2002-01-01
Good Morning Fellow Believers,
Today we continue our discussion of lives from the Scriptures which reveal the oneness of the covenant relationship. While these stories happened long ago, there are some wonderful lessons that help us to better understand the relationship we have with God in the Covenant of Grace we are in with Him and increase our motivation to keep our agreements with Him. You will remember that yesterday I explained that the Hebrew word, “taqa” [pronounced “taw-kahee”] is the word for “strike.” This word came up in JOB 17: 3, “Lay down now, put me in the surety with Thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?” [KJV]. This was Job’s way of saying, “I am being honest, God. Accept my word. There is no one else to support what I say.” [GNV]. This “striking hands” is an archaic way of saying clasping or shaking hands to agree upon what was said.
Going back to the original language can really be helpful when understanding exactly what an inspired writer of the Bible is saying. In researching this word, “taqa,” I found that it is also an analogy to driving a nail, tent peg, or dart. With this revelation, we can derive an even deeper understanding of its implications. Let’s recall the story of Deborah and Barak in JG 4. Jabin was a Canaanite who ruled in Hazor during Isreal’s commonwealth period when she was ruled by judges, and the prophetess, Deborah, was Israel’s ruling judge at the time. Jabin’s army commander was Sisera. Deborah would sit under a palm tree in the region of Ephraim from where she responded to God’s direction. One day, she called for Barak from Kadesh and told him that the Lord God had the following command for him: “Take ten thousand men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them to Mt. Tabor. I will bring Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, to fight you at the Kishon River. He will have his chariots and soldiers, but I will give you victory over him” [JG 4: 6b-7]. Barak insisted that Deborah go into battle with him, and she agreed on the proviso that Barak understand that God alone deserves the credit for the victory they will have. Then she added in (9) that “the Lord will hand Sisera over to a woman.” In the meantime, Heber the Kenite and his wife, Jael, had set up their tent close to Kadesh (where Barak was from). Deborah led Barak into the battle with Sisera and his men. God responded by throwing these Canaanites into confusion, and Sisera fled on foot. Sisera’s whole army was killed that day (14-16). Sisera sought asylum at Heber and Jael’s tent, because he knew they were at peace with Jabin. Jael invited him inside the tent, promising him he had no reason to fear. She gave him a drink of water and agreed to watch at the opening of the tent for approaching danger. Sisera was so tired that he fell asleep. JG 4: 21b-24, “Then Jael took a hammer and a tent peg, quietly went up to him, and killed him by driving the peg right through the side of his head and into the ground. When Barak came looking for Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, ‘Come here! I’ll show you the man you are looking for.’ So he went in with her, and there was Sisera on the ground, dead, with the tent peg through his head. That day God gave the Israeltes victory over Jabin the Canaanite king. They pressed harder and harder against him until the destroyed him.”
If you wonder what this has to do with covenants, think about the promise that God made to another covenant partner of His, Joshua in JS 1: 1-6. God promised to be with Joshua, just as he had been with Moses and to give the Jews victory over the Canaanites, so His children and their descendants could occupy the Promised Land. The story of Jael’s action against Sisera and the victory in battle Deborah and Barak had enjoyed was simply more of God fulfilling that promise.
I cannot relate a story like this without mentioning another promise that God kept involving “striking,” this time with nails. Often I have cited COL 1: 19-20 and will do so here. “For it was by God’s own decision that the Son has in Himself the full nature of God. Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to Himself. God made peace through his Son’s death on the cross and so brought back to Himself all things, both on earth and in heaven.” We know that Christ’s hands and feet were nailed to the cross from the Gospel accounts, particularly the story of the newly resurrected Christ’s encounter with the Thomas the doubter in JN 20: 24-29, which I hope you will read. 1 PET 1: 20-21 this “striking” in covenant perspective for us. “He had been chosen by God before the creation of the world and was revealed in these last days for your sake. Through Him you believe in God Who raised Him from death and gave Him glory; and so your faith and hope are fixed on God.” It is my hope that we can see a pattern of God’s interactions in these stories from the Scriptures as a remainder to us that we can take comfort in knowing that when we keep our covenant agreements, God will see us through spiritual warfare not only to get His own work done and further our sanctification, but also to demonstrate His willingness and consistency in keeping His promises to us. We are truly a blessed people. Meditate today on how this impacts our personal lives.
PRAYER: O Lord, by allowing us to see the pattern present in all of these stories of oneness in the covenant relationship, You allow us know take great comfort in Your consistent love, wisdom, protection, and provision. Job, Deborah, Barak, Joshua, and even the doubting Thomas all knew You first-hand to be a Promise Keeper. You have called us to read the Scriptures for many reasons. One of them is so that we might be able to have faith that You will keep Your covenant promises to us. Another is so that we might be fully motivated to keep our own covenant agreements with You. And still another, is that we might, by the example we set and the knowledge of Your teaching that we impart, encourage others to keep their covenant promises with God. Whenever we are called upon to act out of faith, it may not be easy for us. That is because we have old habits to break, imperfect faith to be strengthened, studying of Your word to do, understanding to gain from allowing the Holy Spirit to teach us, a need to learn to listen for You in prayer, and/or even a need to learn to pray at all. These are all things that You call us to do, and today, we dedicate ourselves to doing them. We acknowledge Your presence and sovereign right to be the Lord of our lives. We approach Your altar in humility to offer You what You richly deserve: our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, honor, glory, trust, obedience, praise, and thanks. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will examine the parable of the eagles and the vine from EZK 17 to see more aspects to the oneness of the covenant relationship. Can you feel God’s arms wrapped around you as you go through your lives? I can. Where else can we find such a constant and irrefutable Source of love? We can revel in the fact that no matter how insignificant a person we might think we are, God loves each of us abundantly. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn