Article September 7, 1946 Issue

"Walk before me"

EDYTH S. ARMSTRONG

In the seventeenth chapter of Genesis it is recorded that God made a covenant, an agreement or testament, with Abram. This covenant is stated in the unforgettable words, "Walk before me, and be thou perfect."

The Bible unfolds from the pattern of this old covenant and its successor, the new covenant or New Testament. The chosen nation, the descendants of Abram, called themselves the children of Israel, a name suggested by the spiritual experience of Abram's grandson, Jacob. They purposed to follow the covenant of Abram, whose name was changed to Abraham because his concept of God was enriched. In time, however, they became mesmerized by a sense of self-sufficiency and material prosperity, and turned from the law of God and the covenant of Abram.

The inevitable result of this forsaking of the law of God was captivity, a period of discipline in Assyria and Babylon. From this discipline they emerged with the teachings of the Deutero- or Second-Isaiah, prophet of chapters 40 through 66 of Isaiah, which promised a Messiah who would bring man's spiritual freedom into manifestation. Jesus gave to men that new covenant of the oneness of God and man, based upon the same standard of perfection as that of Abram, for in his Sermon on the Mount Jesus stated (Matt. 5:48), "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

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