REFORMED WITNESS
Volume XIX, July 2011, Number 7
Our Covenant God (3)
The Propriety of Discussing the Covenant At This Time
By Rev. Herman Veldman
Rev. Herman Veldman (1908-1997) graduated from the Protestant Reformed Seminary in 1932. Rev. Veldman served as a Protestant Reformed minister in various churches from 1932 to 1978. The following article is the third of a four-article series that appeared in the December 15, 1947 and January 1, 1948 issues of The Standard Bearer.
See more articles by this author
We concluded our previous article with the beginning of our attempt to establish our concept of the Covenant in the light of Holy Writ. The covenant of God with man is the communion of friendship between the living God and His people in Christ Jesus. Adam, we noted, was created in that living relationship of friendship to the living God. We reject the theory of a "covenant of Works". Historically this theory is of recent origin. Today it is generally accepted as constituting a part of the Reformed heritage. We reject it first because of its utter lack of Scriptural evidence, and second because fundamentally it denies the Christ. We considered it extremely significant that, when Adam trampled God's covenant under foot, the Lord maintains it by setting enmity between the seed of the woman and that of the devil. Enmity against the world is of course the friendship of God. This does not mean that the Lord enlists the aid of His people and that together they withstand and oppose the wiles and attacks of the devil and of the kingdom of darkness. The fact is that all things are for our sakes, and the kingdom of evil must work together for the good of God's people and the realization of His kingdom. Genesis 3:15 does teach us, however, that the Lord maintains His covenant by calling His people into a living relationship of friendship with Himself and that He thereby makes them His people in the midst of a world which lies in darkness.
God's Covenant with His People is His Own Covenant and is Eternal
According to Holy Writ God's covenant is eternal. We read in Genesis 17:7, "And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee." Notice that the essence of the covenant according to this text, is expressed in the words, "...to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee..." He will be our God, love us and bless us. This covenant is an everlasting covenant. This thought is repeated in verse 8, where Canaan is mentioned as an everlasting possession. Notice that the land of Canaan is promised to Abraham as an everlasting possession. Yet in Acts 7:5 we read, "And He gave him none inheritance in it, no not so much as to set foot on." That Abraham received the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession can only be understood if we bear in mind that he received it as such in its eternal, heavenly reality whereof the earthly Canaan was but a sign and symbol. The Scriptures, therefore, teach us that God's covenant signifies His eternal dwelling with His own in the heavenly Jerusalem.
That God's covenant is eternal is also emphasized in Psalm 89:1,4 and 28 and Psalm 119:9, where we read, "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever: with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations. Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up Thy throne to all generations. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and My covenant shall stand fast with him... He sent redemption unto His people: He hath commanded His covenant forever: holy and reverend is His name."
Notice also (according to Holy Writ) that God's covenant with His people is His own covenant. "And I, behold, I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you" (Genesis 9.9). "And I will establish My covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth" (Genesis 9:11). "And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee" (Genesis 17:7). These texts are important not just because they emphasize the monopleuric (one-sided) character of the covenant. Indeed, "I will establish My covenant between Me and thee." It is God, therefore, Who establishes the covenant. Hence, His "Me" appears in the text before "thee". But we will call attention to this later in another connection. Of interest at this time is the fact that "And I, behold, I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you." It is His own covenant which He establishes with man. God himself is a covenant God, and God's own covenant is that blessed life of the Triune God whereby He eternally knows and loves and seeks Himself as the Triune God in the bond or sphere of eternal Divine perfection. It is that blessed life of the love and friendship of God that eternally characterizes the living God. This He bestows upon His people so that He inducts them into His own covenant life and makes them partakers of His Divine nature according to the measure of the creature.
This also explains why circumcision (and later baptism in the New Dispensation) was the sign and seal of that covenant, even as we read it in Genesis 17:10, "This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and Thee and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised." To enter into the covenant of the Lord signifies that we become partakers of His life; that we enter into a living relationship with Him; that we become holy even as the Lord Himself is holy; that we are dedicated unto Jehovah even as Jehovah is eternally dedicated unto Himself. Therefore, the sign of that covenant was circumcision, the sign and seal which speaks of the cutting away of the old man of sin and the putting on of the new man of righteousness and holiness, a truly fitting sign of God's covenant with His own.
Scripture Speaks of God's Dwelling With Man
The Scriptural conception of the covenant does not merely rest upon Scriptural passages which speak literally of "covenant". Words such as "abide, dwell, tabernacle, temple" also express the covenant idea. Repeatedly Holy Writ speaks of a dwelling of God with man. Permit us to quote a few such passages: "Lord, who shall abide in Thy Tabernacle? Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart" (Psalm 15:1-2). "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever " (Psalm 23:6). "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to, behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple" (Psalm 27:4). "Blessed is the man whom Thou choosest, and causest to approach unto Thee, that he may dwell in Thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house, even of Thy holy temple" (Psalm 65:4). "Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captivity captive: Thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them" (Psalm 68:18). "My soul longeth, yea fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house: they will be still praising Thee. Selah" (Psalm 84:2, 4). "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91:1). "He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within My house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in My sight" (Psalm 101:7). "If thy children will keep My covenant and My testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore. For the Lord hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it for His habitation: This is My rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it" (Psalm 132:12-14). "Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" (Psalm 133:1). "Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto Thy name: the upright shall dwell in Thy presence" (Psalm 140:13). "And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their God and they shall be My people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons, and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" (II Corinthians 6:16-18). It is well to note in this latter passage from the II Corinthians that for God to be our God and for us to be His people is identified with the words, "As God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them". The idea of fellowship is surely beautifully expressed in this latter passage.
This idea of God's dwelling with His people is further emphasized in the Scriptures by the tabernacle or temple of the Old Dispensation as God's dwelling place with His people. "And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them" (Exodus 25:8). The same thought is expressed in Exodus 29:44-46, "And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the alter: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to Me in the priest's office. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the Lord their God."
We understand, I am sure, that these texts do not refer to an insignificant incidental or meaningless detail of the Old Testament. The temple of the Old Dispensation constituted the heart and core of the entire Old Dispensation. All of Israel's life, it's religious-ceremonial-civil life was expressed by it and inseparably connected with it. To refer to the temple of the old day, therefore, means to point to the entire Old Testament. All God's dealings with His people throughout the Old Testament are described, symbolized by the temple that had been erected upon Mount Moriah. Indeed, what a beautiful symbol it was! The tabernacle consisted of the Holy of Holies, the Holy Place, and the Outer Court. In the Holy of Holies, in distinction from all other holies of holies of the heathen, which contained an idol of wood or stone or gold, we see the ark of the covenant. In that ark was the law of the ten commandments. Covering the ark was the mercy seat, and extending from the mercy seat were the two cherubims, facing each other, thereby giving the appearance of a throne. In the Holy Place we behold the seven-armed golden candlestick, the table of showbread, and the alter of incense. This mighty symbol of the temple of the Old Testament speaks a language which is clearly understood. The temple speaks of a dwelling-place, where God rules over them and in them by writing His law into their hearts (the law in the ark of the covenant). Moreover, the Lord's fellowship with His own is further characterized by the mercy seat, that is by the fact that our communion with Him and His reigning in our hearts by His Word is possible only in the way of atonement, for none shall be received into favor with God except the justice of the law of the Lord be fully satisfied. All this is clearly expressed by the temple upon Mount Moriah. It was a mighty symbol of the fact that the Lord had established His communion in the midst of Israel, in Israel alone, and that He ruled over Israel, not by force or coercion, but by His Word and Spirit, and that only in the way of atonement, the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ (What a beautiful but also mighty symbol of the covenant as the relationship of living fellowship between the Lord and His people in Christ Jesus!).
If we now may call attention to the monopleuric character of the covenant between God and man, that is, to the fact that this fellowship is of the Lord alone, we will be able to understand that also that mighty symbol of the Old Dispensation was wholly of Jehovah. Not a single detail of the temple was entrusted to Moses. Not a solitary detail was left to the ingenuity of man. Moses received the plan for the temple even unto the minutest of details from the Lord. Our living fellowship and communion with the Lord is only of the Lord, as also the temple of the Old Dispensation was exclusively from the mighty God of Jacob.
Enoch, Noah, Abraham Called Friends of God
The idea of the covenant is not only expressed in the Scriptures by words such as "abide, dwell, temple, etc." The word "friend" or "friendship" also appears in Holy Writ. "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him" (Genesis 5:24). "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God" (Genesis 6:8,9). "And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him" (Genesis 18:17-19). "And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, And said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not Thou God in heaven? And rulest not Thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? And in Thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand Thee? Art not Thou our God, Who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before Thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham, Thy friend for ever? And they dwelt therein, and have built Thee a sanctuary therein for Thy name, saying, If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence or famine, (for The Name is in this house) and cry unto Thee in our affliction, then Thou wilt hear and help" (II Chronicles 20:5-9). These beautiful words were uttered by the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat at the time when Judah was being threatened by the children of Moab, of Ammon, and others. We read in James 2:23, "And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God."
Enoch, Noah and Abraham walked with God and were, therefore, the friends of God. One who walks with God is surely a friend of the Lord. This walking with God of these heroes of faith did not consist of a certain mystical awareness of the presence of God, of God's nearness, in the inner secrets or recesses of the heart. That they walked with the Lord does not refer to a deeply mysterious communion with Jehovah. This walking, however, refers to a clear, well-defined consciousness of the covenant, in which God and Enoch (also Noah and Abraham) were friends, intimately associated with one another. They knew God, loved the Lord, served Him, walked in the way of His commandments, confessed His Name and did so in the midst of a godless world. Genesis 5:24 presupposes that the enemies of Enoch looked for Enoch but they could not find him. We read of Noah that he was a preacher of righteousness and he surely testified against a wicked world that was rapidly ripening for judgment, and Abraham, upon arriving in the land of Canaan, served the Lord God in the very midst of idolatrous heathens.
Indeed, Enoch, Noah and Abraham were servants of the Lord, and they talked with God and God with them, and Jehovah revealed confidentially unto them, as a Friend to His friends, all the secrets of His heart. The Lord revealed to Enoch that He would come with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed, and of all the hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him (Jude 14-15). Jehovah revealed to Noah the judgment which would presently sweep down upon the world in the form of the flood. He also revealed to Noah His plan of salvation, making known unto His servant the dimensions of the ark, which would serve unto his saving and the saving of his house. God repeatedly communed with Abraham. He revealed unto His friend, the father of believers, that He would give him an innumerable seed that would inherit the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, but that their inheriting of the promised land must be preceded by a great oppression. God also revealed to Abraham the destruction of the cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah.
Hence, of Enoch and Noah and Abraham it is true that they enjoyed the most intimate communion and fellowship with the Lord. They were truly friends of God.
God's Relationship with His People Called in Scripture a Marriage Relationship
Holy Writ repeatedly likens the relationship between the Lord and His people to a marriage relationship. "For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall be called" (Isaiah 54:5). "Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord, for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion" (Jeremiah 3:14). In Matthew 22:1-14 Jesus likens the Kingdom of heaven unto a certain king who made a marriage for his son. The reference is clear: the Lord is speaking of the marriage, which the heavenly Father made for His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. In Matthew 25:1-13 we read of the parable of the Ten Virgins, five of whom were wise and five of whom were foolish. We are told that these virgins took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. In Ephesians 5:25-33 we have that beautiful portion of Hoy Writ where the apostle speaks of the mystery concerning Christ and the church. Also in this latter passage the marriage idea stands strongly upon the foreground. In Revelation 19:7 we read, "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready." The prophets Isaiah and Hosea speak repeatedly of the Lord as our Husband, married to us in the bond of faith. Indeed, the Scriptures repeatedly liken the relationship between the Lord and His people to the marriage state.
It is true that the marriage relationship of a man and his wife is reciprocal, a mutual agreement. They indeed bind themselves to mutual promises and obligations. But this cannot be applied to the relation between the Lord and His people. The fact is that according to Isaiah 54:5 the Lord is also our Redeemer. This certainly signifies that the living God made us and also that He redeemed and brought us out of the power of guilt and sin and darkness. In Ephesians 5:25-33 we read that Christ loved us, sought us, found us, saved us. We did not love Him, seek Him, or find Him. He loved and sought and found and saved. Hence, we cannot speak of mutual promises and obligations, of a mutual agreement and contract in connection with the marriage of the living God and His people in Christ Jesus. However, that God's relation to us is called a marriage relation is because the Scriptures emphasize the idea of relationship, of friendship, of love, in which relationship He is our Husband and we are His children and servants. This relationship between the Lord and His own is such that it cannot be broken, that it is inviolable, not because of us, but because of Him, Who is our Maker and our Redeemer. He has united us unto Himself, in and through Christ Jesus, His Son and our Lord. Consequently, this marriage between the Lord and His people is eternal, an unchangeable covenant relationship of love and friendship, in which He is our God and we are His friend-servants now and forever.
| Back to top | Back to main Reformed Witness page |
The Reformed Witness newsletter is published monthly under the auspices of the Evangelism Committee of the Hope Protestant Reformed Church of Redlands. This newsletter is available to anyone who is interested in the Reformed Faith. If you would like your name added to our mailing list, please write to:The Reformed Witness
Hope Protestant Reformed Church
1307 E. Brockton Ave.
Redlands, CA 92374-3802
or email us: