A covenant is a special type of relationship in which two people enter into an alliance which involves a firm commitment to one other and which usually makes demands on each party.

The Bible uses just two words for "covenant" that occur 316 times in 295 verses. In the Old Testament tyriB] (berith) means literally a covenant, alliance, pledge, treaty, league, constitution, and an agreement. In the New Testament diaqh<kh (diatheke) means a disposition, arrangement, covenant, testament or will. In fact, the Old and New "Testaments" are really the Old and New "Covenants" - the new covenant being of course that which was established by Christ through His shed blood for the remission of sins (Matthew 26:28).

The Hebrew word above (berith) derives from a root which means "to cut" and hence a covenant is a "cutting" with reference to the cutting or dividing of animals into two parts and the contracting parties passing between them, in making a covenant. This is illustrated in Genesis 15.

Jeremiah 34:18-19 contains another reference to this form of making a covenant.

A covenant can be between two individuals - for example, David and Jonathan in I Samuel 18:1-4

Another example is Genesis 21:32.

Marriage is referred to as "the covenant of God" in Proverbs 2:17. Wicked men are spoken of as acting as if they had made a "covenant with death" so that it will not destroy them, or with hell not to devour them (Isaiah 28:15,18).

Classically though, covenants are between nations or other powerful groups (for example, as in I Samuel 11:1; Joshua 9:6,15). At the international level - though there are covenants between equal parties - they usually involve an alliance between two unequal parties - the stronger one pledging protection and help to the weaker in return for some form of vassal status.

This is the pattern followed in the Biblical picture of God’s relationship with Israel. It is always made clear that the initiative is God’s - that He makes covenants with His people and not vice versa, and that He is the superior party in the covenant.

In the Old Testament, God promises His protection and His commitment to Israel, in return for which Israel must pledge to worship and serve Him alone, living in conformity with His moral and social standards.

This does not mean that God’s covenant is necessarily conditional. There are certainly obligations laid upon Israel. Israel must worship the Lord alone and be loyal to Him in every sphere of life. Israel must be God’s witness to all the nations. However, at heart the covenants are not based on Israel’s response to God, although this is not only expected but also demanded. The covenants of God are based completely on God’s gracious and sovereign choice of Israel. They are always based on God’s prior grace and will, and it always makes demands on the people involved in terms of how they must live their lives now that they are in a relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

This does not apply just to Israel, but to the Church also. The New Testament contains many obligations on Christians, and many passages like the following,

God’s covenants are never, strictly speaking, conditional. God makes it clear that He will remove His blessings if Israel is disobedient (e.g. Deuteronomy 28:15-19) but He will never reject Israel or withdraw His loving commitment (as seen, for example, in Isaiah 49:15f and Hosea 11:8-9). God will certainly punish, but only as a result of His love for Israel, not because of any abandonment. The correct understanding of Biblical punishment is given in Proverbs 2:11

When God removes His blessings to Israel, it is not a sign of his rejection but in fact of the opposite!

Let us consider five principal covenants in the Bible.

1. The covenant with Noah. The first time the Bible speaks of a covenant is with Noah. In spite of the terrible way in which people had corrupted their lives and societies (Genesis 6:5-6), God renewed His commitment to humanity through the choice of Noah and his family -

But I will establish my covenant with you … (Genesis 6:18).

All of modern life was saved by this pre-flood covenant. The obligation which came to Noah, and which followed on from God’s election of Noah, was to be obedient in building the ark. This obedience was in turn dependent on his trusting relationship with God. After the flood, God’s pledge was renewed

I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you - the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you - every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will the waters of a flood cut off all life; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.

And God said, This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. (Genesis 9:9-13).

Even though Genesis 9:4-6 details some definitions and limitations, no actual conditions are mentioned for the establishing of the covenant, and indeed the regular breaking of this boundary-setting does not bring about the abrogation of the covenant (note the pre- and post-flood comments in Genesis 6:5 and 8:21).

The very sign of the covenant - the rainbow - symbolises it as God’s transcendent commitment and responsibility as regards all of humanity (Genesis 9:12-17). Just as the rainbow is independent of humanity’s efforts and behaviour, so too is the gracious act of God in initiating and continuing the covenant.

God’s mission to the nations did not begin with the Great Commission of Mathew 28:18-20 but in Genesis. Through Noah God gave mankind a fresh start, but mankind rebelled against God at Babel when independence from Him was asserted. God consequently scattered the people into nations and languages. The first eleven chapters of Genesis record God’s dealings with the human race as a whole. From this time onward however, He planned to reach mankind family by family and nation by nation. It is this relationship of God to dispersed ethnic groups which acts as the background for the next covenant -

2. The covenant with Abraham. This is the covenant used as our example at the beginning, and is grounded in God’s gracious choice of Abraham (then Abram) involving him in a future which was not of his own choosing.

• I will make you a great nation
• I will bless you, and
• I will make your name great.

• I will bless those who bless you, and
• I will curse those who curse you.

1. The covenant at Sinai. Moses was the next Israelite leader chosen by God to mediate a covenant with Israel.

"I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation of the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God. (Exodus 34:10-14).

The Mosaic covenant did not in any way overshadow the Abrahamic covenant, but assumed and functioned within it, as evidenced by Exodus 2:23-24:

The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.

Israel was already referred to as God’s people (e.g. Exodus 4:22; Deuteronomy 8:5) - the call remaining the one which had come through Abraham. The two covenants did not conflict with each other; rather through Abraham God formed a people and through Moses He created a national constitution for those people. A great deal of stress was placed on Israel’s obligations concerning spiritual and ethical principles - as well as on socio-economic and ritual laws - because the people of God must live in accordance with God’s own holy nature (Leviticus 11:44).

It is important to realise that this distinctive lifestyle was not simply an end in itself. Israel was intended to be a witness to all the nations -

See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." (Deuteronomy 4:5-6).

From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows. The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the LORD will praise Him - may your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all families of the nations will bow down before Him, for dominion belongs to the LORD and He rules over the nations. (Psalm 22:25-28).

Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done. (I Chronicles 16:8).

Hence, the overall perspective was maintained that God had made plain from the beginning. This is summed up by the notion of Israel, within this covenant, as a ‘priestly nation’ -

You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation … (Exodus 19:6).

- priests serving to mediate between God and people, so that Israel - as a nation of priests - become the mediator between God and all the other nations. The prophets continued to remind Israel of this in every generation, for example, in Jeremiah 4:1-

"If you will return, O Israel, return to me," declares the LORD. "If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray, and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ then the nations will be blessed by Him and in Him they will glory.

Israel was to portray God’s holiness to the nations around them. They were commanded to separate themselves from the heathen nations and not to worship their gods (Exodus 9:13-16; 34:10-16; Deuteronomy 7:6-9; 26:16-19; Isaiah 63:11-14).

As a reflection of God’s holiness, Israel was to be pure, totally separated from the moral pollution of neighbouring nations. Israel established an identity of separateness and God sanctified His name, setting it apart from the names of the gods that the Gentile nations worshipped.

The Sinai covenant, then, is a covenant of grace just like the others. The mass of laws given were not evidence of a legalistic relationship with God but rather the necessary code of practice for people who now belong to God and want to know how to live lives which will please Him - in just the same way that Christians live in accordance with strict moral rules, because their relationship with God is based on love and joy and who are grateful to know how to behave in the right ways to please God.

Throughout the time of the Old Testament, Israel was to proclaim God’s salvation to the nations (Deuteronomy 28:9-10; Psalm 67; 96; 105:1-11; Isaiah 49:6). Israel’s prophets expected that all nations on earth one day would acknowledge God (I Chronicles 16; Psalm 47; 96; 99; 100; 117; Isaiah 2:2-4; 40:5; 42:6; 49:6; Micah 4:1-3; Habbakkuk 2:14, 20; Zechariah 8:20-23).

God blessed Israel so that all nations may come to recognise His sovereignty.

2. The covenant with David. Israel had demanded a human king as well as the Lord because the people had seen the advantages that such had brought to the surrounding nations. The perceived benefits were

• protection from enemies (I Samuel 8:19-20)
• spiritual and moral leadership (I Samuel 8:1-5)

1. The New Covenant prophesied by Jeremiah. This is the fifth of the major covenants detailed in the Scriptures, and its significance to Christians is clear.

In each of these five covenants, spanning the entire time from Genesis 6 to the end of the Church era, God has used His people to bring the nations of the earth to Himself.

In the Old Testament the nations were to be led to worship God by the visible manifestation of the acts of God among the nation of Israel. Israel was never explicitly commanded to "go" and witness to the nations. While God clearly expressed His intention to draw all the nations to Himself, the manner in which this was to be done was centripetal - the nations were drawn to the worship of God because of His acts.

Even though Israel was not directly sent to be a witness to the nations, many Hebrews had contacts with the nations, and brought blessing to them. Abraham himself bore witness to Canaanites, Philistines and Hittites (Genesis 12:6-7; 21:33-34). Joseph blessed Egyptians in many ways (Genesis 41:16, 25, 28). Naomi was a blessing to two Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah (Ruth 1:8-9, 16-17). King Solomon was a blessing to the Queen of Sheba (I Kings 10:1). Esther and her uncle Mordecai were a blessing to the entire Persian Empire (Esther 8:17). The prophet Elijah was a blessing to a Sidonian widow in Zarapath and the prophet Elisha was a blessing to Naaman, an Aramean (I Kings 17:7-24; II Kings 5:1-18). Jonah was a blessing to the Gentile population of Ninevah, capital of Assyria. Daniel and his friends were a blessing to the Babylonians (Daniel 2:44-49; 3:24-30). Ezekiel, Jeremiah and other prophets declared the word of the Lord to various Gentile nations.

In the New Testament God’s methodology is different. The nations are to be drawn toward God as the Church goes to the nations to proclaim His works. God wants to draw all the nations to Himself, but the manner in which this will occur is centrifugal - the nations will acknowledge that God deserves their worship because the Church goes and proclaims the acts of God among them.

We return to the covenant of Abraham, again, however. After Abraham died, Isaac inherited the promises. Isaac did not see the complete fulfillment of the promise, and nor did Jacob who inherited them next (Hebrews 11:9). The promises were inherited by Israel (Romans 9:4-5) and although flourishing under certain kings, Israel did not see the complete fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham. So what happened to them?

It was the Lord Jesus who finally inherited the promises made to Abraham centuries before. However, again, the One who finally inherited the promises died, and so once more, the promises were available.

When someone had died, it is necessary for their testament to be administered -

So, Jesus rose from the dead and became the legal administrator of His own testament.

When Jesus died, those who were of the faith of Abraham inherited the promises -

The apostle Paul’s understanding of God’s covenant with Abraham was the background of the great revelation that the Lord had given to Him, which he summarised in Romans 4:13-16 -

Abraham received the promise that he would inherit the world. However, it was the seed of Abraham - Jesus Christ - who really inherited the world. This fact was foretold prophetically in Psalm 2:7-8

When Jesus rose from the dead and was seated at the right hand of the Father, He received His inheritance -

However, in Christ, believers have become joint heirs and have therefore also inherited the world. This is a staggering thought! Even though the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one (I John 5:19), according to God the legal owner of the world is Christ and His Church.

When Jesus gave the great commission to go into all the world, He was commanding the Church to go into all the nations and to inherit them as a fulfillment of God’s promise made to Abraham. The great commission was not an after-thought but it is the divine way of fulfilling this momentous covenant.

davidmwilliams@oocities.com