The Covenant

Lessons from Deuteronomy 29

Covenants are designed to bring blessings. The responsibility of the covenant first falls on the leaders, the men, then children, wives, and strangers within the home (Sojourners) so that we may enter into a covenant with God sealed with his oath (His promises).

According to God, the covenant was created to establish us as His people today and for Him to be our God. This is similar to how He spoke to our forefathers through faith. (Genesis 12:1-3, 15, 17, Romans 4).

This covenant is for everyone (all heirs) THROUGH FAITH ALONE (Ephesians 3:5-6).

No covenant without God

Abominations and idols reside within a culture that goes against God. They make idols of anything false and have nothing to do with Jesus Christ.

We know and acknowledge this so that none of us in faith will turn our hearts away from Jesus to serve the gods of those nations that put their trust in culture.

¹⁷ You saw their abhorrent images and idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them. ¹⁸ Be sure there is no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit. ¹⁹ When someone hears the words of this oath, he may consider himself exempt, thinking, ‘I will have peace even though I follow my own stubborn heart.’ This will lead to the destruction of the well-watered land as well as the dry land.

Deuteronomy 29:17-19 CSB

There is a high cost to pay by following a God-less culture. Everything that comes from a Godless culture bears poisonous fruit and wormwood.

What does this mean?

Poisonous fruit: It’s the Fruit of the Spirit + Sin.

For example, God is love. Love is not a feeling; it is a decision. A decision to place someone else’s interests and benefits above our own sacrificially (1 Corinthians 13, 1 John 4). Yet culture says love is all-inclusive to accept a person however they want to be. If a person can not accept a person for however they want to be, they should be canceled or destroyed!  

We are talking about love, which is one fruit of the spirit.

When it’s poisoned, it’s love poisoned with sin (For example, what the LGBTQIA+ community preaches).

So, for all the fruits of the spirit, the fruit gets poisoned when it’s sin-inclusive. 

Wormwood: taking something pure and making it bitter. Like bitterness and unforgiveness.

Putting it all together!

Many “Christians” will say, “I’m not all the way there yet. If someone crosses me wrong, they will catch these hands.”

This is an example of the bitterness of wormwood poisoning the fruit of the spirit. It is the mindset that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control can be produced in oneself and others through anger, rage, and wrath (without God).

Instead of throwing hands, we should find ways to love, be patient, kind, faithful, etc. When we allow sin to enter the picture, demons use it and deceive us through their life experiences on how to function. The problem is that road always leads to death.

Another example:

A man on a plane starts to lose his mind. He cries out, “Everyone should rebel with me. Everyone should agree with me.”

Someone else on the plane hears the commotion and gets upset, cussing him out. “You need to sit yourself down somewhere!” 

Was the second guy right for telling the first guy to sit down? Yes.

It’s in these moments people have been systematically programmed to meet confrontation with fear. Those who follow culture tend to address challenging situations through anger, rage, or pure ignorance and abandonment.

Yes, the second guy correctly identified the situation and decided to do something about it. However, he used a tool from the demonic table. Cussing a person out does not get to the root or core of what was happening with that person. A person who cusses another person out is trying to create fear (trouble) in another in a display of “power.” The problem is chaos does not make life; it creates more confusion.

How could the situation be handled if the second guy walked with Jesus? How might the circumstance have changed if he had the fruit of the spirit blooming out of him?

The only other thing I would like to point out about Deuteronomy 29:16-18 is how God’s assessment of what a culture looks like when it chooses to leave him out of it. That means that God showed Solomon a compelling and sobering truth.

What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 1:9

The New Covenant

The New Covenant is a divine pledge from God to forgive sins and reestablish an intimate bond with those who have committed their hearts to Him. This covenant is mediated by Jesus Christ, whose ultimate sacrifice on the cross is its foundation (Luke 22:20).

Jesus swore he would be a priest forever and would not change his mind. Therefore…

Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.

Hebrews 7:22

In Conclusion

In Jesus, we have the guarantee to be reunited with our Father and benefit from the flow of blessings that come from being obedient to the covenant. Jesus did this perfectly, stating the only way to gain these benefits is through himself. While we know as Christians that believing in Jesus is the first step to becoming a kingdom citizen, through discipleship, we learn that we must actively pursue Christ to remain under his covering. This is accomplished by believing in Jesus and observing communion, not from a traditional perspective but from a relational point of view. In other words, taking the Table of the Lord seriously.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation: for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things; in Him, all things hold together. He is also the head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

Colossians 1:15-20