Covenant - An Old Idea?

Quoing Vol. 6 of The Glory of the Lord

“The people will be granted admittance to God’s own royal realm, to the extent that it is willing to accommodate itself to the images and attitudes that hold good for the king.” This is the way Balthasar frames the covenantal relationship.


Balthasar continues, "Deuteronomy … separates the paradox of the living community that has been established into its two complimentary parts: the utter one-sidedness of the grace of God, which establishes the community, and the utter mutuality which is based therein: word and answer, love and answering love, directive and obedience.” P.155

This covenant is made:

With the election of this one people, for which no reason can be given:

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession. It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you – for you were the fewest of all peoples. Deut. 7:6-7

Without any merit on the people’s part:

Do not say to yourself, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.” Deut. 8:17

On the basis of love alone:

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, …. (Deut.7:9) … yet the Lord set his heart in love on your ancestors alone and chose you, their descendants after them, out of all the peoples, as it is today. Deut. 10:15

The only possible response to this love is unlimited love:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. (Deut.6:5) You shall love the Lord your God, therefore, and keep his charge, his decrees, his ordinances and his commandments always. (Deut. 11:1) “If you would only heed his every commandment that I am commanding you today – loving the Lord your God, and serving him with all your heart and all your soul … (Deut. 11:13)



To the Israelites this covenant would look like a pretty good deal. Rescued from the captivity of the Egyptians, being sheltered from the vicissitudes of the environment and protected from the many peoples who could ravage them, God’s proven protection was an offer that could not be refused.

What is the relevance to us? We are so sophisticated. Many of us have the necessities of life – food, shelter and clothing. We have established a civilization that for the most part protects us from famine, floods and other hardships of the natural world. We have established laws and ethical standards to safeguard our rights. So now we have become self-assured. That old concept of a covenant is out of fashion. We can protect and provide for ourselves.

This reminds me of the story of the business man on his way, and late for an important meeting. Arriving and finding it difficult to find a parking space, he begins to pray and offer to God all sorts of promises if he could just get a spot to park. After reaching desperation levels and promising much to God he finds an opening just where he needs it. With much relief he offers his final prayer, “Never mind Lord, I found one.”