More on Covenants

The “if, then” principle

The Children of Israel were led by Moses out of captivity in Egypt and brought into freedom and placed in the care of the great Jehovah. He took care of them completely.  He fed them, gave them water and protected them.

Before they were allowed to enter into the Promised Land where they would be allowed to feed and take care of themselves, He had Moses instruct them about being a covenant people. (This is a type and a shadow of what will await us.)

As an object lesson they stood between two mountains.

Moses illustrated that there were two things that would happen as a result of their behavior; blessings and cursings.  

In Exodus 24:7-8, We find that they made a covenant to keep the commandments which Moses read to them, and to signify the way by which they would get back into his presence, Moses sprinkled blood over the people. This was symbolic of the shedding of Christ's blood to initiate the atonement.

In Deuteronomy 27:12-13 the information about the two mountains (Gerizim and Ebal) is given and the blessings and cursings are discussed.

From this we get the " if, then” principle.  If we do certain things then there will be certain consequences.

I have illustrated this “if, then” principle as related to modern covenants in the church.

Covenants

How many times do the following words appear in the scriptures?

Covenant 468 times

Covenants 68 Times

Commandment 363

Commandments 523

Law 799

Now let us look at covenants in the church and apply the “if, then” principle.

Baptism

       What do we covenant to do?

1. (If) Ye are desirous to come into the fold of God,

2. And (If you want) to be called his people

3. (If you) Are willing to bear one another's burdens, that they may be light;

4. Yea, and (If you)  are willing to mourn with those that mourn;

5. (If you) Comfort those that stand in need of comfort,

6. And (If you are willing) to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death,

7. That ye may (Then) be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection,

8. That ye may (Then) have eternal life—

Sacrament

1. (If) They may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son,

2. (If they) Witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son,

3. And (If they will) always remember him

4. And (If they) keep his commandments, which he has given them;

5. That (Then) they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood:  D&C 84

(If)

For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling,

(Then they) are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies.

and

D&C 84:34

 34 They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and the elect of God.

35 And also all they who receive this priesthood receive me, saith the Lord;

 36 For he that receiveth my servants receiveth me;

 37 And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father;

 38 And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father's kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him.

 39 And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood.

 40 Therefore, all those who receive the priesthood, receive this oath and covenant of my Father, which he cannot break, neither can it be moved.

In the church we have a sign to show our commitment or the sign of our covenants. It is known as the Hand of covenant (or the Right hand), which we raise to the square.

We have other covenants that we make.

Endowment

The endowment is a series of covenants.

Marriage

We call this temple marriage, because in the worldly sense it is a marriage, but in proper terminology it is a sealing of husband to wife.

The marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman and the Lord.

Sealing

This is a covenant between the children and the parents.  If there is a “temple marriage’ then the children are born into the covenant and do not require a sealing of children to parents.

We covenant to sustain and support our leaders.  There is no voting as such in the church.

We covenant before the Lord and we raise the Right arm to the square.

In the early days of the church we used to raise the right arm to the square to pray.  We do not use this as a general practice today.

The priests used to knee and raise the right arm to the square when they blessed the sacrament. I remember this very well when I lived in Pocatello.  I do not remember when this practice stopped.

We are the covenant people of the Lord, because we are members of a church of covenants.

We are the ones who break the covenant and not the Lord.

Try and remember the covenants that you have made and be strict in obeying so that you may receive the blessings and not the cursings.

Love,

Grandpa