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Rights and Responsibilities
of Covenant
-a look at Judges 2
by
Captain Michael Ramsay
Judges 2:1,2: The angel of
the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you
up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give
to your forefathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant
with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of
this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you
have disobeyed me. Why have you done this?
This is a disappointing but
very important passage from which to launch the stories of the
Judges.[1]
Reading a few verses further
(Joshua 2:1-5) we learn why the Israelites and their allies
suffer hundreds of years of oppression:[2]
the cycle of sin, enslavement, repentance, deliverance, and
sin again - which repeats until Israel finally descends into
civil war and anarchy - this whole downward spiral[3]
stems from one disobeyed promise; a disregarded covenant.
How we live in our covenant
relationships has significant implications; our promises, our
covenants are very important to God. The Lord promised His
people that He would never break His covenant with them
(Judges 2:1; cf. Lev 26:42-44, Deut 7:9). As such, instead of
being released from our covenants before the Lord simply for
disobeying them (cf. Romans 7:2), there are often serious
consequences that result from taking our covenants lightly
(cf. Num 33:55; Josh 23:13).
This is important for us as
Salvationists to remember because we do have the opportunity
to enter into rich and strong covenant relationships with the
Lord in the form of our Officers’ and Soldiers’ covenants. It
is important too for all of us living in the new covenant era
of the post-resurrection world and especially for those of us
living in the so-called ‘First World’ where litigation, broken
contracts, and divorces
occur on a daily basis both inside and outside the churches.
As Christians we should all be aware of exactly what we are
getting into when we enter into a covenant. When we enter with
the LORD as either a partner or a witness, we should realise
to what we are agreeing.
Covenants are good.
Covenants with
and before God are good things. The Lord uses covenants to
give us direct access to strength, security, and blessing. The
Lord made a promise to Abraham (Genesis 12) that all the
nations of the earth with be blessed through him and this
promise is ultimately fulfilled through Jesus Christ. The Lord
made a covenant with Abraham (Gen. 15) that his descendents
would at some point in time occupy the land promised to him.
The Lord is faithful to His word. He does not break his
covenants.
He is bound to us through His covenants.
This is good
news and, as we have discussed in JAC before (Issues 52, 40)
the most common word for covenant in the Hebrew Bible is
berit[h], (mentioned 286 times).Berit[h] in all probability comes
from the Akkadian word for ‘to shackle’
so the image of a covenant with (or in the presence of) the
LORD then is of one actually being bound, shackled to him with
a tie that will not be broken, a chain that cannot be severed.
These covenantal ties are
strong and trying to break them – like trying to snap out of
iron shackles – will be unsuccessful and will naturally result
in unpleasant consequences. Judges 2:3: “…you have disobeyed
me…. Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them [the
Canaanites] out before you; they will be thorns in your sides
and their gods will be a snare to you.” It is important for us
to remember that there are consequences that result from
rebelling against our covenants.
The episode around this
covenant referred to in Judges 2 is particularly interesting.
It relates to the covenant of Genesis 15 and it refers also to
the covenant experience of Joshua 9.
God commanded Israel not to make a covenant with the
Canaanites (Cf. Deut 7:1-6; 20:16-18);God told the Israelites to
destroy the Canaanites.(This was after the people of
Canaan had graciously been given 400 years and still did not
repent of their own sins, cf. Gen 15:16.)
There are natural results
of rebellion against covenants.
The Israelites did not
follow in a proper covenant - Joshua 9:3ff:
“…when the people of Gibeon
[who were Canaanites] heard what Joshua had done to Jericho
and Ai, they resorted to a ruse [they tricked them]: they went
as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks
and old wineskins, cracked and mended. The men put worn and
patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the
bread of their food supply was dry and mouldy. Then they went
to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of
Israel, “We have come from a distant country; make a treaty
with us.’”
Notice that the Canaanites
lied to Joshua and the Israelite leaders; the leaders were
tricked when made the treaty with the Canaanites (Joshua 9:15)
- without first discussing the matter with God - and in
doing this they disobeyed their earlier covenant with the
LORD.
Betraying a
promise to YHWH is not a trivial matter. In the book of Judges
alone (and the breach of this particular covenant will come up
again in other books: Joshua 9, 2 Samuel 21) generations of
people suffer as a result of their forefathers’ broken promise
to God. For hundreds of years, their children, grandchildren,
great-grandchildren and even more than that experience the
consequences of continuing in rebellion against this covenant
and this promise. The natural results of not respecting our
covenants with or before God (whether or not we are tricked
into them, whether we consult God before we call Him as a
witness: Joshua 9) can be devastating. There are consequences
for ignoring our covenants and betraying our promises.
A contemporary example
from the marriage covenant.
This should be easily
understandable for us because this same thing still happens in
our world today. Think about the children who are raised in
broken homes. Think about the children whose parents rebelled
against their marriage covenants with each other and before
God(Romans 7:2; 1 Corinthians
7:10-14; Luke 16:16-16; Mark 10:1-12; Matthew 5:32, 19:9: You
will note in these references that – even if one ‘goes out on
a limb’ in order to argue that you no longer need to live with
the one you with whom you are covenanted in marriage – there
is still no NT provision made for marrying a second or
subsequent spouse while the one you covenanted before God with
is still alive.) One is not released from one’s covenants
simply by disobedience to them. God takes all our covenants
seriously. There are consequences for not walking in a proper
covenant.
Some of the consequences for
rebelling against the marriage covenant through divorce are
immediate and some of the immediate consequences are the
struggles of how to raise a child in two separate homes with
two separate sets of rules. Some of the immediate consequences
are the challenges involved in that fact that whatever the
problem was that split up the marriage in the first place was
obviously never resolved: mom or dad still moved out. Some of
the immediate consequences of disregarded marriage covenants
are that children from broken homes are more likely to be
‘latch-key kids’ and less likely to have access to all the
material and emotional support that their peers do. Some of
the immediate consequences include the possibility that, at
best, one may only ever get a good night kiss from one of
their single parents.
But there is more than that
in our world today; there are consequences for future
generations as well. Many people who get divorced once wind up
getting divorced twice or even thrice.
Children of divorce are more likely to be divorced themselvesand perpetuate the devastating
cycle that contributes to generations and generations and
generations going without the emotional, spiritual, and other
support that only comes from strong marriage covenants.
This is sad because there is
a great benefit from continuing in a strong covenant
relationship but when we stray from it there are often
devastating results. As one continues to read through the book
of Judges, it becomes obvious that much misery comes as a
direct result of the Israelites’ disobedience to their
covenant with the Lord. There are consequences for not walking
in proper covenants.
If we rebel against a
covenant we are not released from it for bad behaviour.
Relating to the disobeyed
covenant in Judges 2, we learn from in Joshua 9 that the
Israelites were tricked into making this covenant agreement
with the Gibeonites (who are Canaanites). They didn’t realise
that in so doing they were defying their previous promise to
God. They entered into this new agreement under false
pretences. The Gibeonites lied to them but that doesn’t change
the fact that Israel is now bound through the covenant her
leaders made with the Gibeonites before God (Joshua 9:18;
Judges 2:2). The leaders themselves are well aware that they
are bound to keep this covenant (Joshua 9:18); when the
Israelites find out that they have been tricked, they don’t
nullify the agreement: they realise that it is not within
their authority (or power) to do so; Israel still does not
attack the Gibeonites. They don’t attack the Gibeonites
because –even though they have been lied to, even though they
have been tricked, even though they have been deceived – they
are still bound to God and the Gibeonites via this treaty.
Simply disobeying a covenant does not render it void (cf.
Judges 2:1; Romans 3:3-4, 7:2; 1 Corinthians 7:10-14; Luke
16:16-16; Mark 10:1-12; Matthew 5:32, 19:9).
There are consequences for disregarding a promise but because
we disobey a promise made before God does not render that
covenant void (Romans 3:3,4).
God says, through His angel, Judges 2:1: “I will NEVER
break my covenant with you.” The covenant with or the covenant
before God is not nullified; the ties are not severed, just
because one disobeys God.
There is another interesting
point about the agreement that Israel enters into here (Joshua
9) that sets the stage for the book of Judges. Israel enters
into a covenant with God first (cf. Genesis 15:7-21; Exodus
34:12-13; Numbers 33:55; Joshua 23:13) and this covenant says
that He will give them the land and that they will not make a
covenant with the Canaanites: they will instead destroy the
present inhabitants of the land. Then the Israelites –without
consulting God- enter into the second covenant with the
Gibeonites (who are Canaanites) promising that they will not
destroy them and in the process Joshua and the Israelites
disobey the first covenant agreement with God.
The Both / And of
Covenant.
Israel is understandably
held to its original agreement with YHWH. It is understandable
that Israel suffers the consequences (Judge 2:2-3; Exodus
34:12-13; Numbers 33:55; Joshua 23:13) for disobeying God by
making this competing covenant. What is interesting, however,
is that the Israelites are also held accountable to this new
covenant with the Gibeonites, which they made before God even
though they made it contrary to the expressed command of God
(2 Samuel 21; Joshua 9, Exodus 34:12-13; Numbers 33:55; Joshua
23:13). The Israelites disobeyed God in making this second
covenant but they are still held accountable to it. God holds
them accountable to both covenants: the one that He initiated
and the one that He forbade.
In Judges 2, we read of the
consequences for breaking the first covenant with God and in 2
Samuel 21 we see the consequences the Israelites suffer for
breaking the second, competing covenant with the Gibeonites.
God holds us to our promises. Whether we are lied to, tricked,
or even enter into a covenant that is against the Lord’s
commands, God holds us to our covenants that are made with Him
either as a witness or as one of the parties Himself.
2 Samuel 21: 1ff:
During the reign of David, there was a famine for three
successive years [people die]; so David sought the face of the
LORD. The LORD said, “It is on account of Saul
and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the
Gibeonites to death.” The king summoned the Gibeonites and
spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel
but were survivors of the Amorites [Canaanites]; the
Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for
Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.) David asked
the Gibeonites,
“What shall I do for you? How shall I make amends so that you
will bless the LORD's inheritance?”
The Gibeonites answered him, “We have no right to demand
silver or gold from Saul or his family, nor do we have the
right to put anyone in Israel to death.”
“What do you want me to do for you?” David asked.
They answered the king, “As for the man who destroyed
us and plotted against us so that we have been decimated and
have no place anywhere in Israel, let seven of his male
descendants be given to us to be killed and exposed before the
LORD at Gibeah of Saul—the Lord 's chosen one.”
So the king said, “I will give them to you.”
Verses13-15:
David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from
there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed
were gathered up. They buried the bones of Saul and his son
Jonathan in the tomb of Saul's father Kish, at Zela in
Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that,
God answered prayer in behalf of the land.
Even though the
Israelites disobeyed God by entering into this covenant with
the Gibeonites - and suffered their due consequences for
disobeying the terms of the covenant with God- when they
transgressed this new covenant that they made with the
Gibeonites - even though it was against the expressed will of
God - God did not even answer their prayers until they made it
right.
Conclusion.
I would like to
re-emphasise a couple of things: One, God does not sever the
covenantal ties that bind us to (or before) Him. He is
faithful to His promises, even if we are faithless (Romans
3:3,4). This is important for us to remember. We should not
enter into our covenants lightly. I don’t believe that God
says we can simply declare (through the courts or otherwise)
that our partner did not live up to the marriage covenant and
so we are no longer married (cf. Romans 7:2; 1 Corinthians
7:10-14; Luke 16:16-16; Mark 10:1-12; Matthew 5:32, 19:9). I
don’t think that God says that simply because we had a drink
we can throw out our Soldiership agreement. I don’t think the
shackle is cut. I don’t think that God says that just because
we decide not to be Officers anymore that we are released from
our vow to ‘make soul-saving a primary purpose of our lives.’
I think that this covenant referred to in Genesis 15, Joshua
9, Judges 2, and 1 Samuel 21 points to the fact that God
doesn’t break His covenants with us and as a natural result,
there are consequences for us if we try to break that chain
that binds.
This brings me to my second
point of emphasis: covenants are not punishments; the
consequences for rebelling against covenants are not
punishments; the consequences of rebellion are the natural and
logical results of our own actions. As I have already pointed
out, the origin of the Hebrew word for ‘covenant’ comes from a
root word meaning, ‘to be shackled together.’ The image of a
covenant then is one of being shackled to God through a
promise. One can compare a covenant with God (be it through
marriage, Soldiership, Officership …) to being shackled to a
locomotive, with God being the locomotive. When we are chained
to the train and ride comfortably on it – following the Lord’s
leading - we wind up where He is going a lot faster and a lot
easier than if we travel the tracks on our own strength (under
our own steam). This is the benefit of a strong covenant with
the Lord.
If, however,
once we are bound to the Locomotive of the Lord by a covenant,
if we try to go our own way or try to shackle ourselves to
something going in a different direction, it is not
going to be a pleasant experience. The tie doesn’t
break. Disobedience to our covenants is like jumping off the
train and trying to run in the opposite direction while we are
still chained to it. It is going to hurt but this is not God’s
fault. He doesn’t throw us from the train and because God is
faithful (cf. Rom 3:3,4) this covenantal chain is so strong
that it won’t break - therefore what we suffer are the natural
results of our own actions. This is what happened in the
stories of the Judges (cf. Judges 2). God, wanting the
Israelites to experience the full rest of the promise land
entered into a covenant with Abraham and then with Israel.
They willing shackled themselves to His train but later,
however, the Israelites also shackled themselves to the
Gibeonite train that was going in a different direction and
suffered the natural and logical consequences of their
actions. This is exactly what happens to us when we don’t
respect our covenants.
There is good news in all
this though and this good news is a great strength for
covenanted people: no matter how many times we are faithless
and jump off that train; no matter how many times we try to
break the covenant; no matter how many times we throw
ourselves on the tracks, under the wheels of the ‘God Train’,
the Lord is faithful. While we are still alive (cf. Romans
7:1,2), there is opportunity to return to the Lord, the
covenantal chain will not be broken.
God is faithful, and Jesus
himself is standing here as the new chain that binds all of us
in our relationship to God. Jesus is the new covenant through
whom whosoever may will indeed be pulled back up onto the
train as we turn to and rely on the Lord; so then instead of
rebelling against God, instead of pulling against the tie that
binds, let us all give our lives over fully to the Lord,
buckle up, lean back and enjoy the fully sanctified ride on
His train because His train is bound for glory.
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