The Unbreakable Covenant

Promises made to us in the world are often broken. We are surrounded by sin and brokenness. We experience pain and hardship.

The reality of a fallen world is depressing at times, but never hopeless. In fact, even in the midst of tragedy and suffering, there is triumph.

Triumph over tragedy. It sounds cliché. It reads like a Hallmark card.

But if we are saved by Jesus Christ, it is 100% true.

How do I know? The Bible explains it so precisely. So dramatically. It is undeniable once you read and understand it.

I want to explain this to you in a powerful way, so that in your heart, if you belong to Jesus, you will always KNOW, and you will NEVER forget.

You see, when God promises something, He cannot break it.

In fact, it is IMPOSSIBLE for Him to lie, or take back a promise.

He cannot and will not fail You.

Let’s look at how we KNOW that God will do what He promises.

THE MARRIAGE COVENANT

The best way to understand this is by looking at MARRIAGE. Actually, let’s examine the WEDDING CEREMONY.

Did you ever wonder why a bride walks down the aisle to meet her groom at a wedding? Did you ever wonder why the groom’s family and friends sit on one side, while the bride’s sit on the other? Did you ever wonder why the vows taken by the bride and the groom are at the end of the aisle and after the bride has walked down the aisle to meet her groom?

We know that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman. This covenant means the two are bonded together for life—-in sickness and in health—till death do them part. This covenant (legal promise) is not supposed to be broken.

Of course, in the earthly realm, the marriage covenant is often broken. In the United States alone the divorce rate is about 33% for first marriages. Some marriages end because the covenant is broken through sins such as adultery. Other times, the couple cannot get along. It’s clear that humans cannot always keep promises, regardless of what vows are taken.

God, however, is different. When He makes a covenant promise, it will be kept.

How do we know this?

Let’s take a look at Genesis 15: 5-19—- this is the covenant that God established with Abraham.

5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

7 And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

In this passage, God is entering into a covenant with His people through Abraham (known as Abram at the time). In this case, the covenant is more than a human contract. God is the Creator of humans (of Abram) and His contract is eternally binding.

God does more than voice a promise or sign a deed. He uses blood to seal the covenant. In fact, God CUTS a covenant.

Notice that God told Abram to provide a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. Then the animals were cut in half—the pieces were laid on the ground—one piece of the animals on the one side, then the other halves of the animals on the other side.

Notice that an aisle is being made by the pieces of the animals.

Let’s think about a wedding ceremony.

We have an aisle where the groom’s family/friends are on one side, and the bride’s family/friends are on the other. The bride walks down the aisle to meet her husband and take the vows. But in Genesis 15, something interesting happens in that aisle….

Genesis 15 tells us that God puts Abram into a deep sleep. Then it says, “When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.”

This was God “walking down the aisle” between the pieces. As He did this, He appeared as a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch.

God is a Consuming Fire

We see the same picture of God in the book of Exodus when he descended on Mt. Sinai. There was thunder, lightning, fire, and smoke at the scene, which was the powerful presence of God Himself.

“Now Mt. Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it with fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly” Exodus 19:18.  

God also appeared as a burning bush to Moses in the desert, and as a pillar of fire whom the Israelites would follow.

By this we know that God actually “walked” down the aisle of the animals that were cut apart. His fiery, powerful presence passed through the pieces. We don’t know for sure, but the reason God may have put Abram to sleep is because the presence of God was too frightening and overwhelming—-so much that it could kill Abram. Remember that at Mt. Sinai, the people had to stay away from the mountain. Touching Mt. Sinai would kill them.

Now the next thing that God does is amazing. After passing through the slain animals, soaked with blood, He makes a VOW.

On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites," Genesis 15:18-21.

God is promising (establishing) a forever covenant that cannot be broken. It is, in fact, written in the blood of those animals….

God vows that he will give Abram the Promised Land– the Land of Israel. This gift is a forever promise. This territory is given to Abraham’s descendants (the Jewish people).

Centuries after Abraham died, his descendants took possession of this land under the leadership of Joshua (Joshua 21:43). They dwelled in the land of milk and honey under the rule of judges and kings.

But as we know, throughout history, the people of Israel did not keep possession of their land. Over time, they lost large portions of it, and then all of it. The persecution from their enemies scattered them all over the face of the earth. But in 1948, a miracle happened. The modern state of Israel was resurrected and re-established after centuries of wandering and living in other countries. This nation literally came back from the dead as seen in the Ezekiel 37 prophecy.

The people of Israel now inhabit a smaller portion of this land. We know, however, that God will fulfill the entire covenant as described in Genesis 15 when Jesus returns. The entire land will be restored and the Jewish people will know Jesus is their Messiah.

What about God’s covenant with Gentile Christians?

Of course, the Abrahamic Covenant wasn’t just for the Jewish people. It was promised to Abraham’s descendants. Through Jesus, Christians, known as the Bride of Christ, are grafted in and adopted into the family of God. Jesus is Jewish and from the line of the Tribe of Judah. His blood was shed on the cross so that we too may inherit the Promised Land—but this land is heavenly. We have an eternal home in heaven with Jesus. God has also promised that we will rule and reign with Jesus in the Millennial Kingdom on earth. Of course, Jesus will rule as King from Jerusalem, which is part of the land of Israel.

The covenant that God swore by Himself is a promise to restore all things. It’s a promise that we have eternal life. It’s a promise that the Jewish people will one day be restored, as well as the Holy Land. This is hard to believe as we see the Middle East in constant turmoil. We see terrorists trying to take Israel’s covenant land. We see Christians murdered in cold blood around the world.

But we must BELIEVE that God will fulfill this covenant.  

A covenant is an agreement between two parties. In a conditional covenant, BOTH parties are responsible for the fulfillment. If either party fails to meet the conditions of the covenant, the covenant is broken and neither party has to fulfill the expectations of the covenant.

But there’s also an unconditional covenant. In this particular covenant, there is an agreement between two parties, but only one must do something. The other party is not responsible for making sure the covenant is fulfilled.

THE COVENANT GOD MAKES WITH ABRAHAM IS UNCONDITIONAL.

This means that Abram was not required to meet the conditions of this covenant. GOD ALONE MOVES BETWEEN THE HALVES OF THE SLAIN ANIMALS—THROUGH THE BLOOD.

This means that GOD is the one who will fulfill the requirements of the covenant!

Let’s go back to the wedding ceremony.

In a traditional wedding, the bride walks down the aisle and meets her husband at the end of it. There they both recite vows. They promise to love each other until death do them part. They promise to be faithful to one another. Both are involved in fulfilling the covenant.

But in the case of God and Abraham, we know that God ALONE went down the aisle and swore by Himself to establish and fulfill the covenant. Abraham was asleep.

Even being as “good” as he possibly could, Abraham could not fulfill the covenant described in Genesis 15. In fact, we know that no human could fulfill what only God can. This is why God Himself went down the aisle and made the vow.

Only God could fulfill the covenant vows.

God stated and promised…. 

“Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 

God told Abraham he would have so many descendants, that he wouldn’t be able to count them! And so it was……..Abraham never got to see all of these descendants. But it’s happening– even to this day!

God was very clear that it would be HIM who would make sure the covenant was fulfilled. In Genesis 12 it states,

“Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.”

Notice that God says I……..

Abraham believed the Lord. He didn’t doubt what God promised. And the Lord counted it to him as righteousness.

As a Christian, we are saved ONLY BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS. We cannot earn it. The only thing we CAN DO is BELIEVE IT! Like Abraham, when we believe, trust, and receive the truth, we are credited with righteousness. The truth is that Jesus died for our sins and we must openly receive and trust Him as our Lord and Savior. When we do this, we are marked by the Holy Spirit which guarantees our salvation. But GOD is the one who made this covenant promise a reality!

Remember when God passed through the bloody animals? Well, let’s go forward in time and picture Jesus hanging on the cross. He became the Lamb of God. He was slain at the Passover when innocent lambs are sacrificed.

God fulfilled His promise to us by sending his son, who is the groom.

God knew humans could never meet their end of the deal. We are sinners. God sent His son to face Hell itself so we could have the promise of eternal life.

In the case of Israel, the Bible states that one day the Jewish people will repent, be forgiven, and restored to God’s favor. Currently the majority of Jews have not received Jesus as their Savior. But the Bible describes something amazing that will happen in the future…

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and plans of mercy, so that, when they look on me, on Him whom they have  pierced, they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only child, a weep bitterly over Him, as one weeps over a firstborn” Zechariah 12:10.

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do want you to be aware of this mystery, brothers; a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob, Romans 11:25-26.

Sadly, there are many who believe that Israel has been replaced and that they no longer have these promises of restoration.

Remember, God SWORE in blood that HE would fulfill the promise. Israel is not responsible for fulfilling the covenant and vows God made.

Thus, when Jesus came to earth as the Son of God, he came as a Savior to both the Jews and the Gentiles.

His blood was shed for BOTH. Ephesians 2:14 states, “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.”

Jesus has brought the two groups together on the olive tree. The Jews are the natural branches and the Gentiles saved by Christ are the wild branches. The two have become one through Christ.

A majority of the Jewish people do not know Jesus as the Messiah. They have experienced a hardening as Romans 11 describes.

But there is coming a day when God will fully fulfill the covenant. The timing is up to Him.

As Christians, we are still living in a sinful world and sometimes we wonder if we truly have the promise of eternal life with Jesus. We wonder if this earth will be restored by Jesus.

Again, the timing is up to God, but we can be assured HE WILL FULFILL HIS PROMISE.

Human marriages don’t always last.

Why?

Because we are sinful, imperfect people.

But God is not sinful or imperfect. Jesus was the perfect, sinless sacrifice on the cross.

Jesus walked through the blood on our behalf, just as God walked through it with Abraham.

We too were in a “deep sleep” through this because we can’t keep the promise. Only Jesus could.

Yes, this life is hard.

Yes, the Middle East is a cup of trembling.

But God is stable and He alone is able.

He swore by Himself.

You can be assured that He will keep ALL of His promises.

This means your salvation is secure in Jesus. Your eternity is secure. Never doubt how much He loves you. He declared His love for you by His own blood.

Believe it and Receive it.