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entering one covenant

Deuteronomy 29:10-13 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 29:10 “All of you are standing today before Yahveh your God – your leaders, tribes, elders, officials, all the men of Israel,
Deuteronomy 29:11 your dependents, your wives, and the guests in your camps who cut your wood and draw your water –
Deuteronomy 29:12 so that you may enter into the covenant of Yahveh your God, which he is establishing with you today, so that you may enter into his oath
Deuteronomy 29:13 and so that he may establish you today as his people and he may be your God as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

entering one covenant

The whole community entered the one covenant. There was no separate covenant for the men, that didn’t include the women. There was no separate covenant for the parents that didn’t include the children. And there was no separate covenant for the foreign guests who hired on as immigrants to work for an Israelite family. Anyone entering into the land also entered into the covenant — with all its stipulations and all its benefits. God’s purpose was to showcase the land as a place he would bless, so the whole people had to participate in the witness. Everyone entering the land had to sign off on that purpose.

The new covenant in Christ is similar, except that the land of the new covenant is not limited. The new covenant commission is to enter into every land, and be witnesses to every nation. We enter into the covenant by committing ourselves to doing what he commanded us to do. Every land we touch is to be dedicated to him, and is to be permeated with his gospel.

The unity of the covenant family is also essential. Every husband commits his wife, and every wife her husband. Parents dedicate their children, and employers dedicate their workforce. The task of spreading the gospel is the primary task of the community. Everyone in the community has to commit to that purpose.

Lord, show us how to commit each other to your covenant purpose.