Was Added

Galatians 3:17-19 - What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator.

Exodus 20:18-19 - When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die."

Genesis 17:7 - I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

Jeremiah 31:31,33-34 - "The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah…"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

Conclusions:

• The period in Egypt is designated in round numbers as 400 years
• From the time of Abraham, the promise covenanted to him had stood at the center of God's relationship with His people
• After the exodus the law contained in the Sinaitic covenant became an additional element in that relationship--what Jeremiah by implication called the old covenant, when he brought God's promise of a new covenant
• The Seed is Christ
• Israel (in Exodus 20:19) requests a mediator to stand between them and God, a role fulfilled by Moses and subsequently by priests, prophets and kings--and ultimately by Jesus Christ

Application:

• Do you seek a mediator between you and God?
• Is God your God?
• Are you in a covenant relationship with your heavenly Father?
• Has God forgotten your sins?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible