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In God’s word of grace, three things are included: God’s promise, God’s fact, and God’s covenant. In the first chapter we spoke of God’s promise and God’s fact. Now we come to God’s covenant. All those who have been taught by grace will praise God and say, “How great and precious it is for God to make a covenant with man!”
God’s promise is precious. When you have illness, pain, or difficulty, God’s promises become streams of water in a dry place. God’s promise is also like a shadow of a massive rock in a wasted land (Isa. 32:2).
But there is something that is easier to obtain than God’s promise, which is God’s fact. God not only gives us the promise that He will soon fulfill; He also grants us the fact that He has already accomplished. He has truly put the treasure in earthen vessels to manifest that the excellency of the power is of God and not out of us (2 Cor. 4:7).
Moreover, God has not only given us His promise and the fact, which He has accomplished in Christ; God has even made a covenant with us. The covenant that God has made is more glorious than either His promise or His fact. God has made a covenant with man. This means that He has condescended to be bound and limited by the covenant. The reason God is willing to lose His liberty by the covenant is that we may obtain what He intended us to obtain. The Most High God, the Creator of heaven and earth, condescended to such an extent to make a covenant with man. Oh, what an unsurpassing grace! Before such a God who is so full of grace, we can only bow and worship.
What is the meaning of a covenant? A covenant speaks of faithfulness and law. In the matter of a covenant, no preference and grace can be considered. A covenant must be carried out strictly according to faithfulness, justice, and law. If we make a covenant with someone, clearly recording in writing how we will perform, but we do not fulfill this covenant, this means that we retract our words; we become unfaithful, unrighteous, and dishonest. Our moral level is immediately lowered. Moreover, the breaking of a covenant is usually punishable by law.
We see from this that God, by making a covenant with man, has put Himself into a restricted position. Originally, God could treat man as He liked. He could deal with him in grace, or He could treat him otherwise. He could save, or He could not save. If God had not made a covenant with man, He could do whatever He liked; He was at liberty. If He preferred to do something, He could do it; if He did not like to do anything, He need not do it. But once God made a covenant with man, He must be bound by the covenant. He must perform that which was clearly written.
We know that as far as the covenant is concerned, what is involved is only faithfulness, not grace. But as far as God’s willingness to be bound in making a covenant with man is concerned, the covenant is the highest expression of God’s grace. God condescended and seems to stand in the same position as man. He put Himself into the covenant. After He made the covenant, He had to be limited by the covenant. Whether He likes it or not, He still must do it. He cannot act contrary to the covenant that He has made. Oh, how great a thing it is for God to make a covenant with man! How noble it is!
Why would God make a covenant with man? To understand this we must start from the first instance of God making a covenant with man. Strictly speaking, in the Old Testament the first instance was during the time of Noah. Before Noah, God had not made any covenant with man. His first covenant with man was with Noah.
From the covenant with Noah we see that one of the most difficult things for God is that of causing man to understand His intention. At Noah’s time the human race had committed sin to the uttermost. Therefore, God intended to destroy man by the flood. But with this intention God remembered not only Noah’s family but also many creatures. He wanted to preserve their lives. Therefore, God made a covenant with Noah, saying, “I will establish My covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing, of all flesh, two of every kind you shall bring into the ark to preserve them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kind and of the cattle according to their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind will come to you in order to preserve them alive. And for your part, take some of every kind of food that is edible, and gather it to yourself, and it will be for food for you and for them. ” (Gen. 6:18-21). God wanted to preserve their life and even considered their food. This covenant shows how loving and tender God’s heart was toward man.
Then the flood came. All creatures of flesh and blood upon the earth — the fowls, the cattle, the beasts, the reptiles, and the whole human race — died. Only Noah’s family and those creatures that were brought into the ark were preserved. Thus God fulfilled His covenant.
For one year the eight members of Noah’s family were shut within the ark. They saw and heard nothing but the surging water. When the flood finally receded, the whole family emerged from the ark. However, they were still full of fear. They were not certain whether or not God would destroy the human race again with a flood. They were not sure whether or not they would encounter the same dreadful disaster again. Although they were saved, their hearts were still fearful. We know that God’s judgment of the human race by the flood was far from His desire. Genesis 6:5-6 says, “Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And Jehovah repented that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him in His heart.” We see here what God’s heart was really like. Undoubtedly, the flood made a very fearful impression upon man. God’s desire was to change this impression and show man His real intention. He did not desire to destroy the human race; He wanted to comfort them. He wanted them to know His heart’s intent. Therefore, He especially gave them evidence of His intention, and He came to make a covenant with them.
Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, And I Myself now establish My covenant with you and with your seed after you and with every living animal that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every animal of the earth with you, of all that came out of the ark, every animal of the earth. And I establish My covenant with you, that never again will all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living animal that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My bow in the clouds, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. And when I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living animal of all flesh, and never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow will be in the clouds, and I will look upon it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living animal of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is upon the earth. (9:8-17)
In this covenant God said repeatedly that there would never be another flood. In order to assure the family of Noah that they need no longer fear, this covenant was given that they might lay hold of the words of the covenant and rest upon them.
From this we see the purpose of the covenant: God has a good intention toward man. But man could not understand or see; therefore, God gave man a covenant so that he might have some evidence to cling to. God gave man a covenant to show him clearly what His real intention was. It seems that He was opening His heart to man so that man could see what His heart was really like. Oh, the Most High God, the Creator of heaven and earth — He even cared and considered man to such an extent! Should not even the stones be touched!
Now let us come to the matter of God’s making a covenant with Abraham. In saving his nephew, Lot, and refusing the offer of the King of Sodom, Abraham manifested his love, his zeal, his bravery, and his cleanness (14:14-23). Then after these things, God came to speak to Abraham, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram; I am your shield and your exceedingly great reward” (15:1). This verse shows that at this time Abraham’s feeling was, on one hand, that of anxiety, fearing that the four kings might come again and, on the other hand, sorrow for Lot’s departure and for his own state of childlessness. It was at this time that God came to him to strengthen and comfort him. But from Abraham’s answer we see that this promise of God did not fully satisfy him. He asked, “What will You give me, for I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” (v. 2). This shows that he had not yet known or seen how gracious God’s promise was; he was negative. He had his own idea and his own arrangement as well. So what did God do? “Then the word of Jehovah came to him, saying, This man shall not be your heir, but he who will come out from your own body shall be your heir. And He brought him outside and said, Look now toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them. And He said to him, So shall your seed be.” (vv. 4-5). What was it that God spoke here to Abraham? It was a promise, not a fact. What about Abraham? Now he could believe God’s promise; therefore, God accounted it to him as righteousness (v. 6). Because Abraham believed in God’s promise, he became the father of faith.
After Abraham believed God’s first promise, the second came: “Then He said to him, I am Jehovah who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to inherit it” (v. 7). Did Abraham believe this promise? No, because his measure was too narrow. He became doubtful and said, “O Lord Jehovah, how will I know that I will inherit it?” (v. 8). Because the promise was too great, Abraham could not believe it. Therefore, he asked God to give him evidence to which he could cling.
How did God deal with Abraham’s unbelief? What did He do? God made a covenant with Abraham (v. 18). Therefore, the establishment of a covenant makes up that which is lacking of a promise. A covenant is the best way to deal with unbelief. A covenant enlarges the measure of man’s faith. Abraham may not believe God’s promise, but God could not change what He had promised. Because Abraham could not believe, God made a covenant with him so that he could do nothing else but believe Him.
Genesis 15 says, “He said to him, Bring Me a three-year-old heifer and a three-year-old female goat and a three-year-old ram and a turtledove and a young pigeon. And he brought Him all these and cut them in two in the middle and laid the half of each opposite the other, but the birds he did not cut in two...And when the sun went down and it was dark, there came a smoking furnace and a torch of fire which passed between these pieces.” (vv. 9-10, 17). What does this mean? This means that God was making a covenant with Abraham. It means that the covenant that He made was something which went through the deepest inward parts and through the blood. The bodies of the heifer, the goat, and the ram were divided, the blood was shed, and God went through the halves of the heifer, the goat, and the ram. This shows that the covenant that He made will never change or become void.
God knew that Abraham’s faith was limited. God knew that He had to enlarge the measure of his faith. Therefore, He made a covenant with Abraham. God not only promised Abraham what He would do; God even made a covenant with him to show that He would do it. Thus, Abraham could not but believe, for if God, after making a covenant with man, did not act according to the covenant, He would be unfaithful, unrighteous, and contrary to law. By the strengthening of such a covenant, the measure of Abraham’s faith was naturally enlarged.
Now let us see the history of the covenant that God made with David. Second Samuel 7:4-16 speaks of the same thing as Psalm 89:19-37. However, 2 Samuel 7 does not say clearly how God made a covenant with David. It is in Psalm 89 where we find that when the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David, what he spoke to David was a covenant. Psalm 89 and 2 Samuel 7 speak of the same thing, not of two different things. In both of these passages God gave His word to David and his descendants as a pledge. God likes for man to take hold of His word and ask Him to fulfill it. He loves for man to do this. He gave a covenant to man as a pledge, hoping that man would ask Him to fulfill it.
God spoke to David in a very clear way: “If His children forsake My law / And do not walk in My ordinances, / If they profane My statutes / And do not keep My commandments, / I will punish their transgression with a rod / And their iniquity with stripes. / But My lovingkindness I will not utterly take away from Him, / Nor will I be false to My own faithfulness. / I will not profane My covenant, / Nor will I change what has gone forth from My lips. / Once I have sworn by My holiness; / I will not lie to David. / His seed shall endure forever, / And His throne, like the sun before Me ” (Psa. 89:30-36). This tells how God made a covenant with David. If David’s descendants forsake God’s commandments, God will chasten them with a rod and with stripes. But God cannot forsake the covenant He made with David.
Psalm 89 was written at the time the Jews lost their country and were taken captive to Babylon. At this time it seemed that God had forgotten the covenant He had made with David. When the psalmist sees the situation, how the country was lost, he tells God, “You have cast off and rejected; / You have been angry with Your anointed. / You have abhorred the covenant of Your servant; / You have profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.” (vv. 38-39). Here he is reminding God of the covenant He had made with His servant. Then he immediately inquires of God by holding on to the covenant: “Where are Your former acts of lovingkindness, O Lord, / Which You swore to David in Your faithfulness?” (v. 49). We need to pay attention to what the psalmist says here. He prayed by holding on to the covenant. The Holy Spirit especially allowed such a prayer, in which a man inquired of God, to be recorded. In this we see how God delights that man pray by holding on to the pledge that He has given man, namely, the covenant. This causes God to be glorified. God delights that man demand Him to fulfill what He has promised in the covenant.
If, having made a covenant with man, God does not fulfill it, He becomes unfaithful and unrighteous. We know that the reason God makes a covenant with man is that man may become bold enough to inquire of Him and demand Him to fulfill what He has promised in the covenant according to righteousness. God is bound by the covenant. He must act according to righteousness. So those who know what a covenant is also know how to pray; they can even pray with boldness. The following are some examples:
(1) In Psalm 143:1 we read: “O Jehovah, hear my prayer; / Give ear to my supplications; / Answer me in Your faithfulness and in Your righteousness.” Here David does not ask God to answer him according to His mercy or His lovingkindness and grace but according to His faithfulness and righteousness. He was not begging in a poor way; he was boldly asking God to answer him. He knew what a covenant was, and by holding on to the covenant, he knew how to ask God to answer him.
(2) When Solomon finished building the temple, he said, “Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to David my father and fulfilled it with His hands” (2 Chron. 6:4; cf. 2 Sam. 7:12-13). Then he knelt down before the congregation of Israel, spread out his hands toward the heavens and said, “O Jehovah, God of Israel, there is no god like You, in heaven or on earth, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness with Your servants who walk before You with all their heart...And now, O Jehovah, God of Israel, keep with Your servant David my father that which You promised him...Now therefore, O Jehovah, God of Israel, may Your word that You spoke to Your servant David be confirmed. ” (2 Chron. 6:14, 16-17). Solomon knew the covenant that God had made with David his father. Some parts had been fulfilled, but other parts needed yet to be fulfilled. Therefore, he asked God by His covenant to fulfill what He had promised. Thus, he prayed and inquired of God by clinging to the pledge that God had given, namely, the covenant.
(3) We have seen that Psalm 89 was written after the Israelites were captured and brought into Babylon. At that time, outwardly speaking, it seemed that everything was finished. It seemed that God’s promise had become void and that God had forsaken the covenant He had made with David. Therefore, it seems, the psalmist was reminding God, “Where are Your former acts of lovingkindness, O Lord, / Which You swore to David in Your faithfulness?” (v. 49). This was praying by the covenant; this was praying by cleaving to the pledge that God had given in His covenant.
How can we truly know and understand God’s covenant? Psalm 25:14 tells us: “The intimate counsel of Jehovah is to those who fear Him, / And His covenant will He make known to them.” We know that unless God reveals His covenant to us, there is no way to know what the covenant is. You may hear others speak of God’s covenant, and you may also know a little about the matter of a covenant, but unless God reveals it, you will still have no power, and you still cannot hold fast God’s word. Therefore, God must show it to us in our spirit.
What kind of person can have God’s revelation? Only those who fear God. The Lord gives His intimate counsel only to those who fear Him and His covenant to those who fear Him. What does it mean to fear Him? To fear means to magnify, to exalt, Him. A person who fears God is one who seeks God’s will with a full heart, with the intention of completely submitting to God’s way. It is to this kind of person that God will reveal His secret and reveal His covenant. Those who are lazy, careless, double-minded, proud, and complacent can never expect God to reveal His intimate counsel to them. Neither can they expect God to reveal His covenant to them. The Lord only gives His intimate counsel and reveals His covenant to those who fear Him. This is the testimony of those who fear God. Therefore, if we truly want to know God’s covenant, we need to learn to fear God.
