“Covenant Faithfulness”

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

BIBLE READING: 2 Samuel 21

As the conquest began, Israel came into Canaan with the full force of Jehovah behind them. “When the Gibeonites heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, they acted with cunning… and Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them to let them live.” (Joshua 9.3-4; 15). But when their deception was discovered, Joshua found himself in a compromised position. God had commanded these people be utterly destroyed (Deuteronomy 20.17). But Joshua had “sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel” (Joshua 9.19) that he would not kill them. We learn from this episode that, despite Joshua’s faux pas, Israel was compelled by God to uphold this covenant (Joshua 9.26).  

Fast forward to our reading today. God afflicted Israel with a famine, driving David to seek an answer from the LORD (2 Samuel 21.1). Why was this happening? “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death” (2 Samuel 21.2). During his reign Saul had violated this covenant relationship. While the result had insignificant political impact during Saul’s time, God had not overlooked this unfaithfulness. He would hold his people to the covenant made many years before.

While the events of 2 Samuel 21 are culturally foreign to us, we must understand the import God places on faithfulness from his people. Covenant faithfulness is so critical that it moved God to dramatically intervene. I’m sure there were other things going on in Israel for which God could have punished them: idolatry, injustice, immorality had been common throughout their history. But it was Saul’s violation of this covenant that prompted the famine; and only when a price was paid and the covenant renewed would God respond to his people (2 Samuel 21.14).

This story reveals important truths about God’s concern for covenant:  

• God will use the world we live in to bring covenant clarity. While many see events like famine, war, disease, or natural disasters as things of chance, God has consistently used these things to turn people back to himself (for instance, Numbers 21.4-9; Joshua 7.1-11; Ezekiel 39.23; Joel 1). This is not to say that we can put our finger on every event as a specific act of God, but we must not be aloof to God’s sovereignty. Perhaps he wants our attention. He is working all things together for good according to his will (Romans 8.28). When the world around us is in turmoil, we especially need to be wise enough to slow down and seek God’s face.  
• God expects his people to be covenant keepers. On a basic level this means our words must not be flippant. Our actions must not be thoughtless (Matthew 5.33-37; James 5.12). Our commitment to others reflects our commitment to God. On a deeper level, covenants have a specific focus on loyalty in relationship. Although we may not always behave correctly, we must fix our heart to be moved by the desire for relational intimacy and harmony.  
• Finally, we must see that covenant faithfulness moved God to intervene for us once again. This time, however, he personally attended to the justice at hand. Despite human failure to keep any Divine covenant in history, the incarnation of Jesus resolved the broken covenant and made peace possible with God (Ephesians 2.14-18). We can now boldly approach the throne of grace by the blood of the new covenant (Hebrews 4.16; Matthew 26.28; 1 Corinthians 11.25). But we must not neglect the importance of our own covenant faithfulness. 

Like David we need to seek the will of God. We need to seek the areas God wants us to change and repent. We need to be constantly conformed to a more perfect image of the one who saved us. 

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