Contemplative Bible Reading

2 Kings 11:12 (New International Version 2011)

Jehoiada brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him; he presented him with a copy of the covenant and proclaimed him king. They anointed him, and the people clapped their hands and shouted, “Long live the king!”

Jehoiada the priest has brought out Joash (or Jehoash) to be the King of Judah. The first task was to present the new king with a copy of  – the covenant.

Note, the writer does not call it “the law” or “the Bible” or “the fill-in-the-blank-with-another-term.” The writer calls it the covenant.

Often, the Old Testament refers to “the law” as the covenant. Definitions of the term are often “agreement” and “contract.” This is how God’s people saw it and defined it. It was their personal agreement with the one true God.

Do I have a personal agreement with God today? If I had to define it as such, one phrasing of the agreement would be something like:

I agree that Jesus of Nazareth was the Anointed One, whose sacrifice allows me to approach you even as miserable and unworthy as I am. You agree to do the other 99.9…%.

That’s a pretty good contract. I haven’t seen one that gracious to me. Ever.