November 15: THE LORD’S COVENANT ELEMENTS
Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety. Proverbs 11:14
This proverb of Solomon assumes a multitude of godly counselors. As the LORD builds His church, He intends a ready availability of Biblical counsel that welcomes and disciples the wounded and faint of heart who come in search of the LORD. Discipleship is an ongoing process of growth, until the very end.
The first chapter of Isaiah points out that the place of safety intended by God as a refuge for any who would seek Him had sadly become a place of children who are corrupters! (Isaiah 1:4) But Isaiah’s counsel also includes glorious prophetic visions of what the restored people of God will be before the close of this world’s history. Therefore the Lord says, The LORD of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, “Ah, I will rid Myself of My adversaries, And take vengeance on My enemies. I will turn My hand against you, And thoroughly purge away your dross, And take away all your alloy” (vv.24-25). Let’s pause right here. The word alloy signifies that God’s people had amalgamated pagan ideas and philosophies with the pure teachings of His Word. He goes on: “I will restore your judges as at the first, And your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city” (v.26).
God speaks to us using language that we can relate to. Isaiah employs a choice of wording that is both covenant language and lawsuit language that reveal the Creator’s desire to cleanse and restore His people—recreating their hearts—all the way to the state of purity and righteousness befitting of those He created in His image. Like Moses, Isaiah makes it clear that there is no “middle ground” or compromise. This covenant agreement calls for witnesses: “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20).
Elements of the LORD’s covenant are often expressed in this order: (1) the great things He has already done for His people, (2) stipulations for covenant maintenance: the honoring of His commandments (John 14:15), (3) witnesses of this agreement, and (4) layout of blessings for all who love and honor the LORD, and curses that result by violation of the covenant conditions, thus forsaking His divine protection. It is the LORD who carries the lion’s share of covenant weight, for He even empowers those who love Him with strength to obey. He also assumes the responsibility of sanctifying His people (Ezekiel 20:12), as He aids them in fulfilling their role in this covenant relationship.
“Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘I am zealous for Zion with great zeal; With great fervor I am zealous for her… I will return to Zion, And dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, The Mountain of the LORD of hosts, The Holy Mountain.’” Zechariah 8:2-3 (see also Revelation 21:2,10)