So, I was at work today, and listening to a podcast when suddenly the topic of “Covenant Relationship” hit my mind. It pretty much came out of the blue. It was one of those things where a thought comes to mind and you just know it won’t be leaving any time soon. I thought on it as a worked on throughout the day. It was then that I knew that this would not be merely a Facebook post, but an all out blog. So what’s the deal with the whole Covenant Relationship concept? I guess we will just have to dig a little deeper and find out.
I guess the first step would be to understand just what this covenant thing is all about. In our Western world, we hear this word from time to time. It’s not a word we use often, however we do hear it during wedding ceremonies, but the thing is, how many of us have even been to a wedding? Among those that have been to one, did you even notice this word being mentioned by the preacher? Did he even say it? Among those that have gone to weddings, how many of you have been to 3 or more in your lifetime? Better yet, outside of gazing at the couple standing before the preacher, in their beautiful array of clothing and clever color schemes, how many remember a word that came out of the preachers mouth? My point is this, the word covenant is not one that is in our daily vocabulary. The term scarcely fits into our way of life. So, we need to dig a little deeper.
I wonder, if I were to ask you, the reader, what a covenant was all about, how many of you could accurately answer that question without looking at an expository, or a dictionary? Interesting thing about the choice of books I mentioned, only one will give you a decent background on it, and it isn’t the dictionary. The reason for that again is the fact that covenants don’t have a place in our lives today. To really understand this, you have to go back to the days of old, and I don’t mean a few hundred years, I’m talking thousands, plural, not singular. So let’s journey back through history, perhaps 4 or 5 thousand years ago.
In the ancient times, a covenant was a an agreement made by 2 or more people. The parties both agreed to do, or not do a thing. Covenants in most cases were two sided, and required all parties to contribute. The parties would then split various animals in half, and spread them apart so that there is enough room for all parties to walk in between this line of animals. Once done, the covenant was established, and all parties fully knew the consequences of breaking this covenant. The idea was that what was done to these animals could be done to you for failing to uphold your end of it. Genesis 15 records that God had instructed Abraham to take a heifer, goat, ram, dove and a pigeon. When God said this, Abraham knew exactly what He was hinting at. This implies that this practice had started long before God spoke to Abraham, and it is evident in the fact that He did not need to give Abraham any further instructions. This was a covenant that God was making to Abraham. This was a rare case where only one party was required to be the “doer”, whereas the other party, being Abraham was the sole benefactor of this covenant. The Scripture records that the presence of God walked in between the animals, thereby sealing this covenant. In this covenant, God had sworn to make Abraham a father of many nations, and also foretold of the plight of his descendants in Egypt, and beyond the exodus into the Promised Land.
So now that we understand this covenant, lets move to the next covenant. After the exodus from Egypt, God had shown Israel His mighty power in delivering them from Pharaoh with a might hand. It was now time to make His formal introduction to the people. He met with Moses, and instructed him to tell the people who He was, and that it was Him that had wrought these wondrous miracles in their presence. He also told him to tell the people “IF”, they would heed His instructions, and do be diligent to do everything He says, that they would be His people, His prized possession. Moses brought word to the people, and to this, they replied “whatever He says, we will do”. The covenant was now intact. Moses was instructed to bring the entire nation to the base of the mountain, in three days time. It was the third day, when everyone met Him at the base of the mountain, and the entire nation heard the voice of God. After this was done, the people were terrified at the sound of the voice of God, so they bade Moses to hear it for himself and then come back and share it with them. God called Moses up the fiery mountain, and for forty long days, Moses received instruction from the mouth of the Most High. During this same time, the people grew restless of waiting for the return of Moses, and forced Aaron to make them a god for them to worship. In just under forty days of hearing the voice of God, and learning what He required, the had fallen.
Let’s back up a bit, I need to add one other bit before I continue. Back in Egypt, just before the final plague, God had began to institute the order for the Pesach, which is Hebrew for Passover. Knowing that there were non Hebrews with them, who had purposed in their hearts to leave with Israel, understanding that the God of Israel was the True God, He told Moses that if any non Hebrew desired to dwell with His people that they were to understand that there was Torah echad, which is Hebrew for, one Torah, which in laymen’s term means that the same rules that apply for the Hebrews, apply also to the non Hebrew desiring to stay with them. In essence, the non Hebrew people had a choice to make. For them to dwell with Israel, was to willingly submit themselves to God’s Torah. There was one rule for everyone, as opposed to two standards. They agreed, and were allowed to dwell with the people.
Another example of non Hebrews willingly submitting to the Torah of God is Ruth. Ruth was a woman from Moab. There was no love at all between Israel and Moab, in fact, during this time, they were considered as a people that God was utterly against. It was tolerable for a Hebrew to marry a Moabite woman, but no Hebrew woman would ever be permitted to marry a Moabite man. Anyway, long story short, Ruth was married to a Hebrew who had died. It is interesting to note that Ruth was also a woman of royalty. In any case, being a widow, her mother-in-law wanted to release her to her own family since she no longer had any family to care for her, making it impossible for her to care for Ruth. Ruth, however, was a dedicated woman. She refused to return to her people and her royalty. Instead, she said, I will go where you go, your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Because she willing submitted herself to these covenanted people, and accepted Torah, she was the first person from Moab to be accepted by God. She later became the grandmother of King David, the beloved king. The point being made is that in both cases, non Hebrews willingly aligned themselves these covenanted people, accepting God’s Torah, which qualified them as non Hebrews to became equal with the Hebrew people as it relates to God.
All in all, when really looking into this thing, it is really hard to separate Torah from the covenant, scripturally. Theologically, it has been done on many platforms, but as the term implies, this is basically the personal view of another, accepted by a body of believers, opposed to what the text says for itself. Theology is not always a bad thing, in fact, we all have our own theology, it’s just that same base ours off of the masses whereas others have their own based off of what the text reads, and not what they think it means to them. My point in all of this is that, when we as non Hebrew believers consider this thing, we need to first understand that this God we serve, first and foremost IS the God of Israel. He hand picked these people to be a light to the rest of the nations. To show us the way. To teach us just who this God is and not only that, but what He wants from us. What does He require. Our connection to God can be found again in the book of Exodus, where the covenant was first made. God said that if the people would keep HIS commandments, and obey whatever He said, that they would in turn be His people. So, what makes us His people is found solely in keeping His commandments and obeying Him in all things. I am reminded of another parallel when Yeshua told the disciples, that if you love me, keep my commandments. Our Lord defines our love for Him in the way we keep His commandments. This again implies that if we do not keep His commandments, that we do NOT love Him. So, it is not about how we define love, but how He defines love. We cannot love Him our own way when He has already outlined the way He desires to be loved.
It is quite interesting that Yeshua talks about commandments. Some would assume that His “commandments” replaced the ones The Father set forth, but this could not be further from the truth. Numerous times, He stated that He and The Father our one. Not only that, but how He came to do the will of The Father. Also, how He was sent to speak only what The Father told Him to speak. This being the case, how could He change what The Father laid out, if He was sent to speak The Father’s word? We have a serious problem now. Let’s get back to the covenant relationship thing. Based on all of these points, I hope you can look beyond your current theology, and views based on what you thing or what your pastor thinks, on to what the Bible actually says in its context. I believe the text makes it clear, if we are going to follow the God of Israel, we have to do it understanding that we must also willingly step under the umbrella of His covenant, and accept His Torah. It is this that makes us a part of His people.
And what about those people who have lived and died serving God to the best of their ability, apart from Torah? I think that because they served Him in ignorance, that they would have to be accepted based off of what they knew, and how they followed Him as it relates to that. Same as the Jews, I really can’t believe that the devout Jews who do not believe that Yeshua has come already, yet serve God in good conscience as it relates to Torah, will die and go to Hell. Hell has to be reserved for those who know Torah yet willingly choose to walk contrary to it. It is not until one comes into the true knowledge of Scripture and choose to walk contrary that hell becomes an issue. For those of us who believe that they are in a covenant relationship, yet do not keep Torah, I would highly encourage you to re read scripture, setting aside your personal theologies and let the text speak for itself. Yeshua did not come to change or destroy what God has established. What He has established will stand forever. And yes, I know you are probably thinking about grace and being saved by grace, but grace did not replace Torah, grace saves us from the wrath of not keeping Torah. So if you live and die serving God apart from Torah, done in ignorance not a rebellious nature, grace covers you. Remember, the Apostle John defines sin as living outside of Torah. Grace ultimately covers those who live outside of Torah in ignorance, but those who shun it in rebellion, grace cannot cover. I hope that makes sense.
All in all, you cannot be under or a part of the covenant if you do not agree to the terms. Had Moses conveyed to the people what God had said, and their reply was “no”, the covenant could have never taken place. How much more does that apply today than it did four thousand years ago? I hope I have given you as the reader something to think on. I didn't always have the views that I now have. In fact, like most, my views were predominately based on what my pastor taught. I added bits and pieces to it based off of what he taught, and every piece laid thereafter came from across the pulpit. It was not until I began to go deeper on my own and allow the text to speak for itself that my ideals began to change. My hope is that this piece will inspire you to go deeper, set aside what you think you know, and rather than looking for what the word means to you, focus more on what it flat out says. I’d love to hear your comments on this. It is your comments that causes us to all grow in that it inspires us to study more, and studying is what God desires from us because the more we study the more sure we become in our faith
