Covenants

Though covenants are rarely used or understood in our modern western culture, there is enormous benefit to seeking understanding and insight into God’s creation of ‘covenants’. It is encouraging to consider that God created the idea and use of covenants and when we seek the Scriptures it is very clear that He considers them to be very important. If God, the Creator of all things, considers something to be important – then indeed, whether we understand it or not, it is important!

We have already highlighted that in modern western culture it is a phrase we would rarely use and so one of the first things we can do is look at covenants not through a Greek/gentilic mindset, but through a Hebrew mindset. It will be helpful to look at God’s relationship with Israel and Israel’s relationship with God to understand covenant more, as I believe the people group who understand covenants best is the Jews. They are the only ethnic group on the planet whose identity is based on a covenant with God. No other ethnic people group on earth can say that they are who they are because God has chosen them to be a covenant people with Him. The Jews are a covenant people, they are literally called, in Hebrew, b’nai b’rith which means ‘the sons of the covenant.’ Romans 9:4-5 speaks of the people of Israel, “Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.”

Their call and purpose were to learn to walk in covenant with their God so that the Messiah could be born on the earth to a people group who were the Lord’s covenant people. The Messiah had to be born amongst a people group who were in covenant relationship with the Lord. The Old Testament then is filled with stories of how this covenant relationship was working out; God showing His faithfulness, but Israel often not meeting the requirements of the covenant.

So, as we seek Hebraic understanding of covenant, we are sure to gain a better understanding of our New Covenant relationship with God, through Christ Jesus. Dr Robert Heidler defines covenant as “a solemn and binding commitment between two or more parties”. He goes on to write, “It is a pledge of total loyalty. In covenant, you are permanently identifying yourself with another person.”¹

God’s covenant with Israel is confirmed through the fact that God has forever identified Himself with the Jewish people:

• God has named Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob forever, Exodus 3:15 
• He is the God of Jacob, who became Israel, Genesis 32:28 & 35:10
• Jesus Himself, born of the Jewish tribe of Judah will forever be known as, “The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David.” Revelation 5:5 
• God has even identified Himself with this people group so much that the eternal home of His people and dwelling place of Himself, the New Jerusalem, will have a great high wall with twelve gates. On the gates through which we enter the New Jerusalem are written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, Revelation 21:12

These are signs of God’s covenant faithfulness!
God is a covenant-making God and He wants to be in covenant relationship with His chosen people. God has made covenant with Israel, but more importantly, God has made covenant with the Church of Jesus Christ – those who are redeemed and purchased by His Son. We are a covenant people, of the New Covenant – of which Christ is the mediator. God is now entirely faithful to us and identifies with us as His children and Him as our Father! We can learn from Old Testament scripture some helpful insights into the New Covenant with Christ.

Let’s look at a covenant in 1 Samuel 18:1-4. “After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.”

What is going on here? They were performing a covenant-making ceremony which involved exchanges.

Exchanging robes is symbolising an exchange of identity. Jonathan would have worn his prince’s robe, a royal robe, and David may have been wearing his shepherd’s robe. As Jonathan and David entered covenant, they exchanged their identities – literally saying, ‘I identify myself with you, I will share in who you are, and you will share in who I am.’

That’s what Jesus has done with us! Jesus put on Himself our robes of filth and sin, and in exchange has given us His robe of righteousness. He identified Himself with us by “being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man”, Philippians 2:7-8, whilst we become heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, sharing in His glory!

The belt is a symbol of strength, and so they exchanged strength for strength. David may have had a shepherd’s belt, whereas Jonathan would have had a prince’s warrior’s belt. Their exchange of belts would have meant, ‘My strength is now your strength’.

Again, that’s what Jesus has done for us! Jesus has given us His strength, His power – that the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in us, whilst He took the form of man and humbled Himself and took on our weaknesses, Isaiah 53:4.

Jonathan gave David his sword and bow, whilst David may have given Jonathan his shepherd’s sling. This is significant! The exchange of weapons symbolises the exchange of enemies. Literally saying, ‘Your enemies are now my enemies. I will fight those who fight against you. When you are attacked, I will show my covenant loyalty to you and come to your aid.
I will fight against your enemies.’ This is at the heart of covenant.

This is true of our relationship with Jesus. As we are covenant partners with Him, our enemies are His enemies, and God has promised to be our defender. But also, God’s enemies are now our enemies. When we enter covenant with Jesus, we gain a new enemy: Satan! Covenant brings you into warfare!² 

Covenant then, is an incredibly important aspect of spiritual warfare. The spirit realm respects the authority and binding agreement of covenant, and we are encouraged that when we warfare for the Kingdom of God, we acknowledge and honour the covenant that we have with God through Christ Jesus.

However, being in covenant requires faithfulness and loyalty – we are to honour our covenant agreement. Our faithful covenant-making God hates broken covenants, and the Lord even warns us that there can be severe consequences to this. Isaiah 24:5-6 says, “The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse consumes the earth.” Unfaithfulness in marriage and divorce are very common these days, but these are indeed broken covenants and as well as bringing much harm to the family, it can bring curse upon the land.

Godly covenants aren’t of course the only covenants that can be made and unfortunately the results of ungodly covenants can be disastrous. Sometimes when Flame has taught on the subject of ungodly covenants bringing curse upon the land and its people, the local church has identified ungodly covenants made on the land. Where ungodly covenants (often sealed with blood) have been made on the land, the only power that overthrows the terms of that covenant is the power of the blood covenant of Jesus Christ. The local church then, through confession, repentance and forgiveness, can pray for the land to be cleansed and ungodly covenants to be broken in the Name of Jesus, overcoming the evil powers from the ungodly covenant with the power of God.

One time a Flame team were in the Nuba Mountain Bible College, Sudan, where there were sicknesses and death on the land as the forefathers had covenanted the land to the powers of darkness. After a time of confession, repentance and forgiveness, Communion was taken on the land and the curses broken by the Bishop, Church leaders, and members. The Flame team learnt some months later from one of the Pastors at the Bible College when the cleansing was done, that there had been no more sickness and death!

Another time in Kenema, Sierra Leone, the Flame team met with the local Pentecostal Pastor who was a nephew of the Tribal Chief who was Muslim, and we had been asked to take extra, extra large t-shirts as gifts! We did that and gave them to the Chiefs who were very pleased with us because it was in their tribal colour of bottle green. They said they gave us authority to do all the Lord had sent us to do.

So, under that authority we were informed that their ancestors had covenanted the land to the powers of darkness. Terrible bloodshed was enacted on this land with soldiers gambling about the gender of children in women’s wombs and then found out who won in very violent ways!

The churches came together in unity and broke bread together, stood in the gap and repented of the sins of their ancestors. They forgave them, then took the wine representing the blood of Jesus and poured it on the ungodly covenanted land and broke the curses.

The next day one Pentecostal Pastor came and told us that he had a dream that a prophecy of 15 years ago had been fulfilled. He said, “I never believed it would be through a bunch of old white women!” We laughed, but we knew the Lord had completed a miracle!

May we be encouraged then, to consider and honour the covenant relationship we have with the Most High, through Jesus Christ. Lord, give us greater insight and understanding of the New Covenant and give us grace to be utterly faithful to it. Let us also consider if we have previously made ungodly covenants and renounce them in the Name of Jesus, and re-affirm the covenant of Christ, breaking the curses and commanding any ungodly spirits to go.

We are hopeful that in these days there will be an awakening to the power and blessing of healing the land. As some of you may go forward in this initiative, gathering others of like mind, seek the Lord as to if there are any ungodly covenants that have been made over the area of land. If you are operating in a Church Body, under godly authority, we can stand in the gap on behalf of ungodly covenants made, and through confession, repentance and forgiveness we can renounce and break ungodly covenants in the Name of Jesus. As we then re-affirm our covenant with Jesus Christ, we can pray for curses to be broken and for the Lord’s blessings to come. As we come before the Lord with holy fear, wanting to honour Him and His covenant, remember Psalm 85:9, “Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, so our land will be filled with his glory.”