#HEKEEPSHISWORD #HisPromisesAreSure #HisPRomisesAreEternal
Have you ever had someone break their word-or say one thing and then when it came down to putting their words into practice they failed miserably? That my friend is the human condition. We strive to follow Jesus’ directive to us to “let your nay be nay and your yah be yah.
Deuteronomy 7:9 reminds us that God makes and keeps His covenant with human beings. Now the Scripture above cites a specific number of years, but that is to demonstrate the never-ending nature of God. He will not break His covenant after one thousand generations have passed. In Jeremiah 31:31-34 reminds us of the nature of God.ESV (Unless otherwise stated the scriptures in this study are from the English Standard Version of the Bible.)
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” [That day is yet to come, but is will come!]
In Jeremiah 50:5 the profit iterates the length of YHWH’s covenant with His people.
They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, saying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.’
Unlike human beings who give their word and then forget or break it, Psalm 105:8-11 implores us to understand that God’s word and His covenant last forever – that is what a thousand generations mean.
He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.” [The latter statement is what Israel of 2018 stands on today. The nation of Israel accepts and recognizes that the land that they currently occupy, and all lands that are now inhabited by others that were part of the biblical land of Canaan,,actually belongs to them because YHWH said so. The Promised Land.]
Psalm 105:8 Clarifies the lifetime of YHWH’s covenantal relationship with His people
He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
Other Old Testament scriptures that refer to the covenant between God and His People. Psalm 74:20; Jeremiah 11:3; Isaiah 59:21; Judges 2:1; Genesis 2:17; 2 Chronicles 15:12-15; 2 Samuel 23:5; 1 Samuel 18:4; Deuteronomy 4:13; Leviticus 2:13; Exodus 24:8; Genesis 28:20-22; Genesis 2:16; Isaiah 55:3; Isaiah 54:10; 2 Chronicles 23:1-3; Exodus 34:28; Jeremiah 3:21 ;Genesis 12:1-3 ;Genesis 28:13-15 ;Genesis 17:1-22 ;1 Samuel 18:3; Exodus 19:5; Genesis 9:8-17
For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. [His death, burial, and resurrection instituted a gateway, a door, a bridge so to speak between sinful man and a holy God.]
“Yeah, but that is just a disciple. They were Jewish. They were not a part of the New Testament (NT) church!” Yes, I have actually heard someone saying that. So, let’s look at some NT discussions about God’s covenant with His people.
In Hebrews 6:18 expounds on the fact that
“by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.” [What does that have to do with the price of putty right? Well, putty that lies is not reliable. To be untruthful is a human trait. So, if God says His covenant is an everlasting one then it is.]
Again, Paul iterates in
Hebrews 13:20 “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, [Only one spilt blood holds an eternal promise. The blood of Jesus.] Hebrews 10:10 “And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” In Hebrews 9:15 Paul declared “Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.” He also referenced the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant in Hebrews 8:6 “But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.” In “Luke 22:20 the Apostle also addresses the nature of the blood of Jesus And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” Hebrews 12:24 states “And to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” Hebrews 12:18-24 “For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. [No human physical experience with the God of the OT would end well.] Why? “For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” [Now for the clincher Paul explains the exceptionality of the new covenant. “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,”
A contentious person might argue that the above Scripture was written to the Hebrews who were probably Jewish. So, again what about the Gentiles? Well, Paul addressed them too. In Romans 9:7-13 Paul erases all doubt as to the relationship between Gentile Christians and the nation of Israel especially with regard to the covenantal agreement between YHWH and His chosen people.
“And not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— [And?]
Paul contended for the faith of the Gentile church in Galatia. To them, he wrote Galatians 3:29
“And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”
Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
You Are Not the Only One 
Mar 19, 2018 @ 23:19:52
“What a promise keeping God we serve.” Amen! You’ve done a great job here of expressing how the covenant carries over to our day. This reminds us of the eternal relevance of the Old Testament, a part of the Bible many ignore – and it reminds us that the Church is the new Israel, not America or whatever denomination we belong to, but the whole Church universal!
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Apr 07, 2018 @ 06:45:41
Thank you so very much!
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Mar 20, 2018 @ 16:51:25
amen
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