Covenant Roles

“And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD:” (Eze 16:62 AV)

 

Israel had broken their covenant with God, but the LORD never broke it with them.  For a covenant to work all parties involved must understand their roles and fulfill those roles.  A marriage covenant comes to mind.  As long as the husband understands and fulfills his role as well as the wife hers, optimum blessings are promised.  However, if one or both fail to fulfill their role, there will be problems.  Israel was espoused to the Creator.  Her role was to obey His law that other nations might come into the knowledge of the holy.  Rather, she turned her back on God and went after the gods of the neighboring nations.  Her espoused husband sent her into captivity to learn disobedience has consequences.  However, the covenant with Israel is still valid although at the moment, inactive.  When Jesus returns, all the promises made to Israel through her forefathers will be honored.  It is at this time Israel will welcome her role and finally fulfill it.

What we wish to see above is the second half of the verse.  Apparently, Israel had forgotten her God was the LORD.  She had gone off into her own way and had forgotten exactly who it was that made a covenant with her and what it meant that He has made a covenant with her.  God became so familiar that Israel had allowed the nature of God to slip from their hearts and minds.  It began with neglect of the Sabbath.  From there, high places used for worship replaced temple worship.  Eventually, the temple was transformed into a house of idol worship.  The last step of decline was blatant immorality.  This all started because Israel forgot who God was and is.  The LORD of the covenant ceased to be the LORD of their lives.  The covenant broke down because Israel forgot her role in this agreement.  The promise was not one-sided.  By Moses, the LORD delivered Israel from Egyptian slavery to form a new nation set apart for the glory of the One who provided for them.  Eventually, Israel outgrew God.  Or at least that is how they carried themselves.  This cost them dearly.  Only by the return of their Messiah will all this work out.

Today, the saints can, from time to time, forget the God whom we worship.  Most, if not all, of our prayers, are prayers for things we need.  What we do not do is worship in true fear and gratitude towards the God who saved our souls.  We have to be reminded of our role.  The covenant of salvation carries with it expectations.  Salvation is no less a covenant of love than the covenant the Father made with Israel.  We are saved forever.  We are adopted into the family of God.  With this adoption, comes expectations of submission to obedience, the exercise of faith, and devotion to the brethren.  There is an expected role for us to fulfill.  If we are not careful to keep in remembrance the entire nature of the God whom we worship, we may fail in the role He has designed for us.  The only way to have blessings from salvation is to keep in mind what God created and saved us to be and seek to fulfill that purpose to the pleasure of God who created and saved us.