International speaker and author Kelvin Crombie speaking on ‘Israel, Jesus and the covenant’. Hosted by the Bereans at Bosham village hall, 14 May
Historian Kelvin Crombie gave us a very enjoyable day’s teaching, as he peppered his talk with humour as dry as the heart of his Aussie homeland.
But that did not detract from the beauty of his message – God desires a personal, intimate relationship with mankind, a love relationship. He pursues this relationship through covenant and oath.
Beginning with a masterly description of the suzerainty covenant of the early Middle East, Kelvin amplified our understanding of God’s covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15.
The covenants are followed by an oath which cannot be broken, which Kelvin teaches is a most important principle. He then traced some covenants and oaths through Israel’s history, exploring the principles of national boundaries, authority and the representative of the people, giving King David and Moses as examples.
Arriving at the New Covenant, he highlighted some singularities. Pointing out that God cannot have an intimate relationship with mankind until the barrier of sin is dealt with, he noted that the covenant sacrifice and the representative in this case were the same person, Jesus. Not only that, but Jesus represents God and Israel at the same time, which occurs nowhere else in scripture. Jesus was also the light to the gentiles and Israel, as Simeon prophesied in the Temple.
Kelvin then traced the fate of the land of Israel from 70 AD, looking at those who believed in the restoration of the land to the Jews according to biblical promise and the key role of intercession for the return of the Jews. Geo-political factors, chiefly the foreign policy of nations ranging from Europe to India, were shown to give evidence of God’s hand in fulfilling his covenant promise to Abraham and Israel.
The Church is evidence of one of those promises; Israel being back in the land is evidence of another. Through history, God’s faithfulness to his promises is proved, thus exalting his name.
Carole Woodiwis