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Nevertheless
By Grant Phillips
One of the most
beautiful and
comforting verses in
the Word of God is
found in Ezekiel
16:60. It says, “Nevertheless
I will remember my
covenant with thee
in the days of thy
youth, and I will
establish unto thee
an everlasting
covenant.”
To really appreciate
the magnitude of
these words, the
entire chapter must
be read to get the
full impact of that
one introductory
word,
“Nevertheless”.
Basically, God is
reminding Israel that she
was born from
unworthy ancestry
and tossed aside
like yesterday’s
garbage. Lying in
her fetal blood, God
passed by and
covered her, then
took her to Himself.
At the proper time
of age, He took her
as His own wife, but
she prostituted
herself to other
gods. Her adulteries
and idolatries were
worse than even her
pagan neighbors.
Over the years and
the ups and downs,
He was always there
for her, even though
most of her time was
in rebellion. He
concludes the matter
by saying, “Nevertheless
I will remember my
covenant with thee
in the days of thy
youth, and I will
establish unto thee
an everlasting
covenant.”
Every passage in
God’s Word, whether
Old or New
Testament, is meant
for us all who are
His. So how can this
relationship between
God and
Israel
speak to us in the
age of the Church?
Let’s take a look.
The most important
thing to remember is
“God’s
dependability”, the
“Nevertheless”.
Please … stop right
here and carefully
read all of Ezekiel
16 before continuing
your reading of this
article, if you
haven’t done so
already. It is
important to get the
full gist of this
important message …
the “Nevertheless”.
Israel is still the
apple of God’s eye,
“For
thus saith the LORD
of hosts; After the
glory hath he sent
me unto the nations
which spoiled you:
for he that toucheth
you toucheth the
apple of his eye.”
(Zechariah 2:8) One
day, probably very
soon, she will be
made perfect before
God. He will bring
everything to pass
for
Israel
exactly as He
promised in the
prophecies that are
starting to unfold
today. Many are
already full bloom.
Here is the point.
God is bringing it
to pass because of
HIS
dependability, the
“Nevertheless”. She
will have to be
cleansed through a
fiery Tribulation
period, but when it
is over,
Israel
will finally be
purified and made
complete in Him. She
has not been tossed
aside, as some
believe, because God
said,
“Nevertheless”.
So what about you …
and me? Aren’t you
glad He didn’t toss
us aside either? We
too were lying in a
filthy back alley,
covered in the stain
of the world’s
stench, but He
cleaned us up with
the precious blood
of His Son Jesus,
wrapped us in His
righteousness, and
filled us with His
own Spirit. We
followed after our
own gods,
prostituted
ourselves before
Satan’s idols, but
God saved our hell
bound souls by
paying a price that
we could never pay
anyway. None of us
are worthy of His
great love, but He
has given it freely.
The cost to Him was
the price of His
Son, our cost zilch,
except to reach out
and take His hand
and follow Him.
Even with Israel’s
failures, He keeps
His covenant with
her. Even with all
our failures, He
keeps His covenant
with us. (By the
way, a covenant is a
contract, an
agreement.) He says
to us also,
“Nevertheless”. That
is security of the
Highest order!
“Nevertheless”,
tells me that God’s
Word is rock solid.
It tells me that His
love goes beyond
anything I can
understand in this
life. It tells me
that His power is so
great, that His plan
for me will be
accomplished despite
all the demonic
onslaughts of Satan.
It tells me that
there isn’t anything
I can mess up that
He can’t fix. It
tells me that His
agreement with me is
signed and sealed in
Heaven. It tells me
that one day, maybe
soon, I will behold
my God, face to
face, because His
Word is sure. What
does it tell you?
In our world,
contracts (or
agreements) are
broken everyday. We
see that, for
example, in
marriages that fail
in divorce. One
party decides to
break the contract,
and the other one is
stuck with the
consequences. Not so
with our God. He
keeps His Word with
His own, even when
we fail to “hold up
our end”.
We must not omit,
that He also keeps
His Word with His
enemies. He will
execute judgment
against those who
have harmed the
“apple of His eye”.
He will execute
judgment against who
have turned their
backs on His Son.
Many believe that if
God is real, He is a
God of love, and
would never send
anyone to a fiery,
eternal judgment. He
is real, and He is a
God of love. He is
also the God of
justice, and His
justice will be
culminated in a lake
that burns with fire
for eternity for
those who reject His
Son, just as He
promised.
When God was
speaking to Israel
in Ezekiel 16, He
was speaking to a
nation under the
dispensation of the
Law. When He
speaks to His Church
today, He is
speaking to
individuals under the dispensation of Grace. The “Nevertheless” for us means that He will keep His
covenant with us in
two ways; (1) not
one member of His
Church will be left
behind when He
removes it from this
earth prior to the
Tribulation period,
and (2) not one
child of His will be
lost and miss being
with Him in Heaven.
Even though we often
fail, He will keep
His covenant
(agreement)
with us. “Nevertheless
I will remember my
covenant with thee
in the days of thy
youth, and I will
establish unto thee
an everlasting
covenant.” Thank
you Lord, for that
promise, for we know
your Word is sure.
Thank you Lord that
You keep your Word,
even when we fail to
keep ours.
Grant Phillips
grantphillips@windstream.net
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