Seeds of the Kingdom 27 February 2022
TOPIC: Covering, Covenant And Cleansing
SCRIPTURE: Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “And you became mine. I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you.
It has always struck me as significant that there is a divine order in God’s heartfelt response to the spiritual nakedness of Jerusalem and its people, pictured in this intimate passage from His word through Ezekiel.
God’s first concern is to cover the spiritual nakedness of the people after all the years of trauma. He then sees it to be essential that His covenant with them is openly declared. Lastly, when protection and covenant have been established, there is an opportunity for precious cleansing from all the defilement of the past.
It occurred to me that there is a similar order in the well-known parable of the prodigal son. There is an urgency from the father to cover his son’s exposure, even using the best cloak. The placing of a ring on the boy’s finger, which is a common symbol of the covenant, declares to everyone that this is a son who belongs in the family. And then the father meets the obvious needs of discomfort and hunger, with footwear and food.
For God to bring His healing into our lives, it is clearly essential that we are first restored into a place of His spiritual protection, and that we are made secure in a covenant relationship with Him, now through His Son Jesus. What a faithful God we serve!
PRAYER
