We said in our last edition that God communicates his awesomeness to man through his covenants. In God’s covenants, we glimpse his mystery and divine power. A covenant brings several benefits to the covenantee.
A covenant is a sacred agreement between God and his children. God sets specific conditions, and he promises to bless us as we obey these conditions. Making and keeping covenants qualifies us to receive the blessings God has promised. When we choose not to keep covenants, we cannot receive the blessings.
In our key text above, God says: “Because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.” God was speaking to Israel and promised to grant her freedom. He uses the imagery of a “waterless pit” to describe the condition of the people. A waterless pit is full of debris and filth; it is marshy, slippery, unstable and sinking. Israel is likened to being in a pit that is marshy and slippery. It is similar, if not worse than, the dungeon Jeremiah and Joseph were thrown into (Jeremiah 38:6; Gen. 37:24, 28). God, then, invites Israel to “return to the stronghold.” He calls her, a “prisoner of hope.”
Because of the covenant, God delivered the children of Israel when they were in captivity in Egypt. “He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: Holy and awesome is His name,” (Psalms 111:9 NKJV).
God sustains his people in times of lack and famine due to the covenant. “The Lord knows the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied,” (Psalms 37:18-19; 111:5 NKJV).
God saves his people due to the covenant. In Psalm 105:14-15 we read: “He permitted no one to do them wrong; yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes, saying, ‘do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm.’” (NKJV).
God’s covenant protects us in times of danger. God said to Israel: “Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt,” (Exodus 12:13 NKJV).
God’s covenant guarantees our safety. Psalm 106:8-10 reads: “Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake, that He might make His mighty power known…He saved them from the hand of him who hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy,” (NKJV).
God’s covenant heals us. God told Israel: “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you,” (Exodus 15:26 NKJV).
God’s covenant secures our blessings. “The Lord has been mindful of us; He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless those who fear the Lord, both small and great,” (Psalms 115:12-13 NKJV).
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