Isaiah 59:20-21 - A Bond in Blood

Chad Werkhoven
Apr 17
5 min read

You are in an unbreakable covenant relationship with God.

Isaiah 59:20-21 (NIV)

CONTEXT: Isaiah 59 begins with a description of the many sins of God’s people. Seeing their sad plight, God laments that no one within Israel is able to deliver them; thus, he himself must bring deliverance to his people.

20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion,

to those

in Jacob

who repent of their sins,”

declares the LORD.

21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD.

“My Spirit,

who is on you,

will not depart from you,

and my words

that I have put in your mouth

will always be

on your lips,

on the lips of your children

and on the lips of their descendants—

from this time on and forever,”

says the LORD.

Canons of Dordt

Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election

Articles 1-14

Article 17: The Salvation of the Infants of Believers

Since we must make judgments about God’s will from his Word, which testifies that the children of believers are holy,
1. not by nature
2. but by virtue of the gracious covenant in which they together with their parents are included,
Godly parents
1. ought not to doubt the election and salvation of their children
2. whom God calls out of this life in infancy.

Summary

We could write an entire theology book based only on Isaiah 59:21 - and it would end up being a multi-volume set! But today we'll need to suffice ourselves with only a few short paragraphs.

Once again, we see our God affirm the key aspect of His relationship to us: He is in covenant with us. A covenant has been famously described as "a bond in blood, sovereignly administered." Covenants are often compared to contracts, but contracts are rarely 'bonds in blood.' A covenant, then, is so much more significant; it's an eternal contract written in the blood of Christ. By means of His covenant, God has legally obligated Himself to you!

As part of this covenant, He has given you His Spirit, who will not depart from you. This is the basis for our theme this year: that God's grace is stronger than you are. Whatever else may happen to you, you can be absolutely certain that the Holy Spirit will always be with you in the midst of it. Nothing can ever pry you away from Him.

But in His covenant, God has given you even more! He has put His words in your mouth. Our Covenant God is not some far off deity looking down from above just watching and waiting to see if we can figure things out on our own. No, He sets His word - the truth - in our mouths. The Bible isn't just meant to be read on your own (although that's important!), it's been put in your mouth to be proclaimed to those who need to hear it.

Calvin comments here that although God could speak directly or use angels, He chooses to speak to us through human messengers for our benefit. By using people like us, He gently draws us to Himself.

Dig Deeper

God wants you to know that these covenant promises are not just for you. His word will be on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever.

It's promises like this that give us utmost confidence that, as the Canons put it, the children of godly parents whom God calls out of this life in infancy have salvation, because they too are party to this covenant that God will always be faithful to.

Isaiah 59:21 probably isn't on anyone's top ten list of favorite Bible passages. It's somewhat obscure and not well known. But it's passages like this that provide you with endless peace and comfort. It's to passages like today's that Calvin goes on to encourage you...

...always to look to when you are tempted by adversity, and when everything does not succeed according to your wish; for you must be supported and upheld by the word and the Spirit, of which the Lord declares that you shall never be left destitute.

AAA Prayer (About)

ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose covenant is with us;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will always be supported and upheld by the word and the Spirit;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: