1181. The Divine Oath
The Divine Oath
"Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread My skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness; yea, I sware unto thee and entered into a covenant with thee" (Eze_16:8, f. c.).
The Lord God entered into a covenant with His people Israel, and He sware unto them. This covenant was particularly Jewish; it had to do with Israel's restoration to the land, and with her kingdom.
The Lord also has entered into a covenant with saints. The first thing that takes place in the life of a believer, is the sealing of the Holy Ghost, which is God's pledge, the covenant of our inheritance until the redemption of His purchased possession.
God made a covenant with Abraham, and because He could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself, saying, "Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee."
God is also "willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge, to lay hold upon the hope set before us."
How thankful we should be, that when God passed by and saw us, He not only said, "Live! Live!" but He entered into a covenant with us, and swear unto us, that He would carry us through unto the end, and bring us into an inheritance in the ages to come.
1. The covenant which God gives us, is a NEW covenant. It is a covenant distinct from any covenant which He had made to national Israel.
"After the same manner He took the tup, when He had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament (covenant) in My Blood" (1Co_11:25).
Jesus Christ in speaking to saints says, "Ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the Living God, * * and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant" (Heb_12:22, Heb_12:24).
How we thank God for the new covenant, sealed with the Blood of Christ. It carries us far beyond present scenes, far beyond the earth and the Heaven and all those things that can be shaken. It carries us into those things which cannot be shaken–things which remain.
The new covenant, sealed with Blood, and set forth in the cup at the Lord's Supper, looks forward till He come; it anticipates a Kingdom which cannot be moved.
2. The covenant which God gives us is a BETTER covenant than the covenants given to Abraham and to David and to Israel. "But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant which was established upon better promises." This better covenant includes, according to the 8th of Hebrews, far better promises; it opens before all saints, both Jewish and Gentile Christians, the vista of the more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building.
The new and better covenant made sure by the death of Christ, holds before us the promise of an eternal inheritance. We rejoice in the old covenant given unto Israel, concerning their earthly inheritance; but we rejoice more in the better covenant concerning our eternal inheritance.
What courage it brings to us in the hour of trial and of loss to hear Christ saying unto us, "I sware unto thee, and I made a covenant with thee," and I will bring thee through. We are as certain of entering into the glory, and of receiving our inheritance, as if we had it now in hand, as if we were already there. God has sworn by Himself and none can break His oath.
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR