Page 10 - The Marriage Covenant

Foundation Stone One - Covenant

s I set forth to present this teaching on the sanctity of the marriage covenant, I have
Achosen to approach the task by laying a foundation before addressing more specific
issues. The first foundation stone to be laid is that of Covenant.
Yahweh is a covenant-keeping God. Moses wrote:

Deuteronomy 7:9
Know therefore that Yahweh your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His
covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousand generations with those who love Him
and keep His commandments.

King David declared the following:

I Kings 8:23
And he said, "O Yahweh, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above
or on earth beneath, who is keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your
servants who walk before You with all their heart.”

The nature of Yahweh is faithfulness. As the apostle Paul also declared:

II Timothy 2:13
If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself.

When Yahweh says something, the matter is certain.

Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent.

In saying that God will not repent, Moses is declaring that Yahweh will not renege on
a promise. Whenever a man ‘renegotiates’ a contract, he is reneging on a deal. Such a man
has lied. He has broken faith. His own personal interests have led him to defraud and act
treacherously toward another person to whom he has given his word.
In sports we see this happen all the time. Whenever a professional athlete has a good
season, it is almost automatic that he will seek to renegotiate his contract. Although he has
made a legally binding promise for services, the athlete will either directly, or through an
agent, seek to alter the terms of the contract in his/her favor.
The history of America’s broken treaties with the native Indian nations is one of
deplorable treachery. Whenever it seemed desirable in the light of self-interest to breach
a treaty, it was simply set aside, and a new treaty drawn up, which would also later be
broken.
When I was in my early twenties, and just entering into marriage, I was self-employed,
having started a company called Handyman Painting and Home Repair. I was a very
conscientious worker, seeking to perform skillful work at a fair price. I often had a couple
other men working with me, and I had to estimate time and labor on every job I took. Very
often I bid low on a job as I sought to provide a fair and reasonable price to those for whom