Original Secession Magazine Jeremiah 50:4-5 In those days, and in that time, said the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together… It is when Israel and Judah — the ten and two tribes — are brought to seek the Lord their God, and, ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, that they say one to another, "Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten." I. THE PARTIES WHO ENGAGE IN COVENANTING. 1. God. It is to God the people propose to join themselves. It is not, however, God absolutely considered, but a three-one God in Christ, — God, as the Creator of the ends of the earth, as having all persons and all events entirely under His control, as the Father of lights, the Father of mercies, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of all comfort, that in Christ is reconsiling sinners to Himself, and saying to them, "I will make a covenant with you"; — it is to this God that the people seek to stand in the covenant relation. How great the condescension of the three-one God — who is so high in rank, so great in wealth, in love, in wisdom, in power, in goodness — to enter into covenant with the poor worms of His footstool, and enable them to say of Him, "My Beloved is mine, and I am His; He feedeth among the lilies." 2. Man. It is with men, and not with angels, that God condescends to enter into covenant. The proposal, however, to engage in covenanting, and the disposition to comply with that proposal on the part d man, must come from the Lord. For it is not until God takes hold of sinners in the covenant of grace that they cheerfully give themselves to God in a covenant of duty. The surrender they then make of themselves to God is a complete or entire surrender — a surrender, not in one, but in all the relations of life. Those, therefore, that give themselves to God in a covenant of duty, as individuals, must esteem it a privilege to be permitted to give themselves to God, in the same covenant, as families, as Churches, as nations. It is national covenanting that is referred to in our text. It is Israel and Judah, or the kingdoms of the ten and two tribes, that propose to join themselves in covenant to the Lord. II. THE WARRANT FOR COVENANTING. Clearly it is our first duty in considering national covenanting to ask, Have men any warrant from Scripture for claiming in their national, or in any other relation in life, to be the bride — with all the rights and privileges of the bride — of the Lord of the universe? Undoubtedly they have. The scriptural warrant for nations, as such, giving themselves in covenant to God, is of the clearest and most encouraging description. There is the great fact that God Himself proposed and entered into covenant with Israel as a nation at Sinai. But the warrant arising from the covenanting at Sinai is confirmed — 1. By many scriptural examples, as the covenanting in the days of Asa, when all Judah rejoiced at the oath; and the Lord was found of them, and gave them rest round about; in the days of Nehemiah, when the nobles of the people made a sure covenant, and our princes, Levites, and priests' seal unto it. 2. By many prophecies and promises, a few of which only we can quote in your hearing. There are, for instance (Isaiah 19:18-21; Isaiah 44:3-5; Isaiah 45:23). And how can the kingdoms of this world become Christ's kingdom, but by swearing allegiance, or giving themselves in covenant to Him? May the time soon come when Israel and Judah, when Great Britain and Ireland, when all the nations of the earth shall say one to another, "Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten." III. THE NATURE OF COVENANTING. What is a covenant! A covenant is a bargain or marriage. And a marriage is the union between two parties, or the declaring of them formally to be one. The marriage is based on mutual consent. And such, in its essence, is covenanting. It is the Lord formally giving Himself to His people, or saying of them, It is My people; and the people formally giving themselves to God, or saying of Him, The Lord is our God. 1. That in national covenanting there is, on the part of the covenanters, a formal and solemn acceptance of a three-one God in Christ as their God. As God takes hold of, and gives Himself to His people, in the covenant of grace, so there must be a faith's approbation of that covenant, or a formal and solemn acceptance of a three-one God in Christ as their God, of God the Father as their Father, of God the Son as their Saviour, of God the Holy Ghost as their Sanctifier, Comforter, Friend, in their covenant of duty. Such acceptance of God is included in the covenanting at Sinai. In entering into their covenant with God, the Israelites, in the most solemn manner, accepted of the Lord as the God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, and in the most solemn manner declared that they received Him both as their Sovereign and covenant God, as "the Lord," and as the "thy God." It is included in the covenanting specified in Zechariah 13:9. And such acceptance of God must be included in all the covenanting that is acceptable to Him in all ages. For unless men are enabled cordially to receive a three, one God as revealed in Christ, He will not and cannot say of them, It is My people, nor enable them to say of Him, The Lord is my God. Some say that in thus accepting of a three-one God in Christ, covenanters do nothing more than genuine saints do, when they are enabled to accept of, and close with, Christ as their only and all-sufficient Saviour. In one sense this is true. But, at conversion, we accept of, and close with, Christ in our individual, whereas, in national covenanting, we accept of and close with Him in our corporate and national capacity. True. But, when you have been enabled to accept of and close with Him in your individual, why seek to accept of and close with Him in your national capacity? Why not be satisfied with the acceptance of Him you have already been enabled to make? Because, by doing so, we would neglect a plainly commanded duty, and deprive ourselves of a highly distinguished privilege. Every genuine Israelite that covenanted at Sinai, and in the plains of Moab, had already, as an individual, accepted of and closed with the Lord as his God. But, so far was God from being satisfied with this, that He asked the Israelites not merely in their individual, but in their public and corporate capacity, to accept of and close with Him anew. Accordingly, in Deuteronomy 26:17-19, Moses says to the Israelites, who had, in their national capacity, given themselves in covenant to God — "Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God."... "And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be His peculiar people, as He hath spoken. In other words, the Lord declared that, through national covenanting, the Israelites enjoyed a national exaltation, praise, honour, and blessing, that could not otherwise have been obtained. How clear is it, therefore, that national covenanting is the true foundation of great and permanent national blessings. 2. In national covenanting there must be, on the part of the covenanters, a formal and cheerful surrender of themselves to God in a covenant of duty. In national covenanting, as in marriage, there must be a mutual surrender. God must cheerfully give Himself to the nation in the covenant of grace, and the nation must, by faith, as cheerfully and in a constitutional manner give itself to God in a covenant of duty. What we have already said shows that there can be no doubt as to the cheerfulness with which God gave Himself to Israel, and promises to give Himself in covenant to Christian nations in all ages. But whilst God cheerfully gave Himself, as the covenant God, to Israel, He was careful to see that, by faith, Israel formally and cheerfully gave himself, as a covenant people, to Him. In Exodus 19:3, 8, we are told that "Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, If ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine. And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. And Moses came, and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord. "With this full consent on the part of the people the Lord was not yet satisfied. Accordingly, in Jeremiah 24:3, we read: And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments; and all the people answered with one voice and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do." In ver. 7 we read again — "And he (Moses) took the Book of the Covenant and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient." After the covenant had been read for the third time, and the people had for the third time given their consent to marry the Lord on the terms proposed, it is added, "And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words." How clearly do these facts show that it was with a full knowledge of what they were doing, and with the full consent of all the people, that the Israelites gave themselves in covenant to God at Sinai. (Original Secession Magazine) Parallel Verses KJV: In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God. |
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