R.C. Sproul

Conversely, the curse of the covenant is to be cut off from the presence of God.

to never see the light of his countenance, to be cast into the outer darkness.

That's how the Jew understood the curse.

Now,

When the Jew would describe the situation of the Gentile in the Old Testament, he would say that the Gentile is a stranger to the covenant.

He is a pilgrim.

He's a sojourner.

He's foreign to the household of Israel.

When the Day of Atonement took place in the Old Testament ceremony, we know that the lamb was sacrificed on the altar.

It was a blood offering.

But what happened to the scapegoat?

The sins of the nation were ceremonially transferred to the back of the goat.

And the significant thing is what happens to the goat?

Why isn't the goat killed?

That symbolism is taken care of with the lamb.

But the goat is sent outside the camp.

He's driven into the wilderness, into the place of darkness, into the place that is removed from the light of God's countenance, into the outer darkness.

Now, that, because of the constraints of time, is the tip of the iceberg, I hope you understand, of the dynamic that's going on in the Old Testament symbolism of blessing and curse.

But let's turn now quickly to the New Testament, to one of the most extraordinary statements that we read from the Apostle Paul with respect to the cross of Christ that we find in Paul's letter to the Galatians.

In the third chapter,