About Covenants

I must first apologize for the length of time since I last published. We have had a testing of our faith in the health of my husband but, as with all testing, we have a stronger footing and a deeper respect and relationship with our Father and the Lord of Life. The Lord reminded us of the night 62 years ago when we knelt together and totally surrendered our lives into His Hand to do as He would with us. He assured us He has never let us go! It has been an adventure and one we will never regret.

I asked the children I teach in Children's Church the simple question, "What is a covenant?" They thought about it for a bit of time and one said, "Is it like a contract?" We began to compare a covenant with a contract and came up with some interesting similarities and differences. I thought it might be of interest for you to consider these also.

Both are signed with a signature.
Both have provisions that must be fulfilled.
Both have a time period.

The differences are significant. While both have consequences if broken, the covenant consequence is death.
Covenant goes on to another generation and the length of that time is determined by the Instigator of the covenant. (In the history of man's covenant it was usually to the third generation. In God's covenant with Israel, it was to the thousandth generation. We are still covered!)
Blood is involved in the cutting of the covenant. Animals were used to demonstrate the serious oath of covenant. The two cutting the covenant stood in the midst of the pieces of the slain animal to take their oath, ending with the phrase, 'so be it unto me, as these, if I break this covenant.' The signatures of that covenant was in their own blood, written by their own hand.

The most significant difference is in their origin. God created covenant to be a protection of the creation as well as a protection for Himself. His purpose in making a creation was to make man in His image. All creation was made after God purposed to so make man. Every thing came into being for the sake of man to give him a place to live and be protected during the time alotted him to make his choice and to become in the image of God. God does not have to live in the rest of eternity with rebellious and sinful man. God does not send man into eternal punishment, man makes his own choice. God provides the way and lovingly provides everything to allow man to be shaped into His image. We are the work of His Hand. But we are constantly allowed to withdraw and go our own way. God does not force us in our choice. The Way is set before us and we choose to follow or go our own way.

Man's answer to the covenant is a contract. It allows us to negotiate rules and price. It gives us what we want at the price we are willing to pay. There is little or no protection if we fail and very little help in the process. It can be broken with no obvious penalty other than losing the object of the contract's purpose. This has seemed to be such a good substitute that most of mankind today has little or no understanding of covenant.

In the learning and keeping of God's covenants with man, there is the opportunity of learning God's ways. The deepest relationship with God comes from the knowledge of His ways and the deep appreciation of those ways gives a depth to the worship response to Him. We flounder in guilt and self condemnation, discouragement and constant appraisal when we do not have this relationship with Him.