Then They Will Know…(Part 1)
The journey for this blog series began last spring. I began by identifying different resources and started exploring ways to structure this series. Then, I had the brilliant plan of pausing my blog for the summer (2024) to do some in-depth reading and research.
Well…that pause extended quite a bit longer than I had anticipated. Due to family issues this past fall, I had no desire to continue my research or even begin compiling information into blog posts. Then, around Christmas, I landed on a different way to organize my thoughts and information, and it all started coming together finally (I’ll share my notes and a resource page later on). Though I am months past where I had originally intended, I’m trusting that it was all for the best.
As I dug into the topic of covenants, I quickly learned how in-over-my-head I was. Going in, I thought I had a decent enough grasp of the topic, but I soon realized how little I actually knew. This blog series will be my attempt to share a truly basic overview of what I have learned in the past six months.
By the end of the series, I hope you will have experienced the awe I did when I realized how intricately God wove together his plan of salvation from before creation throughout history. I still struggle to fathom the sovereignty and omnipotence of our Creator God who marvelously orchestrated this plan and saw it out despite infinitely fallible human partners.
Over the next handful of posts we will explore the following covenants:
· The Covenant of Redemption
· The Covenant with Creation + The Covenant of Grace
· The Covenant with Noah
· The Covenant with Abraham
· The Covenant with Israel
· The Covenant with David
· The New Covenant
You will see, as I did, that these covenants are all interconnected. Together they form a mosaic that illustrates God’s plan for our salvation and the restoration of creation.
In my initial research phase last summer, I happened to also be reading through the Old Testament prophets at the same time. I found a curious thing in the book of Ezekiel. There is a phrase that gets repeated multiple times in one variation or another: “Then they will know that I am the LORD” (Ezek. 35:15b). Any time an idea or phrase or symbol gets repeated, you want to sit up and pay attention, it matters—even if you are not sure why yet. This was what happened to me while I was reading Ezekiel. I kept finding this phrase, sometimes multiple times in one chapter.
Let me back-up slightly, Ezekiel was written after the northern tribe of Judah was exiled to Babylon in 597 BC. His prophetic ministry lasted approximately twenty years and focused on how the people had broken their covenant with God. They had been unfaithful to Him, rebelling against Him, and worshiping other gods. Even though the Israelites were being justly punished for breaking faith with God, Ezekiel shared the hope of God’s restoration with them. Accordingly, the book of Ezekiel contains some of the key passages that point to the new covenant that is instituted and fulfilled by Christ later on.
As a prophet, Ezekiel is God’s spokesperson whose job includes reprimanding the people for their rebellion and calling them to true repentance. In breaking their relationship with God, the Israelites had actually broken the covenant that God had instituted with them on Mt. Sinai with Moses after they left slavery in Egypt. Israel was to be a nation of priests who represented God to the world. Needless to say—they failed.
After centuries of chances to repent, Israel received the just consequences of their actions; they were exiled. Ezekiel’s messages to them in their exile consistently called them back to covenant faithfulness with God, something that could be achieved with true repentance. God assures His people over and over again that they will know Him.
Through Ezekiel, God says, “‘But I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish a permanent covenant with you…I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD…” (16:60, 62). These words help us see that God was always faithful to Israel, even when Israel was not faithful in return. Additionally, God offers a future hope that they will know Him. This hope will be realized centuries later in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
When we accept what Christ did for us, when we put our faith and trust in Him, God accepts us as sons and daughters. Children whose sins are removed “[a]s far as the east is from the west” (Psalms 103:12) by virtue of Christ’s sacrifice. We are made whole and able to approach God because of Christ. We are given the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Ezek. 37:14; John 14:23, 26; 1 Cor. 2:12), fulfilling God’s promise in Ezekiel to give us a new heart and new spirit (Ezek. 36:26). In so doing, God enables us to know him.
This is the story of the covenants. They reveal to us who God is, His immense faithfulness, and His plan for our salvation, so that we might know Him. I look forward to continuing this journey that will begin from before creation until all is restored in the new creation.
“‘I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live…Then you will know that I am the LORD…’” (Ezek. 37:14)
