“Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.” (2 Samuel 7:16).

Let us review the covenants we have learned about so far:

1. God’s Covenant with Adam – a conditional, or works-based, covenant. Adam broke the covenant and introduced sin into the world.
2. God’s Covenant with Noah – God’s unconditional, or grace-based, covenant with Noah and his descendants (in other words: all of us) whereby he dealt with corruption caused by sin and promised never to destroy the earth by flood again.
3. God’s Covenant with Abraham – God’s gracious covenant with Abraham and his descendants (in other words: all of us) that we would be His people, and that we would have eternal life in His Promised Land.
4. God’s Covenant with Moses – God’s gracious covenant with the people of Israel, through Moses, to consecrate them as a holy nation.

This holy nation of Israel was composed of the descendants of the twelve sons of Israel, formerly known as Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham (see #3 above). God chose the fourth son of Israel, Judah, for special blessing. “Judah, your brothers will praise you, your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you. You are a lion’s cub, O Judah…. The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs, and the obedience of the nations is his” (Genesis 49:8-10).

Ten very eventful generations later, David appears in the Old Testament narrative. Although he is the youngest son of Jesse, direct descendent of Judah, and whose job is tending the family flock of sheep, God chooses him to be the King of Israel. The stories in 1 and 2 Samuel surrounding David’s rise to the throne are as fascinating as anything you will ever read in literature, and they are all true. When David does become king, he conquers and fortifies Jerusalem, brings the ark to Jerusalem, and builds himself a place to live. He also wants to build a temple, a house for God and a permanent place for the ark of the covenant. This is God’s response:

“Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time, I appointed leader over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies.

The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’” (2 Samuel 7:8-16).

The last verse is key: “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.”  This covenant of grace between God and David further refines the promises listed above between God and Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses to indicate that David’s line will endure FOREVER. David wanted to build God a house for his ark of the covenant; instead, God built David a house—the House of David, which again points to David’s line becoming the ancestry of Jesus, our ultimate King of Kings and Lord of Lords. What a promise to rest on.

This is one in a series on the Promises of God which started on January 4, 2023. In subsequent Chaplain’s Corners, we will continue to look at these promises and with them, the nature of our awesome God.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9).

In Christ,

Judy

Chaplain’s Corner – God’s Covenant with Moses (and You)

“Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, ‘This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites”’ (Exodus 19:3-6).

Let us review the covenants we have learned about so far:

1. God’s Covenant with Adam – a conditional, or works-based, covenant. Adam broke the covenant and introduced sin into the world.
2. God’s Covenant with Noah – God’s unconditional, or grace-based, covenant with Noah and his descendants (in other words: all of us) whereby he dealt with corruption caused by sin and promised never to destroy the earth by flood again.
3. God’s Covenant with Abraham – Last week we focused on God’s gracious covenant with Abraham and his descendants (in other words: all of us) that we would be His people, and that we would have eternal life in His Promised Land.

Then in the book of Exodus, we learn about God’s covenant with Moses and the people of Israel. This covenant, called the “Mosaic Law” is an extensive system of regulations–both moral, ceremonial, and civil–and sacrifices recorded in primarily in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. These regulations were designed to set his people apart, to consecrate them as a holy nation.

Some assume that it is a works-based rather than grace- based covenant because some believe that people were saved by keeping the law. And in truth, the Mosaic Law does hold out the promise of eternal life to all who keep it perfectly (fully). However, notice that God rescued the Hebrews from Egypt prior to the giving of the Mosaic Law. Their salvation did not depend on anything but the grace of God because God had already saved them from Pharoah.

God never intended the Mosaic law to be a means of salvation for sinners. In fact, the Mosaic law reveals to us our inability to keep the law, and so it points us to Jesus who perfectly kept the Mosaic covenant in our behalf. The giving of the Mosaic Law was accompanied by an extensive system of sacrifices, also pointing to Jesus who is our perfect sacrifice, providing the atonement for our failure to keep the law. “Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:25-26).

This is one in a series on the Promises of God which started on January 4, 2023. In subsequent Chaplain’s Corners, we will continue to look at these promises and with them, the nature of our awesome God.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18).

In Christ,

Judy

“The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’”(Genesis 12:1-3).

Let us review the covenants we have learned about so far:

1. God’s Covenant with Adam – a conditional, or works-based, covenant. Adam broke the covenant and introduced sin into the world.
2. God’s Covenant with Noah – God’s unconditional, or grace-based, covenant with Noah and his descendants (in other words: all of us) whereby he dealt with corruption caused by sin and promised never to destroy the earth by flood again.

Later in Genesis, we find God making another unconditional covenant of grace with Abraham. In this covenant, as given in Genesis 12, God promised to bless the world through one family and through one Son from that family. This covenant gave Abraham many descendants, a good land, and a great name.

All of this came at God’s initiative; God chose Abraham and announced to him what he would do for him. In Genesis 15:17-18 we read of a sacred ceremony called a blood covenant where God covenanted to fulfil this promise. This ceremony was how the culture of the day sealed their contracts. Typically, both parties to the agreement passed between the carcasses. In this case, only God had to pass. In essence, God was covenanting with Himself to make and keep this promise to Abraham and his descendants. And “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6).

Both Paul in his letters to the Romans and Galatians, and James in his letter, recall this verse from Genesis 15:6 to emphasize that we are we are ultimately declared righteous because the obedience of Christ is imputed to us through faith in Him alone. In other words, we are saved by the work of Jesus—his obedience. The passage from James goes on to say that faith without works is dead. He is not saying that our works save us, but he is saying that our works are a demonstration of our faith just as Abraham showed his faith by seeking to obey God and repenting when he fell short (James 2:14-26).

This covenant frames up much of what transpires in the remainder of the Old Testament as the people of Israel seek to live in relationship with God; how they cycle through obedience, complacency, disaster, repentance, obedience, and so on. If you are anything like me, it should sound familiar. And what is so beautiful, is that God never walks away. He is always there, keeping his part of the covenant, ready to greet them/us with open arms when we decide to return to him.

This Abrahamic covenant has far-reaching power, and Abraham was considered a great man of faith because  ^“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going….And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.” (Hebrews 11:8, 12).

What exactly is faith? “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). We can have this confidence because our God does not change and He keeps his promises. “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6).

This Hebrews Hall of Fame of Faith sums it up by saying “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11:39-40).

Abraham looked forward to God’s salvation; we look back on it since Jesus has come. As we said before, all of God’s promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. According to Got Questions, “Five times in Genesis 12, as God is giving the Abrahamic Covenant, He says, “I will.” Clearly, God takes the onus of keeping the covenant upon Himself. The covenant is unconditional. One day, Israel will repent, be forgiven, and be restored to God’s favor (Zechariah 12:10–14; Romans 11:25–27). One day, the nation of Israel will possess the entire territory promised to them. One day, the Messiah will return to set up His throne, and through His righteous rule the whole world will be blessed with an abundance of peace, pleasure, and prosperity.”

How does this promise relate to us today? “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:26-29).

This is one in a series on the Promises of God which started on January 4, 2023. In subsequent Chaplain’s Corners, we will continue to look at these promises and with them, the nature of our awesome God.

In Christ,

Judy

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter1:3-4).

This year we are focusing on God’s Promises. As stated in the Chaplain’s Corner last week, there are two types of promises, or covenants: Conditional and Unconditional. Another way of stating these two types is Works-Based and Grace-Based. A conditional–or works-based covenant–requires both parties (God and Man) to perform. An unconditional–or grace-based covenant–requires only one party (God) to perform). All of the covenants that come after the works-based conditional covenant with Adam are grace-based. In today’s Chaplain’s Corner we will focus on the first of several grace-based covenants – the covenant with Noah.

In last week’s devotional we learned that because of Adam’s disobedience, the works-based covenant that God had made with him in the Garden of Eden was broken, and Adam and Eve were evicted from the Garden of Eden.  By Genesis 6, just nine generations after Adam, we find that outside the Garden, the earth filled with corruption “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence” (Genesis 6:11). So, God determined to “…put an end to all the people for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth” (Genesis 6:13).

However,God had observed in Genesis 6:9 that “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.” God gave Noah instructions for building an ark, and then said to him, “But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you” (Genesis 6:18). God also instructed him to take representative animals along with food for all. “And Noah did everything just as God commanded him” Genesis 6:22). Note that even here, God is establishing the covenant by his grace, not on the condition that Noah had been and would be obedient, even though Noah did obey.

The rain came, and it was a catastrophic flood. “And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds…. The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in. For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. (Genesis 7:12-17).

It was truly a global catastrophe: “Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.” (Genesis 7:22-24).

One year after Noah and his family entered the ark, they were finally able to come out of the ark onto dry land. “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: ‘Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even thoughevery inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease’” (Genesis 8:20-21).

“Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: ‘I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.’ And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.’” (Genesis 9:8-13).

I know this is a lot of Scripture, but the words of God are so significant. Noah was a righteous man and he obeyed God in the building of the ark. However, never did God say, “if you will be righteous, then I will make this covenant with you.” Rather, God said “I will now establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you” to never destroy the earth with a flood.

He also promised the stability of day and night and the regularity of the seasons. Think about it, we can count on the fact that the sun will come up in every morning, and spring/seedtime will always follow winter just as autumn/harvest will follow summer, without fail, because God has promised this. God will preserve the world as he works toward keeping his promise to rescue humanity and creation.

Furthermore, every time you see a rainbow, it represents this “covenant between me and the earth.” This covenant is between God and each of us, because we are all descendants of Noah, and it is based on the righteousness of God Himself. The rainbow is the sign of this Noahic covenant with us.

Bottom Line: As we said before, all of God’s promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. According to Got Questions, the lesson to us is that when we see a rainbow we should always be reminded of God’s faithfulness and His amazing grace. We should also be reminded that our God is a holy and righteous God who has a holy hatred for sin and who will not allow sin to go unpunished forever. Also, just as God provided a way for Noah and his family to be saved in the ark, He also has provided a way for us to be saved through Jesus Christ. Noah and his family were saved from the wrath of God that came in the flood, just as those who are in Christ are saved from the “wrath to come.”

This is one in a series on the Promises of God which started on January 4, 2023. In subsequent Chaplain’s Corners, we will continue to look at these promises and with them, the nature of our awesome God.

“And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10 KJV).

In Christ,

Judy