The term Covenant
The word covenant has its roots in the Hebrew term “berit”, which literally means to fetter or to bond. When this word was translated into Greek, it became “syntheke”, which literally means “tying together”. The word covenant is prominently used in the Bible, in referring to various agreements, especially agreements between God and man, God and a community as well as man and man. Although the words covenant and testament are used in the same breath, covenant, as used in the Bible, refers more to the agreements between God and the Jews. The covenants involving God are theologically referred to as holy or pious covenants. On the other hand, those involving human beings only are referred to as secular covenants such as the one between Abimelech and Abraham in Genesis 21:22-32. Biblically, the Hebrew word covenant refers to an agreement involving mutual commitments, conditions, promises – usually of blessings – and obligations as well as rituals. This paper evaluates the four main covenants between God and Noah, Abraham, Moses and David. Additionally, the fifth covenant is discussed.
Noah (Genesis: 9:9-17)
The covenant of God and Noah, commonly referred to as the universal covenant was an agreement that God made with Noah on behalf of all living flesh. This covenant, which came after the floods, saw God make a promise never to bring upon the face of the earth such a flood. The promise was that God was not to destroy life to the extent that he had done through the floods. In chapter 9:9 God says, "Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you”. Since this was a promise to all living creatures that had walked out of the ark – both animals and man – Noah was only a witness to the promise that God had made (Warren 39).the sign, which God repeatedly referred to as the reminder to the covenant was the rainbow. God promised to remember his promise every time he saw the rainbow in the clouds. The condition of this covenant was that the descendants of Noah were to completely desist from drinking blood of creatures and from shedding the blood of human beings. The form of family involved in this covenant is a traditional family, the family of Noah.
Abraham (Genesis: 17:1-10)
In this covenant, God makes a promise to make Abraham the father of many people. In God’s words “. . . you shall be the father of a multitude of great nations.” God made a promise to change the man’s name from Abram to Abraham, meaning, the father of great nations. God promised to bring kings out of the seed of Abraham. In genesis 17: 6 God makes his promise explicit “And I will make thee exceedingly fruitful and I will make nations of thee, and Kings shall come out of thee.” According to Binyamin (52) God did not only make the covenant with Abraham, but also with the people of Israel. He promised to be their God and to give them the Promised Land. In order to honor this covenant God attached two conditions. The first condition was made to Abraham. God required that Abraham come before him Blameless. Other versions say perfect. Abraham had to meet this condition so as to receive the promises and blessings of God. The second condition was for the people of Abraham. God required that they keep the covenant with them for generations to come. The binding sign for this covenant was circumcision of all males. The family type associated with this covenant is an entire tribe.
Moses (Exodus 34:10-24)
Through Moses, God made a covenant with the people of Israel. In this covenant, God promised to make the Israelites his chosen people. He promised to show them the marvelous works He was capable of. God promised to drive the other tribes out of the land he had promised the Israelites. He promised to protect the people of Israel all through, if they observed the conditions he had attached to the covenant. God required that all Israelites shun idol worship, and worship Him alone in Exodus 34: 14 He says, “for thou shalt not worship no other god: for the Lord whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God”. The people of Israel were therefore bound by the conditions of observing the law as it was given to Moses. Other conditions include the instructions for the Israelites to tear down the places of worship used by the idol worshippers. The sign that sealed this covenant was the Passover, which the Israelites had to observe as a way of reminding themselves of the divine agreement they had with God (Widmer 317). As can be observed from earlier covenants, the numbers of the people entering into agreements with God keep growing. It began from the traditional family level, then went to the tribe of Abraham, and by the time f the Mosaic covenant, God was making an agreement with a nation. Widmer (321) explains that God wanted to carefully introduce his intentions to man and gradually, reveal his everlasting Kingdom.
David (2 Samuel: 7:9-16)
The covenant that God entered with David is one that not only widened, but also strengthened the people of God. God promises to be with the people of David, and to make one of his descendants, a powerful king – one that will build Him a temple. God promises to establish a strong Kingdom to be led by the people of David. In Samuel 7:12 God says, “and when thy days be fulfilled and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thou bowels, and I will establish his Kingdom.” The condition for the fulfillment of the covenant is that the king to be was to build the Lord a temple, which, essentially, would be the symbol and binding sign of the covenant. Another condition was the chastity of the King to be – Solomon. The form of family that God is establishing through this covenant is a strong kingdom (LaHaye & Edward 164).
Conditional Covenants
In essence, all the above discussed covenants were conditional because, apparently, all have both implied and express conditions. The conditions were attached to the agreements because God needed to take his people through a test of faithfulness. He wanted to guide them through the difficulties so that they could realize that He was the almighty God. The conditions, in one way or another, were signs of the covenant, or things that drew the people closer to the Lord. For instance, the construction of the great Temple of Solomon was quite in upholding worship of the true God, and not the idols that were formerly worshiped. The conditions that tend to draw people closer to God were an integral part of a covenant because, by theological definition, a covenant is meant to reunite the human race with their creator into a family that had been broken by sin. Despite the fact that all covenants have conditions, attached, the two covenants that explicitly require the fidelity of the human partner are the Davidic and the Abraham covenants. The covenant with Abraham required him to come before God Blameless or perfect. Similarly, God said to David that Solomon had to remain chaste.
The Fifth Covenant (Jeremiah, 31:31-34)
In Jeremiah 31:33, The Lord says “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Apparently, this was the fifth covenant made by the God of Israel. It is very different from the past covenants which had been broken. Through this covenant, God promises to unconditionally engrave his word in the hearts of men, so that they may not have to remind one another about the Lord (Bracke 22). God promises to unconditionally forgive the sins of the people, and remember the sins no more. This covenant is possibly important to the New Testament in the sense that it predicts or prophesies the coming of the forgiveness of the human race - Jesus Christ. This covenant is undoubtedly bigger and stronger than the former four because it is a covenant between God and man through Jesus Christ.
Works Cited
Binyamin, Elon. God's Covenant with Israel: Establishing Biblical Boundaries in Today's World. Green Forest, AR: Balfour Books, 2005. Print.
Bracke, John M. Jeremiah. Louisville, Ky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2000. Print.
LaHaye, Tim F, and Edward E. Hindson. The Popular Bible Prophecy Commentary. Eugene, Or: Harvest House Publishers, 2006. Print.
Warren, Wiersbe W. The Wiersbe Bible Commentary. Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2007. Print.
Widmer, Michael. Moses, God, and the Dynamics of Intercessory Prayer: A Study of Exodus 32 - 34 and Numbers 13 - 14. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2004. Print.
