Covenants
A covenant is a formal agreement concerning larger affairs than can be normally dealt with by a contract. Sometimes a covenant will even be between God and humans.
Salt was used as an emblem of covenants. (Leviticus 2:13; Numbers 18:19; 2 Chronicles 13:5) The symbolism likely had to do with salt's purifying and preserving characteristics.
Covenants were confirmed with an oath. (Genesis 22:16; 26:3; 50:24; Exodus 34:27-28; Numbers 32:11; Psalm 89:35; 105:9; Luke 1:73; Hebrews 6:13, 17-18)
Covenants are binding. (Leviticus 26; Jeremiah 11:2-3; Galatians 3:15)
Covenants are everlasting. (Genesis 8:20-22; 9:1-17; Psalm 105:8-10; Isaiah 54:10; 61:8)
God never breaks His covenants. (Leviticus 26:44-45; Deuteronomy 4:31; 7:8-9; Judges 2:1; 1 Kings 8:23; Psalm 105:8-11; 106:45; 111:5; Micah 7:20)
Even when they are only between humans, covenants are sacred (Joshua 9:18-21; Galatians 3:15) and binding (see Joshua 9 before, also Jeremiah 34:8-21; Ezekiel 17:14-18; Galatians 3:15)
Covenants are equally binding all parties. (Deuteronomy 29:14-15)
Breaching a covenant will be punished. (2 Samuel 21:1-6; Jeremiah 34:8-22)
Examples of covenants God has made with people:
to destroy Amalek (Exodus 17:14-16)
Examples of covenants people have made with God:
Salt was used as an emblem of covenants. (Leviticus 2:13; Numbers 18:19; 2 Chronicles 13:5) The symbolism likely had to do with salt's purifying and preserving characteristics.
Covenants were confirmed with an oath. (Genesis 22:16; 26:3; 50:24; Exodus 34:27-28; Numbers 32:11; Psalm 89:35; 105:9; Luke 1:73; Hebrews 6:13, 17-18)
Covenants are binding. (Leviticus 26; Jeremiah 11:2-3; Galatians 3:15)
Covenants are everlasting. (Genesis 8:20-22; 9:1-17; Psalm 105:8-10; Isaiah 54:10; 61:8)
God never breaks His covenants. (Leviticus 26:44-45; Deuteronomy 4:31; 7:8-9; Judges 2:1; 1 Kings 8:23; Psalm 105:8-11; 106:45; 111:5; Micah 7:20)
Even when they are only between humans, covenants are sacred (Joshua 9:18-21; Galatians 3:15) and binding (see Joshua 9 before, also Jeremiah 34:8-21; Ezekiel 17:14-18; Galatians 3:15)
Covenants are equally binding all parties. (Deuteronomy 29:14-15)
Breaching a covenant will be punished. (2 Samuel 21:1-6; Jeremiah 34:8-22)
Examples of covenants God has made with people:
- Adam (Genesis 2:16-17)
- Noah (Genesis 6:18; 8:16; 9:8-17)
- Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3; 15; 17:1-22; Exodus 6:4-8; Psalm 105:8-11; Romans 9:7-13; Galatians 3)
- Isaac (Genesis 17:19)
- Jacob (Genesis 28:13-15)
- Israel,
to destroy Amalek (Exodus 17:14-16)
- Phinehas (Numbers 25:12-13)
- Levites (Nehemiah 13:29; Malachi 2:4-5)
Examples of covenants people have made with God:
- Jacob (Genesis 28:20-22)
- Joshua (Joshua 24:25)
- Absalom (2 Samuel 15:7-8)
- Jehoida and Joash (2 Kings 11:7)
- Josiah (2 Kings 23:3)
- Asa (2 Chronicles 15:12-15)
- Nehemiah (Nehemiah 9:38; 10)
- Israelites (Exodus 24:3,7; 19:8; Deuteronomy 5:27; 26:17; Jeremiah 50:5)
Kinds of covenants in the Old Covenant
1. Royal grant (unconditional)
A king’s grant (of land or some other benefit) to a loyal servant for faithful or exceptional service. The grant was normally perpetual and unconditional, but the servant’s heirs benefited from it only as they continued their father’s loyalty and service. (1 Sa. 8:14; 22:7; 27:6; Est. 8:1)
2. Parity (conditional)
A covenant between equals, binding them to mutual friendship or at least to mutual respect for each other’s spheres and interests. Participants called each other “brothers”. (Gen. 21:27; 26:31; 31:44-45; 1 Ki. 5:12; 15:19; 20:32-34; Am. 1:9)
3. Suzerain-vassal (unconditional)
A covenant regulating the relationship between a great king and one of his subject kings. The great king claimed absolute right of sovereignty, demanded total loyalty and service (the vassal must “love” his suzerain) and pledged protection of the subject’s realm and dynasty, conditional on the vassal’s faithfulness and loyalty to him. The vassal pledged absolute loyalty to his suzerain – whatever service his suzerain demanded – and exclusive reliance on the suzerain’s protection. Participants called each other “lord” and “servant” or “father” and “son”. (Jos. 9:6-8; Ez. 17:13-18; Hos. 12:1)
Major examples of the above types:
1. Nohaic (Genesis 9:8-17)
Type: Royal Grant
Participant: Made with “righteous” (Ge. 6:9) Noah (and his descendants and every living thing on earth – all life that is subject to man’s jurisdiction).
Description: An unconditional divine promise never to destroy all earthly life with some natural catastrophe; the covenant “sign” being the rainbow in the storm cloud.
2. Abrahamic A (Genesis 15:9-21)
Type: Royal (land) Grant
Participant: Made with “righteous” (his faith was “credited to him as righteousness” v.6) Abram (and his descendants, v. 16).
Description: An unconditional divine promise to fulfill the grant of the land; a self-maledictory oath symbolically enacted it (v. 17).
3. Abrahamic B (Genesis 17)
Type: Suzerain – vassal
Participant: Made with Abraham as patriarchal head of his household.
Description: A conditional divine pledge to be Abraham’s God and the God of his descendants (cf. “As for me” v. 4; “As for you” v. 9); the condition: total consecration to the Lord as symbolized by circumcision.
4. Sinaitic (Exodus 19-24)
Type: Suzerain – vassal
Participant: Made with Israel as the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and as the people the Lord has redeemed from bondage to an earthly power.
Description: A conditional divine pledge to be Israel’s God (as her Protector and the Guarantor of her blessed destiny); the condition: Israel’s total consecration to the Lord as his people (his kingdom) who live by his rule and serve his purposes in history.
5. Phinehas (Numbers 25:10-13)
Type: Royal Grant
Participant: Made with the zealous priest Phinihas.
Description: An unconditionally divine promise to maintain the family of Phinehas in a “lasting priesthood” (implicitly a pledge to Israel to provide her forever with a faithful priesthood).
6. Davidic (2 Samuel 7:5-16)
Type: Royal Grant
Participant: Made with faithful King David after his devotion to God as Israel’s king and the Lord’s anointed vassal had come to special expression (v.2)
Description: An unconditional divine promise to establish and maintain the Davidic dynasty on the throne of Israel (implicitly a pledge to Israel) to provide her forever with a godly king like David and through that dynasty to do for her what he had done through David – bring her into rest in the promised land. (I Ki. 4:20-21; 5:3-4)
A king’s grant (of land or some other benefit) to a loyal servant for faithful or exceptional service. The grant was normally perpetual and unconditional, but the servant’s heirs benefited from it only as they continued their father’s loyalty and service. (1 Sa. 8:14; 22:7; 27:6; Est. 8:1)
2. Parity (conditional)
A covenant between equals, binding them to mutual friendship or at least to mutual respect for each other’s spheres and interests. Participants called each other “brothers”. (Gen. 21:27; 26:31; 31:44-45; 1 Ki. 5:12; 15:19; 20:32-34; Am. 1:9)
3. Suzerain-vassal (unconditional)
A covenant regulating the relationship between a great king and one of his subject kings. The great king claimed absolute right of sovereignty, demanded total loyalty and service (the vassal must “love” his suzerain) and pledged protection of the subject’s realm and dynasty, conditional on the vassal’s faithfulness and loyalty to him. The vassal pledged absolute loyalty to his suzerain – whatever service his suzerain demanded – and exclusive reliance on the suzerain’s protection. Participants called each other “lord” and “servant” or “father” and “son”. (Jos. 9:6-8; Ez. 17:13-18; Hos. 12:1)
Major examples of the above types:
1. Nohaic (Genesis 9:8-17)
Type: Royal Grant
Participant: Made with “righteous” (Ge. 6:9) Noah (and his descendants and every living thing on earth – all life that is subject to man’s jurisdiction).
Description: An unconditional divine promise never to destroy all earthly life with some natural catastrophe; the covenant “sign” being the rainbow in the storm cloud.
2. Abrahamic A (Genesis 15:9-21)
Type: Royal (land) Grant
Participant: Made with “righteous” (his faith was “credited to him as righteousness” v.6) Abram (and his descendants, v. 16).
Description: An unconditional divine promise to fulfill the grant of the land; a self-maledictory oath symbolically enacted it (v. 17).
3. Abrahamic B (Genesis 17)
Type: Suzerain – vassal
Participant: Made with Abraham as patriarchal head of his household.
Description: A conditional divine pledge to be Abraham’s God and the God of his descendants (cf. “As for me” v. 4; “As for you” v. 9); the condition: total consecration to the Lord as symbolized by circumcision.
4. Sinaitic (Exodus 19-24)
Type: Suzerain – vassal
Participant: Made with Israel as the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and as the people the Lord has redeemed from bondage to an earthly power.
Description: A conditional divine pledge to be Israel’s God (as her Protector and the Guarantor of her blessed destiny); the condition: Israel’s total consecration to the Lord as his people (his kingdom) who live by his rule and serve his purposes in history.
5. Phinehas (Numbers 25:10-13)
Type: Royal Grant
Participant: Made with the zealous priest Phinihas.
Description: An unconditionally divine promise to maintain the family of Phinehas in a “lasting priesthood” (implicitly a pledge to Israel to provide her forever with a faithful priesthood).
6. Davidic (2 Samuel 7:5-16)
Type: Royal Grant
Participant: Made with faithful King David after his devotion to God as Israel’s king and the Lord’s anointed vassal had come to special expression (v.2)
Description: An unconditional divine promise to establish and maintain the Davidic dynasty on the throne of Israel (implicitly a pledge to Israel) to provide her forever with a godly king like David and through that dynasty to do for her what he had done through David – bring her into rest in the promised land. (I Ki. 4:20-21; 5:3-4)
The New Covenant as a Royal Grant
The following include prophecies concerning the New Covenant. (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Isaiah 59:21; 61:8-9; Ezekiel 16:59-63; 34:25-31; 37:24-28; Hebrews 8:4-13)
The New Covenant is characterized by the empowering, permanent presence of the Spirit rather than the letter due to the gift of the Spirit by the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:6-17)
The New Covenant was ratified by the blood of Jesus. (Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25)
Jesus is thus the Mediator of this New Covenant between God and Humanity. (Hebrews 12:18-24)
This New Covenant is everlasting. (Hebrews 13:20)
The New Covenant should be understood as a Royal Grant. (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
Type: Royal Grant
Participant: Promised to Israel yet those who rebel to the terms were about to be expelled from the promised land in actualization of the most severe covenant curse (Leviticus 26:27-39; Deuteronomy 28:36-37, 45-68)
Description: An unconditional promise to Israel, in spite of those among her who are unfaithful, to forgive her sins and establish his relationship with her on a new basis by writing his law “on their hearts” – this covenant is thus termed a covenant of pure grace.
As the sun went down and it became dark, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. So the LORD made a covenant with Abram that day and said, "I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River – the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites." The Lord made this an unconditional promise to Israel.
Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (Romans 3:24-26) and proven that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity He put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where He always wanted us to be. And He did it by means of Jesus the Messiah.
The New Covenant is characterized by the empowering, permanent presence of the Spirit rather than the letter due to the gift of the Spirit by the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:6-17)
The New Covenant was ratified by the blood of Jesus. (Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25)
Jesus is thus the Mediator of this New Covenant between God and Humanity. (Hebrews 12:18-24)
This New Covenant is everlasting. (Hebrews 13:20)
The New Covenant should be understood as a Royal Grant. (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
Type: Royal Grant
Participant: Promised to Israel yet those who rebel to the terms were about to be expelled from the promised land in actualization of the most severe covenant curse (Leviticus 26:27-39; Deuteronomy 28:36-37, 45-68)
Description: An unconditional promise to Israel, in spite of those among her who are unfaithful, to forgive her sins and establish his relationship with her on a new basis by writing his law “on their hearts” – this covenant is thus termed a covenant of pure grace.
- Deuteronomy 32:15-27 But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked – You are grown fat, thick, and sleek – Then he forsook God who made him, and scorned the Rock of his salvation. They made Him jealous with strange gods; with abominations they provoked Him to anger. They sacrificed to demons who were not God, to gods whom they have not known, new gods who came lately, whom your fathers did not dread. You neglected the Rock who begot you, and forgot the God who gave you birth. The Lord saw this, and spurned them because of the provocation of His sons and daughters. Then He said, “I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end shall be; For they are a perverse generation, Sons in whom is not faithfulness. They have made Me jealous with what is not God; they have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation, for a fire is kindled in My anger, and burns to the lowest part of Sheol, and consumes the earth with its yield, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains. I will heap misfortunes on them; I will use My arrows on them. They will be wasted by famine, and consumed by plague and bitter destruction; and the teeth of beasts I will send upon them, with the venom of crawling things of the dust. Outside the sword will bereave, and inside terror – both the young man and the virgin, the nursling with the man of gray hair. I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces, I will remove the memory of them from men,” Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy, that their adversaries would misjudge, that they would say, “Our hand is triumphant, and the Lord has not done all this.”
- Genesis 15: 5-21 Then the LORD brought Abram outside beneath the night sky and told him, "Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that – too many to count!" And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD declared him righteous because of his faith. Then the LORD told him, "I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land."But Abram replied, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I be sure that you will give it to me?"Then the LORD told him, "Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." Abram took all these and killed them. He cut each one down the middle and laid the halves side by side. He did not, however, divide the birds in half. Some vultures came down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away.
As the sun went down and it became dark, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. So the LORD made a covenant with Abram that day and said, "I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River – the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites." The Lord made this an unconditional promise to Israel.
- Isaiah 54:10 For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, and My covenant of peace will not be shaken, says the Lord who has compassion on you.
Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (Romans 3:24-26) and proven that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity He put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where He always wanted us to be. And He did it by means of Jesus the Messiah.
