Maturity of God s Purpose'. At Mount Sinai, God's purpose began To take definite form. Moses went into the mountain, learned the will Of God, returned and informed the people that the Lord had declared if They would obey his voice indeed and keep his covenant, they should be A peculiar treasure to Him, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation; and The people answered with one voice, "All that the Lord hath spoken we Will do" (Exodus 19:1-8 ). Owing to the frailty of the human race it took twenty-five centuries to bring revelation up to this point of Perfection. Keep in mind that the purpose of revelation is primarily to Reveal God to man, and to make man understand his necessities. The only Way to account for the long delay, therefore, is on the ground of man's Weakness and want of interest brought about by sin. God's purpose had Gradually been unfolded from the time of transgression. In passing Sentence upon the serpent, He intimated his purpose to bruise the head Of the serpent by the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:14,15 ). Take this sentence apart from its connection and how deep, how dark, how Impenetrable it appears, and yet for two thousand years it was the only Anchor of the drifting souls of the sons of men! However, taking it in Connection with the thought of God's purpose, we can see the light Where millions found only inexplicable mystery. Note, - the seed of the serpent are evildoers (Matthew 3:7; Matthew 12:34 );
- the seed of the woman is Christ (Isaiah 7:14; Galatians 4:4 );
- bruising the head of the serpent refers to the triumphs of Christ and his people (John 16:11; Romans 16:20; Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8 );
- bruising the heel of the seed of the woman refers to the brief triumph of Satan, sin and death (Romans 1:4; Revelation 1:17,18 ).
The first promise of the Redeemer was made to Abram ( Genesis 12:1-3 Acts 3:25,26; Galatians 3:8,16 ). This confined the development of God's purpose to an individual. God also promised to make of Abraham a great nation, And in order to do this He promise him a son by his wife Sarah, and an Innumerable posterity (Genesis 15:1-13 ). In order to the maintenance and perpetuity of this nation He promised Abraham a country, set its bounds (Genesis 15:18-21 ), and gave him circumcision as the national mark of distinction (Genesis 17:1-14 ). From Abraham forward therefore, these people became the repositories of the oracles of God (Romans 3:1,2 ). The promises were renewed to Abraham on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:1-18 ), to Isaac at Gerar (Genesis 26:1-6 ), to Jacob at Bethel (Genesis 28:10-19; Lord spoke to Jacob at Beersheba (Genesis 46:1-4 ), but at Mount Sinai He spoke to the whole nation (Exodus 19:1-25; Exodus 20:1-22 ).