HGP-04 Dynamics of the Covenants

Have you ever noticed that human relationships have their ups and downs? Friendships are sometimes enjoyable and other times not enjoyable. Sometimes they’re secure and other times insecure. We’ve seen in previous lessons that the prophets of the Old Testament were emissaries of God’s covenant with his people, and to understand this emissarial function, we have to understand that the prophets realized that the relationship between Israel and God had its ups and its downs.

We’ve entitled this lesson the “Dynamics of the Covenants.” In this lesson, we are going to look at three different topics: First, we will explore the covenant ideals. And second, we’ll examine covenant judgment — how did the prophets minister on God’s behalf when the people fell under divine judgment? And then third, we’re looking to covenant blessings — how did prophets speak of blessings that God offered to his people? Grasping these dynamics of covenant life will help us understand Old Testament prophecy and how it applies to the church and the world today. What were the basic ideals of covenant life with Yahweh?

Have you ever been to a wedding and heard all the wonderful things that the bride and groom say to each other? “To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer.” Wouldn’t it be strange to hear the bride and groom begin their marriages with vows that were less than ideal? Can you imagine hearing the man say to the woman, “I take you to be my wife, but it’s really going to be hard to hold on if you get sick”? Or can you imagine the woman saying to the man, “I'll take you as my husband, but you’d better not let us get poor”? Well, we would wonder what was wrong with a couple who spoke like that to each other on their wedding day because we expect the beginning of a marriage to focus on ideals. It’s a fresh relationship. It’s a time when things are just like they’re supposed to be. We all hope that the couple will remember the things they said to each other when the relationship was ideal.

Well, the prophets of the Old Testament knew something like this was true of the relationship between God and his people. They understood that there were certain ideals of the covenant relationship between God and Israel. Now to understand this ideal relationship, we have to look at two subjects: first, the basic ideal covenant structures; and then secondly, the prophetic ministries, or how the prophets relied on these structures.