That You May Prosper: Dominion by Covenant

THAT YOU MAY PROSPER Dominion By Covenant THAT YOU MAY PROSPER Dominion By Covenant Ray R. Sutton Institute for Christian Economics Tyler, Texas Copyright © 1987 Ray R. Sutton Second printing, 1992 Third printing, 1997 All rights reserved. Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book, except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles. All Scripture citations are from the New American Standard Version, unless noted otherwise. Published by Institute for Christian Economics P. a. Box 8000, Tyler, Texas 75711 Printed in the United States ofAmerica Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sutton, Ray R., 1950- That you may prosper : dominion by covenant / Ray R. Sutton. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-930464-11-7 (alk. paper). 1. Covenants - Religious aspects - Reformed Church. 2. Dominion Theology. 3. Law (Theology) 4. Reformed Church- Doctrines. 5. Sociology, Christian (Reformed Church) 6. Calvinism. 7. Bible. a.T. Deuteronomy Criticism, interpretation, etc. 8. Success - Religious aspects Christianity. I. Title. BT155.S87 1991 231.7'6 - dc20 91-22625 CIP To One So Suitable For Me Susan My Beloved Wife TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword by Milton C. Fisher ........................... .. ix Publisher's Preface by Gary North xiii Introduction 1 I. COVENANT Covenantal Points 1. True Transcendence .......................... .. 21 2. Hierarchy 41 3. Ethics........................................ 59 4. Sanctions..................................... 77 5. Continuity.................................... 96 6. "Five Points ofCovenantalism" (Conclusion: Part 1) ... 119 II. DOMINION Introduction 7. "Dominion By Covenant" 124 Family 8. The Biblical Family Covenant 137 9. The Historical Family Covenant 147 Church 10. The Biblical Church Covenant 159 11. The Historical Church Covenant 167 State 12. The Biblical State Covenant 177 13. The Historical State Covenant 195 Conclusion 14. "Little By Little" (Conclusion: Part 2) 202 Appendix 1- The Ten Commandments 214 Appendix 2- Psalms 225 Appendix 3- Matthew 233 Appendix 4-Romans 246 Appendix 5 - Revelation 253 Vll Vlll THAT YOU MAY PROSPER Appendix 6 - Hebrews 8: Old Covenant/ New Covenant Comparison 268 Appendix 7- Meredith G. Kline: Yes and No 281 Appendix 8 - Covenant in the Flesh (Old Covenant Sacraments) 288 Appendix 9 - Covenant By the Spirit (New Covenant Sacraments) 299 Appendix 10 - The Covenant Structure of the Thirty-Nine Articles 316 ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 319 SCRIPTURE INDEX 323 GENERAL INDEX 335 FOREWORD by Milton C. Fisher! Pick up your Bible and ask, "How do I get hold ofthe message of this Book? How do I apply it to life - not just my life, but to all life in this complex world in which we live?" Many approaches to "dividing the word of truth" have been proposed. Both complex and simple systems have been developed, propagated, and tried out. Tried, but found wanting. That You May Prosper is not just one more experimental system for organizing Bible content. It clearly expounds and applies the Bible's own structure in a way that demonstrates its intent. Cleverly concocted analyses of the Bible, though often contain ing scattered elements of truth (out of focus and disproportionate in emphasis), fall short and distort for one reason. They fail to take into account the essential nature of the written Word of God. They miss the should-be-obvious fact that the Bible is by design and intent a covenant document. Jehovah God called His servant, Moses the Lawgiver, at the bush in the desert. Moses was the prepared agent, learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, whom God used to deliver His people from bondage and also to encode the revealed constitution for a new nation, His people Israel. Hence it is most likely that the very first words written as Bible were those inscribed by God's own hand: "I am Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, ... 1. Professor of Old Testament (retired) at Philadelphia Theological Seminary. Education: B.A. (Phi Beta Kappa) and M.A. from the Oriental Seminary depart ment ofJohns Hopkins University (under William F. Albright). M.Div., the Theo logical Seminary ofthe Reformed Episcopal Church (now "Philadelphia Theological Seminary"). B.D. and Th.M. from Pittsburgh-Xenia Theological Seminary (under James L. Kelso). Ph.D. in Mediterranean Studies from Brandeis University (under Cyrus H. Gordon). Specialties: missionary linguistics and comparative Semitic philology applied to biblical exegesis of the Hebrew Scriptures, plus Bible history and archaeology. ix x THAT YOU MAY PROSPER you shall have no other gods before Me." The heart of the Covenant Law is the Decalogue, which these words preface and introduce. Sutton's Book The book you now hold in your hand is doubtless the clearest exposition of Bible-as-covenant (that is, Bible as meant to be under stood) that you've ever read. That's because the author has spelled out in no uncertain terms the implications of historic reformational covenant theology in the light of current scholarship. The discovery and application to biblical studies of the suzerain treaty parallels to Sacred Scripture, contemporary to and confirmatory ofthe Pentateuch, has been extremely enlightening and valuable for appreciation ofthe orientation of the Word of God in its entirety. Others, such as Meredith G. Kline, have published helpful sug gestions concerning archaeological and philological discoveries in this area. But Ray Sutton has now both simplified and expanded upon the rich lode made available through modern research. This he does by citing the biblical reasons for historic successes and failures in human history. In the realms of family, church, and state- cove nant institutions by divine design- only when there is conformity to the biblical pattern and requirements of covenantal relationships is divine blessing to be expected and experienced. Whether you agree with every idea propounded in this volume by its author, experienced pastor and enthusiastic Christian educa tor that he is, it will surely make you think. Its commanding logic demands your interaction with the flow of reasoning and its often surprisingly fresh suggestions will prove a stimulus and assistance to your formation ofjudgments of your own. For example, not every one will readily accept the seemingly facile manner in which several Books ofthe Bible are outlined on the same covenantal pattern read ily found in Pentateuchal Books like Exodus and Deuteronomy. At least not the first time around. But when one becomes convinced of the centrality and importance of the covenantal form and content (structure and specifications) so vital to Holy Scripture as a whole and in its parts, some such analysis of portions of the Bible makes real sense. Fresh insights into God's Word are sure to be gained, to say the least, through Sutton's work. I found it to be so, after nearly half a century of serious study and teaching ofthe Bible. Thinking through this book will enable you to focus upon and relate by covenantal Foreword Xl principles certain details of Scripture which you have either over looked or found puzzling. For example, I recall the shock of reading Mark 10:30 for the first time, in Greek, searching out words in the Greek lexicon. HereJesus promises to those who leave all and follow Him". a hundredfold now in this time - houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, WITH PERSECU TIONS...." What's that!? "Persecutions"? How did that get in there? Sutton's treatment of the "sanctions" aspect of covenant, and how it explains not only the supreme sufferings of our Savior but those of His covenant children as well clears up such questions. Similarly, as I read for about the thirtieth time in my life the eighteenth chapter of II Kings, about the life of King Hezekiah, I was struck by how it (along with many other passages) bears out the title, from Deuteronomy 29:9, of Sutton's book. We are told that since this Davidic heir "did what was right in the sight of the LORD" (vs. 3), "removed the high places...." (vs. 4), "trusted in the LORD God of Israel" (vs. 5), and "held fast to the LORD" (vs. 6), "The LORD was with him; he PROSPERED wherever he went" (vs. 7). So, a revived interest and excitement in Bible study is an assured byproduct of reading this book. But equally helpful is its application to all areas of private and corporate life, in family, church, and state -home, religion, and politics. I leave it to the author himself to ex plain to you why this is so. In particular, the five aspects and parts ofcovenant, so thoroughly discussed and widely applied throughout That You May Prosper, are easy to latch onto-to understand and to remember. But the way in which these were compared to issues in modern management theory by Gary North in the Publisher's Preface to the original edition of the book bears repeating. North speaks of how the endless arguments over details of political theory, as well, boil down to disagreements over the answers to five questions: 1. Who's in charge here? 2. To whom do I report? 3. What are the rules? 4. What do I get for obeying or disobeying? 5. Does this outfit have a future? Memorize these five simple and logically sequential questions, and you'll have no trouble remembering the five point outline in Sutton's treatment of covenant. You may even start to see it every X11 THAT YOU MAY PROSPER where, as it were, as does the author. I'll confess, after I wrote the paragraph about Hezekiah, I discovered to my own amazement that I could see the five points. You just have to switch the last two state ments (or verses). I challenge you to return to that paragraph, after you've read the book, and see if you don't think the same thing.

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