THE
COVENANT PEOPLE
by Christine Grierson
The
question is often asked, “What do you mean by Covenant
People? Who are the Covenant People?” “The
great Covenant or agreements of the Bible were instituted
by God with his creatures, beginning with Noah after the
deluge, when He promised Noah there should never again
be a worldwide flood, and showed the glorious rainbow
with its prismatic colors as a sign of this covenant.
It was therefore unconditional, applying to all creatures
on the whole planet Earth (Gen. 9:12). As many know to
their sorrow, the earth experiences many local floods,
but not in over 3000 years a world wide inundation.
The next Covenant initiated by God was with Abram, renamed
by God, Abraham (Gen. 12:14 17 and all of Gen. 15). This
Covenant was unconditional, and applied only to Abraham
and his descendants, to be marked by circumcision and
obedience (Gen. 17:9ff). The promise was that a son, Isaac,
would father a race called by his name, of millions more
numerous than the stars and the sands of the seas. The
land then occupied by eleven other races named by God,
the land of Canaan, was given to them by God for their
inheritance, and later divided between the twelve tribes
of Jacob, renamed Israel, meaning Ruling with God, or
Ruled by God. This is why the third commandment forbids
the taking of the Lord's name falsely or without proper
authority, which was done in 1948 with the creation of
the Israeli state, which has been in a state of war and
chaos ever since, as God said, “for I will not hold
him guiltless that taketh My Name in vain”. The
promise of Isaac, a miracle child, has been fulfilled
in all the Anglo Saxon (Isaac's sons), Celtic, Nordic
peoples of Europe spread all over the globe since the
earliest advent of sea going vessels. These fair English
speaking tribes and clans have fulfilled every promise
made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Israel, our wonderful
patriarchs.
The third, or Mosaic Covenant, was bound when God chose
Moses to lead the Israelites out of their bondage in Egypt.
Their slavery had begun when the fair Hyksos or Shepherd
Kings were dethroned by a new dynasty, alien and hostile
to Joseph's people. The Covenant with Israel at the base
of Mount Sinai, the decalogue delivered to them by Moses,
was conditional, containing promises of blessings, and
threats of curses and punishment in consequence of Israel's
disobedience. Let us here note that only the Nation of
Israel was bound by this law and Covenant with God. This
was the beginning of Israel's nationhood (Ex. 19:16 18)
and was in fact, a Theocracy with the people declaring
aloud (in Ex. 19:8), “Whatever the Lord has said
we will do!” This wonderful Covenant is found in
Ex. 19:3 6 when God tells Moses, “Speak thus to
the house of Jacob, and tell this to the sons of Israel—You
have seen with your own eyes what I did to Egypt, and
how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you here
to me. If only you will now listen to me and keep my Covenant,
then out of all peoples you shall become my special possession;
for the whole earth is mine. You shall be my kingdom of
priests, my holy nation. These are the words you shall
speak to the Israelites” (NEB). The great blessings
were promised IF Israel was obedient to God's Laws, BUT
dire consequences were to result from disobedience. These
IF and BUT clauses of God’s statutes and judgments
are found in Lev. 25 & 26 and Deut. 27 & 28. We
can easily see in history and current events so forcibly
thrust upon our consciousness by the media, how, God's
Holy (or set apart) nation has followed idolatry, adultery,
and other transgressions, bringing shame and degradation,
poverty and illness upon the formerly blessed people.
This brings us to another oft overlooked Covenant or promise
given by his father Isaac to poor, weeping, Esau, as we
read in Gen. 27:30 42, again from the New English Bible:
“Your dwelling shall be far from the richness of
the earth, far from the dew of heaven above. By your sword
shall you live, and you shall serve your brother, but
the time will come when you will grow restive and break
off his yoke from your neck.” The beginning of strife
and enmity between Esau and Jacob, the supplanter, is
recorded here and has continued through the intervening
centuries. Read Psalm 83 as David laments the conspiracy
of hatred against him. Now the yoke of Jacob is indeed
broken, and Esau Edom Idumeans are in ascendancy or dominion
over all the affairs of world economics, politics, religion,
education, arts, finance, armaments and media like the
tentacles of a monstrous octopus. This time of Jacob's
trouble prophesied in Jer. 30:7 will not be understood
unless one realizes this dominion of Esau, and the age
long jealousy and hostility now being expressed in action
against God's people. It also clarifies the passages in
Mat. 23:24, Luke 21:12, and Rev. 20:4 & 6:9 11, telling
of persecution still to come before the millennial Kingdom
is established on Earth. The unreasoning phobias of those
who anticipate the destruction of Planet Earth would all
be dispelled by reading of God's plans for using it for
at least 1000 years as a haven for His throne occupied
by His Son, Jesus Christ, and His people, whom He has
not cast off, according to His promise to us.
This is the result of the next, or Davidic Covenant. To
David of the Royal Line of Judah it was promised that
“...the sceptre (or rod of rulership) should never
depart from Judah, nor the lawgiver (parliament) from
between his* feet” (Gen. 49:10 1l). The symbol of
the lion in British heraldry is described in verses 8
and 9. That David should never lack a man to sit upon
his throne was promised in I Kings 9:5 and 11 Chr. 6:16.
That the Throne of David would be established forever,
everlastingly, is promised in I Chr. 22:10, and many other
passages. The Hebrew word brith means covenant, and the
Hebrew word ish means man, in two senses, given by Young's
concordance, a husband, implying cultivation, nurturing,
or taking care; and appointed to, or having duty and responsibility.
This origin of the name “British” expresses
the function of these Covenant people who inhabit the
civilized, or developed world, in contrast to the Third
(or undeveloped) World.
The jealousy engendered by the obvious blessings of God
upon the Throne of Britain and the British people wherever
they dwell, and now upon the United States of America,
has caused them to be the targets of many attacks and
attempts to lessen their influence and power, promised
and given by God.
And finally, the New Covenant, which is in the Blood of
Jesus Christ, the lamb slain before the foundation of
the world for the redemption (or buying back) of Israel,
and the salvation of all individuals of every race and
nation who will receive His incomparable gift. As in Hosea
we read Ch. 1:9, 10: “The Israelites shall become
countless as the sands of the sea which can neither be
measured nor numbered; it shall no longer be said 'They
are not my people', for they shall be called Sons of the
Living God. Then the people of Judah and Israel shall
be reunited, and they shall choose for themselves a single
head (James VI of Scotland became James I of Great Britain,
and commissioned the best seller of all time, the KJV)
and they shall become masters of the earth.”
Only Christians can be Sons of the Living God and joint
heirs with Christ, as Paul taught us. So the Covenant
People who were the Nation Israel, divorced by God for
their whoring after other gods, i.e., idolatry and adultery,
can only be reconciled to God, and achieve the status
of wife again, by the death and resurrection of our Lord
Jesus and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Paul states
in Gal. 3:14 and Eph. 3:6 that the gentiles, not of the
nation. Israel, should through Christ become as the seed
of Abraham and heirs of the promises. He also chided the
Jews in Rom. 11:11 by recalling their failure to obey
the law and explained God's purpose of creating jealousy
and stirring them to emulate the Greeks and Romans who
embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Covenant People
NOW are those who pray to the God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob through Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer, that God
may bless and keep us. Amen.
|