God's character is unchangeable and absolutely dependable; this we learn through his covenants with his people. It is the task of the prophet to be an agent of God's covenant promises - but what does that mean?

The God whom the prophets of Israel proclaim is a God of order and settled purpose. There is nothing haphazard or uncertain about him. He is unchangeable and in consequence absolutely dependable. This attribute of his character is demonstrated by the way in which he relates himself to people, either as groups or as individuals (but always for the benefit of the whole), by means of covenants.

This is underlined by the division of the Christian scriptures into two sections that we call the Old and New Testaments (or, alternatively, covenants). An important aspect of the ministry of the prophet in the Bible as a whole and in the church of today is that of being agents of the covenant.

The Lord is the God of order and settled purpose. There is nothing haphazard or uncertain about him.

All Biblical Covenants Spring from the Divine Initiative

God's Covenant with Noah

When God decided that the whole of mankind had corrupted itself beyond redemption and must be destroyed by a flood, he said to Noah, "But I will establish my covenant with you, and you (and your family) will enter the ark" (Gen 6:18). After the flood had come and gone God spoke again to Noah and said, "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you...never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life" (Gen 9:9, 15).

This covenant was conceived by God himself. It was universal in its scope, unconditional in its nature, and formulated entirely at God's initiative. Man had no part in it, except to enter the ark. In his second letter Peter draws his readers' attention to the flood of Noah, saying "the world of that time was deluged and destroyed...the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment" (2 Pet 3:16-17).

An important aspect of the ministry of the prophet in the Bible and today is that of being agents of God's covenant.

Part of the solemn responsibility of today's prophets is to declare the coming destruction of the heavens and earth, when the very elements will melt in its heat. The tragedy of Chernobyl illustrates this ancient prediction. But the ultimate outcome of God's covenant is to be "a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness" (2 Pet 3:13).

God's Covenant with Abraham

The Hebrew word berith, which is translated 'covenant' in the Old Testament, means 'to cut' and gives rise to the expression 'cutting a covenant'. In order to confirm his covenant with Abram God told him to bring sacrificial animals and birds, to cut the animals in half and to arrange the birds opposite one another, leaving a path between the sacrifices. After dark that evening "a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram" (Gen 15:17-18).

In the more usual and secular use of this covenant-cutting ceremony, the two parties would have walked together between the divided animals. In effect they would be saying, "I would rather die like these offerings than break my word" (Jer 34:18). But this further illustration shows that in the matter of covenants the initiative is always with God. Abram did not walk between the pieces - he was sound asleep - but was assured of the divine promises to him through seeing God (symbolised by fire) pass through the sacrificial offerings.

God promised Abram possession of the land of Canaan, the multiplic¬ation of his descendants, and the blessing of all families of the earth through his seed (Gen 12:2-3, 15:18, 17:8). The sign of this covenant was circumcision, and those who refused it would lose their share of the blessings God had covenanted to Abram's descendants. But his promise would be fulfilled in perpetuity. God's purpose concerning the people and the land still holds good today, even though centuries have elapsed since the promise was made.

God promised Abram and his descendants possession of the land of Canaan, and this promise still holds good today.

God's Covenant with Moses and Israel

It was when the Children of Israel were in captivity in Egypt that God renewed his covenant with them through Moses. "I have heard the groanings of the Israelites...and I have remembered my covenant...I will take you as my own people...and I will bring you to the land I swore to give to Abraham" (Ex 6:5-8). It was not because the Children of Israel pleased their God that he gave them such wonderful promises, but because he loved them and had determined to save them (Deut 7:7-9).

As Moses commented, "He is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands" (Deut 7:9). At Sinai Moses ascended the mountain to hear God say, "I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now, if you will obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession" (Ex 19:4-5). But certain demands were made of those God had chosen as his special people. They were to be holy, just as he is holy, and they were to be obedient to all his requirements as laid down in the book of the Covenant (Lev 19:2; Ex 24:7-8).

When God renewed his covenant with the Children of Israel through Moses, he gave them wonderful promises and also laid out his demands for them as his chosen people.

Part of Israel's obligation to God in response to his sovereign activity on their behalf was to observe the sabbath: "The Israelites are to observe the sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant" (Ex 31:16).

God's Covenant with David

On one occasion, when at war with King Jeroboam of Israel, King Abijah of Judah expressed his understanding of the divine purpose to his adversary by saying, "Don't you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants for ever by a covenant of salt?" (2 Chron 13:5). Salt, specified for use with all the Levitical sacrifices, stands for permanence and incorruption. hence its use here to stress the unending reign of David and his descendants.

In its ultimate reference, the covenant with David is Messianic. For the Messiah is to be the embodiment of the covenant, as is expressed by Isaiah when he said, "I will make you to be a covenant for the people" (Is 42:6; 49:8). Jesus is the one in whom all the promises of God are "Yes!" (1 Cor 1:20).

God's Covenant with Levi

Scripture contains no record of any covenant with Levi, but Jeremiah and Malachi do contain references to such an accord. "If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night...then my covenant with David my servant - and my covenant with the Levites who are priests ministering before me - can be broken" (Jer 33:20-21).

According to Malachi, "'I have sent you this admonition so that my covenant with Levi may continue,' says the Lord Almighty. 'My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him'" (Mal 2:4-5). "But you have turned from the way and...violated the covenant with Levi" (Mal 2:8).

God's covenant with David emphasised permanence and incorruption, and heralded the coming Messiah who would embody all God's promises.

As is the case with all the foregoing examples of biblical covenants when God's people or his chosen individuals violate his covenant, judgment falls on the covenant-breakers, but his covenant promises stand firm.

God's Covenant with His Prophets Today

We live at a time when many of the promises of Scripture have already been fulfilled. One such fulfilment was the arrival of the forerunner, 'my messenger' (Mal 3:1), in the person of John the Baptist. It was immediately followed by the appearance of the King himself, the One for whom all had been looking. Before he was crucified, Jesus explained what was going to happen to him when he spoke of the blood of the covenant at the institution of the Lord's Supper.

We have seen examples of a covenant being established by the shedding of blood, and rejoice that the death of Jesus releases God's promises to all mankind. But there are millions of people in all parts of the world who still do not know that God has fulfilled all his intentions and that eternal salvation is available for all who believe.

This is what makes God's covenant gift - the Holy Spirit and the word of God to his church - so important. "'As for me, this is my covenant with them' says the Lord. 'My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever,' says the Lord" (Is 59:21).

Millions of people around the world still do not know about the eternal salvation available to them – which is why God's covenant gifts to the Church of his Holy Spirit and his word are so important.

Tasks of the Agents of the Covenant of God

1. To Proclaim the Covenant Purposes of God, Past and Present

As God's agents proclaim his purposes today, they will be able to ensure that his people do not pin their hopes on human effort but on the sovereign, unfailing power of the Almighty. So many churches now seem to be operating on a purely human level instead of manifesting the mighty power of God, which is his covenant gift to us and to all believers. They should be listening to and appropriating for their use the very words of God himself.

2. To Encourage and Correct God's People as the Prophets Did

God's agents can find help in fulfilling their task today, as they study their predecessors' obligations under the first covenant. Their role was:

• to remind the people of God that Jehovah's is an everlasting covenant (Is 55:3; 61:8; Jer 32:40). The final verse states. "I will never stop doing them good."
• to reassure God's people that they will never cease to be a nation before him. "He who appoints the sun to shine by day...the moon and stars to shine by night...the Lord Almighty is his name: only if these decrees vanish from my sight will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me" (Jer 31:35-36).
• to tell them that God is with his people. "This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear" (Hag 2:5).
• to require that the Lord's people face up to the demands and duties of the covenant. "The Lord said to me, 'Proclaim all these words in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem: listen to the terms of this covenant and follow them'" (Jer 11:6).
• to blow God's trumpet as a reproof to his people for breaking the divine covenant and thereby despising his oath (Is 24:5; Hos 8:1; Ezek 16:59, 17:19).

As well as speaking to the people for their good, the agents of the covenant played their prophetic role fully by interceding for them and by speaking to God on their behalf. "Remember your covenant with us and do not break it" (Jer 14:21). There is no better place nor more suitable an occasion to meditate on the blood of the covenant than at the Lord's Supper. This is where Jesus operated as the chief agent of God's covenant when he said, "This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many" (Mark 14:24).

God had remembered his holy covenant, as Zechariah had prophesied (Luke 1:72). All that had gone before finds its fulfilment at the holy table. There is no place for chance or uncertainty in our God's way of working. What he plans he carries out. How reassuring and worthwhile it is to be his agents!

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 6, No 4, July/August 1990.

Last week we looked at the difficult task given to prophets to teach people to fear the Lord. This week, we explore another side to the prophetic ministry - the precious ministry of comfort.

Part of the prophets' ministry is to reveal a God to be feared and to warn his people of their danger if they persist in their wrongdoing. Using abrasive speech, they may castigate the people for their disobedience to God's laws and spell out the consequences of continuing rebellion.

But there is another side to the prophetic ministry. "Comfort, comfort my people" (Isa 40:1) is a commission not to Isaiah only but to all who are anointed by the Spirit for the prophetic ministry. We shall not have a complete picture of what a prophet is unless we include his ministry of bringing God's comfort to his people in distress.

We do not have a complete picture of the prophet unless we include the ministry of bringing God's comfort to his people in distress.

Words of Comfort

The Hebrew word for 'comfort' most frequently used in the Old Testament comes from a root meaning 'to sigh or to breathe deeply', and indicates the sympathy in the heart of God. The word for 'compassion' comes from a root meaning 'to fondle' and stresses the intimacy existing between God and his people. It is from this same root that the symbolic name given by God to Hosea's daughter (Lo-Ruhamah, meaning 'not loved') is taken (Hos 1:6).

In the New Testament the words which are translated 'comfort' mostly begin with the prefix 'para' which we have in our English word 'parallel', indicating a 'running alongside'. This gives us the verb parakaleo, meaning to call alongside, and parakletos, the noun which we know in English as 'Paraclete', Jesus' name for the Holy Spirit. These words stress the fact that God draws near and enters into our situation.

Jesus' promise translated in the older versions as "I will not leave you comfortless" is really "I will not leave you as orphans" (Greek: orphanous, John 14:18). These words in both Testaments reveal the heart of the God, whose total character prophets are called to proclaim.

Both Old and New Testaments reveal that God's heart is full of sympathy towards his people and that he desires intimacy and closeness with them.

The God of Comfort and 'Compassion'

God describes himself as the One who comforts his people. "I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men?" (Isa 51:12). There is no reason to be afraid of men and of what they might do to us, when we have such a God caring for us.

David was under attack by ruthless men who were seeking his life. Mercifully there was a 'but' to be taken into consideration, for he goes on to say, "But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God" (Ps 86:15). We must always remember the God-factor in assessing the situation in which we find ourselves.

The writers of other psalms unite in declaring that "The Lord is gracious and compassionate" (Ps 111:4 and 145:8), and assure us that "The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made" (Ps 145:9). What a privilege prophets enjoy in being responsible for proclaiming God's goodness!

The prophet Isaiah instructs God's people to sing for joy as they are assured by the Lord that in his compassion he will bring his exiled people back to their homeland: "See, they will come from afar...shout for joy...for the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones" (Isa 49:12-13). God did not cease to care for his people because they had sinned against him, and that concern is still true today.

God did not cease to care for his people when they sinned against him – and that is still true today.

Isaiah also foretold that Yahweh would comfort Zion and rebuild her: "The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, and her wastelands like the garden of the Lord" (Is 51:3). Surely this is a promise to claim on behalf of some of the devastated churches of our day.

Jeremiah pictures God's people returning from exile with weeping but goes on to say, "Then maidens will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow" (Jer 31:13). How good when all ages can share together in the wonderful things that a God of comfort loves to do for his people.

Towards the end of Old Testament history when the seventy years' captivity in Babylon was nearly over, the question was addressed to the Lord, "How long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem?" In reply, "The Lord spoke kind and comforting words" (Zech 1:13). What a privilege the prophets of today enjoy when they speak 'comforting words' in the name of the Lord!

What a privilege today's prophets enjoy when they proclaim God's goodness and speak his comforting words!

God's Promised Comfort Delayed

The Old Testament makes it clear that God's comfort may be delayed, as the writer of the longest psalm discovered: "My eyes fail, looking for your promise; I say, when will you comfort me?" It is not long before we discover that we are in a hurry, but the Lord is not! God, from time to time, and for reasons best known to himself, does hide his face from his people and allow them to experience the 'dark night of the soul'. "Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning" (Ps 30:5). "For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will have compassion on you, says the Lord your Redeemer" (Is 54:7-8).

The prophet Jeremiah, with all the sad experiences described and wept over in his book of Lamentations, nevertheless comes to the conclusion that "It is because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithful¬ness" (3:22-23). God and his promises will not let us down and we can confidently pray, "May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant" (Ps 119:76).

For reasons best known to himself, God sometimes hides his face and allows his people to experience the 'dark night of the soul'. But this does not last forever - God's promises never fail.

God's Compassionate Comfort Described

God's care for his people is said to be like that of a mother for her child. "As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you" (Isa 66:13), but in another passage the same prophet affirms that God is more reliable in his caring than even the most devoted mother: "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!" (Isa 49:15).

The prophet Moses complained that God was expecting him to mother the children of Israel and he exclaimed, "Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land of promise?" (Nums 11:12). Moses is not the first leader, nor the last, who has found leading the Lord's people a heavier responsibility than he can discharge. Only the Lord's own compassion distilled into the prophets' hearts can keep them going.

God's caring for his people is also likened to that of a shepherd, as we see from many references. One of the most familiar descriptions of God's caring love is that which compares him to a shepherd. Isaiah says, "He tends his flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young" (Isa 40:11). God's caring includes children, nursing mothers and all who have special need of the Good Shepherd's care.

Stories of Comfort in the Old Testament

According to Genesis 5:28-29, Lamech (son of Methuselah, the oldest man that ever lived), when a son was born to him, decided to call him Noah. He did this because the Hebrew name Noah sounds like the word for 'comfort' and he believed that his baby son would help him and his wife to cope with the problems of hard work on unrewarding soil, after God had cursed the ground. True prophets are 'comforters' of those who find life hard, and the earth is a better place for their ministry.

When Jacob was shown the torn, blood-stained coat he had given to Joseph he cried out, "It is my son's coat! Some ferocious beast has devoured him..." (Gen 37:33). But when his sons and daughters assembled in their concern for him, he refused to be comforted. Like forgiveness, comfort needs to be accepted before it can effect its healing work.

He refused to be comforted and yet the truth of the matter was that his favourite son was alive and God's good purposes were one day to be revealed. The plans made by men and demons may have all the appearance of unmitigated disaster but in the end we shall be able to repeat Jacob's words, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good" (Gen 50:20).

The plans made by men and demons may have all the appearance of unmitigated disaster, but in the end we shall be able to repeat Jacob's words that what others intended for harm, God intended for good.

Ruth had had a sad life and both she and her mother-in-law had lost their husbands. When the question was raised of their returning to Bethlehem, her sister-in-law Orpah went back to Moab, but Ruth insisted on returning with Naomi. When Ruth went into the field of Boaz to glean she found comfort in this upright man and she expressed her appreciation in these words: "You have given me comfort and have spoken kindly to your servant" (Ruth 2:13). In these days when so many marriages neither work out nor last, what compassion prophetic counsellors need to comfort single parents and their families and to attempt to sort out the complex problems brought about by child ¬abuse and homosexuality.

The God of All Comfort

When Jesus returned from his temptation by Satan in the wilderness he went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and in the synagogue on the Sabbath day he read from the scroll of Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me..." He claimed in the presence of his audience that that Scripture had been fulfilled in their hearing. The passage in Isaiah, continuing from where he left off, reads "To comfort all who mourn" (Isa 61:2), so we can see that Messiah's ministry included that of bringing comfort.

Before Jesus left his disciples he introduced them to the One who was to come in his place. He explained that he was the Spirit of truth and the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; 16:13), but he gave him a special name when he called him the paraclete, one who would come alongside his disciples after he had returned to his Father. The older versions of the Bible render this name the 'comforter'.

Jesus gave the Holy Spirit a special name when he called him the 'paraclete', one who would come alongside the disciples after he had returned to the Father.

As well as seeing in the coming of the Spirit the beginning of a new experience for the disciples as the paraclete comforted them at the return of Jesus to his Father, the New Testament shows that the coming of the Spirit makes possible a ministry of comfort to be conferred on Jesus' disciples as they receive the promised power from on high.

As Peter pointed out on the day of Pentecost, the result of the advent of the Spirit was that all Jesus' disciples would prophesy: "And they will prophesy" (Acts 2:18). This prophesying would take place in two main areas. First, in their world-wide prophetic witness (Acts 1:8), and secondly, in the assembly of God's people, where they would prophesy for the strengthening, encouragement and comfort of their fellow-believers (1 Cor 14:3).

Father, Son and Holy Spirit are thus seen to be each involved in a ministry of comfort and compassion, from which we have all benefited and in which we may all take part.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit are each involved in a ministry of comfort and compassion, from which we all benefit and in which we may all take part.

Let Paul have the last word: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we have ourselves received from God" (2 Cor 1:3-4).

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 6, No 1, January/February 1989.