COVENANT WITH EYES

Reshepu Gollapudi

MUMBAI NEW DELHI NAGPUR BENGALURU HYDERABAD CHENNAI PUNE LUCKNOW AHMEDABAD ERNAKULAM BHUBANESWAR KOLKATA

© AuthorNo part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording and/or otherwise without theprior written permission of the publisher.

First Edition : 2016

Published by : Mrs. Meena Pandey for Himalaya Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.,“Ramdoot”, Dr. Bhalerao Marg, Girgaon, Mumbai - 400 004.Phone: 022-23860170/23863863, Fax: 022-23877178E-mail: himpub@vsnl.com; Website: www.himpub.com

Branch Offices :

New Delhi : “Pooja Apartments”, 4-B, Murari Lal Street, Ansari Road, Darya Ganj,New Delhi - 110 002. Phone: 011-23270392, 23278631;Fax: 011-23256286

Nagpur : Kundanlal Chandak Industrial Estate, Ghat Road, Nagpur - 440 018.Phone: 0712-2738731, 3296733; Telefax: 0712-2721216

Bengaluru : Plot No. 91-33, 2nd Main Road Seshadripuram,Behind Nataraja Theatre, Bengaluru-560020.Phone: 08041138821, 9379847017, 9379847005.

Phone: 080-22286611, 22385461, 4113 8821, 22281541

Hyderabad : No. 3-4-184, Lingampally, Besides Raghavendra Swamy Matham,Kachiguda, Hyderabad - 500 027. Phone: 040-27560041, 27550139

Chennai : New-20, Old-59, Thirumalai Pillai Road, T. Nagar, Chennai - 600 017.Mobile: 9380460419

Pune : First Floor, "Laksha" Apartment, No. 527, Mehunpura, Shaniwarpeth(Near Prabhat Theatre), Pune - 411 030.Phone: 020-24496323/24496333; Mobile: 09370579333

Lucknow : House No 731, Shekhupura Colony, Near B.D. Convent School,Aliganj, Lucknow - 226 022. Phone: 0522-4012353;Mobile: 09307501549

Ahmedabad : 114, “SHAIL”, 1st Floor, Opp. Madhu Sudan House, C.G. Road,Navrang Pura, Ahmedabad - 380 009. Phone: 079-26560126;Mobile: 09377088847

Ernakulam : 39/176 (New No: 60/251) 1st Floor, Karikkamuri Road, Ernakulam,Kochi – 682011. Phone: 0484-2378012, 2378016Mobile: 09387122121

Bhubaneswar : 5 Station Square, Bhubaneswar - 751 001 (Odisha).Phone: 0674-2532129, Mobile: 09338746007

Kolkata : 108/4, Beliaghata Main Road, Near ID Hospital, Opp. SBI Bank,Kolkata - 700 010, Phone: 033-32449649, Mobile: 7439040301

DTP by : Rajani Tambe

Printed at : M/s. Aditya Offset Process (I) Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad. On behalf of HPH.

In LovingMemory of My

ParentsAnugraham

&Jesudoss

Foreword

This book ‘Covenant with Eyes’, actually explains thecovenant between the God and human beings. Author SriReshepu Gollapudi tells us many of the truths and hiddenmysteries of the Bible, with regard to covenant, which areotherwise unknowable except by divine revelation, throughthis book.

This book helps us to grow to the next level ofspirituality.

The author is presently employed as Chief Manager(General Administration), in State Bank of Travancore, isknown to me from a fairly long time. He has come a longway in his spiritual journey with a quest to know the LordJesus Christ in a personal way and also with a passion to bea vessel meant for the Master’s use. This book ‘Covenantwith Eyes’ is an upshot of his gratitude to God.

Sri Reshepu has a very hectic routine but in spite ofwhich, he was able to bring out a perspective book to makeclear to us the various aspects of covenant in the Biblicalcontext.

In ‘Covenant with Eyes’, the author speaks about therelationship man is designed to have with God, butunfortunately man has always fallen far short of it. In thegospel according to Saint Mathew, Jesus Christ says that‘the eye is the lamp of the body’, emphasising theimportance of this sense organ of our body, which is theentryway for all visual information brought to the brain andmind. The author suggests ways and means of restoring ourrelationship with God by keeping a firm control over whatwe allow to pass through our eyes and dictate our behaviour.

The author’s style and presentation is simple and hisunderstanding of the Word of God and his deep insight intoit is noteworthy and beyond my appreciation, which will bequite clear to the reader.

It is a must read for all people, who are serious aboutGod and want to grow spiritually.

I am extremely pleased and feel privileged towholeheartedly introduce this book with the hope that thewords of this book will accomplish their purpose. I amreasonably confident that readers will experience the powerof the Word and the perspicacity of spiritual astuteness.

This book resonates with the call to all of us to returnto the LORD.

Prof. G. Gnana Mani

Prologue

“I made a covenant with my eyes.” Job 31:1This verse from Job caught my intense attention when

I first read this. Then I read this verse again and again,many a times. The depth and heaviness of this statement ofJob stirred up my mind. I critically examined this thought-provoking verse wondering about its comprehensiveness.This compendious affidavit of Job sums up the whole Bible.This small verse of the Bible inspired me so much and mademe to conclusively embark on this project.

The Holy Bible was originally written in Hebrew andsome portions of it, in Aramaic. When it was translated intomore than 2,000 languages of the world, surprisingly themost Holy and the original sacred Hebrew names of ourHeavenly Father and His Son were also translated.Translating proper nouns like names is unheard in otherforms of literature, except in the case of Holy Bible.

A notable feature of this book is that only sacrednames were rendered while referring to the Heavenly Fatherand His Son. And also more common and familiar termssuch as Lord and God were substituted with Elohim in orderto retain the richness and fullness of the original languages.Other than this, there is neither ambiguity nor confusion inthis book.

Another important aspect of this book is, instead ofmerely quoting the Biblical references, full text of theverses has been provided for the convenience of the reader.This will help the readers to read the book uninterruptedly,even in the situations where the Bible is not readilyavailable with them.

I will be immensely satisfied and consider that myefforts have not gone futile, if just one soul responds in theright spirit and transforms, after reading the contents of thisbook, be it the lust of the eyes, baptism or tongue, etc.

It is said in the 15th chapter of the gospel according toSaint Luke,

‘There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner whorepents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who needno repentance.’

I hope that you will encourage my sincere efforts ofwriting this book. I beseech all of you to send your blessings,advices, responses and more importantly your criticism, to mybelow given e-mail and mobile number without any hesitation.I shall accept all your valuable suggestions as guidance for myfuture ventures.

HalleluYah.

Reshepu Gollapudi

Mobile number: 9994433497E-mail: reshepu@gmail.com

Acknowledgments

I thank Almighty Elohim, Yahweh with all my heart,with all my soul and with all my might, in all the days ofmy life, for using me as a tool in His work. I felt connectedto my source and one step closer to Him while writing thisbook.

Thank you Father for all your spiritual guidance andgiving me another chance to become a better individual.

I am indebted to many people, in the endeavour of myfirst book.

Mrs Mary Gnana Sarojini, my spiritual mother, whodiverted my vision from the world to the Word. She heldmy hand firmly and guided me into the path ofrighteousness and helped me to resolutely establish myselfthere. She also enhanced my biblical knowledge, which wasotherwise rudimentary.

Kasturi, my loving wife and my constant inspiration,for undertaking the cumbersome task of reading andcorrecting the proof. Rahul and Anupama, my children,without their loving support this book would not have beenpossible.

Sri P.B.R.V. Prasad and family, who practicallyadopted and follow verbatim, what Saint Paul said in hisepistle to Corinthians, ‘If I preach gospel, I have nothing toboast of, for I am under compulsion, for woe is me if I donot preach the gospel’ and spread the gospel untiringly. Ithank them for their perpetual encouragement.

I specially thank Dr. Golla Gnanamani, an eruditescholar and a very distinguished and acclaimed Zoologist,for readily accepting my request to embellish this book withhis foreword. In fact, he added value to this book by

providing his precious thoughts in his foreword. I am verymuch indebted to him.

I express my sincere gratitude to all the senior pastors,who patiently cleared my innumerable doubts and werekind enough to bear my irrational arguments. Neverthelessthey satiated my hunger for the knowledge and enriched itwith their wise counsel.

Most importantly my publishers, for the confidencethey placed in me and helping me to establish myself as awriter. I am ever grateful to them.

Reshepu Gollapudi

Contents

Sr. No. Name Page No.

1 COVENANT WITH EYES 1 – 20

2 BAPTISM 21 – 34

3 FASTING 35 – 43

4 TONGUE 44 – 52

5 TONGUES, VISIONS AND DREAMS 53 – 65

6 HEALING 66 – 73

7 PRAYER 74 – 84

8 THE BIBLE 85 – 93

9 THE POTTER’S HOUSE 94 – 104

10 CHRISTMAS 105 – 113

11 THE END 114 – 122

– 1 –

‘Covenant with eyes!’ the idea itself is evoking alot of curiosity. Sounds very interesting and surprisingisn’t it!

In general, a covenant means an arrangement, acontract, a treaty, a testament, an agreement, a pact,etc. to complete a specified task. Usually, a covenanttakes place between two countries or two persons. Itdefinitely involves two entities.

But a person making a covenant with himself thattoo with his own eyes, sound far too strange.

History of the world is richly adorned withnumerous treaties and pacts that took place betweenkingdoms and kings. There were many incidents of aweaker kingdom making a covenant with a mightykingdom. A covenant is usually initiated by a weakruler with a strong ruler or by an inferior kingdom witha superior kingdom.

Some of the benefits of a covenant are to getmilitary help from friendly kingdoms during wars withenemy kingdoms, to receive food supplies duringfamines and also to get army help to supress civildisobedience and mutiny within the country.

In Holy Bible, the Hebrew word ‘Berith’ wastranslated as Covenant.

COVENANTWITH EYES

Chapter

1

Covenant with Eyes2

If we observe the Holy Bible, contrary to all theknown and existing norms, practices and conditions ofthe covenants, our Creator made a covenant with whomHe created, not to seek help from us but to help us.Despite being a Mighty Elohim, Most High, El-Shaddai,He made a testament with such a lowly human beings likeus.

There are many accounts of awe inspiringcovenants in the scriptures.

During the earlier days of Old Testament period,covenant had a literal meaning of ‘To be cut into half’.When two people enter into a covenant, they choosean animal and cut it into two halves, keep those piecesapart, opposite to each other, and then holding handsthey walk through in-between those two halves. Byperforming this ritual, both the parties are agreeing tothe terms of the covenant and confirming it.

If anyone of them trespasses the terms of thecovenant, he too will be cut into half, like the animalthey sacrificed for confirming the covenant.

Prophet Jeremiah also narrated about thisprimitive custom in his oracle.

‘Those who have violated my covenant and havenot fulfilled the terms of the covenant they madebefore me, I will treat them like the calf they cut in twoand then walked between its pieces.

The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the courtofficials, the priests and all the people of the land whowalked between the pieces of the calf, I will deliverthem into the hands of their enemies, who want to killthem. Their dead bodies will become food for the birdsand the wild animals.’

Jeremiah 34:18-20

Covenant with Eyes 3

If we go through the Chapter 15 of the book ofGenesis, we can notice a covenant of similar fashionthat had taken place between our Elohim YAHWEH(Jehovah) and ABRAM.

Elohim had not yet changed the name of ABRAMto ABRAHAM at the time of this event. Only after thiscovenant, Elohim had changed the name of ABRAMto ABRAHAM.

In Hebrew, Abba means father and Rahammeans womb. ABRAM means exalted father andABRAHAM means father of many.

‘No longer will you be called Abram, your namewill be Abraham, for I have made you a father of manynations.’

Genesis 17:5Let us look into the covenant that had taken place

between Abram and Elohim.

So, the Elohim said to him, “Bring me a heifer, agoat and a ram, each three years old, along with adove and a young pigeon.”

Abram brought all these to Him, cut them into twoand arranged the halves opposite each other. Thebirds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds ofprey came down on the carcasses but Abram drovethem away.

As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deepsleep and a thick and dreadful darkness came overhim. Then the Elohim said to him “Know for certainthat for four hundred years your descendants will bestrangers in a country of not their own and that theywill be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish

Covenant with Eyes4

the nation they serve as slaves and afterward they willcome out with great possessions.

You, however, will go to your ancestors in peaceand be buried at a good old age.

In the fourth generation, your descendants willcome back here, for the sin of Amorites has not yetreached its full measure.”

When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, asmoking fire pot with a blazing torch appeared andpassed between the pieces.

On that day, Elohim made a covenant with Abramand said “To your descendants, I give this land.”

Genesis 15:9-21

In this episode, the Almighty Elohim did not walkthrough the divided carcasses, holding Abram’s hand,because our human form cannot withstand themagnitude of the divine power and glory of Yahweh.Had this taken place, the very existence of Abramwould have become doubtful. Hence, instead ofAbram and Himself, Elohim himself adopted two forms,representing Himself and Abram and walked throughthe divided carcasses.

It is written in The Bible,

‘Behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamppassed between the divided carcasses.’

Genesis 15:17

Another version of Bible says,

‘There appeared a smoking oven and a flamingtorch, which passed between these pieces.’

Genesis 15:17

Covenant with Eyes 5

Old Testament of the Holy Bible itself is said to bea covenant that was made between our Creator andIsraelites.

“The Days are coming “declares the Elohim“when I will make a new covenant with the people ofIsrael and with the people of Judah.

It will not be like the covenant I made with theirancestors when I took them by the hand to lead themout of Egypt, because they broke my covenant.”

Jeremiah 31:31-32

We come across so many such interestingcovenants in the Holy Bible. Let us examine some ofthem.

A covenant made by Jonathan with David:

‘Jonathan made a covenant with David becausehe loved him as himself.’

I Samuel 18:3

In the book of Genesis, there is a mention ofcovenants made between Isaac and Abimelech, theking of Philistines and another one between Jacoband Laban. These are the covenants that took placebetween two people.

Joshua made a covenant with Gibeonites to letthem live. This is a covenant made by an individualwith a group of people, found in the Chapter 9 of thebook of Joshua.

‘Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with themto let them live and the leaders of the assembly ratifiedit by oath.’

Joshua 9:15

Covenant with Eyes6

King Solomon made a covenant with Hiram, theking of Tyre, in connection with the construction of thetemple in Jerusalem. This can be considered as atreaty between two nations.

‘There were peaceful relations between Hiramand Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.’

I Kings 5:12

There is an instance of a different kind ofcovenant in the book of Kings. A covenant was madeto abolish another covenant. This covenant was madebetween Asa, king of Israel and Benhadad, the king ofSyria.

“Let there be a treaty between me and you” hesaid “As there was between my father and your father.See I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Nowbreak your treaty with Baasha, king of Israel so he willwithdraw from me.”

I Kings 15:19Have you ever heard about the covenant of salt?

A covenant made using salt! One may disdainfullylook down on it, as salt is one of the cheapercommodities available to man. But this covenant ofsalt actually happened in the good old biblical times.On three occasions, it was mentioned in the HolyScriptures.

‘Every grain offering of yours, moreover you shallseason with salt, so that the salt of the covenant ofyour Elohim shall not be lacking from your grainoffering. With all your offerings, you shall offer salt.’

Leviticus 2:13

Covenant with Eyes 7

“All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sonsof Israel offer to the Elohim, I have given to you andyour sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetualallotment, it is an everlasting covenant of salt beforethe Elohim to you and your descendants with you.”

Numbers 18:19“Do you know that the Elohim Yahweh of Israel

gave the rule over Israel forever to David and his sonsby a covenant of salt?”

2 Chronicles 13:5But different and unique from all the covenants

we have gone through hitherto, is the covenant madeby Job with his own eyes. It is a very strange andimmensely interesting kind of covenant. He says,

“I made a covenant with my eyes not to looklustfully at a young woman.”

Job 31:1There is depth of wisdom and divine knowledge in

Job’s statement.

It is an axiomatic fact that eye is the chief causeof majority of the sins committed by mankind. There isa saying ‘Sarvendriyaanam Nayanam Pradhanam.’which means, eye is the most important organ of allthe organs.

Apostle John in his first epistle says that

‘For everything in the world — the lust of the flesh,the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life comes notfrom the father but from the world.’

I John 2:16

Covenant with Eyes8

It was universally agreed by all the scholars,researchers of Bible and theologians that out of the367 sins that were enlisted in the Holy Bible, a majorpercentage of them are caused by the lust of the eyes.That is why Messiah also warned all of us about thelust of the eyes. In his sermon on the mount, He says:

“But I tell you that anyone who looks at a womanlustfully has already committed adultery with her in hisheart.

If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge itout and throw it away. It is better for you to lose onepart of your body than your whole body to be throwninto hell.”

Mathew 5:28-29“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are

healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if youreyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full ofdarkness. If then the light within you is darkness, howgreat is that darkness.”

Mathew 6:22-23

In the New Testament, particularly in the fourgospels, we come across Pharisees, a number oftimes. They are very orthodox Jews. They strictlyobserve the TORAH (It is also called the Law, TheMosaic Law, or the Pentateuch, the first five books ofthe Holy Bible, viz., Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,Numbers and Deuteronomy) and as well as theTALMUD (The book of Jewish law and tradition,consisting of Mishnah and Gemara, the explanationand expansion of the TORAH, practices and traditionsof elders.)

Covenant with Eyes 9

In fact, Saint Paul, the apostle is also a Pharisee.He describes them as the strictest sect, in the book ofActs of the Apostles.

“Since they have known about me for a long time,if they are willing to testify that, I lived as a Phariseeaccording to the strictest sect of our religion.”

Acts 26:5

“Circumcised on the eighth day, of the nation ofIsrael, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews,as to the law, a Pharisee.”

Philippians 3:5

Being a very orthodox Pharisee, he could notwithstand the other Jews who followed Yashua andoverlooked some of the Mosaic laws, which areredundant. He even persecuted many Christians forthis same reason.

During the Biblical times, there used to be a smallsect of ultra-orthodox Pharisees among the Pharisees,in Jerusalem, who multiplied regulations, creating theirown form of “godliness”. They were so wrapped up intheir own set of rules that they almost lost focus onElohim. These Pharisees used to blindfold themselveswhile walking from house to temple, in order toobserve the commandment, ‘you shall not covetanything that belongs to your neighbour.’ They do thisridiculous exercise to overcome the lust of the eyes.While walking blindfolded, sometimes theyaccidentally bump into people, objects, pillars, walls,etc. and injure themselves. By the time they reach thetemple, they often bleed profusely due to the injuriesthey sustained on the way. That is why people used toheckle them and call them with so many sobriquets.

Covenant with Eyes10

Such was their unmitigated commitment towards theLaw of Elohim.

We too should wear invisible filters and blindfoldson our eyes to overcome the lust of eyes or else wewill be subjected to the proverb of jaundiced eyes.

Simon Peter, the prime apostle of YASHUAMESSIAH (Jesus Christ) also warned us about thelust of the eyes in his epistle.

‘With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning.They are cursed.’

II Peter 2:14

Numerous are the travails, if one does not havedominion over his eyes.

In the Holy Bible, we find many examples andinstances of this villain, lust of the eyes. All theseverses were compiled and written in the Bible to pre-warn us and to guide us to walk in the right path.

‘These things happened to them as examples andwere written down as warnings for us on whom theculmination of the ages has come.’

I Corinthians 10:11

Satan used our primogenitor mother, Eve as atool to introduce sin into this hitherto sinless world, byinvoking the lust of the eye in her.

‘When the woman saw that the fruit of the treewas good for food and pleasing to the eye and alsodesirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.She also gave some to her husband, who was withher and he ate it.’

Genesis 3:6

Covenant with Eyes 11

When Eve saw the fruit, it was pleasant to theeyes, she desired it and she was instigated by Satanto yield to the lust of the eyes.

In the book of Genesis, we find another incident,which involves Lot’s wife. Our Eternal Father decidesto destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.Because both the cities were steeped with iniquity andthe cry against them has become great beforeYAHWEH (JEHOVAH). But he decides to save Lot’sfamily and sends two of HIS angels. When theybrought them out of the city, they instruct them asbelow,

As soon as angels had brought them out, one ofthem said “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back anddon’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to themountains or you will be swept away.”

Genesis 19:17

Angels explained everything to Lot’s family.Yahweh (JEHOVAH) Himself advised them not to lookback. But Lot’s wife looked back, only to become apillar of salt. She was not able to control thetemptation of the eyes and succumbed to it.

‘But Lot’s wife looked back and she became apillar of salt.’

Genesis 19:26

That is why YASHUA (JESUS) also reminds usabout Lot’s wife and warns us not to yield to thistemptation of eyes.

“Remember Lot’s wife.”

Luke 17:32

Covenant with Eyes12

David, the great king of Israel, who was chosenand anointed by Elohim Yahweh (JEHOVAH), alsobecame a prey to this deadly web spun by Satan. Hetransgressed the law and fell into the abysmal sin andalso fallen from the grace of Elohom.

‘One evening David got up from his bed andwalked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof,he saw a woman bathing. The woman was verybeautiful.’

II Samuel 11:2

King David saw this bathing woman accidentally.We may also come across such scenes unexpectedlysome times. Then all we have to do at that particularmoment is to turn away from such undesirable scenes,which are offensive to the eyes. But Satan will notleave us so easily. He will instigate us to see it againand again. He will ensure that we fall into his trap ofsin. We have to be strong and overcome thetemptation by offering a simple silent prayer, ‘Father,help me to overcome.’

Satan tries to tempt all the people, without anyexception, because it is Satan’s full-time occupation.He doesn’t rest nor retire. He spends all his time andenergy for this purpose. He even made a fecklessattempt to tempt Messiah with his same old trick, ‘lustof the eyes.’

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountainand showed him all the kingdoms of the world theirsplendour.

“All this I will give you” he said “If you will bowdown and worship me”.

Covenant with Eyes 13

Yashua said to him “Away from me Satan! For itis written worship the Yahweh (Jehovah) your Elohimand serve Him only. (Deuteronomy 6:13)

Mathew 4:8-10

How treacherous and deceitful Satan is. He hadshown the glory and glittering of all the kingdoms ofthe world to Yashua and tried to evoke the sin of ‘lustof the eyes’ in Him. But Messiah successfully thwartedhis evil designs by the power of the Word.

King David, though a great scholar of the divinelaw, was not able to abstain himself from theallurement of eyes and became a victim of it and fellinto the snare of Satan. He was enticed by the sceneof a bathing woman and fixed his gaze on it. There isa famous apothegm, wisely told by the elders that‘SECOND LOOK IS SIN’. Remember second look isalways a sin in such situations.

By watching that bathing woman Bathsheba, veryintently and keenly, he comprehended that she wasvery beautiful. He did not stop there. He coveted her,sent messengers for her and committed adultery withher. He even contrived a plot to get her husband,Uriah the Hittite, killed.

Ahithophel was King David’s most learned andesteemed counsel, about whom the Prophet Samueldescribes as,

‘The advice of Ahithophel, which he gave in thosedays, was as if one inquired of the word of Elohim. Sowas all the advice of Ahithophel regarded by bothDavid and Absalom.

2 Samuel 16:23

Covenant with Eyes14

Bathsheba was the granddaughter of Ahithophel,whom Prophet Nathan described as ‘one little ewelamb’ in 2 Samuel 12:3.

It is written in John’s epistle that transgression ofthe law is sin.

‘Everyone who sins breaks the law, in fact sin islawlessness.’

I John 3:4

David transgressed some of the commandments,viz., you shall not murder, you shall not commitadultery and you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife.

But at a later stage, David suffered a severespiritual loss and repented wholeheartedly. Herealised about his sinful life, when Prophet Nathanvisited him and counselled him. Psalm No. 51 wasborn out of his repentance and deepest penitence.

Title of Psalm 51 is like this.

A Psalm of David when the Prophet Nathan cameto him after David had committed adultery withBathsheba.

“Have mercy on me O Elohim according to yourunfailing love; according to your great compassion blotout my transgressions.

Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse from mysin.

For I know my transgressions; and my sin isalways before me.

Covenant with Eyes 15

Against you, you only, have I sinned and donewhat is evil in your sight. So you are right in yourverdict and justified when you judge.

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time mymother conceived me.

Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb.You taught me wisdom in that secret place.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean.Wash me; and I will be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones youhave crushed rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins and blot out all myiniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O Elohim and renew asteadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence or take yourHoly Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grantme a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so thatsinners will turn back to you.

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O Elohim,you who are my saviour and my tongue will sing yourrighteousness.

Open my lips, Elohim and my mouth will declareyour praise.

Covenant with Eyes16

You do not delight in sacrifice or I would bring it;you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

My sacrifice O Elohim is a broken spirit; a brokenand contrite heart you, Elohim will not despise.

May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up thewalls of Jerusalem.

Then you will delight in the sacrifices of therighteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bullswill be offered on your altar.”

Psalms 51

Thus, King David confessed all his iniquitiesbefore Elohim, repented and remained righteous forthe rest of his life.

King Solomon is the son of King David andBathsheba. He too was a victim of lust of the eyes.

Solomon was named YEDIDYAH by ProphetNathan as instructed by YAH (YAH is the short form ofthe Hebrew name of YAHWEH. Please refer Psalms68:4 of Gideon International version Bible, Dake’sAnnotated Reference Bible) YedidYah means Yahwehpraised or Yahweh loves him.

King Solomon was renowned for his wisdom andknowledge and was acclaimed as the wisest personon the earth during his days.

King Solomon, the wise, enjoyed all the pleasuresof the world, as he was very wealthy. He relished allthe pleasures of the earth till he got vexed. Finally, inhis book of Ecclesiastes, he says ‘Everything is utterlymeaningless’ and concludes that ‘Everything is wasteexcept the fear of Elohim.’

Covenant with Eyes 17

He gave a testimony about himself.

‘I denied myself nothing, my eyes desired. Irefused my heart no pleasure.’

Ecclesiastes 2:10

He did not resist the desires of the eyes andsubmitted himself to the lust of the eyes. But he alsorealised all his misdeeds, like his father David did andreturned to Yahweh (Jehovah) upon repentance.

He summed up all his experience and wisdomand put everything in a nutshell and said,

‘Now all has been heard, here is the conclusion ofthe matter. Fear Elohim and keep his commandment,for this is the duty of all mankind.’

Ecclesiastes 12:13

He also gave an apt message in his book ofProverbs.

‘Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gazedirectly before you.’

Proverbs 4:25

King David also made a covenant with his eyesafter a lot of introspection and repentance. In hisPsalms, he made certain statements which depict hisdetermination.

‘I will not look with approval on anything that isvile.’

Psalms 101:3

‘My eyes are ever on Elohim.’

Psalms 25:15

Covenant with Eyes18

If our destiny is the kingdom of Heaven, weshould keep all these things in our mind and continueour journey in that direction. We should continue ourjourney of life keeping our sight on the target withoutgoing astray, neither right nor left.

Messiah also preached the same thing in thegospel according to Saint Luke.

Yashua replied “No one who puts a hand to theplough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdomof Elohim.”

Luke 9:62

He took this illustration from our day-to-day life, tomake us clearly understand the spiritual fact. When afarmer ploughs the field, he never lets hisconcentration distracted. He looks straight till hereaches the other end of field. Any lapse inconcentration will make the furrows zigzag and theywill not be straight and orderly.

Let us also follow this good example. Let usponder over the question of what we have to do toachieve our goal?

The answer is Prayer and Bible reading. We haveto spend more time in prayer. By prayer, we canaugment our close relation with our Creator.

We should pray like the Psalmist as mentionedbelow

‘Turn my eyes away from worthless things.’

Psalms 119:37

Covenant with Eyes 19

We must learn to train our eyes to turn away fromworthless things with the help of Holy Spirit (RUACHHA KO’DESH – in Hebrew).

We should allocate more of our time to Holy Biblestudy. Most of us have a habit of sleeping even aftersunrise. Quit this bad habit. Observe the animals,birds and other creatures. Except human beings, noother creature in nature sleeps beyond sunrise. Get upearly to read, study and meditate the Holy Scriptures.

The Psalmist who wrote Psalm 119 says

‘I rise before dawn and cry for help. I have put myhope in your Word.

My eyes stay open through the watches of thenight that I may meditate on your promises.’

Psalm 119:147-148Deeper meditation will give us complete

understanding of our Eternal Father, by that weacquire the qualities of total obedience and totaldedication. Then we can counter Satan’s temptationsand lust of eyes.

‘Submit yourselves then to Elohim. Resist thedevil and he will flee from you.’

James 4:7The statutes and the commandments given by

Yahweh are pure. When we meditate and mind them,we gain divine knowledge. The light of magnificentgood news of Messiah, who is the image of Elohim,will shine upon us.

Covenant with Eyes20

‘The commands of the Elohim are radiant givinglight to the eyes.’

Psalms 19:8Prince of this world (Satan) will cause partial

blindness to our eyes, so that we are directed to seeonly his point of view that is outlawed and impure.

Our eternal and ever loving Father Yahweh(Jehovah) is inviting all of us with compassion andwith extended hands to come to Him and getdeliverance from Satan’s booby traps.

‘I counsel you to buy from me Salve to put onyour eyes so you can see.’

Revelations 3:18