New Covenant

Ezekiel 16:3 says, “… [Ezekiel] say, ‘Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem, “Your origin and your birth are from the land of Canaanite, your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.” ’ ”

You may be thinking, “I think I clicked on the wrong blog.” Let me assure you’re in the right place. You also may be thinking, “What a strange verse to start off a blog.” Well, to be honest, it’s the beginning of a beautiful story. If I wanted to tell the whole thing it would take up this entire post, so please, if you have the time and devotion, turn in your Bibles and read Ezekiel 16.

This story talks about a girl who had a very violent and bloody birth and was cast out into the streets with no hope of life while only a baby. A man (God) walks by and takes the baby to His safe keeping. He raises her and calls her His own. When she grows up, she becomes a queen but trades her wealth to become a prostitute. This was symbolic to the way that Jerusalem was acting towards God.

It all started back with the Israelites on the bank of the Red Sea where their disbelief in a God who had just saved from their oppressor was very evident. They complained against Moses, but as soon as God showed up, they responded in “Reactional” Worship. I create this new word to describe a syndrome to describe those who only praise God when He shows up and saves, but in the times where they can’t really see His hand, there is no praise in his or her mouth. This sort of worship only lasts for a little while but is soon drown out by fear, doubt, or just the world and its snares.

I love this picture that God, through Ezekiel, paints. It says in verse 34 of the same chapter, “Thus you [Israel] are different from those women in your harlotries, in that no one plays the harlot as you do, because you give money and no money is given you; thus you are different.” Israel’s adultery came with the bringing in of idols and gods from other countries. They didn’t really gain anything from playing the harlot with these gods, but they just fulfilled their own fleshly desires. There was no payment, but instead they gave money in order to have the people bring in gods.

Something beautiful happens in verse 60. It says, “Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.” There are two different covenants here: one from the past and one that He will put into place. The first one is the Abrahamic Covenant and the second on is the New Covenant. This is so beautiful because it’s a picture of the cross. We see that Jesus specifically died for people who He raised and loved their whole lives, yet turned against Him. He draws them back to Himself.

Again, I love this picture because I believe we are a very adulterous generation. Don’t you think? My brother always said, “Do you want to know what you love? Figure out what you spend the most time on.” We have so many things fighting for our attention and our time consumption, and in the process, we are giving our hearts to things that will fade away and won’t be remembered whatsoever. This is idolatry. God has raised us and called us His own, yet we don’t focus our time on serving, knowing, and making Him known.

Don’t walk away from this post with guilt and saying, “I can never love God fully.” This is so right, and I’m convinced that there has never been a day in your existence where you have fulfilled the greatest commandment. You might have spent the whole day sleeping, and having abstained from evil, but you have never loved God according to His fullness. The New Covenant is completely grace-based. It’s silly to think that we could be perfect in this life, so God had to sent His Son, which I think we should take seriously.

Who do you love? – Forsake All