God's Covenants #1

Word Study

Michael Heiss—August 24, 2013

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We're going to look into the concept in the word of 'covenant.' A covenant is basically an agreement between two or more parties and Biblically speaking, those parties are normally God and His people; but they can be between individuals and they can be between God and specific individuals, it doesn't matter.

The Hebrew word translated covenant is: 'beriyt.' It is used from 280 to 300 times in the Old Testament; but, relax, we're not going to look at 300 different Scriptures. 'Beriyt' can be pronounced three ways: 'with a hard 't,' with a soft 't'—th; with an 's' sound, rather than the 't'.

'Beriyt' [soft 't' sound] is called the ceremony of a male child being circumcised. On the eighth day that child is circumcised. So important was this circumcision, because it represented the covenant with Abraham, that even though it took place on a Sabbath, the 'beriyt' took precedent. If you have a Jewish friend, and you ever get a chance to see a 'beriyt,' see it, observe it. It is very, very interesting. The individual who takes charge is called a 'mohel' and a 'mohel' is specially trained to snip that foreskin. I mean he does it quickly, lickety-split! It is fast. It is good. It's hard to realize how trained they really are. So, that is called the 'beriyt'.

Then we have beriyt ['th' sound], and we have the famous Jewish organization today called, B'nai B'rith. I'm going to point out that the term 'benai beriyt,' belongs to us.

• benai: the masculine, plural, possessive, sons of
• beriyt: covenant
• benai beriyt: sons of the covenant

There's something about the Hebrew language that's most interesting. In masculine, plural, it is 'benai'; in feminine plural it is 'benot.' So, if we've got 300 or 400 women, you know it is 'benot.' If it is 300 or 400 men or more, or fewer, it is 'benai.' What if we have 300 or 400 women and in comes a small, brave, lowly, male who is somehow being engulfed by these women? It is 'benai'; because one man, one masculine person, turns it into masculinity. So, when you see the phrase, 'children of Israel,' it comes from 'benai': 'benai-beriyt.' 'Benai' could mean: sons of or children of.

Who are the 'children of the covenant,' the New Testament Spiritual Covenant of God? Paul's Epistle to the Galatians 3:27: "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither bond nor free; there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (vs 27-29). Remember, a covenant is a promise! This goes back to Abraham. So, if you're Abraham's seed and you're heirs according to the promised covenant, then indeed, the term 'benai beriyt,'belongs to you, and it belongs to every person who has ever been baptized from the days of Jesus of Nazareth through on into the Millennium! That's maybe an aside, but it's rather interesting to think of.

Then there is the word, 'beriyt', (hard 't' sound). We've all heard that word. Anybody ever hear of Brit-tany, Brit-ain, Brit-ton, Great Brit-ain, the Brits, the Brit-ish? Remember: 'To arms, to arms, the British are coming!' What is 'Brit-ish'? 'Brit': covenant; 'ish': man. The British Isles are the isles of the covenant people! That is no coincidence, it really isn't! It was a promise that God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: 'a nation, a company of nations.' That covenant promise was over 3,000 years in the making. God keeps His promises!

I want to read from a particular little volume. It's a story of Medieval England, from King Arthur to the Tutor conquest. It shows how historians recognize the unique circumstances of the British Isles and the people who made Britain what it was; but they don't understand the covenant. They see the results, they see the events, but they don't know why.

During 1000 years between the end of the Roman occupation of Britain and the Wars of the Roses, England emerged as the dominant, political entity on the Island of Britain.

This 1000 years begins with 407-410A.D., the withdrawal of the Roman legions back to the continent and the rise of the Tutor kings and the Wars of the Roses, the famous Battle at Bosworth Field. Everybody remember King Richard III in Shakespeare? 'A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!' That's the end of that 1000-year period.

The development of the English government produced a country that was more orderly and more responsive to public opinion than any other state in Europe. The achievements of the British monarchy and of it's critics, who continually spirited toward the acknowledgment of the will of the people, laid the foundation for the powerful state that would found the American colonies in the 17th century and dominate the globe in the 18th and 19th.

You had a series of invasions. The famous one was the Battle of Hastings in 1066 with the Normans, when the Norman language—the French—amalgamated with the English. By that method, English became the 'lingua franca' of the entire world. The basis was laid for it; the rising of Parliament, a whole series of events took place in England, the British Isles. Nowhere else, only in England! Finally, it all wound up with:

By the year 1485 and the ascension of the Tudor dynasty, the inhabitants of that once insignificant province were poised to create an empire that would span the entire globe.

God said it would be that way. He promised it! We know Gen. 48 and 49. We're familiar with Joseph coming before Jacob bringing his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (Gen. 48) and having them blessed. Jacob literally crossed his hands! Joseph says, 'Not so, my father, not so.' Jacob says, 'I know it my son, but this is the way it is going to be.'

That was a promise and that promise was finally fulfilled in the 18th and 19th centuries. Britain spanned the globe. No other empire ever came remotely close to it. The Mongols had an empire in total land area that was greater, that's true; but that was Eurasia, a vast land mass. The Roman Empire was a mighty empire, but Britain controlled:

• the British Isles
• Canada
• the American Colonies
• Jamaica
• Africa, from the Suez Canal, Cairo, clear down to Cape Town
• New Zealand
• Australia
• Queen Victoria, Empress of India
• Hong Kong
• Singapore

No other country ever had an empire like that! Remember, it used to be said, 'The sun never sets on the British Empire.' That cannot be said of any other empire. My purpose is not to glorify the British or to take a lot of time talking about the British Empire, but just to point out that that word 'beriyt' came through to the British people. They are indeed the covenant people! God keeps His covenants!

One other aspect we need to understand and that is grace, God's grace. Without God's grace, there is no covenant!Every covenant that God ever made—with His people, with individuals—is based on grace. Grace laid the groundwork.

• His mercy
• His compassion
• His loving kindness
• His generosity
• His righteousness

Everything that God is encompasses grace! His love is an expression of that grace.

• without grace you and I have no salvation
• without grace there is no Kingdom

I just want to emphasize it because it truly is that important.

Psalm 8 was quoted by the Apostle Paul in Hebrews; but nevertheless, it illustrates the point. Psalms 8:3: "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him? For You have made him a little lower than God... [that word for God is: 'Elohim' and can be translated 'God or angels,' either way] ...and have crowned him with glory and honor" (vs 3-5).

So, the Psalms is asking, 'God, what is man, this puny creature, that You, the Great God, would consider him?' God's got a purpose. Oh! Man is special! Man is made in God's image, God's likeness. In the book of Job we'll find the same question being asked, in this case, it is by Job.

Job 7:17: "What is man, that You should magnify him, and that You should set Your heart on him." This is an acknowledgment that these righteous men understood that God was doing something special with man. They didn't necessarily fully 'get it,' but they knew that man was special and they're asking the question.

We will begin, slowly, to get to our topic of covenant, Deuteronomy 7:6: "For you are a Holy people to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a special people to Himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love upon you nor choose you because you were more in number than any people, for you were the fewest of all people" (vs 6-7). You were pitiful! You were pathetic!

You read in Ezekiel where God describes Israel lying in filth. She can't even clean herself up. God describes what He did for her:

• robes
• cleanliness
• earrings
• gold
• everything

So, Israel, you're nothing!

Verse 8: "But because the LORD loved you... [an expression of grace] ...and because He would keep the oath, which He had sworn to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you..." God is keeping His oath, His promise! Remember when God said to Abraham, 'By Myself have I sworn'? That's the reason God called them out of Egypt.

With that, we're going to start to look at the first covenant recorded in the Bible. Let's take a good look at:

• Noah
• the ark
• the Flood
• the destruction
• the covenant that God makes

not only with Noah, but with every living creature and with the earth, itself. We're going to see the mind of God, how God thinks! If I were writing 'The Book,' if I were stating this, I would never phrase it this way; but then, that's why God is God and I'm not!

I'm going to read more out of the Amplified Bible because the Amplified brings out the Hebrew more so than even the Faithful Version, because the Amplified just goes on and on and brings out adjectives, which is most interesting.

Genesis 6:5: "And the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

Genesis 6:5 (Amp.): "The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination and intention of all human thinking was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved at heart. So the Lord said, I will destroy, blot out, and wipe away mankind, whom I have created from the face of the ground—not only man, [but] the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air—for it grieves Me and makes Me regretful that I have made them" (vs 5-7).

Verse 11 (Amp.): "The earth was depraved and putrid in God's sight, and the land was filled with violence (desecration, infringement, outrage, assault, and lust for power). And God looked upon the world and saw how degenerate, debased, and vicious it was, for all humanity had corrupted their way upon the earth and lost their true direction (vs 11-12).

It's hard for me to grasp what that means. How bad was it? A lot worse than we have today! Apparently, a lot worse than Hitler's Third Reich! How bad was it? It was horrific! I can't imagine. Maybe I don't want to know how bad it was. Nevertheless, it was bad. What does it say about Noah in verse 8?

Verse 8: "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." There's our grace!

• God calls Noah
• tells Noah to build the boat
• call it an ark
• bring in the animals 2 by 2; 7 by 7
• I'm going to destroy the earth
• cover it with a flood

That goes clear through chapter 7.

Now the ark is floating on the water, Genesis 8:1: "And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals which were with him in the ark…." He remembered. He didn't forget. He remembers Noah. He remembered every living thing and all the animals that were with him in the ark.

They disembark, 20: "And Noah built an altar to the LORD, and he took of every clean animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a sweet savor; and the LORD said in His heart, 'I will not again curse the ground for man's sake—although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will not again smite every living thing as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease'" (vs 20-22).

You'll notice God said that within Himself. He didn't declare it to the world. At some point He had to declare it, because somebody had to know it to write it down. God is saying within Himself, 'Noah, I promise you—animals, birds of the field, beasts of the field. birds of the air—never again will I bring a flood like this. "…seedtime and harvest…they will not cease"—an absolute promise! We're going to see in a special covenant that God made with a mighty man of Israel referring back to this covenant and ties it in.

Let's look at the word 'covenant' in Genesis 9:8: "And God spoke to Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, 'Behold I, even I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you; and with every living creature that is with you—of the birds, of the livestock, and of every animal of the earth with you—from all that go out from the ark, to every animal of the earth. 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'" (vs 8-11). You will notice, God didn't say:

• there wouldn't be a mighty fire
• that at some point much of the earth's waters would be turned to blood
• that horrible plagues would come

Just read the book of Revelation and you'll get those plagues, but He did promise that never again would a flood like this happen. No matter how powerful a tsunami may take place, God would hold a stop sign that said, 'No farther! You will not cover the earth!' That's a command of God to the elements.

Verse 12: "And God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant..." Add up the number of times the word covenant is used. You'll find, in these nine verses that seven times God used the word covenant.

"...which I make between Me and you and every living creature with you, for everlasting generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth'" (vs 12-13). Now God is making not only a covenant with Noah, not just a covenant with the animals, the creatures, but also with the earth, itself. There's a reason for that: It shows you God's thinking!

Verse 14: "'And it shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud. And I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the rainbow shall be in the cloud. And I will look upon it that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.' And God said to Noah, 'This is the token of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is upon the earth'" (vs 14-17). God created the earth, He created all animals and they're His.

I remember several years ago where there was a dispute raging about whales—killing the whales, over-whaling, etc.—I'm not talking about Greenpeace. In this case, I'm talking about an Irish priest who was leading the fight in this section to reduce the amount of whaling. God created all these animals. Yes, He created some to be killed, to be eaten, etc., that's true; but not to be slaughtered indiscriminately. This Irish priest uttered three words and I was struck by them. He said, 'They're God's whales!' In other words, they belong to Him. They're not my whales. They're His whales. They're His

• octopi
• sharks
• eagles
• lions
• tigers
• rhinos
• monkeys
• gorillas
• orangutans

They belong to Him and He takes note of them.

You want to see how He takes note of them? What did Jesus say? Jesus makes a very, very interesting statement. He said to beware, don't worry about those who kill the body but not the life (Luke 12:3-4).

Luke 12:5: "But I will show you Whom you should fear. Fear Him Who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into the fire of Gehenna. Yes, I tell you, fear Him! Are not five sparrows sold for two coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But even the hairs of your head have all been numbered. Therefore, do not be afraid; you are of greater value than many sparrows" (vs 5-7).

Matthew 10:28—we'll see it worded just a little bit differently; nevertheless, the same principle: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but do not have power to destroy the life; rather, fear Him Who has the power to destroy bothlife and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a coin? And yet not one of them shall fall to the ground without your Father taking account of it'" (vs 28-29). God even cares for sparrows. What's a sparrow?—A little bird! It doesn't matter! If they're God's whales, they're God's sparrows! So, He is promising them, back in Gen. 8 and 9: 'I will never destroy you the way I did before. I promise you. You have My Word on that!''

In addition to that, God makes a fascinating covenant with the beasts of the field. This is so obscure. I've read over it a dozen times and never saw it.

What we have is a millennial setting, Hosea 2:15: "'And I will give her vineyards to her from there... [about Israel being restored] ...and the valley of Achor for a door of hope. And she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. And it shall be in that day,' says the LORD, 'you shall call Me Ishi, and shall no more call Me Baali'" (vs 15-16). This is a play on words, because today it's almost the opposite. The word Baal, which is lord—the great god Baal. In Hebrew, if you're married to a man, he's your 'baal'—'baali': my husband. In Hebrew, 'baali' is: husband. This is a beautiful play on words if you read it in Hebrew.

Verse 17: "For I will take away the names of the Baalim out of her mouth, and they will no more be remembered by their name. And in that day I will make a covenant for them, with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the heavens, and with the creeping things of the ground. And I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely" (vs 17-18).

What is this covenant? I have to, in part, use speculation. It is my firm belief that inthis covenant, God is going to make an arrangement with animals, that is going to make possible the idyllic, Millennial scene that we see in Isa. 11. We've all read this I don't know how many times, every Feast of Tabernacles I've heard it read. Even if it's not the Feast of Tabernacles, I've heard it read. We're all familiar with it.

Isaiah 11:1 talks about coming forth a 'shoot from the stump of Jesse.' 'A Branch grows out of his roots.' And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him… [v 3]: …delight shall be in the fear of the LORD… [v 4]: …with righteousness He shall judge…" (vs 1-4).

Try to picture this today, v 6: "Also the wolf shall dwell with the lamb..." Uh huh, sure he will! If he's lying down, he's looking at that lamb and if there were some kind of space above his head, you would see a picture of lunch—dinner!

"...and the leopard shall lie down with the kid... [goats] ...and the calf and the cub lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.... [that'll be the day] ...And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the viper's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My Holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea" (vs 6-9). Peace!

Remember in Hosea 2, it talks about these animals, it says 'it shall be in that day' and they shall lie down in peace. He shall bring them peace; lie down in safety.

Some way, some how, God is going to change the nature of animals—their digestive systems, their mentality—everything about them. They're going to change and He is going to do that with a covenant! They didn't understand the covenant that God made with them in the days of Noah, of course not. Did you ever look at a cow and see this dumb look. The cow doesn't know that. A cow doesn't know anything except munch, munch, munch and give milk. God doesn't care, they're God's cows.

He's going to make a covenant with every bird in the air, every creeping thing. No more poison snakes to kill people. We're not going to have any wild, renegade lions or elephants anymore. He is making a covenant with them! They don't know it. They will probably never understand it, but that doesn't matter, God does! That arrangement with them will be the change that will make possible what we call the Millennium of peace. God cares for His animals!

This is the third covenant that I promised you. This is really quite a covenant that God made with one of His favorite servants, David, king of Israel. This is an actual declaration by David. We don't know exactly when this took place, but it says:

2-Samuel 23:1: "And these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel said:"

David talking about God, v 4: "And he shall be as the light of the morning as the sun rises, a morning without clouds. The tender grass springs out of the earth through the sun's clear shining after a rain.… [notice this admission by David] ...Although my house is not so with God..." (vs 4-5) He had a miserable family. Going back to his daughter being raped, what happened with Absolom, not one of his sons turned out right and, horror of horrors, what about Solomon? I don't know.

His family turned out to be a mess, but notice the second half of v 5: "...yet, He has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure. For all my salvation and all my desire, will He not make it grow?" When did God do this? I don't know!

Let's see two more direct references to it. You want to see a forceful declaration by God, you don't get much more forceful than this.

Psalm 89:3: "I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant, "your seed will I establish forever, and build up your throne to all generations.' Selah" (vs 3-4). Period! End of thought, end of discussion!

Verse 19: "Then You spoke in a vision to Your Godly ones, and You said, 'I have laid help upon a mighty one; I have exalted a chosen one out of the people. I have found David, My servant; with My Holy oil I have anointed him. My hand shall be established with him; My arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not extract from him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him. And I will beat down his foes before his face and plague those who hate him. But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him; and in My name his horn shall be exalted I will set his hand also in the sea and his right hand in the rivers. He shall cry to Me, "My Father, You are my God, and the Rock of my salvation." And I will make him My firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth'" (vs 19-27). David is even considered a firstborn to God. We really do know that the really, truly Firstborn is Jesus Christ. David will be ruling under the Christ.

Verse 28: "I will keep My steadfast love for him forever, and My covenant shall stand fast with him. Also will I make his seed to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments, if they profane My statutes and do not keep My commandments, then I will visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes. But I will not completely take My loving kindness from him, nor will I allow My faithfulness to fail. I will not break My covenant, nor change the thing that has gone out of My lips. Once I have sworn by My Holiness, I will not lie to David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever like the moon, and like a faithful witness in the heavens. Selah" (vs 28-37).

That is about as forceful of a covenant that I have ever seen. God promises, He swore, just like with Abraham, 'by Myself have I sworn.' He says, 'I will not lie to David

Titus 1:2—Paul wrote to Titus: "...God Who cannot lie..." I'm not trying to get too philosophical, but does God have the capacity to lie? Philosophically, you might say, 'yes or no,' but it's irrelevant, because God wills not to lie and that is the key. God can't lie because He won't lie! He refuses to lie! His will and His debt for righteousness is so strong, nothing can affect it. He will not lie! It's an absolute promise to David!

Now, let's see that same promise, in a little different light we'll see God repeating it, Jeremiah 33 14: "'Behold, the days come,' says the LORD, 'that I will establish the good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, I will cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up to David. And He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this is the name with which she shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.' For thus says the LORD, 'David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle grain offerings, and to do sacrifice continually'" (vs 14-18). Remember, this does not mean that in every day, every minute there will be someone offering sacrifices, but there will be always be someone available to do it. God will not cut off the seed of Aaron or the seed of David.

Verse 19: "And the Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 'Thus says the LORD, "If you can break My covenant of the day and My covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night at their appointed time... [pointing back to Gen. 8] ...then also My covenant with David My servant may be broken, that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and My covenant with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. As the host of the heavens cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so I will multiply the seed of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me"'" (vs 19-22).

Verse 25: "Thus says the LORD, 'If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not given the ordinances of the heavens and the earth, then I will cast away the seed of Jacob, and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will bring them back from their captivity, and have mercy on them'" (vs 25-26). God says that unless you can stop:

• the day
• the night
• the sun
• the moon
• seed time
• harvest time

Unless you can do that, then you cannot break My covenant. God says 'You can't break My covenant with the day and with the night. So, since you can't break My covenant with the day and the night, you cannot break My covenant with David.'

Let's go back just briefly and read that. This is an absolute promise. God refers back to it from Jer. 33. Genesis 8:22: "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." That doesn't mean that you're not going to have cataclysmic events. It doesn't mean the moon, the sun covered and all kinds of convoluted events taking place, but you will never wipe out seedtime and harvest time; because if you could, everybody would die. God says that this is going to remain forever.

He also promised that even if David's family, even if his followers that remain were not to be faithful, He would still keep His covenant with David. 1-Kings 11 is the sad tale of Solomon whose:

• wisdom
• knowledge
• glory
• silver
• gold
• riches

all was to him, but he violated the Law of God.

• he made images
• he worshipped them
• he erected gods for his wives

1-Kings 11:28: "And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of war. And Solomon, seeing that the young man was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph."

Then the prophet Ahijah, v 30: "And Ahijah caught hold of the new garment that was on him... [Ahijah] ...and tore it in twelve pieces. And he said to Jeroboam, 'Take ten pieces for yourself. For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, "Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you, but he shall have one tribe for My servant David's sake and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, because they have forsaken Me and have worshiped... [these various gods] ...and have not walked in My ways...as David his father did. But I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life... [Solomon] ...for the sake of David My servant, whom I chose..."'" (vs 30-34).

Let's look at the example of another miserable king and what God said regarding him, 2-Chronicles 21:1: "And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram his son reigned in his place." You read about this Jehoram, he was a miserable king. He killed all his brothers.

Verse 3: "...But the kingdom he [Jehoshaphat] gave to Jehoram because he was the firstborn. And when Jehoram had risen up to the kingdom of his father, he made himself strong and killed all his brothers with the sword... [v 5]: Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he began to reign…." (vs 3-5)

Verse 6: "And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like the house of Ahab, for he had the daughter of Ahab for a wife.…"—married Ahab's daughter. I don't need to tell you how bad Ahab was. Is anything was worse than Ahab?—Perhaps Manasseh, but it's said that Manasseh repented. So, Manasseh might not have been quite as bad as Ahab was.

Verse 7: "Nevertheless, the LORD was not willing to destroy the house of David because of the covenant that He had made with David, as He promised to give a light to him and to his sons forever."

It didn't matter what others did. This is a royal covenant. There are different types of covenants; one is a royal covenant. A royal covenant is between two parties. It is one party—the king, the master, the lord—who declares, 'I will do this.' It doesn't matter what happens later. It doesn't matter if there's sin, if there's corruption, if God says, 'I will do this,' He's going to do it. God promised David, 'I will never rend it from you completely. My mercy will never depart from David as it did from Saul'

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version by Fred R. Coulter (except were noted)

Scriptural References:

• Galatians 3:27-29
• Psalms 8:3-5
• Job 7:17
• Deuteronomy 7:6-8
• Genesis 6:5-7, 11-12
• Genesis 6:8
• Genesis 8:1, 20-22
• Genesis 9:8-17
• Luke 12:5-7
• Matthew 10:28-29
• Hosea 2:15-18
• Isaiah 11:1-4, 6-9
• Hosea 2: 16-17
• 2-Samuel 23:1, 4-5
• Psalms 89:3-4, 19-37
• Titus 1:2
• Jeremiah 33:14-22, 25-26
• Genesis 8:22
• 1-Kings 11:28, 30-34
• 2-Chronicles 21:1, 3-7

Scriptures Referenced, not quoted:

• Genesis 48; 49; 7
• Luke 12:3-4

MH:nfs
Transcribed 9-20-13
Proofed/corrected: bo—10/8/13
Corrected: 6-16-14

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