Exodus 19:8

At first sight, all seems well. The Lord delivers His people, offers them the covenant promises, and they agree: they will do all that the Lord asks them to do. It is a deal “made in heaven,” right?

Read the following texts. What insight do they give us regarding Israel’s response to the covenant?

Romans 9:31-32Romans 10:3Hebrews 4:1-2

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Whatever God asks us to do, our relationship with Him must be founded upon faith. Faith provides the basis upon which works follow. Works, in and of themselves, no matter how purely motived, no matter how sincere, no matter how numerous, can’t make us acceptable in the sight of a holy God. They could not in Israel’s time, and they cannot in our time, as well.

If, however, the Bible over and over stresses works, why can’t works make us acceptable in God’s sight? (See Isaiah 53:6; Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:23.)

Unfortunately, the Hebrew people believed that their obedience became the means of their salvation, not the result of salvation. They sought righteousness in their obedience to the law, not the righteousness of God, which comes by faith. The Sinai covenant — though coming with a much more detailed set of instructions and law — was designed a covenant of grace as much as all the preceding covenants as well. This grace, freely bestowed, brings about a change of heart that leads to obedience. The problem, of course, was not their attempt to obey (the covenant demanded that they obey); the problem was the kind of “obedience” they rendered, which wasn’t really obedience at all, as the subsequent history of the nation showed.

<–Wednesday Friday–>

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This video is produced by the South Pacific Division Discipleship team.

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Week 7_ Covenant at Sinai_ study this lesson for May 15 from SPD Discipleship on Vimeo.

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You can view an in-depth discussion of “Covenant at Sinai” in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris. Click on the image to view:

With thanks to Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.

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“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” (Exodus 19:5-6).

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In these verses the Lord is proposing His covenant with the children of Israel. Though in one sense the Lord has called them, that calling is not automatically bestowed upon them without their choice. They had to cooperate. Even their deliverance from Egypt involved their cooperation: If they did not do what the Lord said (such as putting the blood on the doorposts), they would not have been delivered. It was that simple.

Here, too, the Lord does not say to them, “Whether you like it or don’t like it — you will be a peculiar treasure unto Me and a nation of priests.” That is not how it works, and that is not what the text says.

Read Exodus 19:5-6, quoted above. How do you understand what the Lord is saying in the context of salvation by faith? Does the command included there to obey the Lord somehow nullify the concept of salvation by grace? How do the following texts help you to understand the answer? Romans 3:19-24; Romans 6:1-2; Romans 7:7; Revelation 14:12.

“We do not earn salvation by our obedience; for salvation is the free gift of God, to be received by faith. But obedience is the fruit of faith.” — Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 61.

Think of what the Lord was willing to do for the nation of Israel: not only did He miraculously deliver them from Egyptian bondage, but He wanted to make them His own treasured possession, a nation of priests. Basing their relationship with Him upon His salvation (both temporal, as from Egyptian slavery, and eternal), the Lord sought to elevate them to a spiritual, intellectual, and moral level that would make them the wonder of the ancient world. All for the purpose of using them to preach the gospel to the nations. All they had to do, in response, was obey.

<–Tuesday Thursday–>

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Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Dan. 12:1-13; Rom. 8:34; Luke 10:20; Rom. 8:18; Heb. 2:14-15; John 14:29; Rev. 11:3.

Memory Text: “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:3, NKJV).

The book of Daniel begins with Nebuchadnezzar invading Judea and taking captives to Babylon; the book of Daniel concludes, in contrast, with Michael standing up to deliver God’s people from end-time Babylon. That is, as shown all through Daniel, in the end, the very end, God works everything out in favor of His people.

As we have seen, too, Daniel and his companions remain faithful to God and display unparalleled wisdom amidst the trials and challenges of the exile. Likewise, when facing tribulation, God’s end-time people will also remain faithful, especially during “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation” (Dan. 12:1). Like Daniel and his friends in Babylon, they will display wisdom and understanding. They will not only experience wisdom as a personal virtue but will be committed, as a consequence of that wisdom, to lead others to righteousness. Some will die or be put to death, and thus, go back to the dust, but they will be raised to eternity. As the biblical text says, “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life” (Dan. 12:2).

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 28.

Sunday–>

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