THE COVENANT IS BROKEN

PROCLAMATION

“They have returned to the sins of their ancestors, who refused to listen to My words.  They have followed other gods to serve them.  …  Therefore this is what The Lord says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape.  Although they cry out to Me, I will not listen to them.’ ”  Jeremiah 11:10-11 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

These are the words of The Lord God which were spoken to the prophet Jeremiah and proclaimed to the people of Judah.  The Lord God told him to listen to the words of this covenant and tell them to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. (Jeremiah 11:1-3)  Jeremiah did as The Lord told him, and he told the people what thus said The Lord. (Jeremiah 11:6-8)  Because the people did not listen, The Lord said that He would bring disaster on them.  The people did not like the message that Jeremiah gave them, and they plotted to kill the messenger.  However, The Lord revealed their plot to him and spared him (Jeremiah 11:18-19) and then He destroyed all of the people in the city that had plotted against him. (Jeremiah 11:21-23)

APPLICATION

When we were first saved, we promised to obey The Word of God, but not long after that we broke our covenant with The Lord God.  Some of us messed up, and confessed, and tried to walk the walk while frequently falling down and getting back up.  Some of us went into a backsliding mode for a period of time before we tried to turn from our sinful ways.  While some just gave up and completely turned away from God.  The day will come when we will pay for our mistakes.  Because The Lord God is just and righteous, our punishment will be appropriate for our sins.  Believers will stand before the mercy seat, and all that we thought, said, and did will be judged.  That which did not give God glory will be burned like wood, stubble, and hay. (1 Corinthians 3:13-15)  Others will stand before the great white throne and they will be judged. (Revelation 20:11-15)  Regardless of what it is that we have done, there is still hope for us if we repent.  If we confess our sins, The Lord God is faithful and just and will forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)  Don’t wait until it is too late.

OBEDIENCE SACRIFICE AND BLESSINGS

Proclamation:

“Some time later God tested Abraham.  He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ … Then God said, ‘Take you son, you only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the region of Moriah.  Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.’  Early the next morning … he took his son … When they reached the place … Abraham built and altar … he bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar … and took the knife to slay his son.  But The Angel of The Lord called out to him … ‘Do not lay a hand on the boy’ … Abraham looked up and there in the thicket he saw a ram, caught by its horns … he took the ram and sacrificed it … The Angel of The Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said ‘… I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.  Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed Me.’”  Genesis 22:1-18 (NIV)

Explanation:

The Lord God appeared to Abraham and made a covenant with him. (Genesis 17:1-7)  God kept His promise and Abraham was an old man when his son, Isaac, was born. (Genesis 21:2)  When The Lord God called to him and told what He wanted him to do, Abraham was obedient and took his son to the mountains to offer him as a brunt offering unto The Lord.  Before he actually slayed his son, The Angel of The Lord stopped him and showed him a ram that was caught in the bush.  Abraham called that place “The Lord Will Provide”. (Genesis 22:14)  Because he was willing to sacrifice his son to please God, The Lord promised to bless him and his descendants, who would be too numerous to count. (Genesis 22:16-17)  He promised that through Abraham’s descendants all nations on the earth would be blessed, referring to Jesus, The Christ. (Genesis 22:18)  The genealogy of Jesus can be traced back to Abraham. (Matthew 1:1-16)

Application:

Abraham passed his test of faith in God by showing his obedience to God.  He was willing to give up the son that he loved in order to obey God.  What sacrifices are we willing to make to obey The Word of God?  All too often we choose to please ourselves and our lustful, sinful nature instead of sacrificing our personal wants, wishes, and desires in order to please God.  We offer excuses when we are presented with the opportunity to choose to obey The Word of God and we give in to pleasing ourselves.  Abraham is often referred to as the father of the faithful.  He was truly blessed, God even used his enemies to be a blessing to him.  If we want to be blessed more in the future than we already are, then maybe we should be more obedient to God's word and His will than we are currently.  God gave us a free will and He allows us to choose to be obedient or not.  Following Him requires some personal sacrifices.  However, with obedience and sacrifice comes some special blessings.  Remember, some blessings are conditional.

God Made A Promise To Us

"Then Noah built an altar to The Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.  The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in His heart: 'Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.  And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done' ... Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him:  'I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you ... Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.'  And God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you ...  and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come ... I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth ...  Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life ... So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."  Genesis 8:20-9:17 (NIV)

This first book of Moses reveals that after the great flood, and after the waters receeded, God made a covenant with Noah, and all of his descendents after him, that He would not destroy mankind and every living thing on the earth by water.  The rainbow in the sky is a sign of that covenant.

Not only are we descendents of Adam and Eve, we are descendents of Noah so God's promise was also made with us.  The rainbow is the sign that God will not destroy the earth and every living thing therein again by water.  That does not mean that the world will never be destroyed again, just that the next time it will not be by water.  In his vision which revealed future things to come, the Apostle John said: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." (Revelation 21:1)  The prophet Isaiah saw in a vision and predicted that God would create a new heaven and a new earth.  (Isaiah 65:17 & 66:22)  The Bible does not address exactly how the present earth will "pass away," but there are many Bible scholars who believe that the world will be destroyed by fire the next time.  However, don't worry, all of the believers, past, present, and future, will be saved and become the occupants of the new earth.  Besides, the rapture will occur beforehand so we won't be here when the world is destroyed the next time, by fire or whatever.  Let the rainbow in the sky remind us that God destroyed the world once, and He will destroy it again.  Noah, a righteous man who walked with God, and his family were spared the first time.  Let us make sure that we are spared the next time.

Some Of The Problems With The People Are Due To Problems With Some Of The Pastors In The Pulpit

" 'And now this admonition is for you, O priests. If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor My name,' says The Lord Almighty, 'I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor Me. Because of you I will rebuke your descendants ... so that my covenant with Levi may continue,' says The Lord Almighty. 'My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered Me and stood in awe of My name. True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin. For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction; because he is the messenger of The Lord Almighty. But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,' says The Lord Almighty. 'So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed My ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law." Malachi 2:1-9 (NIV)

After admonishing the people, the prophet Malachi admonished the priests. The priests were not providing a good example of Godliness for the people. Because they had caused many to stumble, God cursed them and caused the to be despised and humiliated before the people.

God does not expect any of us to be perfect. We are all sinful by nature and while we are wrapped in our earthly bodies, we will continue to sin. We were given the free will to choose to believe and to choose right rather than wrong. However, whoa be unto us if we cause others to stumble and sin. It would be better to have a milestone about our necks and be cast into the sea. (Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42, & Luke 17:2) And those who teach will be judged much more strictly. (James 3:1) Pastors and preachers need to be especially careful that they do not misinform or mislead God's people. The people need to be very careful who they follow and they need to study the Bible to make sure that what they hear is correct. Do not imitate behavior that is not Godly. Judgment is coming and it will begin with the Church. "For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (1 Peter 4:17)

God's Promise To Believers

"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares The Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know The Lord,' because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. By calling this covenant 'new,' He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear." Hebrews 8:10-13 (NIV)

Here the unknown author is quoting Jeremiah 31:31-34 regarding the "new covenant." This covenant was made with the people of God. It is a promise which is based upon a spiritual change within the believer. The new covenant bring with it the forgiveness of sins. The first covenant was written in stone and failed because the people turned away from God. The new covenant will be written in the hearts and minds of believers and is not dependent upon human
behavior.

The new covenant promises us forgiveness of our sins. Once we confess our sins, and believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and accept Christ as our personal savior, we are saved. (Romans 10:9-10) Our wickedness and sins are forgiven. (1 John 1:9) Once saved, we will be judged based upon what we did that gave God glory and that will determine our rewards. 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 states, "Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved." Believers will be saved and rewarded based upon their works.