No matter how many times a message of
covenant nature is preached or taught, it seems as though it is not
heard or understood. If we do not understand that God is a
covenant-making, covenant-keeping God and that we are to be a
covenant-making, covenant-keeping people, then we will never
accomplish our mandates.
We can ordain, set in, appoint, commission,
lay hands on, or whatever we call it all day long, but if there is not
a complete understanding of the meaning of covenant relationship with
each other, it will never work. “Church” will keep on being the
same old religious thing.
According to a news release on December 23rd
from a recent study, Christians are more likely to divorce than
non-Christians. Nondenominational Christians have the highest rate of
divorce among all Christians. Covenant is not just about marriage, but
about any relationship where two people have agreed to walk together.
Why is it that we think that we can just “disappear” or write a
“dear John” letter and break off what God has put together without
first working out any differences or bothering to keep our word of
covenant? How can the work of the Lord ever reach full accomplishment
until we understand this?
In Bible times, men understood the meaning of
keeping their word with each other at all costs and this was called
“the covenant of salt”. Men wore a pouch of salt tied to their
belt and when they made covenant, they would each exchange a pinch of
salt, putting their grains of salt into the other’s pouch and vice
versa. If a man would try to break his covenant, then the other would
say “Yes, if you can retrieve your grains and yours only from my
pouch of salt”.
Obviously, this was impossible because the
grains of salt would all become “as one” when they were mixed
together and you could not tell one person’s salt from another’s.
Leviticus 2:13 says, “Every grain
offering of yours, moreover, you shall season with salt, so that the
salt of the covenant of your God shall not be lacking from your grain
offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.”
Numbers 18:19 says, "All the
offerings of the holy {gifts,} which the sons of Israel offer to the
Lord, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you,
as a perpetual allotment. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before
the Lord to you and your descendants with you."
2 Chronicles 13:5 says, "Do you not know
that the Lord God of Israel gave the rule over Israel forever to David
and his sons by a covenant of salt?”
Salt is used to preserve from decay, and
whatever salt is applied to, it invariably penetrates. It does not lie
inert on the surface. It is also an element that gives flavor or zest.
The covenant of salt was a covenant that was
most understood between men - it symbolized loyalty, honesty and
friendship. It represented that which was a lasting (preserved)
covenant.
We are living in a day when deceit, graft and
lying are all an accepted way of life... Honesty, integrity, fidelity
and genuine loyalty are rare qualities. It is considered “clever”
to be able to deceive and mislead others in order to gain advantages.
We see this in our present-day justice system and among many of our
esteemed government leaders. Unfortunately, this kind of lifestyle has
spilled out onto the Church while all the time we are to be the living
examples of the God kind of covenant lifestyle.
Matthew 5:13 says, "You are the salt
of the earth; but if the salt has become , how will it be
made salty {again}? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be
thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”
The Church has become “ ” and has
been trampled under foot. (Strong’s = metaph. to treat with
rudeness and insult, to spurn, treat with insulting neglect.)
Nature teaches us many things. A cell has to
have a function in a larger organ. If it is a heart cell, its “vision”
or genetic programming is to cause the proper functioning of the
circulatory system. If it is a nerve cell, its “calling” is to
transport electrical impulses and cause the nervous system to
function. If any cell turns in on itself and functions solely for its
own sake, ignoring its responsibility to the whole system, it is said
to be a “rogue” cell and is called cancer. Is there any wonder
that there is so much cancer today with so much “self centeredness”?
We need to ask ourselves some hard
questions... 1. Do I live a credible life? Do I do what I say I will
do? 2. Am I genuine, or do I play games? 3. Can I be counted on to “come
through”? 4. Is my “yes” “yes” and my “no” “no”? 5.
Does my behavior foster loyalty and friendship?
These are not spectacular things. There is
nothing sensational about being solid, reliable and faithful. You do
not even read about it.
Remember my favorite Scripture on keeping
covenant...“For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be
the death of the one who made it. For a covenant is valid only} when
men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it
lives.” (Hebrews 9:16-17)
Some of the Eastern people still practice
this phrase: “There is salt between us”.
Let your speech always be with grace,
seasoned, {as it were,} with salt, so that you may know how you should
respond to each person. (Colossians 4:6)
In His covenant love,
Apostle Richard
