COVENANTS SESSION 4

COVENANTS SESSION 4

THE MARRIAGE AND NOAHIC COVENANTS

This is our fourth session in covenants. Previously we have discussed introductory material and last week we discussed the Edenic and Adamic Covenants. We saw that the Edenic was prior to sin entering the world and the Adamic was God’s way of providing redemption because of that sin. Tonight we will examine the Marriage and Noahic Covenants.

THE MARRIAGE COVENANT

The first covenant that we will discuss is the Marriage Covenant. The covenant that the Lord God initiated for marriages is mentioned by name only once. That is in Malachi 2:14, however if we examine some other scriptures closely we find that the Marriage Covenant is one that the Lord intended to be understood without each time noting it as a covenant.

Paul E. Palmer, a Catholic theologian said “Contracts engage the services of people; covenants engage persons. Contracts are made for a stipulated period of time; covenants are forever. Contracts can be broken with material loss to the contracting parties; covenants cannot be broken, but if violated, they result in personal loss and broken hearts. Contracts are witnessed by people with the state as guarantor; covenants are witnessed by God with God as guarantor.” With that in mind one would believe that Palmer thought that covenant was a matter of faith, one requiring a deeper more personal dedication than does a contract.

Bob Deffinbaugh said “Ours is not an age that desires to make long-term commitments. The covenant of marriage is often avoided, and vows that are made lack the permanence and commitment of former days. Guarantees are given for a very short period. Contracts are often vaguely worded or are undermined by loopholes and fine print. Strangely, Christians seem to think that clear, contractual agreements are somehow unspiritual, especially between two believers. ‘A man should be as good as his word,’ we are told. And so he should.”

Interestingly enough there is a movement currently underway in some states to recognize the Marriage Covenant and give it a special place in marriage ceremonies. The Wikipedia on the internet states “…a covenant marriage is a legally distinct kind of marriage, in which the marrying couple agree to obtain pre-marital counseling and accept more limited grounds for divorce. The movement to create covenant marriage as a legal category, largely driven by evangelical Christians, is a cultural and political response to the ready availability of no-fault divorce and the United States' high divorce rate. It is more difficult for couples who have a legal covenant marriage to obtain a divorce. Cause for divorce is typically limited to abuse, a felony with jail time, or adultery; however, these restrictions do not apply if one or both spouses file for divorce in a state that does not recognize covenant marriages. To date, the number of couples choosing covenant marriage in the states where it is an option has ranged between 1 and 3 percent of all marriages.” Currently the following states have this as a legal category: Louisiana, Arkansas and Arizona. These states have had legislation introduced to create legal covenant marriage: California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia. However, to date these efforts have not been successful. Another interesting item is that former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and his wife renewed their marriage vows under Arkansas’ more restrictive Covenant Marriage statues in 2005.

In Matthew 19:3-11 we have Jesus reinforcing the idea of marriage as a covenant relationship. The Pharisees were trying to trap Him, because the rabbis were divided on this issue, by questioning whether or not it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife for “any cause at all.” In His response Jesus answering said “ “Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’ And he said, ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’”

Matthew 19:3-11 (NLT) - ³ Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for just any reason?” ⁴ “Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’ ⁵ And he said, ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ ⁶ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.” ⁷ “Then why did Moses say in the law that a man could give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away?” they asked. ⁸ Jesus replied, “Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended. ⁹ And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery—unless his wife has been unfaithful.” ¹⁰ Jesus’ disciples then said to him, “If this is the case, it is better not to marry!” ¹¹ “Not everyone can accept this statement,” Jesus said. “Only those whom God helps.

The Spirit Filled Bible (NJKV, Thomas Nelson Bibles) in a Kingdom Dynamics section states “When two people marry, God stands as a witness to the marriage, sealing it with the strongest possible word: covenant. ‘Covenant’ speaks of faithfulness and enduring commitment. It stands like a divine sentinel over marriage, for blessing or for judgment. Divorce is here described as violence. To initiate divorce does violence to God’s intention for marriage and to the mate to whom one has been joined. Yet, where husband and wife live according to their marriage vows, all the power of a covenant-keeping God stands behind them and their marriage. What a confidence, to know that God backs up our marriage. His power and authority stand against every enemy that would violently threaten it from without or within. ” In another place “Jack Hayford writes that... “The covenant of marriage is the single most important human bond that holds all of God’s work on the planet together. It is no small wonder that the Lord is passionate about the sanctity of marriage and the stability of the home. This covenant of marriage is based on the covenant God has made with us. It is in the power of His promise to mankind that our personal covenant of marriage can be kept against the forces that would destroy homes and ruin lives." (Hayford, J. W. The Spirit-Filled Family: Holy Wisdom to Build Happy Homes. Nashville: Thomas Nelson)

Malachi 2:14 (AMP) - ¹⁴ Yet you ask, why does He reject it? Because the Lord was witness [to the covenant made at your marriage] between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously and to whom you were faithless. Yet she is your companion and the wife of your covenant [made by your marriage vows].

Here we have the scripture stating that the Israelites were not receiving the blessing on their giving because they were not treating their wives in a covenant manner. Not only the financial blessing but He doesn’t answer the prayers of one breaking the covenant relationship with their spouse. We are in covenant with our wives and they are in covenant with us. This verse tells us that our covenant relationships affect every aspect of our lives. We are in covenant and should act accordingly, because the Covenant –Maker, -Keeper, -Revealer and –Enabler is watching us perform our part of it. Remember that the Bible opens and closes with marriage scenes.

The word for marriage in the Hebrew is kiddushin which comes from the base word meaning sanctified. We see here that marriage is one of the sacred covenants in the Word of God. We see in Ephesians 5:25-27 that the Lord sanctifies the church and the husband sanctifies the wife, the word sanctifies in the Greek is the same word as marriage.

Ephesians 5:25-27 (NASB95) - ²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, ²⁶ so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ²⁷ that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.

And when we study the blood covenant ritual, we will see so much of our marriage covenant contained within it.

The following scriptures speak of the Lord joining two people into one when they become married, thus a covenant has been affected.

Genesis 2:24 (NKJV) - ²⁴ Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Matthew 19:5 (NKJV) - ⁵ and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?

Mark 10:8 (NKJV) - ⁸ and the two shall become one flesh'; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh.

Then we have the scripture which states that God intended for man to have a God-given helper:

Genesis 2:18 (NLT) - ¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”

Another scripture that we have which gives marriage covenant a strong backing is Proverbs 2:17, which acknowledges a woman abandoned her husband and ignores the covenant she made with him before God.

Proverbs 2:17 (NLT) - ¹⁷ She has abandoned her husband and ignores the covenant she made before God.

The following are scriptures that point to the marriage of God with His people. He wants us to treat our spouses as He will treat us and the way we should treat Him.

Isaiah 54:5 (AMP) - ⁵ For your Maker is your Husband—the Lord of hosts is His name—and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; the God of the whole earth He is called.

Ephesians 5:25-27 (NKJV) - ²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, ²⁶ that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,
²⁷ that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

One last scripture that I believe relates to marriage is:

Ezekiel 16:2-8 (NASB95) - ² "Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations ³ and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem, "Your origin and your birth are from the land of the Canaanite, your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. ⁴ "As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths. ⁵ "No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you. Rather you were thrown out into the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born. ⁶ "When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you while you were in your blood, 'Live!' Yes, I said to you while you were in your blood, 'Live!‘ ⁷ "I made you numerous like plants of the field. Then you grew up, became tall and reached the age for fine ornaments; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Yet you were naked and bare. ⁸ "Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine," declares the Lord GOD.

So in all our marrying and living we need to take a moment to reaffirm our covenant standing with our spouses, giving the Lord the glory and honor due Him for our being provided a companion. And not just any companion but one the Father protects. The Nelson Study Bible offers a comment on Malachi 2:14, it states “by covenant: The union of a marriage is formal, public, legal, and sacred, a binding contract.”

THE NOAHIC COVENANT

Arthur W. Pink said, ““Noah is the connecting link between “the world that then was,” which “being overflowed with water, perished,” and the earth which now is “reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:6,7)” ….A period of sixteen centuries intervened between the covenant of works which God entered into with Adam and the covenant of grace which He made with Noah.”

Sixteen hundred years elapsed during which God did not enter into a covenant with man. During this time men received Divine revelations, enjoyed divine promises and precepts, God was real to them. But they were involved in sins and immoralities and the Lord had had enough. However, in Genesis 6:5 “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” There were Nephilim on the earth and the sons of God were marrying the daughters of men. The divine blood line was being polluted by angelic hosts and had to be stopped so that the “Seed of woman” could come and fulfill the covenant given to Adam.

Elohim was the one telling Noah that He would make a covenant with him. Elohim is the plural of God, thus the covenant was being made between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and Noah. The plurality adds emphasis to the covenant being made; it speaks of the eternal promises of God being worked out through the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This was the same Elohim in Genesis 1:1 which says “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” That was Elohim and in Genesis 6:18 He is entering into a covenant with Noah. So we have God the Creator subjecting Himself to man in a covenant that will last for eternity.

Who is this man that God is cutting a covenant with? Born to Lamech, he was approximately 300 years old when he entered the ark. After the ark landed and he made a sacrifice to the Lord he lived another 650 years. Noah is mentioned in Isaiah 54:9 which says “the waters of Noah” and then in Ezekiel 14:14, 20 we find him mentioned along with Daniel and Job. The New Testament treats him as follows:

Matthew 24:37 (NKJV) - ³⁷ But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Hebrews 11:7 (NKJV) - ⁷ By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

2 Peter 2:5 (NKJV) - ⁵ and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;

In the New Testament he is treated as an example in the future, a righteous man, a faithful man, a preacher of righteousness and an example for us.

This is the covenant giving mankind a new beginning. It is one that speaks through redemption, cleansing man from the past and giving him a future. So the Noahic Covenant is one of the redemptive covenants that the Lord has given to man.

This covenant in addition to being an eternal covenant sets the pattern for all the other Divine Covenants. Through our understanding of this covenant, as well as the other covenants that we will be discussing, our appreciation for the New Covenant through our Lord Jesus Christ will be heightened.

The Noahic Covenant consists of two parts, Genesis 8:20-22 and Genesis 9:1-17. The first part, rather than being a promise God made to Noah (and us), is actually a confirmation that God made in speaking to His heart. Some say this is God’s covenant with creation.

Genesis 8:20-22 (NASB95) - ²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹ The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.
²² "While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease."

So we see in Verse 21 the Lord God speaking to Himself. Keil & Delitzsch in their Commentary on the Old Testament phrase “the LORD said to Himself” as “the Lord said to His heart.” That places it in another sphere for me, the Lord isn’t speaking out loud making a statement, He is speaking within Himself, to Himself re-establishing the parts that follow: not destroy every living thing, also seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease. So in this we have a Divine Assurance.

Genesis 9:1-17 (NASB95) - ¹ And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. ² "The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given. ³ "Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. ⁴ "Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. ⁵ "Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man's brother I will require the life of man. ⁶ "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man. ⁷ "As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it."
⁸ Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, ⁹ "Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; ¹⁰ and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. ¹¹ "I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth." ¹² God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; ¹³ I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. ¹⁴ "It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, ¹⁵ and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶ "When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." ¹⁷ And God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth."

This scripture gives us the following seven terms of promise:

1. While the earth remains, God will not curse the ground or living creatures again.

2. Man is to replenish the earth

3. Man is to rule over the earth

4. Animals are added to their diet, they can be eaten except for the blood

5. Capital punishment for murderers is instituted, as well as death to animals that kill men

6. The rainbow becomes the sign of the covenant

7. This would be an eternal covenant

When we look at the part about God blessing Noah and his sons all of the scriptures of being blessed are brought to mine. A few of which are:

Psalms 1:1 (AMP) - ¹ BLESSED (HAPPY, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather.

Psalms 112:1 (AMP) - ¹ PRAISE THE Lord! (Hallelujah!) Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who fears (reveres and worships) the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments.

Psalms 128:1 (AMP) - ¹ BLESSED (HAPPY, fortunate, to be envied) is everyone who fears, reveres, and worships the Lord, who walks in His ways and lives according to His commandments.

Matthew 5:2-11 (AMP) - ² Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: ³ Blessed (happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous—with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the poor in spirit (the humble, who rate themselves insignificant), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!
⁴ Blessed and enviably happy [with a happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His matchless grace] are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted! ⁵ Blessed (happy, blithesome, joyous, spiritually prosperous—with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the meek (the mild, patient, long-suffering), for they shall inherit the earth!
⁶ Blessed and fortunate and happy and spiritually prosperous (in that state in which the born-again child of God enjoys His favor and salvation) are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God), for they shall be completely satisfied! ⁷ Blessed (happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous—with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy! ⁸ Blessed (happy, enviably fortunate, and spiritually prosperous—possessing the happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His grace, regardless of their outward conditions) are the pure in heart, for they shall see God! ⁹ Blessed (enjoying enviable happiness, spiritually prosperous—with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they shall be called the sons of God! ¹⁰ Blessed and happy and enviably fortunate and spiritually prosperous (in the state in which the born-again child of God enjoys and finds satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of his outward conditions) are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake (for being and doing right), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!
¹¹ Blessed (happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous—with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of your outward conditions) are you when people revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things against you falsely on My account.

Isaac blessed Jacob in Genesis 28:3 by restating "May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples;” I love the fact that the Almighty God has blessed us as well. The Amplified Bible with its explanation of Blessed – “HAPPY, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable” makes it even more exciting that we are the blessed of God.

WE ARE BLESSED!