“And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.” (Nehemiah 9:38)
After the Babylonian captivity and the wall was rebuilt, a holy day was declared. They assembled together, read the book of the Law one fourth of the day and worshipped the Lord another forth of the day. (Nehemiah 8; 9:1-37) And they renewed their covenant with the Lord.
It’s important to know what a covenant is. It’s like a promise. Both parties agree to do their part of the covenant. It can be conditional or unconditional. In conditional covenants, God has given certain promises on the condition that man complete a certain part of the covenant. In unconditional covenants, God has made promises without a condition. In all the covenants that God has made with man, although man may have broken the covenant, God has remained faithful and has never failed His covenant promises.
In Nehemiah, the people make a covenant with God because they are distressed. They are still under the rule of foreign kings. (Nehemiah 9:37) They had been under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar who took them to Babylon, then the Persians when King Darius defeated the Babylonians. Later when he died Cyrus became king. Later it was King Ahasuerus at the time of Esther and then Darius II. This was followed by Grecian rule under Alexander the Great then Antiochus who was driven out of Israel which is the story of Hanukkah. Then in Jesus’ time the Romans ruled over Israel.
Today, people make covenants with God, but they are rarely kept on the part of man. How many times do we hear of people who are distressed and say, “God, if You do such and such, I will do such and such.” But as soon as God helps them, they forget the covenant they made with God. This is just what the Israelites did. In the conditional covenants, they failed their part, sinned and were punished. They were punished because in those days, there was no redemption from sin. The punishment for sin is death. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) Jesus hadn’t redeemed man yet.
Today, we live in a time of grace because of the New Covenant. It’s a conditional covenant. If we believe we will be saved. “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” (Acts 16:31) The promises of the New Covenant are that believers will be reborn of God, into His family and co-inheritors with Jesus, the Redeemer, His only begotten Son. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.” (Romans 8:16-17) God’s promise is the forgiveness of our sins (1John 1:9) He promises never to leave us and to be with us always. This is through the Holy Spirit Who indwells us. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1Corinthians 3:16; Matthew 28:20) There are other numeral promises another being eternal life with Him. This final covenant redeems man to his former state of fellowship with God. He walks and talks to us like He did in the Garden of Eden before the fall. And the finality is that we will go to Him.
In the meantime, we live here on this earth. God did not take us out of the world. Jesus prayed to the Father, “I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.” (John 17:15-17) The important thing is that now that we are reborn, this is not our home. We are not of this world. We live in God’s kingdom which is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17) “And when He was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21)
We live in the spiritual realm through the Holy Spirit. This thinking is foreign to most Christians. They live in this world, in what they see, hear and feel without realizing that their true self is living life in the spiritual, in communion with the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14) and in the unseen. If most of our life is about what we see, hear and feel around this seen world, we need to get in contact with the Holy Spirit living in us because there is where we need to live. “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, Who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4) We live below our God given superiority. This superiority is lived out in service and love to mankind like Jesus did. “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.” (Ephesians 5:1-2) This is the measurement. This is the standard of the New Covenant.
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