Covenant forever
covenant duration His Covenant Sinai Covenant of the Lord
Ten Commandments decalogue
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There are a number of
scriptures that indicate the Covenant of the Lord will continue for quite
some time.
"Remember His covenant forever, The word which He commanded, for
a thousand generations" (1Chr 16:15, see also Ps. 105:8)
"He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant
forever: Holy and awesome is His name. (Ps. 111:9)
"He has given food to those who fear
Him; He will ever be mindful of His
covenant". (Psalms
111:5)
"But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to
everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children,
18 To such as keep His covenant, And to those who remember His
commandments" (Ps 103:17-18)
"Therefore know that the LORD your
God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand
generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;"
(Deu 7:9)
At about twenty five years
per generation, there would have been about 140 generations since Moses spoke
Deuteronomy. It seems we still have some to go. His allegiance to those
who keep His Covenant, the Ten Commandments, seems to be
very open ended.
'And I prayed to the LORD my God, and
made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those
who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments"' (Daniel
9:4)
The Eternal's covenant with
David was also based on David’s obedience to His covenant. David was promised his linage would rule in
Israel forever based on David’s obedience.
So David’s covenant is based on the principles of His Covenant, the
Ten Commandments. The Creator will not
change His covenant with David any more than He will change His covenant with
anyone else.
"My covenant I will not break, Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips". (Ps 89:34)
There is no Hebrew word for
the English verb ‘to be’, i.e., ‘is’.
In order to make English sentences translators must occasionally
insert the verb ‘to be’ for a sentence to be clear. They do this based on their own
interpretation of what is being said.
In the following case, with a different and more scriptural based
perspective on the Covenant of the Lord I have removed ‘is’ from the original
NKJV translation and replaced it with an ’*’. I have then re-inserted ‘is’ in
another location which makes actually more sense and improves the impact of
the original thought.
"As for Me,” says the LORD, “this * My
covenant is with them: My
Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall
not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from
the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the LORD, “from this time
and forever more." (Isaiah
59:21)
The creator is saying: ‘My
covenant is with them, My spirit is upon them, My words I put in your
mouth….forever’ (see also the Genesis 17:10 explanation in the Patriarch’s section.)
It should be no surprise
then, that when Hebrews talks of the "everlasting covenant" (Heb
13:20), that no explanation is necessary. The Hebrews would have known
immediately what that was. Particularly since it involved having
"My laws", the ten commandments, written in their hearts (Heb 10:16).
And of course:
"Then the temple of God was opened in
heaven, and the Ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings,
noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail."
(Revelation 11:19)
The Creator of the Universe
established the standard for acceptable upright and righteous conduct from
the beginning. He will never alter
that. Proper conduct doesn't change. The
arc containing His covenant,
undoubtedly with His Covenant in it, sits in His temple to this very
day. The status of any other covenant made with Israel does not affect
His covenant.