A Covenant of Peace

Jesus throughout the Scriptures: Exilic Prophets (1) (5)

Pray Psalm 105.1, 2.
Oh, give thanks to the LORD!
Call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples!
Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
Talk of all His wondrous works!

Sing Psalm 105.1, 2.
(Warrington: Give to Our God Immortal Praise)
Give thanks unto the LORD Most High; call on His Name, before Him cry!
Make known His deeds in every land; sing praise for all the works of His hand.

Read Ezekiel 37.15-28; meditate on verses 24-28.

Preparation
1. What did God promise to make with His people?

2. When would He do that?

Meditation
In the earlier part of Ezekiel 37, the prophet was shown that God can make even dry bones live again. Thus He will do for His people as well. He will send “David My servant” to be their King and Shepherd. And here Jesus and the Kingdom of God are clearly indicated. Moreover, the reunited nation of Israel now symbolizes the whole vast company of God’s chosen people, from every nation and tribe and tongue, who enter His covenant of peace and take Jesus as their “prince” (v. 25).

The covenant of peace is the same covenant that God made with His people from the beginning but within which they knew no peace because of their inveterate disobedience. In its next and final—everlasting—phase, the covenant will bring true peace between God and His people. Jesus will cancel their sins, and the Holy Spirit, given by the Father and the Son, will empower them for obedience. Thus, in the new covenant, the people of God will know peace with Him and peace with one another, and they well extend that everlasting peace to the whole world.

God says that His “tabernacle” will be among His people at that time—His tent and dwelling place. Jesus came and “tabernacled” among us (Jn. 1.14—NKJV: “dwelt”, but in the Greek, “tabernacled”). Now the Spirit has come to make each believer and the Church the sanctuary and dwelling place of the Lord. Under this new covenant of peace, God’s people truly know Him—know, love, and serve Him; and He binds Himself to them as their God.

And the nations see it, and they will know that God is the LORD when they see His people as one people, united in peace with Him, sharing His peace with one another, and offering God’s peace to the world (Jn. 17.21).

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
The angels asked the women at the empty tomb, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” (Lk. 24.4)
God asked Ezekiel, “Son of man, can these bones live?” 
And Ezekiel answered Him, “O Lord GOD, You know” (Ezek. 37.3).

God goes on to explain how He will make us live:
I will take My children from among the nations
Wherever they have gone and 
I will gather them from every side and
I will bring them into their own land.
I will make them one nation and 
One King Jesus will be their King and
Rule over them all.

I will deliver them from their sins and
Cleanse them.

Then they will be My people and 
I will be their God.

I will know they are My people because they will:
Walk in My judgments and
Observe My statutes and
Do them.

Plus, I will make a covenant of peace with them.
It will be an everlasting covenant.
I will establish them and multiply them.

I will set My sanctuary—Jesus—in their midst.
Forever. (see Ezek. 37.21-28)

The Old Testament Promise, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, is now ours for the believing and living.
We seek the living Jesus— to “walk in His judgments, observe His statutes, and do them”—in His Kingdom and for His glory.

We are: a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, and our work is to proclaim the praises of Him Who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy (1 Pet. 2.9, 10).

After Peter’s wonderful confirmation of our position held in the Kingdom, he goes on to tell us of the conditions under which we must live: “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable…that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation…For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king” (1 Pet. 2.11, 12, 15-17).

Within these boundaries—Kingdom living in God’s glorious Word—our covenant of peace is found.

Reflection
1. How do you experience the peace you have with the Lord? When do you experience it?

2. Today, to whom will you extend the peace you have with God? How will you do that?

3. How can we as believers bring more of the peace of God to our world?

To be made partakers of Christ, both intellectually and by our senses, fills us with every blessing. For he dwells in us, first, by the Holy Spirit, and we are his abode, according to that which was said of old by one of the holy prophets. Clement of Alexandria (375-444), Commentary on Luke 142

Pray Psalm 105.3-11.
Thank the Lord and praise Him for His covenant and His faithfulness in keeping it. Call on Him to fill your day with rejoicing as you remember throughout the day that you belong to Him.

Sing Psalm 105.3-11.
(Warrington: Give to Our God Immortal Praise)
Glory in God, rejoice in heart, all you who seek His holy part.
Him and His strength and Presence seek; His works proclaim, His judgments speak.

You holy children of Abraham, you chosen ones of Jacob, stand!
He is our LORD, of wondrous worth; His judgments are in all the earth.

He will His covenant faithfully guard—His oath, the promise of His Word.
That which He to our fathers swore, He will perform forevermore!

T. M. and Susie Moore

If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

Other columns of interest this week: We continue reading excerpts from the book, Revived! in our Read Moore column. Why not listen in? Last week’s Crosfigell letter included a challenge to greater spiritual vision. And in our ReVision series, “Pray for Your Church”, we urged readers to pray that all things might be done for edification in the local church. And new in our bookstore, Let God Be True and Enjoying God, both free to download and share, and Ecclesiastes: A Matter of Perspective, also in free PDF format.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.