An Eternal Covenant

Covenant is a binding relationship with God . . .

Admittedly, we’re jumping in in the middle of this story. Who are these people who Israel made a covenant with? Why did they strike this deal and why are they upset about it? Why are the three days it takes to reach their cities important? These five verses leave us with a handful of unanswered questions. And if I’m being totally honest with you - which I try my best to do - we didn’t read more because the entirety of this story takes the whole chapter of Joshua 9 and I opted to read just the key verses for this message. I do want to fill in the rest of this story a little bit for you though.

It starts with God speaking everything into existence. Then we’ll skip a couple steps to Joshua. He succeeds Moses as the leader of Israel and takes them into the Promised Land. There is one small problem, other peoples and nations live there. The solution to that problem is to conquer them, to wipe them out per God’s instructions. And while God is with them, Israel cannot lose. Now the Gibeonites, the people who live in these cities, they hear about what’s going on. And they get appropriately worried, because they happen to live in the Promised Land and they’ve come to the conclusion that God is actively blessing Israel in battle. So they hatch a little bit of a scheme. They dress themselves in ragged clothes and let themselves get dusty and dirty. They gather up some old wineskins and some crusty bread, and do what they can to make themselves look like they are at the end of a really long journey. Then they go to Israel and they say “we’re from really far away but we’ve heard about all that God has done for you, so we came to make a covenant with you.” And the leaders of Israel, notably without consulting God, enter into a covenant with these people.

That’s where we get to our reading, where the Israelites discover that these people from “very far away” only live three days away. But the leaders, on their behalf, had made this covenant with them in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. A covenant binds two people in a certain kind of relationship, and the Israelites are in this covenantal relationship with God, and now with the Gibeonites in the name of God. And they conclude in Joshua 9:19-20

Joshua 9:19–20 (ESV)

But all the leaders said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them.

This we will do to them: let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath that we swore to them.”

So today we’re going to talk more about these covenantal relationships, with the understanding that a covenant is a binding relationship with God.

. . . that He takes seriously.

What’s more, a covenant is a binding relationship with God that He takes seriously. If we look at the language used here, saying “the Lord, the God of Israel” is an expression that is used 119 times in the Old Testament . In those times, it is almost always linked with faithfulness and a covenant-keeping God for whom a violation of an oath could result in the most terrible of consequences.

You see, God has a reputation. And if His people start making promises in His name that they fail to keep, what would it say about Him if He didn’t do anything. People might think that He condones dishonesty, that He doesn’t take His name seriously, maybe even that He doesn’t exist. The character of the Lord, the God of Israel is one that defines honesty, faithfulness, and justice. God very much cares about the glorification and respect of His name, and He expects His people to do the same. So when the leaders of Israel have invoked name of the Lord, the God of Israel, they are right to fear the consequences of failing to follow through on that covenant. All of their experiences have revealed to them, still reveal to us today, a God who maintains high standards for His people as representatives of Him in creation. Because a covenant is a binding relationship with God that He takes very seriously.

. . . that He upholds.

God doesn’t just take these covenantal relationships with His name seriously and wait idly to dole out punishment. When God is involved with a covenant, He actively takes part in upholding those promises. Just think about all of the promises that God has kept as part of His covenantal relationship with His people throughout history.

He promised Noah to bring him safely through the flood, and He did.

He promised Abraham a son, and Isaac was born.

He promised Israel the promised land, and they were given it.

He promised Adam and Abraham and Issac and Jacob that the world would be blessed through them, and from their descendants came Jesus Christ. And at this time of year especially, we remember how He fulfilled that promise on Christmas, with the birth of Jesus Christ as true man and true God.

Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to His followers, to draw them to Himself, and throughout history the Holy Spirit has worked in the lives of people to bring them to faith in Him.

Jesus made a promise to each of us in baptism, to adopt us into His family, to keep us in His care, to forgive our sins - and He does, and we remember that every week.

Jesus promises to be here with us as we celebrate His Supper.

Jesus promises to hear us when we pray, to bring our requests before our heavenly Father.

Above all else, Jesus promises in His death and resurrection that we will be with Him in the new creation, in the perfect new creation, for eternity.

We have a covenantal relationship with Jesus still, and it doesn’t rely on anything from us at all. Because this covenant is a binding relationship with God that He upholds with His mighty power.

. . . that we trust in wholly.

We are truly blessed to be in this covenant with God, this binding relationship with God that He takes seriously and that He upholds. Because knowing that we can trust in that relationship wholly. Now what does that look like, what does it look like to wholly, totally trust in our covenant relationship with God.

Well, total trust means that we don’t try and make it happen ourselves, we don’t try and hedge our bets. We have this desire to justify ourselves, to make ourselves right with God and others through all sorts of things. We do it through our accomplishments, through our busyness, through our families, through our jobs, through our hobbies. And we have a relationship with God where we don’t have to rely on that, we are enough because He says we are enough. When we trust in Him, a lot of this other stuff becomes less important because it isn’t want defines us.

Total trust means we actually act as if what He has promised us is true. We pray about things because He promises to listen to us, we behave as if His instructions are really for our benefit, and we talk to others as if His promise truly is the difference between heaven and hell.

Total trust means that we dismiss all of our fears, all of our anxieties about our place with Him for all eternity. Because that is our ultimate promise. We have a covenant with God, a binding relationship that He takes seriously, that He upholds, and that we trust in wholly for our life and salvation. Amen.