7. Laws for Israel, Part B + PDF teacher's notes

God's covenant to Abraham was based on promise and was unconditional. God's covenant with Israel came 430 years later and was based on law. The covenant with Israel did not invalidate the covenant with Abraham. The purpose of the law was to show the Israelis their sins and make them appreciate the need for promise and the arrival of the promised Seed: Jesus the Messiah.

The Sinai covenant and its law were all about the physical land, the physical seed and the physical blessing. The Abrahamic covenant and its promises weren't really about those physical things. It was about the coming of Christ, the justification by faith that Christ made possible and a heavenly country.