Understanding the Power of Covenants

ALL PRAISES TO THE MOST HIGH GOD.

Before we go any further, we need to answer this question, what is a covenant?

Well, in laymen's terms, a covenant is simply an agreement to fulfil a task(s) between two or more parties with conditions and penalties attached.

Understanding the principle of covenants is extremely crucial if one wants to understand how God operates because The Most High and man cannot walk together unless they are in agreement ( AMOS 3 verse 3). So in this post we will try to give you a deeper understanding of covenants in order to show you just how serious this subject is.

Throughout the scriptures God entered into covenants with various people from Noah, Abraham, Moses, King David and many more. If one just reads these events as simply stories with no real life effect then you run the risk of missing out on a lot of spiritual principles to be learned for your betterment.

AUTHORITY

Since time immemorial God gave us authority (GENESIS 1 verse 26 - 28) (LUKE 10 verse 19). It is quite interesting that even though God has made us "a little lower than the angels" (PSALMS 8 verse 5), God has given us dominion over the works of his hands and put all things under our feet (PSALMS 8 verse 6). What this entails is that God has given only us the exclusive authority or jurisdiction over earth's affairs instead of spirits or angels (despite the elevated position that angels occupy).

This has implications on the issue of covenants because God's decision to give us authority was not made without cause since the scriptures make it clear that "The LORD has made everything for its purpose" (PROVERBS 16 verse 4). When the scriptures speak of us having authority (dominion), it is important to understand authority as the KEYS that have been given to mankind to operate in this earth instead of viewing it as some sort of supernatural power that overrides God's sovereignty. The earth belongs to The Most High including everything in it and those that live in it (PSALMS 24 verse 1). The reason why God gave us authority is so that we can exercise it to rely on him because we are limited.

The fall of the walls of Jericho is a perfect example to illustrate this point.

On their way to conquering the promised Land of Canaan, the Israelites encountered the city of Jericho. The city of Jericho was encompassed by colossal walls that made it practically impossible for the Israelites to breach them and make it inside (JOSHUA 6 verse 1).

Now what is interesting is that The Most High informed Joshua that he had already given the Israelites victory over Jericho (in the spiritual realm) but in order to obtain this blessing, the Israelites had to follow certain directives which included the priests of Israel parading the ark of the covenant and blowing trumpets while encircling the city of Jericho (JOSHUA 6 verse 1 to 5).

After the Israelites followed these instructions for seven days, the walls finally came down and the Israelites conquered the city. As they were instructed by The Most High, they slaughtered every man and woman but kept the silver, gold, vessels of brass and iron. They also decided to spare the life of a certain prostitute by the name of Rahab because she had helped to hide the messengers that were sent to spy on the city (JOSHUA 6 verses 20 - 25).

Now one will ask themselves that why didn't God just destroy the walls of Jericho without requiring the Israelites to perform these seemingly trivial instructions. 

And the answer is yes, God could have done just that however, God is also a principled God who magnifies his word above his name (PSALM 138 verse 2) which does not return to him void (ISAIAH 55 verse 11). So when he uttered the words "let them (referring to us) have dominion" (GENESIS 1 verse 26), he has to honor his word because after all he is his word (JOHN 1 verse 1). In exercising their ordained authority, the Israelites had to fulfil their end of their covenant with God by following his instructions as an act of faith in the power of The Most High to destroy the walls of Jericho because it is a spiritual law and principle  that  "without faith it is impossible to please him (God); for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (HEBREWS 11 verse 6). The scriptures further tell us that "by faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven day" (HEBREWS 11 verse 30). When we bring in the issue of faith, we begin to understand how the dominion that we have been given by The Most High is meant to be exercised.

So, because Joshua led the Israelites through this battle by complying with the instructions of The Most High, we are told that The Most High God "was with Joshua and his fame was noised throughout all the country" (JOSHUA 6 verse 27). When you fear the Lord and obey his instructions, He will walk with you. 

In order to effectively exercise the dominion that we have been given, the Spirit of The Most High requires our mutual corporation in faithfully inviting him into our affairs.

 Why is that so? Well the reason is simple, " no one can serve two masters..." ( MATTHEW 6 verse 24) and two cannot walk together unless they are in agreement (AMOS 3 verse 3). The Most High has given you authority to choose The Master you want to serve, you either serve The Most High God or Satan. That is why I always say, spirits do not look for a casual relationship with human beings, they seek to forge covenants because that is the only way they can exercise legal authority over one's life.

So if one is able grasp the topic covenants they will be able to understand that we, as humans, play a much more active role in the blessings that we attract and curses that afflict us. Also, by understanding the implications of this principle, we will begin to be more careful with how we exercise this authority that we have been given.

SCRIPTURAL EXAMPLES

Through examples from the scriptures, I will prove to you the following points relating to covenants: 

1. The Most High God honors Covenants (whether good or evil) 

2. The Penalties of Covenants can affect generations

1. The Most High God honors Covenants (whether good or evil)

When the Israelites were descending to conquer the land of Canaan, The Most High God made a covenant with them in which he promised to destroy seven nations that were mightier than them. The Most High imposed conditions on his promise which was primarily that the Israelites had to kill all of the inhabitants of the seven nations and not enter into any covenants (agreements) with them or intermarry. The Most High's reason for forbidding intermarriages with these nations was because he knew that they would turn the Israelites to serve their gods. The Most High also required that the Israelites destroy the alters and groves that had been erected by the cursed nations (DEUTERONOMY 7 verses 1 - 5) (EXODUS 23 verses 28 to 33) (EXODUS 34 verses 10 to 16). The Israelites were informed that if they abided by these instructions, The Most High was going to maintain the covenant of blessings that he had established with their forefathers (DEUTERONOMY 7 verses 12 -26, DEUTERONOMY 28 verses 1 - 14). However, the Israelites were also informed that if they did not comply with the instructions from The Most High God, they were going to perish and suffer curses (DEUTERONOMY 8 verse 19 - 20, DEUTERONOMY 28 verses 15 - 68).

In the story of walls of Jericho which I have explained above, we saw that when the Israelites complied with the instructions of the Most High God, he reciprocated by keeping his end of the covenant and shattered the walls of Jericho to deliver its inhabitants to them. Now I am about to show you the consequences of not obeying the conditions of a covenant with The Most High.

Other nations heard of these things that Joshua and the Israelites had done and the inhabitants of Gideon, who were Hivites (one of the Nations that the Most High commanded the Israelites not to enter into a covenant with) decided to devise a plan to trick them into entering into a pact (covenant) with them. They decided to wear old garments and shoes in order to pretend as if they were not inhabitants of the lands of Canaan but sojourners from somewhere else. They intercepted the Israelites and proposed an alliance with the Israelites by promising to be their servants. We are told that the Israelites decided to form an alliance (covenant) with the Hivites without seeking the counsel of The Most High God (JOSHUA 9 verses 1 - 16). 

This is where the story gets interesting.

When the Israelites discovered that they had been deceived into entering into a covenant with the Hivites, the Israelites were forbidden from killing them. The reason they could not kill the Hivites was because in making a pact with them, the leaders of the congregation had sworn in God's name to never harm them (JOSHUA 9 verses 18 - 20). The Most High did not care that they were deceived into entering into a pact, what mattered was that there was a covenant that the Israelites had chosen to make with a cursed people.

This story only begins to make complete sense when we are told that after 300 years there was a famine during the days of Kings David's reign. Now this was obviously out of the ordinary since King David walked with God "in integrity of heart, and in uprightness" (1 KING 9 verse 4). So David enquired as to why there was a famine and The Most High God told him that the previous ruler, Saul, had killed the Gibeonites. Now, the Gibeonites were descendants of the Hivites, a group that The Most High had initially instructed Joshua and the house of Israel to destroy but they failed to do so after being tricked into entering into a covenant with them. The Most High allowed for the famine to happen to David's land as a punishment for Saul breaking a covenant that had been made hundreds of years prior by Joshua. The Most High had to HONOUR the pact that the House of Israel had made with the Hivites no matter how detrimental it was to the house of Israel and its descendants.

How did David fix the situation? 

David had to pay a visit to the King of Gibeonites, not God, and make an atonement so that they could "bless the inheritance of the Lord" (2 SAMUEL 21 verse 3). David was forced to present the King of the Gibeonites with 7 males for slaughter and it was only after their death and the retrieval of Saul and Jonathan bones that the Most High God allowed for rain to pour down (2 SAMUEL 21 verses 4 - 14).

So please understand, covenants are the currency of the spiritual realm and God will honor them whether they are in alignment with his will over your life or not.

2. The Penalties of Covenants can affect generations

A lot of people do not understand the power of covenants. The story of Joshua and the Hivites shows that The Most High God honors covenants regardless of whether they are good or evil and we can see how a decision that was made 300 years before the reign of David still affected him and his people.

Some people come from families where there are plagued with recurring adverse patterns that are a result of generational curses stemming from evil covenants. For example, in some families, people struggle keep marriages or premature death is the order of the day or a certain ailment like cancer persist throughout generations. When you take a deeper look at the root and cause you can actually discover that there was evil covenants that were forged (knowingly or unknowingly) by the ancestors who came before them. 

In some families a particular ancestor might have been apart of a secret society such as the free masons or the Order of the Eastern Stars consequently activating the principle that if you forget The Most High God and "walk after gods, and serve them, and worship them...ye shall perish" (DEUTERONOMY 8 verse 19) and that The Most High visits "the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children , to the third and fourth generation" (EXODUS 34 verse 7).

So yes, you can be saved and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour but that does not mean that the generational curses that your lineage has been subjected to will be broken. In most situations to break these stubborn curses one will have to firstly identify them and pray and fast pleading for The Most High to break them. This is what Daniel did when he stated that he sought God " by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes : and I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments ; we have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments" (DANIEL 9 verses 3 - 5).

Lucky for you and I we do not have to go through the strict penalties that the likes of David, Joshua and Moses went through to break evil covenants. As believers in Christ we have been "sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all" (HEBREWS 10 verse 10). Instead of offering physical sacrifices as in the olden days we are called to present our bodies as "a living sacrifice, holy and. acceptable unto God" (ROMANS 12 verse 1).

CONCLUSION

As a last word, I am sure that from this post you are beginning to understand that these scriptures contain stories that are saturated with important spiritual principles. This is why Paul makes it clear that "the word of God is alive and active"(HEBREWS 4 verse 12) and that all the stories that are depicted in the Bible have been written in order to warn and admonish us (1 CORINTHIANS 10 verse 11). So when we study scripture, lets us always remember to ask for The Most High God to grant us wisdom, knowledge and understanding because he is the only one who grants these (PROVERBS 2 verse 6) lest we perish for lack of knowledge (HOSEA 4 verse 6).