“All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute forever: it is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee.”
The heave offerings were part of the offerings of the people of Israel, and in this scripture, they were given to Aaron and to his family, as the priests of the Lord. They were guaranteed, if we might use that word, to Aaron and his family perpetually, for the priests had no inheritance in the land. They were to be wholly devoted and separated to the Lord, and the Lord was assuring them that their needs would be looked after on an ongoing basis.
The Kingdom Usurped
The second use of the phrase “a covenant of salt” is in 2 Chronicles 13:55Ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? (2 Chronicles 13:5), where King Abijah of Judah addresses King Jeroboam of Israel (the ten tribes), when these two kings went to war with one another. We are not told which one was the aggressor; we are simply told that “there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam” (vs. 2). However, Abijah makes a speech to Jeroboam, reminding him of how he had usurped the kingdom that belonged to Abijah’s father Rehoboam and how that God had given the kingdom to the house of David by “a covenant of salt.”
“Ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?”
There was truth in this, for God had indeed promised David that there would always be a light from his family to sit on the throne of Israel. The Lord had said, “He shall build an house for My name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Sam. 7:1313He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. (2 Samuel 7:13)). This refers to Solomon, but we notice that Abijah conveniently leaves out the next verse, which says that “if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men” (vs. 14). Solomon had indeed committed iniquity, and God had indeed visited him by allowing adversaries to come against him in the latter part of his reign. Also, after the death of Solomon, it was the Lord who had given part of the kingdom to Jeroboam, although he proved to be an unfaithful man.
However, we are concerned with the expression “a covenant of salt.” The expression was first used by the Lord when He spoke to Aaron about the offerings of the people promised to him and his family, and this same expression was picked up by Abijah and used against Jeroboam, whom Abijah considered a usurper. As we have seen, this was only a half-truth.
The Preserving Character of Salt
We have seen in other articles in this issue that one of the functions of salt is its preserving character. The expression means, then, that what was done and sealed could not be changed. What the Lord said to Aaron could not be changed, and what God had said about David’s family and throne of Israel could not be changed either.
We know that, in the millennial day, the priesthood will be reestablished in Israel and that the family of Aaron will serve in that day before the Lord. We know too that the purposes of God concerning David’s family will be fulfilled in Christ, although David’s family was a failure in their responsibility before the Lord in ruling Israel. Eventually all of Israel was carried into captivity, and the last king of Judah (Zedekiah) was guilty of swearing an oath in the name of the Lord and then breaking his word. But all will be made perfect in Christ, for although David was compelled to say towards the end of his life, “Although my house be not so with God,” yet he could also go on to say, “Yet hath He made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure” (2 Sam. 23:55Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow. (2 Samuel 23:5)).
How blessed to know that God can make a covenant that will never be changed and that He made such a covenant with Israel. Neither will He change His promises to us, for although we, as the church, are not in a covenant relationship with God, yet “all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (2 Cor. 1:2020For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. (2 Corinthians 1:20)).
W. J. Prost