What Does It Mean to Be God’s Covenant People?

            My Come, Follow Me studies for this week took me to Exodus 1-6 where I found several principles. A central theme in the book of Exodus is that God has the power to free His people from oppression. The Israelites were living in captivity in Egypt much like you and I live in captivity to sin and death. Under God’s direction, Moses functioned as deliverer for Israel, and he became a type, or representation, of Jesus Christ in doing so. Like the Savior, Moses was preserved from death as an infant and later spent time in the wilderness before embarking on his mission.

            Another principle found in these chapter is that God gives power to those He calls to do His work. Members of three religions – Jews, Christians, and Muslims – consider Moses to be a great prophet and leader. However, Moses did not consider himself to be qualified for the job God was giving to him. “Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh?” (Exodus 3:11). The Lord reassured Moses and responded to his concerns – just as He does for each of us.

            A third principle taught in these chapters is that the Lord’s purposes will be fulfilled in His own time and in His own way. God commanded Moses to go before Pharaoh and tell him to release the Israelites, and Moses was obedient. However, Pharaoh refused and made the lives of the Israelites more difficult. Moses and the Israelites wondered why things were not working out when they were doing what God commanded.

22 And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? Why is it that thou hast sent me?

23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all (Exodus 5:22-23).

            The commandments given to Moses and Moses’s obedience in following them fulfilled one of God’s requirements. God gave moral agency to each of His spirit children while we lived with Him in the premortal life, and He expects us to use our agency to make choices. If we make righteous choices, we are blessed. If we make unrighteous choices, we are not blessed.

God gave Pharaoh an opportunity to exercise his agency in obedience to God’s commandments, and Pharaoh refused. If Pharaoh had obeyed, he and the Egyptians would have been blessed. His refusal brought punishments instead of blessings. The Lord explained it to Moses with these words:

1 Then the Lord said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.

2 And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the Lord:

3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them[?]

4 And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.

5 And I have also hard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.

6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:

7 And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

8 And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the Lord (Exodus 6:1-8).

            The Lord never brings punishments upon people or destroys them without first giving them a warning. Through Moses, the Lord warned Pharaoh that punishments would come upon the Egyptians if he did not obey the word of the Lord. Moses and the Israelites learned that God does things in His own way and in His own time. The Lord also renewed the covenant with Moses and the Israelites that He first made to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. God renews that covenant with members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today, as explained by President Russell M. Nelson.

At baptism we covenant to serve the Lord and keep His commandments. When we partake of the sacrament, we renew that covenant and declare our willingness to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. Thereby we are adopted as His sons and daughters and are known as brothers and sisters. He is the father of our new life. Ultimately, in the holy temple, we may become joint heirs to the blessings of an eternal family, as once promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their posterity. Thus, celestial marriage is the covenant of exaltation.

When we realize that we are children of the covenant, we know who we are and what God expects of us. His law is written in our hearts. He is our God and we are His people. Committed children of the covenant remain steadfast, even in the midst of adversity. When that doctrine is deeply implanted in our hearts, even the sting of death is soothed and our spiritual stamina is strengthened (“Covenants,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2011, 88).

            We are children of the covenant, and we know what God expects of us. We also know the blessings that will come if we are obedient. Remembering the three principles from this lesson – God has the power to free His people from oppression, God gives power to those He calls to do His work, and God’s purposes will be fulfilled in His own time and in His own way – will help us to remain steadfast in our commitment to God.