The Promise Keeper -- God and the Covenant
The Promise Keeper
“God and the Covenant”
Sabbath School Class Study Notes
November 23, 2019
Larry R Evans
Introduction
Some time ago there was a television panel game show called, “To Tell the Truth.” It may still be showing, I don’t know. The idea behind the show is that two of the three featured contestants were imposters and were lying about who they were. One was telling the truth. Four celebrity panelists were to determine who was telling the truth. Another game show called, “Truth or Consequences” selected contestants from the audience. They were asked questions and they had to either tell the truth(answer a question) or pay some kind of consequence (perform a stunt).
It seems that personal integrity is so valued yet maligned that we “make sport” of it openly in game shows. We’ve turned a human problem into a game in which the plot is all about deceiving others. In religious terms, we call that hypocrisy. The dictionary describes hypocrisy this way: “the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense.”
When it comes to building a strategy in order to accomplish a noble objective, it is important that we build it on someone or several “someone’s” who can be trusted, who have a high degree of integrity and who are genuine and not just pretenders. They may not be perfect, but they must be honest, dependable, and rightly demonstrate the principles of the strategy.
Today, our study is about “the Promise Keeper.”In our study, God is the Promise Keeper who wishes to enter into a special relationship with His people so that He might redeem them and through them reach out and redeem others. It is a noble plan and to be successful it cannot be built on “pretenders.” Imposters can easily misrepresent Him and His plan, so God has set up what the Bible calls covenants. There are several references to covenants in the Bible, but one truth is evident in all of them: God is the initiator! He is the one seeking our good and He is looking for our favorable response even it if it will be costly to Him. He has concluded that regardless of the cost to Him, the fulfillment of the plan will be worth it. It appears that there have been many “starts and stops” to the fulfillment of the plan. What is amazing is that God hasn’t given up!
Covenant Questions
1. The first covenant God made with man was with Noah as seen in the rainbow. True or False?
2. It is possible to become so evil that we are beyond deliverance. True or False?
3. Biblical covenants that related specifically to God’s intervention into man’s welfare were initiated by God and man. True or False?
4. Our individual baptism is our covenant with God just as were the covenants made between God and Israel. True or False?
5. We can change our hearts by coming to God in prayer and Bible study. True or False?
6. The purpose for Jesus cleansing the temple was to get people to return their tithe and offerings? True or False?
The Meaning of Covenants
In a moment, we will look at a specific covenant, but first, let’s define what a covenant means and look at a brief history of God’s covenant with man.
A covenant is essentially an agreement between parties. Generally speaking, it is a term used in Scripture of agreements between man and man and between man and God—for our purposes today, covenants are an agreement regarding a formal relationship that existed between man and God. God Himself took the initiative and determined the provisions of the covenant. These provisions were made known to His people, giving them the choice of accepting or rejecting the covenant.
There was essentially one objective for all covenants made between God and man—to restore what had become a broken relationship. On His part, God promised to bless His people, to give them the land of Canaan for a possession, to make known His will to them, to send them the Messiah, and to make them His chosen instrument for the conversion of the world. On their part, the people were to yield implicit obedience and to cooperate with all of God’s requirements.
The first covenant was with Adam at the Fall (Gen. 3:15), then later with Noah (Gen. 9:12,15,16). It was with Abraham and his posterity that the covenant became fully effective. (Gen. 12:1-3; 15:18; 17:1-7). God’s covenant was formally ratified or consented to at Sinai, when Israel as a nation bound itself to comply with the divine requirements (obedience) and accepted the corresponding promises (become God’s treasured possession—become “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:5-8).
After centuries of faithlessness to their promise to cooperate with God, Israel was released from the covenant. God’s chosen people were permitted to go into captivity. (Jer.11:1-16) BUT God never gave up!
After the captivity, God promised to make a new covenant with his people. (Jer. 31:31-34) This was the continuation of the old covenant that began in Eden. What was new was that it was ratified at the cross. It was once again God taking the initiative to redeem the broken relationship. God, Himself, would come in the person of the Messiah.
Keep in mind that the old and the new covenants had the same singular purpose which was to (1) restore the broken relationship that sin had caused, (2) create a special people who would receive the special blessings of companionship with their Creator, and from that companionship (3) be a light and blessing to other nations.
The writer of Hebrews refers to the covenant with ancient Israel as the “first,” or “old,” covenant, and that with Christian believers as the “second,” or “new” (ch 8:7, 13). Essentially, the provisions, conditions, and objectives of the two covenants are identical. The chief difference is that the “old” covenant was made with Israel as a nation, whereas the “new” is made with individual believers in Christ. The “new” covenant is also called an “everlasting” covenant (Gen 17:13; Heb 13:20)
An Example and Our Hope
We take up the story of Abram in Genesis 12 where he is called to leave the city of Babel, his home country, his people and even his family. (12:1). He is to go to a country that he does not know about. Talk about transition, Abram experienced it! The good news is that God promised him that He would not only bless Abram by making him a great nation but would curse those who try to curse him. (vv 1-3). Abram has some interesting experiences as he travels through Egypt and then later as he and Lot separated with Lot settling in Sodom. In chapter 14 we see that Lot and his family are captured and. Abraham strikes out and rescues Lot but is fearful of the consequences. It is with this setting that we come to chapter 15. In verse 1 we see that Abram was concerned that since he had no children who would receive his estate as an inheritance.
God tells Abram that he need not fear because He will be his shield, his protection. Abram replies, but how can I know this? To assure him, God enters into a covenant with him. This is where things get a little, well, we’d say they get a little weird!
God tells Abram to bring Him a heifer, a goat and a ram along with a dove and a pigeon. (v.9). Abram then took the animals and cut them in half and arranged in such a way so each half faced the other creating a path between them. A dark cloud later covered the scene and during this time God informed him that for 400 years it may appear that his people had been forgotten because they would be in a strange land where they were mistreated. At the close of this encounter during the darkness that had come, a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.
What is happening here! In Abram’s day, such act of walking between the halves of animals was the making of a covenant—a very serious undertaking. Normally when a king and a vassal both would walk through to indicate their pledges or sometimes just a vassal would take the walk. The promise is that serious! The “curse” or the consequence of breaking the promise was death. Notice what it means in Jeremiah 34:18,
Because you have broken the terms of our covenant, I will cut you apart just as you cut apart the calf when you walked between its halves to solemnize your vows.
Back to the covenant God is making with Abraham.
In symbolism, it is God’s presence that brings the darkness. The fiery torch is God which is reminiscent of the “fiery, cloudy pillar” of the Exodus. In this case Healonepasses between the halves of the animals. Abram does not walk through the animal halves.What is this saying? God alone makes the covenant and God is willing to bear the curse should he fail. God the Promise Keeper is willing to bear the curse for Abraham. Abram’s trust in God is backed up by God’s promise to be with him.
Then the Bible says “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram”(v18) giving the assurance that the promised land would stay with the descendants of Abram. He takes him outside and he is to look into the sky and see the countless stars. Old Abraham would have a child and he would have land for all his descendants!
Generations later, on a hill called Mt Calvary, Jesus hung upon the cross. Immense darkness came over the area. From that darkness came the cry, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me.” (Matt. 27:46) At that moment Christ bore the curse of the covenant that you and I have broken. Hebrews 8:10,12 speaks of this “new” covenant – no longer built on national identity but on a personal relationship with Christ.
But this is the new covenant I will make
with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds,
and I will write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
And they will not need to teach their neighbors,
nor will they need to teach their relatives,
saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’
For everyone, from the least to the greatest,
will know me already.
And I will forgive their wickedness,
and I will never again remember their sins.”
When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.
Covenant Questions/Answers
1. The first covenant God made with man was with Noah as seen in the rainbow. False
The covenant was first given to Adam in Gen.3:15 when the promise to put enmity between man and Satan.
2. It is possible to become so evil that we are beyond deliverance. False
We saw that Israel’s continued faithlessness led to captivity, but we also saw that God never gave up. He continued to work but it was always the choice of His people as to whether they came back and stayed in a relationship with Him.
3. Biblical covenants that related specifically to God’s intervention into man’s welfare were initiated by God and man. False
God has always been the initiator for our redemption. Adam and Eve hid, Israel chased idols and doing what was right in their own eyes, but God remained faithful and willing to reclaim and bring them back into a covenant relationship. What was involved with a covenant with God? He supplied the promises/deliverance and they obedience/cooperation.
4. Our individual baptism is our covenant with God just as were the covenants made between God and Israel. True
Yes! Just as with Israel of old God welcomes a restored relationship with Him. Baptism is our pledge to cooperate and be obedient to His will.
5. We can change our hearts by coming to God in prayer and Bible study. False
We cannot change our hearts. God can. We come to Him and our association with Him, His indwelling of His Holy Spirit is what changes us from the inside out and in that order.
“God has given us the power of choice; it is ours to exercise. We cannot change our hearts, we cannot control our thoughts, our impulses, our affections. We cannot make ourselves pure, fit for God’s service. But we can choose to serve God, we can give Him our will; then He will work in us to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Thus, our whole nature will be brought under the control of Christ.” (The Ministry of Healing 176)
6. The purpose for Jesus cleansing the temple was to get people to return their tithe and offerings? False
“In cleansing the temple from the world’s buyers and sellers, Jesus announced his mission to cleanse the heart from the defilement of sin.” The Desire of Ages, p. 161.
Patient endurance is what you need now so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.
“For in just a little while,
the Coming One will come and not delay.
And my righteous ones will live by faith.
But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.” Hebrews 10:36-38
God Just Will Not Let Go
(Illustration of Attack by Alligator)
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