Bible Text: Exodus 19:5 | Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured [possession, although] the whole earth is mine. Exodus 19:5
The Garden of Eden, so say archaeologists, was located in the Tigris-Euphrates River valley. The Bible doesn’t actually say where it was located, but it is possible that there Adam and Eve reproduced and eventually established cities and communities. Eventually, writing developed, and on pieces of pottery merchants recorded business transactions. Then covenants and agreements between individuals were recorded.
People soon discovered that unless something is publicly recorded and witnessed, we forget just what was agreed upon, and, believe it or not, among the first written documents were marriage covenants, not a great deal different from what we have today.
Eventually, however, covenants fell into two categories, according to Dr. Meredith Klein, author of the book, Treaties of the Great King. The first group were covenants among equals—say, for example, two kings–and the other would be covenants between individuals of differing social status—say between a king and the man who worked for him, plowing his field or farming a plot owned by the king.
When God made covenants with men, the same general form of agreement was drafted as those relating to business and relationships. There was a section known as a preamble, mentioning the names of persons entering into the covenant. Then came the body of the agreement, following by penalties if the covenant was broken, and finally the signatures or marks of those who made the agreement, often certified with blood. Actually the Hebrew word for covenant berith literally means, “to cut” something. Usually an animal was slain, and as the two parties ate together, they affirmed their oaths, sometimes made by grasping the other person, affirming that the covenant was binding upon them and their children and their children’s children.
In those days when two people made a covenant, it was meant to last for a lifetime. How different was the attitude of a bride who was about to walk down the aisle, who flippantly turned to a bridesmaid and said, “Well, I think I’ll give it a try, and if it doesn’t work out, I can always divorce him and try again.”
For centuries, at least in the Western world, when two people have met at a marriage altar, they pledge themselves each to the other “till death us do part.” It’s part of the wording of the traditional Episcopal wedding ceremony. Today there is a movement affirming covenant marriage, helping couples to understand that the kind of a marriage which can survive in a world of broken promises, broken hearts, and broken relationships is exclusively the kind that never considers anything but staying with a marriage. In other words, the term annulment or divorce isn’t part of the problem-solving vocabulary. Forget about relationships bound only by the strength of saying, “as long as we both shall agree.”
A covenant is different from an agreement which can be terminated when you change your mind about something. Covenants are meant to be for a lifetime, lasting and enduring. Frankly, the temperature of the heart changes with the seasons of life, the ups and down, the “for better or worse” times of life. Covenant marriages have the blessing and help of God, and frankly, that’s the difference between making marriage work and simply being married–which results in failure in far too many cases.
“Dear,” said a gray-haired wife, “why don’t you ever tell me that you love me, like you used to do years ago.” “Well,” he began, “remember I told you that I loved you when we married, and I also told you that if I ever changed my mind, I’d tell you that too.” Then he smiled as he added, “And I’ve never changed my mind.” He flunks communication but, at least, he’s committed.
Resource reading: Genesis 4
