INTRODUCTION TO THE COVENANTS

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WHY STUDY THE COVENANTS?

1. Because They Structure Scripture.

The Bible is clearly divided into Old and New Covenant. The Covenants set the conditions within which the world continues. As people and nations respond to the covenants, they and their lands are either blessed or cursed.

2. Because They Unify Scripture.

There is the same essence throughout in the covenants. There is a formula which is found in every covenant. This formula is seen in the phrase:

"I shall be your God and you shall be My people."

a. Illustrated in Abraham.

"And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, TO BE GOD TO YOU AND TO YOUR DESCENDANTS after you. And I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I WILL BE THEIR GOD." (Genesis 17:7-8).

Abraham and those who followed after him would have a special relationship with God. It is described as God being THEIR GOD.

b. Quoted by Paul.

Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God' just as God said, "I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE." (II Corinthians 6:16).

This is given in the very practical application that we are not to be unequally yoked together. The reason that such an unequal yoking is not to take place is rooted in this idea of the covenant.

c. The Goal of God's Plan.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and HE SHALL DWELL AMONG THEM, AND THEY SHALL BE HIS PEOPLE, and God Himself shall be among them." (Revelation 21:3).

The summation of all things will be seen as God dwells with His people and is their God.

d. An everlasting covenant.

When the writer of the book of Hebrews speaks of an "everlasting covenant" (Hebrews 13:20) it describes an unbroken covenant that runs continually throughout the ages.

3. Because they Interrelate All of Life.

The covenants provide an interrelation with all of life, both its work and its worship. From a covenantal perspective, work is just as spiritual as worship because it is sanctioned by God. The covenant of creation included both man's relation with man and with the work which he was to accomplish on earth. The covenant of redemption does the same thing.

Noah's covenant dealt with family units.

God's kingdom was to extend to every part of the earth.

THE NATURE OF THE DIVINE COVENANTS

We know that the covenants are significant because they are mentioned throughout the Scriptures (300 times in the Old Testament, not as many times in the New Testament where the term "Kingdom" comes to the forefront).

1. Definition: A covenant is a bond in blood; a bond of life and death which is solemnly administered.

a. It is a bond.

It is in its essence that which binds people together.

(1) The word Diatheke.

Secular Greek uses diatheke to refer to a last will and testament. But the Septuagint does not have this usage when in translates berith.

It is perhaps significant that the Septuagint translators used diatheke instead of suntheke which would have carried the idea of a mutual contract or agreement.

(2) Etymology of Berith.

Some have suggested that it comes from the words for "eating" and "binding."

Noth suggests that it derives from the Akkadian birit, which relates to the Hebrew 0*" "between."

A third suggestion points to the Akkadian root baru, "to bind or fetter."

(3) Biblical usage.

It is used in the Bible as that which binds two people together.

It involves a verbalized commitment.

One of the amazing this in Scripture is that the Almighty God would choose to bind Himself to men. What would cause Him to do such a thing? There is nothing in man that would attract God to him.

(4) Prominence of oaths and signs.

These oaths come in various forms:

Moses has a sprinkling ceremony in the establishing of the Mosaic Covenant.

Through the offering of a sacrifice (Psalm 50:4-5).

Passing under the rod of the Lord (Ezekiel 20:37).

A verbal oath (Genesis 21:23-31; 31:53; Exodus 6:8).

The eating of a meal (Genesis 26:28-30; 31:54; Exodus 24:11).

The granting of a gift (Genesis 21:28-32).

The setting up of a memorial (Genesis 31:44-ff; Joshua 24:27).

The covenants had a number of signs:

" The sign of the Noahic Covenant was the rainbow.

" The sign of the Abrahamic Covenant was circumcision.

" The sign of the Mosaic Covenant was the Sabbath (Exodus 31:13).

It is unclear that a formal ceremony of oath-taking absolutely was essential for the establishment of a covenant relationship. Neither the Noahic nor the Davidic covenant explicitly mentions the taking of an oath at the point of inauguration.

b. It is in Blood.

(1) Terminology.

You would cut a covenant (Jeremiah 34). This terminology can be used in all three kinds of covenants.

" Man with man.

" God with man.

" Man with God.

There are times when the word for cutting substitutes the word for covenant (II Chronicles 7:18 - the word which NAS translates "covenanted" is the Hebrew karav, to cut). Haggai 2:5 says literally, "as for the word which I cut with you..." Psalm 105:9 ("...that which He cut with Abraham"). I Kings 8:9 is literally, "where the Lord cut with the sons of Israel..."

(2) Ritual.

Jeremiah 34:18-20 shows that the cutting of a covenant was a commitment of life and death. At the time of the making of the covenant, there was a symbolic death of the covenant maker. When the animals were cut, they represented the covenant-maker himself being cut and put to death.

Hebrews 9:22 says there is no remission of sins without the shedding of blood. Why is this? Because the people have taken part into a covenant of death which demands that all covenant-breakers be put to death.

(3) Relation to Last Will & Testament.

Because the ideas of both a "covenant" and a "last will and testament" both relate to death, there has been some confusion is separating the two ideas.

There is no relation between the ideas of Covenant with a Last Will and Testament.

Testament

Covenant

Death activates a Last Will and Testament.

The death of an animal inaugurates the covenant.

There is no way to violate a last will and Testament.

There is death in the case of a violation of the covenant.

There is no possibility of substitution.

The covenant may allow for one death to substitute for another.

Death stands at the end of the will.

Death stands at the beginning of the relationship.

Death is seen as inevitable.

There is the option of either death of life.

2. The Covenant and Death.

There are three areas of death within the realm of the covenant.

a. At Inauguration.

There was a covenant ceremony in which animals were killed to establish the covenant. The covenant was not considered to be established until this ceremony had taken place.

b. In the case of Violation.

The covenant participants placed a curse upon themselves which was to be carried out in the case of a violation of that covenant.

c. By substitution.

The Lord provided the possibility of a substitute to die instead of the covenant-breaker. Thus, under the Mosaic Covenant, a man could make a sin offering when he had transgressed the covenant.

When David experiences the curse of the covenant in the death of the people because of his sin, he offers a sacrifice and the judgment ceases. The same principle is seen in Abraham when he is permitted to slay a ram in the place of his son Isaac.

3. The Covenant and Blood.

Covenants were sealed in blood. This was not because blood was so bloody, but because life in a body cannot exist without blood.

You can lose a hand or a foot.

You can lose your hair.

You can even lose large amounts of skin.

But losing your blood means losing your life. Perhaps this is why American Indians made such a show of sealing a covenant in blood (the idea of "blood brothers" was such a bond).

THE EXTENT OF THE COVENANTS

Light is a very important thing because it permeates everything. The first thing on earth that God created was light. Because light is so all-pervasive, it is significant. Gravity is another important thing which permeates. We live with the expectation that gravity will continue. Oxygen is a third all pervasive principle. If there is no oxygen then we would be dead.

The significance of a principle is directly in proportion to the extent of its application. How far do covenants extend? From Genesis to Revelation. They are all-pervasive.

The first use of the Hebrew word beryth is in Genesis 6:18. Does this mean that there were no covenants before Noah? John Murray was reluctant to refer to the relationships prior to the Noahic Covenant as covenants.

1. Evidences for Pre-Noahic Covenants.

a. A relationship need not be called a covenant to be covenantal.

An example of this is seen in common law marriages. There are people who have not partaken of the ceremony of marriage, but who have the substance of marriage as they are together.

The first reference to the Messiah if first used in the days of Moses. This does not mean that this is the first Messianic prophecy. The actual prophecies precede the use of the term "Messiah."

A further illustration is in II Samuel 7 where we read of God's establishing His relationship with David. Not once in that chapter is the word "covenant" used. Was it a covenant? Psalm 89:3-4 says that it was, even thought the terminology was not there.

b. There are passages that seem to use the word "covenant" with reference to the period before Noah.

Hosea 6:4-7.

The word Adam can refer to mankind or to the person of Adam. Some have suggested that the "K" (,) preposition should be a "B" (") and therefore refers to something that happened "at Adam," a place on the Jordan River. However there is no textual evidence for this.

Thus, covenant terminology is used to speak of pre-Noahic time.

Isaiah 24:4-6 speaks of the earth having broken the everlasting covenant. While the term "Ha-aretz" can refer to "the Land," the context of the previous chapters has been focusing upon the surrounding nations.

Jeremiah 33:19-22 speaks of God's covenant for the day and His covenant for the night. John Murray equates this with the Noahic covenant. However, the phrase is explained in Jeremiah 31:35-36 as the fixed order of the sun and the moon and the stars. This language uses the exact terminology as that which is found in Genesis 1.

c. All of the elements which make up a covenant are present in creation.

" An interpersonal bond between God and man.

" The bond between life and death.

" It is a relationship which is sovereignly administered.

2. Consequences of the Covenant Relationship.

What are the consequences of this universal covenantal relationship?

a. All men are in covenant relationship with God.

There was in a sense a termination of the original relationship when man sinned in the Garden. But there is another sense in which all men are still under obligation to keep the terms of the covenant. Men are still covenant creatures. This should have an impact on how we share the gospel. Men have a relationship with their Creator.

b. All men are covenant breakers.

Romans 1 says that men inherently know that they are violators of a bond that has been established from creation.

3. The Corporate Extent of the Covenant.

Although all men are a part of the Covenant of Creation, not all men have come into the Covenant of Redemption. However, the invitation is for all men to enter into the Covenant of Redemption.

4. Internal and External Administrations.

Not all people who are among the Redeemed are partaking of the signs of the covenant administration (Romans 9:6-9). What does this mean to us? It means that there are people in our churches who are members and have their names on the church roles and perhaps even partake of the sacraments, but who are not saved.

By the same token, there are some who are saved who are not members of a local church and who are not partaking of the sacraments.

An understanding of this principle will help us greatly when we come to such passages as Hebrews 6 which seem to imply that a person could lose his salvation. There is no loss of salvation, but there is an expulsion from the covenant community. Indeed, there are times which the church is mandated to expel some from the covenant community (church discipline).

God has not given the administration of His church over to angels (there will be a time when He does this and when angels will make a perfect division). But in the meantime, we are charged with trying to determine who is a covenant member. We do this on the basis of word and deed. By the mouth one confesses Jesus as Savior and Lord. He also does this through his actions.

THE UNITY OF THE COVENANTS

1. Introduction.

There is freshness and newness in each covenant that comes. The question is whether each new covenant supplements or supplants each previous covenant.

2. The Dispensational Alternative to Covenantal Unity.

a. Temporal disunity.

Abrahamic versus the Mosaic Covenant.

New Covenant versus the Church Age. How does the Dispensationalist deal with the Old Testament promise of the New Covenant with the Houses of Judah and Israel when they are so obviously fulfilled in the Church (Hebrews 7)?

b. Metaphysical disunity.

Dispensationalism says that God has two...

Two purposes.

Two plans.

Two people.

One purpose is material, the other is spiritual. One is Israel, the other is the church.

3. Evidence for the Unity within the Covenants.

Although there are a number of covenants described in the Bible, they are linked - each one further developing the previous one.

a. Structural unity.

(1) There is a unity in the historical experience of the people of God.

(a) At points of covenantal transition.

If there was a disunity, then you ought to see a major change at each of the points of transition.

Exodus 2:24; 6:4-8. The Mosaic Covenant was established on the basis of God remembering His promise with Abraham. This is not just for the Exodus, but also the inheriting of the land. This expresses a continuity with these two covenants. It might be argued that these two passages are given BEFORE the actual inauguration of the Mosaic Covenant. However, the covenant relationship is often established before the formal covenant inauguration. When did God enter into a covenant relationship with...

" Abraham?

" David?

" New Covenant (Note WHEN the Lord's Supper was given).

You have experience under the covenant relationship long before you have the actual formal inauguration of the covenant.

Exodus 20-24. In the preface to the 10 commandments, they are told that they were "brought out" - this is a reference to the Abrahamic Covenant.

In 24:4 there are 12 pillars set up. These point back to the sons of Israel who was established under the Abrahamic Covenant.

Look at the transition from the Mosaic Covenant to the Davidic Covenant.

I Kings 2:3-4 shows that there was a relationship between the Davidic Covenant with the Mosaic Covenant. The Davidic Covenant was rooted in the Mosaic Covenant.

(b) Throughout the flow of Israel's history.

" Possession of the land is by...

- The Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 15:18).

- The Mosaic Covenant (Joshua 1:3).

- Permanently localized sanctuary.

- According to the Mosaic Covenant (Deuteronomy 12:5,11,14,18). Once you pass Deut 12, you have multiple references to "the place" which God will choose for worship.

- This is a fulfilling of the Abrahamic Covenant (I Chro 16:15-18).

- However, it is a promise which is fulfilled in the Davidic Covenant.

- Under what circumstances was Israel exiled?

- According to the laws of the Mosaic Covenant.

- The Davidic Covenant was in effect.

- The spiritual significance of circumcision looked back to the Abrahamic Covenant.

(2) Unity is seen in the genealogical principle. God makes His commitments across the generations. If this is true, then how extensive is this principle?

(a) Significant Scriptures.

Genesis 6:18 is first mention of covenant. From the very first, it was a covenant which was directed to the FAMILY of Noah. In Genesis 7:1 Noah is told that He is righteous (the Hebrew indicates that God is speaking to Noah in the singular). The family of Noah is blessed because of Noah's righteousness.

In the Noahic Covenant it is "you and your house."

In the Abrahamic Covenant "you and your seed."

Deuteronomy 5:1-3 Moses speaks to the new generation of Israel. He says that the covenant was made with THEM (Verse 3 repeats the word "US" three times in the Hebrew). Were all of those whom Moses was speaking to present at Sinai? No! Many had been born in the wilderness during the last 40 years of wandering.

Deuteronomy 29:9-15. Notice in verse 15 that the covenant is established, not only with those who were present, but with the generations which are to come (verse 22).

How far do these generations go?

Psalm 105:8-10.

The covenant lasts to a thousand generations (Dispensationalists would have a problem in making this literal).

Deuteronomy 7:9 speaks of the covenant being kept to the thousandth generation.

Isaiah 59:21 indicates that this is not a mere external relationship. The Lord speaks of His Spirit and His words which are put within His people. Notice that it is an ETERNAL covenant.

(b) Ingrafting and pruning.

Under the Old Covenant, a Gentile could become a part of the covenant community by professing faith in the God of Abraham and by taking upon himself the covenant sign of circumcision. Thus, Gentiles could be grafted into the family of Abraham through faith. This means that there is not a racial exclusiveness taught in the Schriptures.

At the same time, there is a pruning principle in which it was possible for certain members of the covenant community to be cut off because of sin and apostasy.

Davidic Covenant

"My servant David will be king over them"

Mosaic Covenant

"They will walk in my ordinances, and keep My statutes, and observe them."

Abrahamic Covenant

"They shall live on the land that I gave Jacob..."

Ezekiel 37:24-26 is a passage which speaks about the coming New Covneant. But it makes references to three covenants of the past.

b. Thematic unity.

Which single theme unites all of the covenants?

(1) The Kingdom of God.

This is the proposal of Meredith Kline. But Kingdom does not come into full form until the Davidic Covenant. Furthermore, this does not describe the relationship which God has when He walks with Adam in the cool of the Garden.

(2) Covenant.

This deals more with the form than the uniting of the various covenants.

(3) Immanu-el.

The principle of "God with us" is the uniting form of the covenant. The form of this ("I shall be your God and you shall be My people") is found in four different covenants.

(a) The Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 17:7).

(b) The Mosaic Covenant (Deuteronomy 29:12-13 links this relationship in the covenant with the one made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob).

(d) Paul says that the reason believers are not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers is because God is our God and we are His people (II Corinthians 6:16).

c. Unity of manifestations.

There are certain manifestations of God being with His people in the Bible.

In the formation of the camp of Israel as they traveled through the wilderness, the Israelites camped around the tabernacle so that it could be said that God dwelt in their midst.

The church is said to the the Temple of God both individually (I Corinthians 6:19-20) as well as corporately (I Corinthians 3:16).

d. The Person of the Covenant.

Isaiah 49:8 the Lord speaks to His Servant and says, "I will keep you and give YOU FOR A COVENANT." The point here is that Jesus did not merely establish a new covenant - He BECAME the covenant. How did He do this? It was by becoming that which was the sign of all of the other covenants. Instead of an animal being slain, Jesus Himself took the part of the animal and it was He who was broken.

MAJOR DIVISIONS IN COVENANT THINKING

1. Pre-Creation Versus Post-Creation.

Some have suggested that the members of the Godhead made a covenant among themselves prior to the Creation. While it is proper to refer to the Decrees of God, this is not a covenant because there is no...

" Blood shed.

" Cursings & blessings.

" Sovereign administration.

Such a decree would not be a framework for fellowship among the parties of the Trinity, but rather it would be a plan in eternity for man's redemption.

2. Covenant of Works Versus Covenant of Grace.

Covenant of Works	Covenant of Grace
Made with Adam in innocence.	Made with Fallen Man.
No provision for blessing in the event of disobedience.	Blessing despite disobedience.
Obedience assumed.	Disobedience presumed.
Christ was under a covenant of works.	Because of His perfect work, we enjoy a covenant of grace,
There is a sense in which all men who have rejected Christ are under a covenant of works.	When we come to Christ, we enter into a covenant of grace.

This should not be taken to mean that there was no grace before the fall or that there are not works after the fall.

Because of the use of these terms, there is a tendency to focus upon the terms of the probation which man had in the Garden. Therefore, it is suggested that we put aside the old terms of works and grace and substitute it with the terms "COVENANT OF CREATION" and "COVENANT OF REDEMPTION."

3. Old Covenant Versus New Covenant.

Both are with fallen man. Both are under the "Covenant of Grace" or to use the terms that we have just suggested, the "Covenant of Redemption."

a. The book of Hebrews.

The book of Hebrews speaks of Covenants which are "good" and "better."

b. Paul's Use.

The Apostle Paul uses these two terms in a which which sounds as though he is saying that the Mosaic Covenant is really a covenant of works.

(1) His primary contrast.

When Paul speaks of the Law, he sometimes reflects the thinking of the Judaizers.

(2) His secondary contrast.

When Paul says "before faith came" in Galatians 3:23, he is not saying that there was a time when faith did not save or when men were not required to believe for salvation.

In Galatians 3:15-18 Paul shows that the Law does not inturrupt the Promise.

Why was the Law given? It was never intended as a way of salvation, although it has a tendancy to bring out man's natural and sinful inclination to self-trust. The Law in itself had limitations of form in its externalism.

THE COVENANTAL STRUCTURE OF THE SCRIPTURES

Each of the covenants leads into the one which follows and is based on the one which proceeds.

1. Commencement - Covenant of Creation.

2. Preservation - Noahic Covnenant.

3. Promise - Abrahamic Covenant.

4. Law - Mosaic Covenant.

5. Kingdom - Davidic Covenant.

6. New Covenant.

The New Covenant looks back to each one of the previous covenants, drawing from each one. Each one of the covenants looks forward to the New Covenant realities.

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Testament	Covenant
Death activates a Last Will and Testament.	The death of an animal inaugurates the covenant.
There is no way to violate a last will and Testament.	There is death in the case of a violation of the covenant.
There is no possibility of substitution.	The covenant may allow for one death to substitute for another.
Death stands at the end of the will.	Death stands at the beginning of the relationship.
Death is seen as inevitable.	There is the option of either death of life.

Davidic Covenant	"My servant David will be king over them"
Mosaic Covenant	"They will walk in my ordinances, and keep My statutes, and observe them."
Abrahamic Covenant	"They shall live on the land that I gave Jacob..."