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An Introduction to Bible Covenants
An Introduction to Bible Covenants
An Introduction to Bible Covenants
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An Introduction to Bible Covenants

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The topic of Bible covenants might seem to be an unusual subject, but it's vitally important to get to grips with to understand how God wants to have a relationship with mankind. This little guide is a perfect way to get a quick introduction to the subject. The first chapter reviews the main components of the Biblical covenant with the following chapters taking a look at the main covenants in the Bible, as well as some lesser well-known ones. The final chapters analyse the progression of these covenants from Old to New Testament, from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant, and the final chapter concludes the book with a look at the relevance of the use of the word "Testament". Why do we have Old and New Testaments and how is this related to covenants?

 

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHayes Press
Release dateMar 11, 2017
ISBN9781386813033
An Introduction to Bible Covenants

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    An Introduction to Bible Covenants - Hayes Press

    CHAPTER ONE: AN OVERVIEW OF BIBLE COVENANTS (GEOFF HYDON)

    A Major Issue in the Bible

    Covenants are a primary feature of the Scriptures.  There are almost 300 references in the Old Testament to various covenants, spread among 27 of the 39 books. And there are over 30 references to covenant or testament in the New Testament. Most of these Bible references are comments about covenants rather than the precise form of covenant wording.  No single passage provides a comprehensive textbook definition of what a biblical covenant is.  So we discover that what we miss in one covenant example we may learn in another, and so build a composite picture. This chapter will provide a brief overview of three different types of covenants we find in the Scriptures

    Common features of a covenant have been addressed in the opening chapter. We conclude a covenant is more than just a declaration.  The covenant ultimately exists in the relationship that is in view when the declaration is made.  For instance, marriage, which dates back to the Garden of Eden, is a type of covenant (Malachi 2:14).  We would not say that a marriage consists of a marriage certificate.  That document may be required by local law or custom, but the marriage is the actual covenant relationship between the people.

    We must keep in mind that the new covenant God has made with His present-day people is in every way better than the old; the old covenant with Israel was a lead-in, not a constraint, to the new.  Rather, we gain insight into New Testament truth from what God progressively revealed in the Old Testament.  So we do well to review Old Testament passages first in this study. 

    Types of Covenant

    Covenants are solemn declarations governing important relationships.  In one type of covenant the relationship is very one-sided.  A superior states what is going to happen based on actions to be undertaken by an inferior.  These are sometimes called suzerainty covenants or treaties.  A suzerain is a master.  A second type of covenant found in the Bible is a covenant involving a mutual exchange of promises, confirmed by an oath.  These are sometimes called parity treaties.  A third type is divine covenants, covenants God makes.  We will look at them a little more below, but then the whole of the rest of the book will examine more closely each of the major divine covenants in turn as well as some lesser-known examples.

    Suzerainty Covenants

    Joshua 9:15 is an example of a suzerainty covenant.  Joshua had the upper hand.  The small, apparently weak, group before him said they were representatives of a distant people.  They had heard how the Lord had fought for the children of Israel and therefore they sought terms of peace and promised to be Israel’s servants.  Without seeking direction from the Lord, Joshua and the leaders of the congregation entered into a covenant with them and bound Israel not to attack the Gibeonites.  However, the Gibeonites were among the local peoples that God had told Joshua to remove from the land.  Nevertheless, Joshua would not back down from his covenant and the Gibeonites survived as Israel’s servants instead of being eradicated like their neighbouring kingdoms.  In a world where an oath would be kept, the weaker of the parties could rely on the stronger party to live up to its commitments.  Read the sequel in Joshua 10.

    Other suzerainty covenants were established on the initiative of the stronger party after a military victory and simply imposed on the losing side (see 1 Kings 20:34; 1 Samuel 11:1-3).  They were what we might now term peace treaties. In these victor/loser covenants, the losers would voluntarily accept the punishment conditions and swear to keep their side of the agreement.  These oaths are called self-maledictory oaths because the party agreed to the curse being inflicted upon them.  There are abundant examples of this type of covenant in historical literature.

    Would we want God to make a covenant of this type with us, who stood in rebellion to Him?  Is there a more pleasant type of covenant?  Yes.

    Mutual Covenants

    We see mutual or parity covenants illustrated in relationships between Abraham and his neighbours (Genesis 14:13; 21:27), again with Isaac (Genesis 26:28), and between Jacob and Laban (Genesis 31:44).  Solomon’s covenant with Hiram would fit under this category (1 Kings 5:12), in its objective of ensuring peace between neighbouring kings.  A lovelier example of a mutual covenant would be that between Jonathan and David.  1 Samuel 18:3 says: Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.  Later, this relationship became the subject of a further covenant.  First Jonathan gave up his regal garments and his weapons; then he gave up his title to the throne (1 Samuel 23:17).  What did he get in exchange? Confirmation that David would be his loving protector, and that this would even extend to subsequent generations (1 Samuel 20:42).  Now this seems a far more pleasant type of covenant.  Would we not prefer God to covenant with us on this basis?  But we are not capable of covenanting with God as equals.

    Divine Covenants

    There are examples in the Bible of covenants men made with God (e.g. 2 Chronicles 29:10; 34:31; Ezra 10:3), but these are really in the nature of re-accepting the terms of a covenant God first made with men.  Divine covenants are not modelled on either of the previous types.  Divine covenants came first.  Jeremiah 33:20,25 and Hosea 2:18 mention covenants that seem to go back to early days of creation and span into the distant future.  God’s covenant with Noah, and through him the whole of mankind, is central to understanding the account in Genesis 6-9, and a focus in Isaiah 24:5.  Then we have another example in His covenant with Abraham and his sons (Genesis 15,17 and see Nehemiah 9:8), the Patriarchs.  Then as God’s purposes in a collective people became clearer He expressed His covenant with Israel through Moses (Exodus 19-24), and this was subsequently reiterated (Deuteronomy 4ff) and renewed (Deuteronomy 29:1; Joshua 24:25). The Lord’s covenant with David (2 Samuel 23:5; Psalm 89; 2 Chronicles 21:7) is another example.

    There is a close connection in these covenants with the Lord’s purposes in Israel’s occupation of the land of promise (Exodus 6:4), ruled under a theocracy.  God desired to live among His people in the place of His choosing.  His choosing, not theirs.  In fact, that describes the essential feature of all divine covenants.  God did not leave the terms to be decided mutually, for fallen human beings would not choose correctly.  All the terms are chosen by Him and are simply presented without duress for acceptance.  A key feature (Exodus 24:7) is:

    All that the Lord has said we will do and be obedient.  This was exactly what God wanted to hear in response to His covenant terms.  Thus He was justly able to fulfil His promises to Israel, and in keeping their word they evidenced they were a chosen race, the people of God, a holy nation, a kingdom of priests.  And they had access to God’s house to bring Him acceptable worship and find resources to meet their every need.  God covenanted with Aaron and the Levites for this purpose (e.g. Exodus 29:9; Numbers 25:12; Malachi 2:4).  It was not that Israel was entitled to the distinguished titles God gave them, but it was necessary to show those titles were theirs.  We remember the Lord’s words, If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them (John 13:17). 

    God ordered that the tables of the covenant should be put inside the ark of the covenant (see 1 Kings 8:21).  He did not leave in any doubt the terms of the covenant He made with Israel, nor the exceedingly precious place that covenant should be given by them.  Without the protection of this divine covenant the people of Israel could not be sanctified for God to dwell among them.  A correct appreciation of this aspect helps us to understand the reference in Hebrews 10:29 to the blood of the covenant.

    The New Covenant

    Covenants are more than the vital promises they contain (Galatians 3:18; Hebrews 8:6).  Covenants are solemn, binding declarations that give effect to promises.  The promise of eternal redemption is secured by the terms of the new covenant.  Even the glorious promises given to Israel were to be surpassed.  God promised a new covenant (Isaiah 61:8; Jeremiah

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