iSpeech

A covenant is a mutual agreement between two people or more, with responsibilities and promises attached to it. However, it is necessary to point out here that in every covenant that cannot be broken, the arrangement must include a sacrifice. And where there is a sacrifice, there must be the shedding of blood. Therefore, in the covenant of long life, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the shedding of his blood makes the covenant authentic and unbreakable.

“My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lip” (Pslam 89:34)

God does not lie. Therefore, his covenant will he not break nor alter anything he says. This is the confidence we have in our covenant relationship with Him.

 In God's covenant relationship with man, God himself sovereignly initiates the covenant out of his own choice and decision. But the good news here is that, God's covenant with man is always designed for the good of man. Likewise, the covenant of long life originates from God and for the sake of man. "And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread and water and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren in thy land, the number of thy days I will fulfil”. (Exodus 23:25-26)

 As you can see in this covenant, God is the only one who defines the terms on which he chooses to walk with man and fulfil the number of his days in the earth. It is not with man to initiate a covenant with God nor to determine the terms. Rather, man is left with the simple part of responding to God's covenant offer and the responsibility that come with it. God's covenant decision to bless our bread and our water and to deal with any kind of sickness that could threaten our lifespan, is awesome. His covenant of long life with us is unbreakable.

 God has a Covenant of LONG LIFE in plan for His beloved. Long life is more than “longevity” which is simply a tendency to live long in terms of biological age. Many examples of longevity are merely “long existence” and not “long LIFE,” Methuselah being a classic example (Gen.5:27). Psalm 91:16 declares: With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation”. Only God can grant long life characterized by satisfaction and salvation; not “long existence” that becomes a liability to others. Psalm 92:12-14 restates the covenant: “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing.”

 To flourish like the PALM TREE means to be useful to yourself and others all through your life-time; to fulfil divine purpose in its multi-faceted dimensions. The fruit of the palm is edible; the stones are ground as food for camels; the leaves are made into baskets; the long, hard boughs or strong leaves are used to make fences; the juice is good to drink; the threads of the leaves make ropes; and the wood is used as building material or fire-wood. Even in barren soil, the palm tree is watered deep at the roots! Oh, what a splendid destiny it is, to flourish like a palm tree!

 To grow like a CEDAR means to live long and strong. Cedars are extremely long-lived, and grow 24 to 30 metres tall and 12 metres around the trunk, symbolizing the ideas of majesty, durableness, incorruptibility and stability. David declared: I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD (Psa.118:17). The Covenant cancels premature death! Psalm 128:6 also says: Yes, may you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!

 God’s Covenant of Long Life is premised on the fear of God and walking in OBEDIENCE to His Word (Ps.1:1). The promise of longevity is based on children obeying their parents in the LORD (Eph.6:1-3). Enjoying long life infers living healthy and free from disease: Who forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from destruction… (Ps.103:3-4). The covenant is our insurance against accidents, calamities, and spiritual attacks as we learn to dwell in “the secret place”: He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty (Psa.91:1). Dwelling in the Secret Place implies being born-again, prayerful, living by the Word, and loving the LORD!