They
entered into the covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their
heart and soul; and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put
to death, whether small or great, man or woman.
Moreover they made an oath to the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting,
with trumpets and with horns. All Judah
rejoiced concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and had
sought Him earnestly, and He let them find Him.
So the Lord gave them rest on every side. 2 Chronicles 15:12-15
I will
give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not fulfilled the
words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two
and passed between its parts. Jeremiah
34:18
Years ago
I was given the opportunity to hire a college pastor. After the interview
process we made a verbal covenant to stick together for at least three years.
Nothing was written. There were no lawyers involved. There were no contracts to
sign, only the word of two men-only the power of covenant.
Without
going into the details, outside forces fought to break that covenant but we made it to the
three year marker and said goodbye. Matt and I are still friends today. Matt was tired and empty when he came to us
but through the power of covenant and God's grace he left a different man; full, rich, and
overflowing with God’s call upon his life.
Our covenant was literally laughed at by men who, quite frankly,
should have known better.
There is
power in covenant.
In 2 Chronicles 15:12 the Israelites
formed a covenant to “seek the Lord…with
all of their heart and soul”. A covenant is much different than a business
contract. A business contract is a
document that acts as a hedge, or firewall of protection against you. A contract is a veneer of protection keeping
one from total transparency. It is a man’s word plus his written contract, and lawyers.
Marriages
fail today on this point only.
Yes,
marriage is a legal contract in the eyes of the law. However, it is much more.
It is a covenant relationship in the eyes of God who said, “and two shall become one flesh” (Genesis
2:24). A covenant is an oath or promise that binds people together. A
covenant it is a no-holds-barred, rubber-meets-the-road relationship where a man
offers himself completely to his wife and she, of course, reciprocates.
In the
ancient times a covenant was transacted by cutting an animal from top to bottom
(Jeremiah 34:18). The covenanting
parities walked through the carcass in a figure 8 fashion symbolizing infinity
while speaking blessing and cursing upon one another based on the fulfillment of covenant. Often a cut on
each hand unified through a handshake would seal the covenant. The wound would
be rubbed with dirt to heal as a scar- a continual reminder of covenant.
This blood
covenant is symbolized in marriage by the breaking of the hymen, which has no
known biological purpose, except as a symbol of covenant. When a virgin offers her
body to her husband the hymen breaks and bleeds symbolizing the consummation of the marriage covenant. Oh, how we have forsaken the importance of virginity in
our culture!
A tree was
often planted as a mnemonic aid of covenant followed by a meal usually including
bread and wine.
Blood,
sacrifice, scarred hands, covenant meal, a tree planted sound strangely
familiar don’t you think?
There is
power in covenant.
