Horse 1224 - When Was Israel Saved? (A Brief Look at Covenant Law)

In my local church we have been taking a potted survey of the Book of Exodus. Our pastor Tony, last Sunday left us with three "homework" questions:

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From: 22mins 08secs

If we took Israel as a person, when was he or she saved?
When did Israel become a Christian?
When were they delivered?
...
It may teach us something about our own salvation.

I wondered about this this week and didn't really come up with much of an answer until I cam across the following gem from the Master Tax Guide.

"A CGT event has not happened until a thing which causes a CGT event to happen has happened"

At first glance this sounds like doublespeak, it almost sounds like a case of gibberish and it also appears to be totally unconnected to the questions at hand. Nevertheless, I think that it illustrates a useful point.
For some "things" to happen at law, they first must be executed in the proper manner; that is also to say that a thing hasn't happened unless it has happened. Merely the fact that a contract or covenant has been written, is not to say that it has happened.
All legislation, trust deeds, company constitutions, contracts and covenants are not said to have taken effect unless assent has been given (almost always with a written signature). For someone to be "saved" requires the execution and assent of a covenant. That last item is of particular note.

A covenant is an agreement at law. Covenants exist throughout the world in the context of international treaties, certain legal rights and promises in connection with property, there are even covenants which restrict people from engaging or performing certain acts such as property damage.


A covenant exists between Christians individually and the church collectively and is In the simplest possible terms basically "I will be your God and you will be my people". The Hebrew "Berith" and Greek "Diatheke", both of which mean a covenant, are used more than three hundred times throughout the Bible.
Christ himself pretty much spelled out the terms of the covenant during the Last Supper:

Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
- Matthew 26:27-28

Here we have a short explanation of the settlement sum of the covenant, the method of payment and even how it is to be executed.

Now obviously it is somewhat difficult to collect a signature from a noncorporeal God, however since Christ has died, it can be taken as fact that his assent has been given. Our assent to to the covenant is spelled out in this form:

"If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."
- Romans 10:9-10

Okay, all of this is fine with us who live in a post crucifixion period, but what of the nation of Israel. What about those people?


God established a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17 in which the same terms "I will be your God and you will be my people" is made. Considering that Israel as a person or as a nation did not yet exist, then we need to go onwards.

We can see in Exodus 6:6-8 terms of a covenant spelled out, but verse 9 records that "Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor." This appears to be a rejection of terms of the covenant. Is Israel as a person saved? Not yet.

Actually to be perfectly pedantic, actual assent to the covenant on the part of Israel doesn't actually occur until Exodus 19:8 "The people all responded together, “We will do everything the LORD has said.”"
That then is the answer I think. Although Israel's covenant ultimately would be replaced with the new covenant, I think that it can be taken that Israel wasn't a "Christian" until then. It is at that point that a covenant is not only established but executed.