Unit 5: The Church of Jesus Christ
Chapter 15: The Lord's Covenant People
Comments and Resources "President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote:
"Each ordinance and requirement given to man for the purpose of bringing to pass his Salvation and exaltation is a covenant....
"Keeping the Sabbath day holy is a covenant....All of the Ten Commandments are everlasting covenants. The law of tithing is a form of an everlasting covenant....
"Marriage is an everlasting covenant." (Doctrines of Salvation 1:152-53) "A gospel covenant is a holy contract."God in his good pleasure fixes the terms, which man accepts" (Bible Dictionary, LDS ed., "Covenants")....Man covenants to do certain things or meet certain conditions; God cites promises the he will give in return" (Carlos E. Asay, "The Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood," Ensign, Nov. 1985 p. 43). The Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood" Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, "The Priesthood and the Savior's Atoning Power," Liahona, Nov. 2017, 65-66. "The Lord identified the gospel as the great and all-embracing covenant...Man of the Lord's commandments are in the form of covenants promising specific blessings...Observing the gospel covenants we make with the Lord justifies us to enter the temple and there receive the ordinances and covenants essential to exaltation" (Marion G. Romney, "Gospel Covenants," Ensign, May 1981, pp. 43-44). During the study of this topic, we will learn what covenants the Lord has made with his children anciently, what covenants he has made today, why the Lord has given us covenants, why the Lord has given us covenants, and the result of keeping our covenants." Resources:
Gospel Principles: chapter 15 Scriptures:
2 Nephi 29:1, 14
"1 But behold, there shall be many at that day when I shall proceed to do a marvelous work among them, that I may remember my covenants which I have made unto the children of men, that I may set my hand again thesecond time to recover my people, which are of the house of Israel;
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14 And it shall come to pass that my people, which are of the house of Israel, shall be gathered home unto the lands of their possessions; and my word also shall be gathered in one.And I will show unto them that fight against my word and against my people, who are of the house of Israel, that I am God, and that I covenanted with Abraham that I would remember his seed forever." Alma 24:17-19;56:1-8
Alma 24:17-19
"17 And now it came to pass that when the king had made an end of these sayings, and all the people were assembled together, they took their swords, and all the weapons which were used for the shedding of man's blood, and they did bury them up deep in the earth.
18 And this they did, it being in their view a testimony to God, and also to men, that they never would use weapons again for the shedding of man's blood; and this they did, vouching and covenanting with God, that rather than shed the blood of their brethren they would give up their own lives; and rather than take away from a brother they would give unto him; and rather than spend their days in idleness they would labor abundantly with their hands.
19 And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth, they were firm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace." Alma 56:1-8
"1 And now it came to pass in the *commencement of the thirtieth year of the reign of the judges, on the second day in the first month, Moroni received an epistle from Helaman, stating the affairs of the people in that quarter of the land.
2 And these are the words which he wrote, saying: My dearly beloved brother, Moroni, as well in the Lord as in the tribulations of our warfare; behold, my beloved brother, I have somewhat to tell you concerning our warfare in this part of the land.
3 Behold, two thousand of the sons of those men whom Ammon brought down out of the land of Nephi now ye have known that these were descendants of Laman, who was the eldest son of our father Lehi;
4 Now I need not rehearse unto you concerning their traditions or their unbelief, for thou knowest concerning all these things
5 Therefore it sufficeth me that I tell you that two thousand of these young men have taken their weapons of war, and would that I should be their leader; and we have come forth to defend our country.
6 And now ye also know concerning the covenant which their fathers made, that they would not take up their weapons of war against their brethren to shed blood.
7 But in the twenty and sixth year, when they saw our afflictions and our tribulations for them, they were about to break the covenant which they had made and take up their weapons of war in our defence.
8 But I would not suffer them that they should break this covenant which they had made, supposing that God would strengthen us, insomuch that we should not suffer more because of the fulfilling the oath which they had taken."
Genesis 9:8-17 (Compare JST, Genesis 9:16-17); 17:1-14
Genesis 9:8-17 God Covenants with Noah "...11 And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
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16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. ..." Genesis 9:21-25 JST"The rainbow was set in heaven as a reminder of God's covenant to Enoch and to Noah. In the last days the general assembly of the church of the Firstborn the Zion of the Lord in Enoch's time; see Moses 7: will join the righteous on earth. (compare Genesis 9:16-17)
21 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant, which I made unto thy father Enoch; that, when men shall keep all my commandments, Zion should again come on the earth, the city of Enoch which I have caught up unto myself.
22 And this is mine everlasting covenant, that when thy posterity shall embrace the truth, and look upward, then shall Zion look downward, and all the heavens shall shake with gladness, and the earth shall tremble with joy;
23 And the general assembly of the church of the first-born shall come down out of heaven, and possess the earth, and shall have place until the end come. And this is mine everlasting covenant, which I made with thy father Enoch.
24 And the bow shall be in the cloud, and I will establish my covenant unto thee, which I have made between me and thee, for every living creature of all flesh that shall be upon the earth.
25 And God'said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and thee; for all flesh that shall be upon the earth."
Genesis 17:1-14 God makes a covenant with Abraham Deuteronomy 7:6-9; 26:12-19
Deuteronomy 7:6-9
"6 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
7 The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
8 But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9 Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;" Deuteronomy 26:12-19
"12 ¶ When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled;
13 Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them:
14 I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me.
15 Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
16 ¶ This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
17 Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice:
18 And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments;
19 And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken."
Joshua 24:12-15; 24:21-27 Joshua 24:12-15
"12 And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.
13 And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and olive yards which ye planted not do ye eat.
14 ¶ Now therefore fear the Lord , and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord .
15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord , choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord ." Joshua 24:21-27
"21 And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the Lord .
22 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the Lord , to serve him.And they said, We are witnesses.
23 Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel.
24 And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.
25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
26 ¶ And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the Lord .
27 And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God." Hebrews 8:6-13
"6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old.Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." Topical Guide:
Abrahamic Covenants
Covenants
Oath
Promise
Stewardship, Steward
Swearing, Swear, Sware, Sworn
Vow Bible Dictionary:
Abraham, Covenant of
Corban
Covenant
Rainbow
Vows Guide to the Scriptures:
Covenant
Abrahamic Covenant
New and Everlasting Covenant
Oath
Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood
Rainbow