11-16-2022

Good Morning All,

     Deuteronomy 8:18; “But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.”

     “and so confirms his covenant;’ now there’s a phrase you don’t hear too often.  We don’t use the idea of a covenant anymore.  We might be tempted to replace it with the concept of a contract but even that falls short.  In the ancient world “covenant” was the closest, holiest, most solemn, and most indissoluble compact conceivable.  To break a covenant was to bring about your own death and destruction.  Most of our contracts today have some form of “escape clause” in them.  But a covenant is much higher, more sacred, and never able to be broken.

    In the ancient world, there were two basic types of covenants.  The first was one between equals like when two kings make a peace treaty and a covenant to maintain it.  This is where the daughter marrying the king comes in.  This is why Solomon had so many wives; it was part of the covenant.  The second type is far more important to us.  It is the type when a lower person like a prince or even lower would make a covenant with the king.  This type of covenant kept the lower guy safe but at the will of the king.  This covenant would often have the lower ranked person walk through the halves of sacrificed animals toward the king as a sign of “this is what will happen to me if I don’t keep my part of the deal.”  All the burden lies on the lower person, no of the responsibility lies with the king.

    The second type of covenant is the one which we have with God.  The only thing is God is the lower ranked member.  The covenant which God made with Abram was one where the entire burden is on God not on Abram.  (You can read this in Gen. 15: 7-21.)  This shows us that the motive for God to make this kind of covenant was purely his love and mercy which he feels and shows to us.  It is not fear but love for you and for me.  This is why God showers us with all his blessing.  He loves us, protects us and desires to show us his love.

     Note that the covenants God made with man were ultimately made to fulfill His gracious purpose to redeem man from the penalty, power, and presence of sin. The final covenant which God made with man was the new covenant which is Christ Jesus.  This is what Jesus meant when he told the disciples that the Lord’s Supper was the “new covenant.”   This relies on nothing at all from man but everything entirely from God.  We only have to trust it and then we trust it with the faith which God gives us.

     Yet today, too often, we fail to see that God is indeed keeping his covenant with his people.  He always shows us a way through our trials and adversities.  He always grants us the grace to meet those challenges.  God never said that adversity would not happen; he only promised to keep us safe through it.  That is part of the covenant as well.  We are blessed by God to be a blessing to the world.  God goes with us all the way.

Father of all good gifts, we praise you for the river of grace which flows over us with such depth that we cannot ever measure it.  We are not worthy, yet you continue to send us these great gifts.  Keep us mindful of your blessings and use us to be a blessing to those around us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret