COVENANT

A covenant is an agreement between two parties. There are two types of covenants:

• Conditional Covenant or bilateral Covenant

1. In this Covenant, the agreement is binding on both parties for its fulfillment, i.e., both parties must agree to fulfill the terms of the agreement.

2. If either party fails to meet their responsibilities, the Covenant is broken, and neither party has to fulfill the expectations of the Covenant

• Unconditional Covenant. An unconditional or unilateral covenant is an agreement between two parties, but only one of the two parties has to do something. Nothing is required of the other party.

When God called Abraham, it came to  a time when God wanted to test Abraham's mind that

he decided to enter into a  Covenant with him: You find that the  Abrahamic Covenant is unconditional
. The actual Covenant is found in Genesis 12:1–3. The ceremony is recorded in (Genesis 15:9-10). Indicates the unconditional nature of the Covenant. When a covenant was dependent upon both parties keeping commitments, both parties would pass between the pieces of animals. In ancient Near Eastern royal land, treaties of this ritual were made to "seal" the promises made. Through this blood covenant, God was confirming primarily three promises He had made to Abraham: the

promise of heirs, land, and blessings (Genesis 12:2-3).

▪ I will make of you a great nation

▪ I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing.

▪ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

A blood covenant communicated an oath utterance of a curse oath. The parties involved would walk the path between the slaughtered animals, so to say, "May this be done to me if I do not keep my oath." Jeremiah 34:18-19 also speaks about this type of oath-making. Thus God's solitary action indicates that the Covenant is principally His promise. He binds Himself to the Covenant.

However, the type of blood oath or Covenant that God made with Abraham was exceptional, in that God alone moves between the halves of the animals. Abraham was in a deep sleep. When the evening came, God appeared in the form of a "smoking firepot, and flaming torch [that] passed between the

pieces" (Genesis 15:17). In Gen 22:13-18, God swore again to reiterate to be faithful to His Covenant. "When God made his promise to Abraham since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself" (Hebrews 6:13-18).

Abraham and his descendants could trust, count on, and believe in everything God promised. The promise in their total obedience to God will make them overcome every problem they will ever encounter in the life journey.

God's ultimate Covenant with man

God does not break His Covenant with any man that violates their part Ps 89: 34-37: My Covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. (I will not violate my Covenant or alter what my lips have uttered.) Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.

His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before meIt shall be established forever as the moon and as a faithful witness in heaven.

▪ (Hebrews 9:19-21): For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, "This is the blood of the Covenant that God

▪ (Hebrews 9:22): Indeed, under the law, almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.

In the Old Testament, the blood of animals served as a covering, or atonement, for the people's sins. The animal's life was given in place of the sinner's life.

All these were a shadow of God declaring, He would shed his blood to serve both Covenant and remission of sin.

▪ These things were only "shadows" of the better Covenant to come (Hebrews 9:23). The lives of animals could never remove sin; an animal's life is not a sufficient substitute for human life (Hebrews 10:4).

The blood of bulls and goats was temporary appeasement until the final, ultimate blood covenant was made by Jesus Christ Himself – the God-Man (Hebrews 9:24-28).

This way, everyone should come under the blood and remain under the blood since God is eternal and can no more break an oath than He can die.

▪ Numbers 23:19, Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18 KJV God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not do it.

In fulfilling the promise God made with Abraham (Gal 3:29), God provided Jesus Christ to the Lamb of God to shed his own blood as the New Testament covenant ((Luke 22:20). Thou exclaim John the Baptist at the river Jordan (John1:29 Revelation 13:8; Isaiah 53:7; John 1:29): On the morrow, he seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!

As the apostle Paul explains, the Covenant was established with Abraham and his "seed"—singular. Paul interprets this as the singular person of Christ (Galatians 3:15-16). Therefore, all who are "in Christ" are spiritual heirs of the promises made to Abraham (Galatians 3:29). The blood covenant is a promise made by God that He will choose a people for Himself and bless them (Galatians 3:7; cf. Genesis 15:6). God's promise of eternal blessing is given only based on faith in the saving blood of His Son, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 9:12).

▪ Heb13:20-22: Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting Covenant.

Blood covenant

▪ Exodus 12:7-13 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.

God's ultimate Covenant with man

▪ The Blood of Jesus can be applied to every situation-And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Revelation 12:11.

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.2 Corinthians 10:3-4

 Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:11-12

The blood of Jesus IS POWERFUL. It...

▪ Frees us from sin (Revelation 1:5),

▪ Justifies us (Romans 5:9),

▪ Redeems us (Ephesians 1:7, 1 Peter 1:18-19),

▪ Gives us the confidence to approach God (Ephesians 2:13, Hebrews 10:19), and

▪ Cleanses us and makes us holy (Hebrews 9:22 and 13:12, 1 John 1:7).

                                               God is Serious about HIS Word

 Exodus 4: 19-26 "… At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it and said, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!" 26 So he let him alone. It was then that she said, "A bridegroom of blood," because of the circumcision."

 

God groomed Moses in the wilderness for about 40 years, equipped with power and authority, commissioned to go and free God's people, Israel, and then turned around to kill after that heavy investment. Why. he is the reason can be traced back to;

·         Genesis 17:11-13. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.'"

o   Every male, related in any way to Abraham, even every male servant, must be circumcised. Jew male children must be circumcised at eight days old. How God emphasizes that this sign of the covenant between God and His people through Abraham is absolutely necessary. Any uncircumcised male is out of the covenant, Period. If he is not cut in the foreskin of his flesh, he will be cut off from his people. God's people through Abraham must be circumcised, or they will not be God's people.

·         Moses was to lead his people out of Egypt and be an example to the pharaoh's house, Egypt's nation, and to all the nations that heard of those happenings (Exodus 18:10-11; Joshua 2:10-11).

· Moses' personal life had to be in order before he could direct the spiritual lives of the Hebrew people. It seems that Moses had neglected to administer the sacred rite of circumcision, the act that symbolized the Almighty's covenant with His chosen people. t seems to scripture does not contradict, 1Tim3v1Titus1v3 "This is a true saying if a man desires the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.   Bishop then must be blameless, the …",

· Moses' great sin made him unfit to serve as a spiritual leader, and the situation had to be rectified before he could carry out his mission effectively. His quick action on Zipporah saved him.   soon as Zipporah performed the act, the Lord "let him go." If not, God was going to kill Moses because Moses was supposed to teach the Israelites God's Law, yet Moses was not obeying God's Law himself. James 4v17. Therefore to him, that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is a sin.

Adam and Eve Example (Gen. 2:16, 17).

At the Garden of Eden, God Judged Adam and Eve with the judgment of death in their very first sin; this aught make us fear.

·         In Heb 2:1-2" For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at  the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?"

Uzzah Example

The story of Uzzah and the Ark of the Covenant is found in 2 Samuel 6:1-7 and 1 Chronicles 13:9-12. As the Ark was being transported, the oxen pulling the cart stumbled, and a man named Uzzah took hold of the Ark. G d's anger burned against Uzzah, and He struck him down, and he died. Uzzah's punishment appears to be extreme for what we might consider a good deed. However, there are reasons why God took such severe action. First, God had given Moses and Aaron specific instructions about the Tent of Meeting and the movement of the Ark of the Covenant. " After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy articles, and when the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites are to come to do the carrying. B t they must not touch the holy things, or they will die. T e Kohathites are to carry those things that are in the Tent of Meeting" (Numbers 4:15). No matter how innocently it was done, touching the Ark was in direct violation of God's law and resulted in death. This was a means of preserving the sense of God's holiness and the fear of drawing near to Him without appropriate preparation.

Notice how David took men with him to collect the Ark, rather than allowing the Levites to bring it to him. That was a great mistake since it ought never to have been put upon a cart, old or new. I  was to be borne upon men's shoulders and carried by Levites only, and those of the family of Kohath (Exodus 25:12-14; Numbers 7:9), using the poles prescribed. Failing to follow God's precise instructions would be seen as (a) not revering God's words when He spoke them through those such as Moses, whom He had appointed; (b) having an independent attitude that might border on rebellion, i.e., seeing and acting on things from a worldly, rather than a spiritual, perspective.

Second, the Ark had stayed for a while at Abinadab's house (2 Samuel 6:3), where his sons, Uzzah and Ahio, may well have become accustomed to its presence. T ere's an old saying, "familiarity breeds contempt," that could apply in this case. Having been around the Ark in his own home, Uzzah could very likely forget the holiness that it represented. There are times when we, too, fail to recognize the holiness of God, becoming too familiar with Him with an irreverent attitude.

Third, the account tells us the oxen stumbled. The cart didn't fall, and neither did the Ark, just as the boat carrying Jesus and the disciples rocked fiercely in the storm, though it wasn't necessarily in danger of sinking (Matthew 8:24-27). A d yet, just as with the disciples who failed to put their faith in their Master, Uzzah, for a moment, felt it was his responsibility to save the integrity of God and that our almighty God somehow needed Uzzah's assistance. H  presumed that, without his intervention, God's presence would be dealt a blow. A  Job asks, "Can you fathom the mysteries of God?" (Job 11:7). " is greatness no one can fathom" (Psalm 145:3). " is understanding no one can fathom" (Isaiah 40:28). M ses lost his right to enter the promised land because he felt his intervention was needed when he struck the rock instead of speaking to it as God had commanded (Numbers 20:7-12). W  need to listen carefully to what God has to say to us and strive to do all He commands in obedience. Yes, God is loving and merciful, but He is also holy, and He defends His holiness with His power, and affronts to His holiness sometimes bring about His Holy wrath. " t is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31).

Something of God's presence in the Ark of the Covenant seems to be lost in the church today. In the time of Moses, the people knew the awesomeness of God's absolute holiness. They had witnessed great miracles when the Ark was with them. T ey respected that God's ways and thoughts are much higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). In truth, the more we try to bring God down to our worldly way of thinking or reasoning, the further away He will seem to us. Those who would draw near to God and have Him draw near to them are those who approach Him in reverence and holy fear. Uzzah forgot that lesson, and the consequences were tragic.

 

God's Admonition to Moses: Your righteousness is your obedience Deut 6:20-25 - Be Careful to Obey all His Law: 20. In the future, when your son asks you, "What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees, and laws the LORD our God has commanded you?" 21. t ll him: "We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 2 . Before our eyes, the LORD sent miraculous signs and wonders – great and terrible – upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. 2. But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers. 2. The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. 2. A d if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us that will be our righteousness.

 

God's Admonition to Joshua: Joshua 1v7: Your success is Obedience to His Word: Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.

 

Paul Admonition

1 Cor9:27: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway (rejected, disqualified, disapproved).

Paul, an apostle, a teacher, a prophet knew the importance of the sacrifice of Christ for us that he did not fail to warn believers and the elders of the church: Act 20v28 "Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. B  shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood." Colossians 1:20: and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Ephesians 1:7: In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace

o   I believe Paul's concern is, he should be careful how he handles the gospel so as not to bring reproach on the Gospel, Christ; lest some corruption of his nature or other should break out, and thereby his ministry be justly blamed, and be brought under contempt; and so he be rejected and disapproved of by men, and become useless as a preacher:" 1 Corinthians 3:13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

God warning to youth.

·         (Ecclesiastes 11:9): "Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the sights of your eyes; but know that for all of these things, God will bring you to judgment!" (Ecclesiastes 11:9)

·         (Ecclesiastes 12:14): "For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil." None are so high as to rise above this accountability to God; none so low as to be beneath it. John saw the dead, small and great, standing before God to be judged.

The word of is a law: -

What he says comes to pass; this is why His word is potent and powerful, enduring forever.

Ø  By faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, Heb 13V3.

Ø  Ps 138v2: I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name

Ø  1 Peter 1:25: But the word of the Lord endureth forever. A d this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Ø  Psalm 119:89: Your word, O LORD, is everlasting; it is firmly fixed in the heavens.

Ø  Isaiah 55:10-11: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Ø  Matt 24:35: Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

Ø  Num 23:19: God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?

Ø  John12v48: He that rejecteth me, and receiveth, not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

When men transgress the laws of their country, they are led on by the hope that they shall not be detected or brought to trial—they calculate the chances of escape and indulge the expectation of impunity. But there is no room for such a hope, in reference to the judgment of the great God—this it will be impossible either to evade or resist. It is as certain that you will stand before the tribunal of Christ and be tried for your life! You will certainly be brought before that tribunal, whether willing or unwilling. Rocks and mountains will not hide you; no power on earth will shelter or detain you. God has declared that he will undertake this matter himself. Where will you hide? Where will you go from God's presence? Go where you will—you will be surrounded still by God! Will you resist God's arrest? " or do you have an arm like God's?" The whole universe is represented as brought together to judgment, with the same ease as a shepherd collects a flock of timid sheep. No ! No! Nothing can prevent being placed at the tribunal of heaven!