the covenant, which here is God (Suzerain) and Israel (Vassal).
Historical Prologue (Exodus 20:2) – reviews the prior relationship between the two parties, which here is that God brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt.
List of Commands (Exodus 20:3-31) – a list of requirements for the vassals to keep in order to maintain suzerain oversight, which here is the Ten Commandments.
Deposit of text and Public reading (Deposit - Exodus 25:16, Reading – Exodus 24:7) – deposit of text to the god(s), annual public reading to remind both parties of their agreement and what is expected of them in said agreement. Here Israel deposits the tablets of the Ten Commandments into the “Ark of the Covenant,” which, prior to doing Moses had read aloud for all of Israel to hear.
Witnesses (Exodus 24:4) – the parties swear before their god(s) in a religious ceremony that they will keep the covenant. Here Moses builds an altar before the Lord and sets up stones that symbolize the tribes of Israel as witnesses.
Blessings for obedience and Curses for disobedience (Blessings - Leviticus 26:3-13, Curses – Leviticus 26:14-41) – list of blessings or curses the vassal would receive from suzerain for keeping/not keeping the covenant. In Lev. 26, God prefaces the blessings and curses saying, “If you will follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, then” you will be blessed, “but if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands” then you will be cursed.
Epilogue (N/A) – final words, which were common in other Suzerain-Vassal covenants but do not show up here.
What Do We Learn From This?
First, we learn that history and context matters for understanding the Bible. There is only so much we can properly learn about God’s covenant with Moses and Israel if we do not understand ancient near east covenants. Similarly, every part of Scripture was written in a specific time to a specific people, and to ignore their context is to misunderstand the text.
Second, we learn that God always descends to us so that we can know him. Yes, God is transcendent and greater than we could ever imagine, but he wants us to know him, and he reveals himself to us in ways that we can understand. While a Suzerain-Vassal covenant feels very foreign to us, this covenant was very familiar to the Israelites. Thus, God did not only enter into an earthly legal agreement with particular ramifications for him and the Israelites, he also entered into a familiar earthly agreement so that he could be known by all people. There is no greater example of God coming to us in ways that we already understand than when God became human so that we could see and feel and know him like we know a friend.
Third, we learn that God saves and redeems us before he expects us to obey him. God frees Israel from slavery before he gives them the Ten Commandments. Furthermore, God does not give Israel the law as a way for them to be saved, rather he tells them how they should respond to him since he is their king and has saved them. Thus, we should never do good things in an attempt to make God love us. Such an attempt would be frivolous. Rather, we do good things—things that God wants us to do—because he first loved and saved us.
The question for us, then, is how can we better live in response to God’s love for us this week? Like he saved the Israelites from slavery, God has so wonderfully saved us from the condemnation of our sin, so that we can partner with him now in his redemptive work.
Continuing the Conversation at Home
Ask your kids what they thought about the Suzerain-Vassal covenant. Remind them that it’s okay if they don’t remember it all. Ask them if there was anything that excited them or confused them from what we discussed on Sunday. Let them know if there is anything from above that was new or confusing for you as well.
Remind your kids that while it is always good to be good, their reason for being good is not to earn your affection or God’s affection, but is because you love them and God loves them. Take a moment to consider if you have shown your kids the love and affection they need or if you have been loving them because of how they act. Apologize to them if this has been the case. Kids who know their parents love them will want to obey them more, just as we desire to obey God after we have experienced his love.
Just a note: all of your kids did a wonderful job engaging with the content above. It has been amazing to see how your kids can elevate to whatever is thrown at them. Thanks for having such great kids!