As the two covenant partners stood there looking at each other, they had just placed their cloaks on each others shoulders, symbolizing that they were each taking on the identity of the other. The next thing they did was to take off the belt that held their weapons and offer it to the other. By this symbolic act, they were offering each other their strength and protection.
The weapons belt was a vital part of any soldier’s raiment. It held his sword, dagger, bow and arrows, and held his armor together. Along with this very symbolic act of trading weapons, they may have also said words like, ‘If anyone attacks you, they are attacking me; your battles are my battles and mine are yours. I will fight alongside you and I will defend and protect you. I am giving you all my strength and I am pledging you all my support and protection.’
When two people stand up and say their wedding vows, don’t they imply the same when they promise to ‘love, honor and cherish’ one another?
In the Bible, when God made the Old Covenant with Abram, he promised his protection. He said,
1 … Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield… Genesis 15:1
God promised protection not only to Abram, but to any who accepted the covenant.
Another example of the protection of the covenant can be found again with David and Jonathan. David was at war with Saul, Jonathan’s father. The Bible mentions that Jonathan had a son:
4 And Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son that was lame of his feet…And his name was Mephibosheth. 2 Samuel 4:4
Mephibosheth was only a little boy when his feet became crippled. His nurse dropped him while fleeing. Poor kid. Later, David became king and Mephibosheth, now a young man, was hidden for fear of his life. He must have been raised on a steady diet of how horrible David was.
As David became established in his kingship, one day he remembered his covenant with Jonathan.
1 And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake? 2 Samuel 9:1
5 Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir…. 6 Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence… 7 And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan, thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul, thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. 2 Samuel 5-7
Mephibosheth was the recipient of the power of the covenant. Even though he did not personally enter into a covenant with David, because of his father, Jonathan’s, covenant with David, Mephibosheth had the option of accepting it and walking in it because of his position in Jonathan’s family. The covenant protection did not stop at the person that one came into covenant with, but also extended to family members.
Mephibosheth could have rejected David’s offer of covenant grace. We don’t know what David would have done, but Mephibosheth would never have experienced the acceptance, love, and protection of the covenant covering.
We have this same option because of what Jesus did. We were ignorant like Mephibosheth, ignorant of what Jesus accomplished for us when he ratified God’s New Covenant with his own blood. But it is not enough to simply know about the New Covenant, we must accept it and walk in it. Jesus said,
6 I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6
He did it all for us. All we have to do is turn away from where we were, and ask him to be our King and Savior. He has saved us from eternal death, eternal separation from God, and eternal torment. Hallelujah!
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
