Covenant Language
Genesis 17:1-7
There is an abundance of covenant language in the Old Testament. For instances, Genesis 17:1-2 says, "When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless. 2I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers."
Covenant Language in the Old Testament
Circumcision - the covenant mark on the body.
Gen. 17:5-7
"No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you."
Gen. 17:10-11
10
This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you."In the light of circumcision, God declared that on the part of a man’s body that brings him the greatest pleasure and his most important blessing would be a mark indicating a covenant relationship.
Everything that we have - including our children - belong to God.
Blessings (as in step 7 of the covenant ceremony)
Deut. 28:1-7
1
If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:3
You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.4
The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock — the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks....6
You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.7
The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.Prosperity: Biblical prosperity is God’s desire to meet our needs without our experiencing undue stress.
The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity — in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground — in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you." (Deut. 28:11).
Gen. 28:12-13
"The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 13The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom."
The Curses: Remember that the pronouncement of blessings is followed by the pronouncement of curses.
Gen. 28:15-20:
"However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
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You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.17
Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.18
The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.19
You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.20
The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him."The Enemy is the Robber of God’s Blessings.
Gen. 28:25-26"
The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth. 26Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away."
Jeremiah (34:18-20) also talks about birds in covenant language:
"The men who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces. 19The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf, 20I will hand over to their enemies who seek their lives. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth."
Jer. 7:33 also references birds: "Then the carcasses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away."
New Testament insight: Jesus said the birds represent the enemy robbing the Word before it has a chance to take root in the believer’s heart (Mark 4:15).
Whenever God does something profound in our hearts, the enemy shows up to try to diminish its impact in our lives.
We must learn to protect ourselves before the enemy robs us of that experience with God.
David and Goliath - the Test of the Covenant
"The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them. 4A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall." (I Samuel 17:3-4).
"David asked the men standing near him, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (v. 26).
When David mentions circumcision, he is not talking about anatomy - he is talking about covenant.
David knows his covenant theology.
In verses 34-37 David says,
"Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."
Like David, overburdened by Saul’s armor, in the church today we load ourselves down with all kinds of "weapons" - programs, productions, and promotions instead of prayer, power, praise, and purity.
But, David knows his confidence is not in the flesh. He is prepared to go forth in covenant power.
I Samuel 17:46-47
"This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give all of you into our hands."
I Samuel 17:50-51
"So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. 51David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword."
David & Jonathan Making Covenant:
"Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt." (I Samuel 18:3-4).
Both Saul and Jonathan are killed. Jonathan is survived by a crippled five-year-old son.
"David asked, "Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?" (2 Samuel 9:1).
The word "kindness" actually is the word "chesed" in the Hebrew, which implies a tenacious love that will not give up.
"Don’t be afraid," David said to him, "for I will surely show you kindness [chesed] for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table." (2 Samuel 9:7).
But Jonathan’s son does not understand David’s kindness or the covenant: "What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?" (v. 8).
David does for Jonathan’s son, what Jesus does for us.
David sends his servant to get Jonathan’s son - just as God sent the Holy Spirit to find us and bring us into covenant with Jesus.
The sad truth is that the Church often lives below the covenant provision God intended. By virtue of the covenant, all heaven’s resources are available to us.