Broken Covenants

1. During times of national tragedy and disaster, people often turn to God.

2. One example of a national emergency is found in 2 Sam. 21.

3. At this time in Hebrew history, David was king of Israel.

4. During a certain period of David’s reign, there was a “famine” in Israel (food was scarce).

5. Israel was the “land of milk and honey” — a wonderful area for produce and crops.

6. For three years the ground would not cooperate with those who worked it.

7. Since things did not improve, David sought the face of God, and God answered him.

8. God’s answer was based upon history.

9. There were some ancient people known as the Gibeonites.

10. These people are connected to the time of Joshua and Israel’s coming into the land of Canaan.

11. Many years earlier Joshua helped Israel overcome Jericho and the city of Ai.

12. As he prepared to continue the battle (Josh. 9), people of “Gibeon” heard about Joshua’s success.

13. These people didn’t want to die at the hands of Israel so they formed a plan.

14. They pretended they were from “out of town.”

15. They said (Josh. 9:6) that they had come from a “far country.”

16. Though they were from the area, they took the Israelites stale food and old clothing.

17. They said that because they were strangers, they wanted to make a covenant with Israel.

18. In fact, in this covenant they would agree to be Israel’s servants.

19. If Israel did not destroy the Gibeonites, those from Gibeah would serve the people of God.

20. Verse 14 of Josh. 9 says Israel failed to ask God about the matter.

21. God knew that the people of Gibeon were trying to pull a fast one by pretending to be from a far away place.

22. Israel didn’t ask for God’s help and they were deceived into making an agreement.

23. Because Israel made a covenant with the Gibeonites, the people of Gibeah were spared.

24. In 2 Sam. 21 we move come to a time in Israel history which is much later and David is king.

25. The Gibeonites are again featured in the story.

26. David’s predecessor (king Saul) had killed some of the Gibeonites, 2 Sam. 21:2.

27. Notice the connection that can be made between Josh. 9 and 2 Sam. 21.

28. An agreement was made to spare the lives of Gibeonites, Josh. 9.

29. Years later (400 years is one estimate) this agreement was violated.

30. Did the violation of the covenant matter?

31. Israel said that it would not kill these people, but some of them were later killed.

32. Was this a serious issue? Yes. It mattered so much that God began to afflict the nation of Israel.

33. Israel had a new system of leadership at this point, but this change in leadership was irrelevant.

34. Furthermore, the people who had made the original agreement were all dead, but that didn’t change things.

35. The passing of four centuries did not weaken or negate an agreement that had been made.

36. What had been promised was a binding agreement that had to be followed.

37. Because this agreement had been broken, a price had to be paid.

38. Seven of King Saul’s relatives were selected to be put to death (verse 6).

39. These men were hung because a covenant had been violated.

WHEN WE LOOK AT THE BIBLE, WE FIND SEVERAL EXAMPLES OF PEOPLE WHO DID NOT KEEP AN AGREEMENT (COVENANT). HERE ARE SOME OF THE ONES YOU COULD FIND WITH JUST A LITTLE SEARCHING:

a) Josh. 7:11 – Israel “transgressed” its covenant with God.

b) Because of this Israel suffered defeat at the hands of her enemies (verse 12).

c) Israel would not prosper (verse 13) until it began to again do what was right.

2) Deut. 17:2 describes breaking God’s agreement as “evil.”

a) This is a foreign concept to most now living.

b) Many have not idea that God has even formed an agreement with mankind.

c) He has, and the part of His agreement that we are to follow is the New Testament.

d) When it comes to the New Testament, many approach it in a very casual way.

e) The thinking is, “We might follow a little of it, some of it, or most of it.”

f) From the Old Testament we find an important principle about God’s agreement with us:

g) If we are not strictly following the NT as it is written, we are involved with evil (sin, wrong, unrighteousness).

3) Someone might ask if we really need to pay that much attention to the details of Scripture.

4) Listen to Josh. 23:16 – READ.

a) I recognize that a specific kind of sin is described in these verses.

b) I also know that worshipping pagan deities is probably not now the most common violation of the covenant.

c) The key issue is not the specific sin but the failure to abide by the Word of God.

d) God says that breaking the terms found in His word angers Him.

5) We can make this information practical for us and all others.

6) God has given His word; those who do not obey it are guilty of evil and they make God angry.

7) What will happen to these people on the coming Day of Judgment?

8) They will be lost.

9) Many might try to tell God, “We thought that the Bible was for someone else.”

10) “We lived long after your Word was written. We lived 2,000 years after Jesus did.”

11) “We didn’t know that what Jesus and the apostles taught had to be followed.”

a) Remember what we saw in 2 Sam. 21—almost 400 years had passed but the agreement was in force.

b) 2,000 have passed since the New Testament was written but the agreement is just as binding.

c) When people are under a covenant from God, it lasts from generation to generation.

d) Consider what we find in Judg. 2:20 – READ.

e) All of us have had “fathers” (relatives) who lived under God’s New Testament.

f) Maybe they followed it, maybe not. What they did doesn’t matter.

g) Keeping God’s word is an individual responsibility, and this is what we must do.

12) God’s preachers spoke to people about not keeping God’s covenant.

a) Isaiah was one such man.

b) In Isa. 24:5 he laid it on heavy.

c) He said the earth was polluted.

d) Today we have a lot of concern about pollution. People talk about pollution.

e) We hear experts discuss air pollution, water pollution, land pollution.

f) God says there is another type of pollution—the type that comes from breaking heaven’s agreement.

g) Isaiah told the people they had “transgressed God’s laws.”

h) They had “violated the statues” given by God, and they had “transgressed the covenant.”

13) Jeremiah (31:32) reminded the people how their ancestors had broken God’s agreements.

14) Hosea (6:7) did a similar thing, only he used an unusual illustration.

15) This prophet said “Adam” was in a covenant relationship with God.

a) We know that Adam didn’t keep his agreement. He was a covenant breaker.

b) Hosea then said something else:

c) Break God’s covenant is dealing “treacherously” with God.

16) Surely everyone in this room believes that breaking an important agreement is treachery.

17) Broken agreements have led to wars.

18) People have been killed because a binding agreement was not honored.

19) Companies have gone on strike because contracts (covenants) were not kept.

20) All around us we see and use agreements. We realize that breaking them is an act of treachery.

21) We need to let people know that this is also true in the spiritual realm.

22) Many fail to realize this point because God is longsuffering.

23) From ancient times man has mistaken God’s patience for permission to violate God’s covenant.

24) One great illustration of this is found in Ezek. 20.

25) This is a long chapter, and because of the length it might be hard to follow reading from the ASV/KJV.

26) I would like for you to listen to a paraphrase because it gives an easy overall view of the thought.

20:1 Late in July, six years after King Jeconiah was captured, some of the elders of Israel came to ask instructions from the Lord and sat before me awaiting his reply. 2 Then the Lord gave me this message:

3 "Son of dust, say to the elders of Israel, 'The Lord God says: How dare you come to ask my help? I swear that I will tell you nothing.' 4 Judge them, son of dust; condemn them; tell them of all the sins of this nation from the times of their fathers until now. 5 Tell them, 'The Lord God says: When I chose Israel and revealed myself to her in Egypt, I swore to her and her descendants that I would bring them out of Egypt to a land I had discovered and explored for them-a good land, flowing as it were with milk and honey, the best of all lands anywhere.' 7 "Then I said to them: 'Get rid of every idol; do not defile yourselves with the Egyptian gods, for I am the Lord your God.' 8 But they rebelled against me and would not listen. They didn't get rid of their idols nor forsake the gods of Egypt. Then I thought, I will pour out my fury upon them and fulfill my anger against them while they are still in Egypt.

9 "But I didn't do it, for I acted to protect the honor of my name, lest the Egyptians laugh at Israel's God who couldn't keep them back from harm. So I brought my people out of Egypt right before the Egyptians' eyes and led them into the wilderness. 11 There I gave them my laws so they could live by keeping them. If anyone keeps them, he will live. 12 And I gave them the Sabbath-a day of rest every seventh day-as a symbol between them and me, to remind them that it is I, the Lord, who sanctifies them-that they are truly my people. 13 "But Israel rebelled against me. There in the wilderness they refused my laws. They would not obey my rules even though obeying them means life. And they misused my Sabbaths. Then I thought, I will pour out my fury upon them and utterly consume them in the desert. 14 "But again I refrained in order to protect the honor of my name, lest the nations who saw me bring them out of Egypt would say that it was because I couldn't care for them that I destroyed them. 15 But I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land I had given them, a land full of milk and honey, the choicest spot on earth, 16 because they laughed at my laws, ignored my wishes, and violated my Sabbaths-their hearts were with their idols! 17 Nevertheless, I spared them. I didn't finish them off in the wilderness. 18 "Then I spoke to their children and said: 'Don't follow your fathers' footsteps. Don't defile yourselves with their idols, 19 for I am the Lord your God. Follow my laws; keep my ordinances; 20 hallow my Sabbaths; for they are a symbol of the contract between us to help you remember that I am the Lord your God.' 21 "But their children, too, rebelled against me. They refused my laws-the laws that if a person keeps them, he will live. And they defiled my Sabbaths. So then I said: 'Now at last I will pour out my fury upon you in the wilderness.' 22 "Nevertheless, again I withdrew my judgment against them to protect my name among the nations who had seen my power in bringing them out of Egypt. 23 But I took a solemn oath against them while they were in the wilderness that I would scatter them, dispersing them to the ends of the earth because they did not obey my laws but scorned them and violated my Sabbaths and longed for their fathers' idols. 25 I let them adopt customs and laws which were worthless. Through the keeping of them they could not attain life. 26 In the hope that they would draw back in horror and know that I alone am God, I let them pollute themselves with the very gifts I gave them. They burnt their firstborn children as offerings to their gods! 27 "Son of dust, tell them that the Lord God says: 'Your fathers continued to blaspheme and betray me when I brought them into the land I promised them, for they offered sacrifices and incense on every high hill and under every tree! They roused my fury as they offered up their sacrifices to those "gods." They brought their perfumes and incense and poured out their drink offerings to them! 29 I said to them: "What is this place of sacrifice where you go?" And so it is still called 'The Place of Sacrifice'-that is how it got its name. 30 "The Lord God wants to know whether you are going to pollute yourselves just as your fathers did and keep on worshiping idols. 31 For when you offer gifts to them and give your little sons to be burned to ashes as you do even today, shall I listen to you or help you, Israel? As I live," the Lord God says, "I will not give you any message, though you have come to me to ask. 32 "What you have in mind will not be done-to be like the nations all around you, serving gods of wood and stone. 33 I will rule you with an iron fist and in great anger and with power. 34 With might and fury I will bring you out from the lands where you are scattered, 35 and will bring you into my desert judgment hall. I will judge you there and get rid of the rebels, just as I did in the wilderness after I brought you out of Egypt. 37 I will count you carefully and let only a small quota return. 38 And the others-the rebels and all those who sin against me-I will purge from among you. They shall not enter Israel, but I will bring them out of the countries where they are in exile. And when that happens, you will know I am the Lord. 39 "O Israel," the Lord God says: "If you insist on worshiping your idols, go right ahead, but then don't bring your gifts to me as well! Such desecration of my holy name must stop!

28) God has given His word; in that word we have many promises—promises for the righteous and unrighteous.

27) These promises are reliable, dependable, and sure in every sense.

28) Have we obeyed them? If not, there is no hope for us.