The covenants continued.
The people of Israel were sincere in what they promised to God at Mount Sinai. The people thought that they could fulfill what they promised. They were certain concerning their promise because they did not know that they were sinners by nature. The people were not aware that their decision in the first Man Adam was binding on all future descendants of Adam. They did not know that the sin in the garden of Eden made the whole of humankind utterly helpless and incapable of obeying God. The people at Mount Sinai did not know that their nature was evil and that they were unable to change their nature. Good intentions and sincere efforts do not help. Even the best intentions and efforts on the part of sinful nature are evil. Because of humankind’s decision in the garden of Eden, the option of doing good and obeying God did not exist for sinful humanity. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or leopard his spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.” Jeremiah 13:23.
God knew that the people could not render perfect obedience regardless of how much they wanted. Accordingly, God gave the people the Ten Commandments. The Commandments were practical and did not impose an unbearable burden on the people. The purpose of the Ten Commandments was to educate the people concerning the nature of evil and sin. “Did that which was good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through commandments sin might become utterly sinful.” Romans 7:13.
Violation of God’s command is a sin because it represents rebellion against God. However, even the most careful obedience to the commandments given at Sinai could not remove sin from the people. Only God could remove sin from sinful humankind and restore it to himself as his children.
God’s commandment as a part of the agreement that people made with him was only a shadow pointing to reality. “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.” Hebrews 10:1. The people were sincere in their promise; however, they did not realize, and they could not have known, that their sinful spirit could not be made good. It had to be destroyed forever and be replaced with a perfect spirit.
The agreement at Mount Sinai will continue in the next blog.
