2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Readers,
As anyone who has ever read my writing knows, God often directs me to write about both His nature and His interactions with mankind. These could be treated as lofty subjects better left in the ivory towers of academia, but I prefer to try to bring them down to a very practical level as they apply to each of us. This series of devotions will deal with covenants written about in the Scriptures between God and mankind that contain vital lessons for each of us. These two-way agreements reveal a great deal about God’s love for us and His willingness to step out on a limb for us. They also show us something about how mankind has chosen to respond to our Deity’s sovereignty.
To begin, we need to look at the definition of the word “covenant” as it is in the Scriptures. The Hebrew word for “covenant” is “beriyth” [pronounced ber-eeth] meaning a compact, confederacy, or league…(made by passing between two pieces of flesh). This interesting way of looking at it can be seen in GN 15: 17-18a, describing the actual sealing of the Abrahamic covenant. “When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch suddenly appeared and passed between pieces of the animals. There and then the Lord made a covenant with Abram…” This Hebrew understanding of the sealing of a two-way promise explains the ancient Jewish practice of a man passing his hand between the thighs of another man to seal a covenant between them. In the NT, we find the Greek word for “covenant” which is “diatheke” [pronounced dia-thee-key], meaning a disposition, specifically a contract, or testament. An example is RO 11: 26-27, “And this is how all Israel will be saved. As the Scripture [IS 27: 9] says, ‘The Savior will come from Zion and remove all wickedness from the descendants of Jacob. I will make this covenant with them when I take away their sins.’”
GN 6: 17-22 is the place where the word “covenant” first appears in the OT. It is the Noahtic covenant, the one that God makes with Noah. “I am going to send a flood on earth to destroy every living being. Everything on earth will die, but I will make a covenant with you. Go into the ark with your wife, your sons, and their wives. Take into the ark with you a male and female of every kind of animal and of every kind of bird, in order to keep them alive. Take along all kind of food for you and for them. Noah did everything that God commanded.” GN 6: 5-8 explains what brought God to this remarkable action. “When the Lord saw how wicked everyone on earth was and how evil their thoughts were all the time, He was sorry that He had ever made them and put them on the earth. He was so filled with regret that He said, ‘I will wipe out these people I have created, and also the animals and birds, because I am sorry that I made any of them.’ But the Lord was pleased with Noah.” Now, I realize that this story is very familiar to all of us. However, there are many lessons in it that are worth our time. Noah’s willingness to obey God’s commands, probably in the face of considerable taunting and criticism from others around him, is a real lesson in what God constitutes as righteousness to us. When we act with righteousness and faithfulness as Noah did, then God grants us His protection just as He did to Noah and his family.
Covenants have conditions, and the Noahtic covenant was no exception. GN 9: 3-4 gives us dietary conditions. “Now you can eat them [referring to animals and plants over which God had placed under mankind’s power in GN 1: 28-29], as well as green plants; I give them all to you for food. The one thing you must not eat is meat with blood still in it; I forbid this because the life is in the blood” [see also LV 11: 17 & HE 9: 22]. The Noahitc covenant also contained governmental conditions. These are seen in GN 9: 5-6, “If anyone takes human life, he will be punished. I will punish with death any animal that takes a human life. Man was made like God, so whoever murders a man will himself be killed by his fellow man.” This is the first institution of human government. It is also the introduction to the death penalty for capital crimes. The attitude toward government that God prescribes is backed up in Paul’s words in RO 13: 1-3a. “Everyone must obey state authorities, because no authority exists without God’s permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God. Whoever opposes the existing authority opposes what God has ordered; and anyone who does so will bring judgment upon himself. For rulers are not to be feared by those who do good, but by those who do evil…” The concept of God’s ultimate authority in matters of governmental assignments is a repetition of what had long ago been stated in DN 4: 17. “This is the decision of alert and watchful angels. So then, let all people everywhere know that the Supreme God has power over human kingdoms and that He can give them to anyone He chooses-even to the least important of men.”
When we understand God’s sovereignty here, we can better understand our responsibility to respond to it. God’s covenants [unless otherwise stated by Him] are to last as long as the earth does. That means that they apply to each of us. Some of them last for eternity like the promise He gave us in the death of His Son that we could be saved from our sins by having faith in Him and enjoy eternal life with Him. These are not empty promises that only apply to people we read about in the Scriptures. They have long range consequences that impact each and every one of us. Covenants that God makes with us are always designed to demonstrate both His righteousness and His love. They are always in our best interests. Meditate on that.
PRAYER: O Lord, from the time You created us, You wanted for us to know You and the source of good that You are in our lives. Often You have interacted with us by entering into two-way promises (covenants) with us. Your actions are always in our best long-term interests. They are designed to make us better people. Without You as the Lord of our lives, we would be totally vulnerable to the action of the adversary, completely surrounded by evil. You instituted human government and dietary laws in Your covenant with Noah. You have always wanted ours to be a better world, which is why You sent the flood in the first place. Throughout mankind’s history, You have entered into covenants with them in an effort to solve their problems and make the world a better place. The greatest covenant of all was the new one, the one in which You gave Your Son on the cross, so that by our faith in Him we could be saved for all eternity. What greater manifestation of Your love can there be? For that and so much more, we humbly confess our sins and offer You our adoration, worship, trust, obedience, loyalty, honor, glory, praise, and thanks. In Christ’s holy name, amen.
Tomorrow, the Lord directs me to continue writing about the Noahtic covenant and begin on the Abrahamic covenant. His love is so palpable throughout all of this. It is an amazing and awesome force in our lives. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn