OT Promise 104: Keep Covenant and Mercy

104. Keep Covenant and Mercy

Deuteronomy 7:12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers.

This verse repeats the conditional promise of the Mosaic Covenant made at Mt. Sinai, repeated and reaffirmed by Moses in Deuteronomy, “the second law.” If you listen and keep and do God’s rules, then the Lord will keep the covenant promises and make real the steadfast and faithful love which He swore on oath to your fathers. The “fathers” in this case were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Lord had promised to them in a covenant oath that He would do what He says He is going to do. And this covenant promise holds true for all the descendants of Abraham and Israel. The covenant applies spiritually to all the people of the world who have the faith of Abraham, The promise of the Abrahamic Covenant turns out to be Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man. We believers are the children of Abraham, the children of the promise, the spiritual and true descendants of Abraham. For we believe in Jesus Christ.

The problem for us is that we cannot and we do not listen to and obey God’s commandments, we do not keep and believe God’s Laws, and we do not do and live by God’s rules. The condition is lost for us, but the promise is still true for us because Jesus kept the condition in our place before God. Because God is satisfied with Him, God will most assuredly do His part of this Mosaic Covenant: God will keep the covenant and the mercy. The covenant includes the Kingdom of God, the Savior of the World, and Blessings to our lives. The “mercy” is an English translation of Hebrew “chesed,” which most fully can be translated as “faithful and steadfast love to do what He said in His covenant promises.”

God keeps His Word and Promise. Therefore, it seems like a good idea to know the Word of God and keep it in the heart. What does He promise to us? What are the blessings He will give to us? We read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Word so that His covenant and mercy lives in us, and comes out of us.