Today I want to talk about the strength of promises or better known as covenants, in the bible. First, I want to touch on how serious God takes covenants (agreements, alliances, vows, promises or treaties and pledges). It is very important for us to notice from the Holy Scriptures the binding effects of promises (covenants). I will not cover all of them, but I will cover a few so we can get a firm understanding of promises and the implications of them.
Genesis 18 New Living Translation (NLT)
10 Then one of them said, “I will return to you about this time next year, and your wife, Sarah, will have a son!”
Genesis 17 New Living Translation (NLT)
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. 2 I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.”
3 At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him,4 “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! 5 What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham,[a] for you will be the father of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!
7 “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants[b] after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”
Starting with Abraham, we can see that God made a promise to him. One promise was giving him a child with his wife and another is him being the father of many nations. Now if we type in the name Abraham in a digital bible; we will see that Abraham’s name is continued in the old testament and the new testament. Why is this important to note. It is important to take note of this because God is letting us know that he does NOT forget covenants. Even though the generations of Abraham sinned against God and God wanted to destroy them many times, he did not because of the promise to Abraham. No matter how many years has past since the original promise, God still holds fast to it.
God made many promises in the bible. But let’s skip forward many generations and look at Jesus. God had a plan from since the beginning to come on earth for the salvation of the world. For anyone that has read the bible knows that Jesus the Christ came thousands of years after the foundation of the earth. God made a promise to himself first and then told us about it through prophets in the old testament and then through Jesus Christ in the new. By which we still carry that promise today, as a mandate given by Jesus to his disciples.
John 3 New Living Translation (NLT)
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave[g] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
Revelation 21 New Living Translation (NLT)
21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
One of the promises God made through Jesus is eternal life. Another one of the promises God made through Jesus is a new Jerusalem. There are other promises, but in order to make post not lengthy; I will only mention these two. Now from what we have seen in the bible with the promises made to Abraham. How serious do you think God is with the importance of covenants.
Philippians 2 King James Version (KJV)
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
John 5 King James Version (KJV)
19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
Let’s bring all that we have read so far into our lives, now. The word of the Lord declares, let the mind that is in Christ Jesus also be in you. OK, we see how God the father keeps covenant. We also see that Jesus mimics The Father. We are supposed to do the same and have the same mind as Jesus. Well, if we all are essentially mimicking The Father; how are we suppose to be, in the respect to promises.
We are suppose to think before we made promises (covenants). We are to make sure they are doable and stick to them. But you might be saying; I did not make any promises or covenants with God. But, guess what! God holds us to promises that we make with other people. One example of this is the nation of Israel noted below.
Joshua 9 King James Version (KJV)
3 And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai,
4 They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up;
5 And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy.
6 And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We be come from a far country: now therefore make ye a league with us.
7 And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you?
8 And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye?
9 And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the Lord thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt,
10 And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth.
11 Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us.
12 This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy:
13 And these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey.
14 And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord.
15 And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them.
16 And it came to pass at the end of three days after they had made a league with them, that they heard that they were their neighbours, and that they dwelt among them.
17 And the children of Israel journeyed, and came unto their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjathjearim.
18 And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes.
19 But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them.
20 This we will do to them; we will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we sware unto them.
We see that Joshua did not know that those two men came to deceive them. The people of Gibeon did not want to die like the people of Jericho and Ai, so they came up with a plan. They deceived the Israelites’ because the Israelites’ did not consult with God before making such a promise. I put this in here to let you know; just because you were lied to and tricked by someone, it doesn’t mean God’s not going to hold us to our promises. For generations God held that covenant made with the Gibeons. I’ve found that many of us Christians do not keep our promises. We say to ourselves that God will understand. News Flash! God does not understand. We can see from above that God remembers the promises we’ve made to each other.
James 5 New Living Translation (NLT)
12 But most of all, my brothers and sisters, never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned.
Note God might not like the promise (vow/ covenant) we make on this earth. God still remembers all promises. To go just a little deeper. God is a God of covenants/ promises. Now, if we make a covenant or promise to the Devil; God doesn’t like those, but he his spiritually obligated to holding us to the covenant. The covenants we make not only affect us as individuals but also our children.
Matthew 27 New Living Translation (NLT)
They shouted back, “Crucify him!”
23 “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?”
But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”
24 Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”
25 And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!”[e]
I like to say,” God is the creator and Satan is the imitator”. Satan like to imitate God, in a bad way. When the people told Pontius Pilate to crucify Jesus; they said let the blood be on them and their children. They did not have to go so far as to curse themselves, but that is what they did. God sent Jesus to free us. If you or anyone in your family have curse themselves, this is a good example of such a thing. You might be thinking yes but Jesus was made a curse for me. That is true.
Suppose someone left you money in a bank account. The lawyer came and told you that this person let you money. They also told you which bank account and the info to bring to receive it. What happens if you hear the information but never go to the bank. It doesn’t stop the money from sitting there waiting on you. The money is still there, but it is up to you to go to the bank and actually retrieve the money. The price has already been paid, but it is up to you to receive it for yourself. It will not be forced on you. All of these are covenants. Not only do we have to mean what we say; we also have to be careful what we say. If you have made any promises you could not keep; god is there for you.
Acknowledge the covenants made that you no longer want. Repent to God. Renounce those covenants and Release them. Ask for forgiveness for those covenants and forgive all those whose have made covenants with you and broke them.
