The Covenant that Saves

Jonathan and David present many pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ for us. In previous posts, I have related David to the Church as those "in Christ" and Saul to the world's systems/governments and domain.

Now Saul stands in many ways for not just the system of the world but the evidentiary wrath of God imposed upon the community of men who have forsaken His Word and sought their own adulation. Remember how Romans 1 describes the wrath of God - not as some sort of future state of the ungodly (although it is) - but as a present handing over to the desires of men's hearts:
Romans 1:24 (ESV) Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,

Romans 1:26 (ESV) For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;

Romans 1:28 (ESV) And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done...

In sin, humanity rejects God and then incurs the inevitable wrath present in the rejection of the one from Whom all good and perfect things come (James 1:17). I say all that to say this... Saul's demise represents the wrath of God poured upon those who reject him. His erratic behavior, his hatred of David, his evil murderous intent - are all products of his own rejection of God. Remember too that this torment was sent by the Lord Himself. A confusing thought until we see the picture of Christ in Saul's son protecting those who are in Christ in David. 

In 1 Samuel 20 David needs to escape from this context:

1 Samuel 20:1 (ESV) Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?”

Jonathan will intervene once again for David and send him off safely through a signal of arrows being shot in the field where David hides. But there is more to this moment than a signal. David establishes the sign in order to discover Saul's intention, and then pleads with Jonathan. Listen to what he relies on:

1 Samuel 20:7–8 (ESV) If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him. 8 Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?”

Now, this Covenant was established by Jonathan soon after the Goliath episode in 1 Samuel 18:

1 Samuel 18:3 (ESV) Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.

Let us examine this covenant in detail. First, it was established by the son of the King who is willing to surrender his right to the throne for the sake of David. Second, it protects David from harm due to the wrath of the King. Third, it is a covenant based on the love Jonathan has for David. And fourth, it is the unbreakable agreement Jonathan made that enables David's escape leading to eventual elevation and authority. You have to think that without Jonathan, David would have surely died. 

This is all pointing to the true and better Covenant yet to come. The Covenant made in the blood of Christ for us. At the Last Supper, as Jesus was ready to endure the wrath of God (His Father) for us, He offered the cup as a sign of the Covenant we have in His blood.

Luke 22:20 (ESV) “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Like Jonathan's covenant with David, this agreement is Christ's idea offered TO us. It protects us from the just wrath of the Father and enables us to be empowered with the authority of the king through the Holy Spirit! If we drink of this cup of the Covenant, we are SAFE! We have standing in the Father's love and a future secured by the Son's covering.

Placing your faith in Christ is accepting His covering for you! It is not simply nominal adherence to a set of doctrines or church statements. It is accepting the agreement God's Son offers those who know they cannot stand in the presence of God's holiness without Christ's intercession. Just as Jonathan will intervene, intercede and protect David so that he is enabled to become all God wants him to become, Christ has done the same for us! 

We are loved, spared and empowered in the Covenant.