An agreement with those who aren't here?

I am making this covenant,with its oath,not only with youwho are standing here with us todayin the presence of the LORD our Godbut also with those who are not here today. (Deut. 29:14-15 NIV)

Seems strange to make an agreement with people who aren't even present at the moment it is agreed upon, doesn't it?

Can you imagine making an arrangement with your bank to pay your mortgage but the bank isn't represented at the meeting?

So who are these people who are not here today?

Were they people who stayed in their tents or were unable to get out to physically join the proceedings? Maybe. But I think God and Moses had others in mind.

Certainly the covenant included those who had come before. Read the next verses.

You yourselves know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries on the way here...

Some who were entering didn't experience all of this personally. Their parents or grandparents had. But the previous generations stood as witnesses to faithlessness of the people and the faithfulness of God.

That generation had blown it. They could testify to just how true to His word God really is; either for benefiting the obedient or for disciplining the disobedient.

But the covenant also includes those who were yet to come. Time and again God and Moses set their sights on future generations. They can see the blessings and cursings that hang in the balance for those not yet born, based upon the choices of those living today.

Think about it.

We know biologically that what a pregnant mother eats, breathes, and drinks will have an effect on the not-yet-born-baby she carries.

So how difficult is it to believe that choices mothers and fathers make on how they spend, what they watch, or the god they worship NOW will have an effect upon their children LATER?

God and Moses were telling the Hebrews the covenant, the agreement between them, comes out of a history of those who have come before and begins to shape the future for those yet to come.

May God give us such a vision and help us to live holy, intentional, God-devoted lives.

Grace & peace