AGREEMENTS AND TREACHERY

    Every day we agree and disagree with people or concepts. We even agree to disagree. When we speak we must be clear and it must be God centred. As a believer we have to live the word and testify of the word coming to life in us. Because of this our yes must be yes and our no must be no. We ought to cherish our scripture even more because we have it in a language that we can understand. The Quran in comparison is in a language that Islamists find hard to understand but they hold on to it. 

As a follower of Christ I understand that my life must be a witness of the fulfilment of the word in me. Hence it is important that I speak the truth to build credibility and be an example of the message I carry. 

 

My yes has to be yes and my no has to be no. It got me thinking about when I say yes. Usually it is when I agree with someone or on something. An agreement made that is not intended to be kept, is a lie and presents a false state. Let us look at Jeremiah 8:11-12

11 They dress the wound of my people

as though it were not serious.

“Peace, peace,” they say,

when there is no peace.

12 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?

No, they have no shame at all;

they do not even know how to blush.

So they will fall among the fallen;

they will be brought down when they are punished,

says the Lord.

There are people who will try to appease a problem and say they come in peace. They deal treacherously because they do not really mean to be at peace with you. They mean to get an advantage over you. They have no shame in this as they have excuses to commit this kind of false promises and agreements. In some cultures such deals are accepted but as Christians we know that the false agreements will be dealt with as treachery by God. 

I see this in Isaiah 28. The situation today is the claim by Palestinians that they should own and occupy Jerusalem. They even claim that they should oversee the Christian holy spaces within Jerusalem. Many people over the years have used Jerusalem as the reason for breaking agreements and laws. Here a little and there a little. A constant chipping away. Like the woodpecker. 

Precept upon precept, precept upon precept,Line upon line, line upon line,

Here a little, there a little. Vs 13

Verse 15 tells it all. 

Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,

And with Sheol we are in agreement.

When the overflowing scourge passes through,

It will not come to us,

For we have made lies our refuge,

And under falsehood we have hidden ourselves

People have given their lives to the cause for Jerusalem, the covenant of death. Many nations have been affected by the politics or politricks that are used.  This is the refuge of lies. Even the falsehood under which people hid themselves can be identified today. God sees lying as an abomination. Simply put. Agreements have been made and broken. 

To bring this home to the church. An agreement is between two parties. If we stand on God's promises we hold Him accountable to Himself. It is one-sided. However, on a second level, when God establishes relationship with us He is declaring He is God over us. We are declaring He is God over us. This is two parties in an agreement. In fact on a third level we declare He is God and this is when the terms of the agreement is kept. But we focus on the relationship aspect. The relationship binds us in an agreement with Him to this.

How God treats and deals with the Jews will demonstrate how he wants to have relationship with the church. One does not replace the other. When the Jews rejected Jesus they also rejected the witness of God fulfilling His word in Jesus, as the Provider of a Saviour. This is the foundation and cornerstone God laid in Zion. 

Their rejection broke the agreement of relationship with God. They did not believe Him. They did not believe his signs and prophets, nor did they believe The Holy Spirit giving witness. They were judged for this (Matthew 23:4-7). 

If I say to the God of Israel that He did not restore the nation of Israel I put myself in opposition and therefore the enemy to Israel and to Him. A false agreement is a lie. To tell a lie is to deny Christ who is the truth.  These are very serious issues that have to be considered. This is where all the drama happens.

God is faithful and true (Rev 1:5; 3:14). If He keeps His promise, it is not to be rejected. When The Holy One of Israel (as Isaiah likes to call Him) says He will restore Israel, He is making a promise, setting His name on it. Now, look at the analogy God gives in Jeremiah 3:8-10 

They say, ‘If a man divorces his wife,

And she goes from him

And becomes another man’s,

May he return to her again?’

Would not that land be greatly polluted?

But you have played the harlot with many lovers;

Yet return to Me,” says the Lord.

The language is firm and strong as God is. God is accusing Israel of adultery. He sees the relationship with Israel as a binding agreement of marriage. This carries through to our relationship with Him. Hallelujah, we have a wedding to attend (Revelation 19). 

By denying Him and the fulfilment of His promise Israel commits adultery and He sees that as treachery. The church learns from Israel's mistakes because judgement passes through Israel first. 

How did God punish the Jews? The Temple was burnt and the menorah was taken and paraded in the streets of Rome. They were exiled for 2000 years, killed and enslaved. Do you want to be in their shoes? Do you still not speak of Jesus?

I pray for God to expose such treacherous acts and false promises. I pray that the church will not deny God's fulfilled word. I pray the covers on the eyes of the people who believe in such false agreements would be taken off. I pray that as the children of God we are faithful in how we testify of Him in Jesus name.

If you do not know Jesus as your Saviour, you can pray this prayer of conversion:

Dear Heavenly Father,

I ask you to forgive my sins in knowledge or ignorance. Please forgive me. I accept Jesus as my Saviour. I ask that Jesus comes into my life as I live to be a witness for Him. Please change my life and make me into the person you want me to be, in Jesus name I pray. Thank you.

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