ANCHOR DEVOTIONS (JANUARY 23, 2012)

By Grace: A Covenant People
Genesis 42:3-9;
Jeremiah 31:31

"I, the LORD, have called you... to be a covenant 
for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to 
open the eyes of the blind, ...to release from 
the dungeon those who sit in darkness."
(Isaiah 42:6-7)
The Creator of the universe - the One who gives breath and life to every creature - continues to speak about His chosen Servant. The central idea here is that the only One who can make promises that come true all the time is the One who created and sustains all creation. Notice the four main verbs in verse 5 - "created, stretched, spread, and gives." Then in verse 6, these verbs - "I have called, I will take, I will keep, I will make." These are the words of Almighty God. He has made a covenant with His people - Jews and Gentiles alike - through His Son, Jesus.
The Bible is all about covenants that God makes with His chosen people. You might translate the word "covenant" as "promise," because biblical covenants are all are based on God's promises. Even God's covenant with Moses and the giving of the Law was a gracious promise with a gracious purpose - to save His people from their sins. God's promises are always true and not binding because the sovereign Creator is faithful to do what He says He will do.

INSIGHT
The entire world is in a "dungeon of darkness." But by grace, God has shed His light in Christ and His New Covenant.
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Genesis 39-40
Psalm 20
Matthew 28
Genesis 42:3-9;
3 Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him. 5 So Israel’s sons were among those who went to buy grain, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also.
6 Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the one who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. 7 As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. "Where do you come from?" he asked.
"From the land of Canaan," they replied, "to buy food."
8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. 9 Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, "You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected."
Jeremiah 31:31
31 "The time is coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.