Five Great Bible Covenants

by David Padfield

In form, a covenant is an agreement between two people and involves promises on the part of each
to the other. The concept of a covenant between God and His people is one of the central themes of
the Bible. In the Biblical sense, a covenant implies much more than a contract or a simple
agreement between two parties.

The word for "covenant" in the Old Testament also provides additional insight into the meaning of
this important idea. It comes from a Hebrew root word that means "to cut." This explains the
strange custom of two people passing through the cut bodies of slain animals after making an
agreement (cf. Jer. 34:18). A ceremony such as this always accompanied the making of a covenant
in the Old Testament. Sometimes those entering into a covenant shared a meal, such as when
Laban and Jacob made their covenant (Gen. 31:54).

Abraham and his children were commanded to be circumcised as a "sign of covenant" between
them and God (Gen. 17:10-11).

At Sinai, Moses sprinkled the blood of animals on the altar and upon the people who entered into
covenant with God (Exo. 24:3-8).

The Old Testament contains many examples of covenants between people who related to each other
as equals. For example, David and Jonathan entered into a covenant because of their love for each
other—this agreement bound each of them to certain responsibilities (1 Sam. 18:3).

The remarkable thing is that God is holy, omniscient, and omnipotent; but He consents to enter
into covenant with man, who is feeble, sinful, and flawed.

In this article, we want to examine five great covenants of the Bible.

God's Covenant With Noah

Centuries before the time of Abraham, God made a covenant with Noah, assuring Noah that He
would never again destroy the world by flood (Gen. 9).

Noah lived at a time when the whole earth was filled with violence and corruption—yet Noah did
not allow the evil standards of his day to rob him of fellowship with God. He stood out as the only
one who "walked with God" (Gen. 6:9), as was also true of his great-grandfather Enoch (Gen. 5:22).
"Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations" (Gen. 6:9). The Lord singled out Noah from
among all his contemporaries and chose him as the man to accomplish a great work.

When God saw the wickedness that prevailed in the world (Gen. 6:5), He told Noah of His intention
to destroy the ancient world by a universal flood. God instructed Noah to build an ark (a large
barge) in which he and his family would survive the universal deluge. Noah believed God and
"according to all that God commanded him, so he did" (Gen. 6:22).

Noah is listed among the heroes of faith. "By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet
seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he
condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith" (Heb. 11:7).

With steadfast confidence in God, Noah started building the ark. During this time, Noah continued
to preach God's judgment and mercy, warning the ungodly of their approaching doom. Peter
reminds us of how God "did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a
preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly" (2 Pet. 2:5).

Noah preached for 120 years, apparently without any converts. At the end of that time, "when ...
the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah ... eight souls were saved through water" (1 Pet.
3:20).

People continued in their evil ways and ignored his pleadings and warnings until the flood overtook
them. When the ark was ready, Noah entered in with all kinds of animals "and the Lord shut him
in" (Gen. 7:16), cut off completely from the rest of mankind.

Noah was grateful to the Lord who had delivered him from the flood. After the flood, he built an
altar to God (Gen. 8:20) and made a sacrifice, which was accepted graciously, for in it "the Lord
smelled a soothing aroma" (Gen. 8:21).

The Lord promised Noah and his descendants that He would never destroy the world again with a
universal flood (Gen. 9:15). The Lord made an everlasting covenant with Noah and his descendants,
establishing the rainbow as the sign of His promise (Gen. 9:1-17).

Another part of the covenant involved the sanctity of human life, i.e., that "whoever sheds man's
blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man" (Gen. 9:6). Every
time we see a rainbow today we are reminded of that agreement—this covenant has not been done
away with. As long as God still sends rainbows after a storm, capital punishment will still be a part
of God's law for the human race.

God's Covenant With Abraham

In making a covenant with Abraham, God promised to bless his descendants and make them His
own special people—in return, Abraham was to remain faithful to God and to serve as a channel
through which God's blessings could flow to the rest of the world (Gen. 12:1-3).

Abraham's story begins with his passage with the rest of his family from Ur of the Chaldeans in
ancient southern Babylonia (Gen. 11:31). He and his family moved north along the trade routes of
the ancient world and settled in the prosperous trade center of Haran, several hundred miles to the
northwest.

While living in Haran, at the age of 75, Abraham received a call from God to go to a strange,
unknown land that God would show him. The Lord promised Abraham that He would make him
and his descendants a great nation (Gen. 12:1-3). The promise must have seemed unbelievable to
Abraham because his wife Sarah was childless (Gen. 11:30-31; 17:15). Abraham obeyed God with
no hint of doubt or disbelief.

Abraham took his wife and his nephew, Lot, and went toward the land that God would show him.
Abraham moved south along the trade routes from Haran, through Shechem and Bethel, to the
land of Canaan. Canaan was a populated area at the time, inhabited by the war-like Canaanites; so,
Abraham's belief that God would ultimately give this land to him and his descendants was an act
of faith.

The circumstances seemed quite difficult, but Abraham's faith in God's promises allowed him to
trust in the Lord. In Genesis 15, the Lord reaffirmed His promise to Abraham. The relationship
between God and Abraham should be understood as a covenant relationship—the most common
form of arrangement between individuals in the ancient world. In this case, Abraham agreed to go
to the land that God would show him (an act of faith on his part), and God agreed to make Abraham
a great nation (Gen. 12:1-3).

In Genesis 15 Abraham became anxious about the promise of a nation being found in his
descendants because of his advanced age—and the Lord then reaffirmed the earlier covenant. A
common practice of that time among heirless families was to adopt a slave who would inherit the
master's goods. Therefore, because Abraham was childless, he proposed to make a slave, Eliezer of
Damascus, his heir (Gen. 15:2). But God rejected this action and challenged Abraham's faith: "'Look
now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.' And He said to him, 'So
shall your descendants be'" (Gen. 15:5).

Abraham's response is the model of believing faith: "And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted
it to him for righteousness" (Gen. 15:6). The rest of Genesis 15 consists of a ceremony between
Abraham and God that was commonly used in the ancient world to formalize a covenant (Gen.
15:7-21). God repeated this covenant to Abraham' son, Isaac (Gen. 17:19). Stephen summarized the
story in the book of Acts 7:1-8.

The Mosaic Covenant

The Israelites moved to Egypt during the time of Joseph. A new Pharaoh came upon the scene and
turned the Israelites into common slaves. The people cried out to the God of their forefathers. "So
God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with
Jacob" (Exo. 2:24). After a series of ten plagues upon the land of Egypt, God brought the Israelites
out "of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand" (Exo. 32:11).

Three months after leaving the land of Egypt, the children of Israel camped at the base of Mount
Sinai (Exo. 19:1). God promised to make a covenant with the Israelites (Exo. 19:3-6). Before they
even knew the conditions of the contract, the people agreed to abide by whatever God said (Exo.
19:8).

This covenant was between God and the people of Israel—you and I are not a party in this contract
(and never have been). The Ten Commandments are the foundation of the covenant, but they are
not the entirety of it.

After giving the first ten commands, the people asked the Lord to speak no more (Exo. 20:18-20).
Moses then drew near to the presence of God to hear the rest of the covenant (Exo. 20:21). After
receiving the Law, Moses spoke the words of the covenant to all of the people, and the people agreed
to obey (Exo. 24:4).

Moses then wrote the conditions of the covenant down, offered sacrifices to God, and then
sprinkled both the book and the people with blood to seal the covenant (Exo. 24:8). This covenant
between God and the people of Israel was temporary—God promised a day when He would make
a new covenant, not only with Israel but also with all mankind. "Behold, the days are coming, says
the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—
not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand
to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to
 them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those
days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their
God, and they shall be My people" (Jer. 31:31-34).

God's Covenant With David

Another covenant was between God and King David, in which David and his descendants were
established as the royal heirs to the throne of the nation of Israel (2 Sam. 7:12-13).

This covenant agreement reached its fulfillment when Jesus, a descendant of the line of David, was
born in Bethlehem. The gospel of Matthew starts off by showing Christ was "the Son of
David" (Matt. 1:1), and thus He had the right to rule over God's people. Peter preached that Jesus
Christ was a fulfillment of God's promise to David (Acts 2:29-36).

The Covenant Of Christ

The New Testament makes a clear distinction between the covenants of the Mosaic Law and the
covenant of Promise. The apostle Paul spoke of these "two covenants," one originating "from
Mount Sinai," the other from "the Jerusalem above" (Gal. 4:24-26). Paul also argued that the
covenant established at Mount Sinai was a "ministry of death" and "condemnation" (2 Cor. 3:7, 9).

The death of Christ ushered in the new covenant under which we are justified by God's grace and
mercy—it is now possible to have the true forgiveness of sins. Jesus Himself is the Mediator of this
better covenant between God and man (Heb. 9:15). Jesus' sacrificial death served as the oath, or
pledge, which God made to us to seal this new covenant.

The "new covenant" is the new agreement God has made with mankind, based on the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. The concept of a new covenant originated with the promise of
Jeremiah that God would accomplish for His people what the old covenant had failed to do (Jer.
31:31-34; Heb. 11:7-13). Under this new covenant, God would write His Law on human hearts.

When Jesus ate the Passover meal at the Last Supper with His disciples, He spoke of the cup and
said, "this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matt.
26:28). Luke's account refers to this cup as symbolizing "the new covenant in My blood, which is
shed for you" (Luke 22:20).

When Paul recited the account he had received concerning the Last Supper, he quoted these words
of Jesus about the cup as "the new covenant in My blood" (1 Cor. 11:25).

The Epistle to the Hebrews gives the new covenant more attention than any other book in the New
Testament. It quotes the entire passage from Jeremiah 31:31-34 (Heb. 8:8-12). Jesus is referred to
by the writer of Hebrews as "the Mediator of the new covenant" (Heb. 9:15; 12:24). The new
covenant, a "better covenant ... established on better promises" (Heb. 8:6), rests directly on the
sacrificial work of Christ.

The new covenant accomplished what the old could not, i.e., the removal of sin and cleansing of
the conscience (Heb. 10:2, 22). The work of Jesus Christ on the cross thus makes the old covenant
"obsolete" (Heb. 8:13) and fulfills the promise of the prophet Jeremiah

Most Christians today believe that there have only been two covenants established by God in
salvation history. Actually, there were seven. Certainly, there is the major division between the
seventh and preceding six, which we call the Old and New Testaments, but what the acclaimed
author, John Bergsma points out in his book Bible Basics for Catholics is that there is much more to
the Old Testament chronology than is obvious to us at first glance. Accordingly, the only way to
properly understand the story of man’s redemption is to first understand how each of the seven
covenants is interconnected and how they each in some way foreshadow the seventh, New
Covenant in which we are currently living. Even this, however, will paint us an insufficient picture of
salvation history if we do not, above all else, understand the nature of covenants themselves.

What then, is a covenant? Most people think it is merely a promise or pact made between God and
his people. While this is certainly one aspect of a covenant, there is actually much more to be
considered here. According to Bergsma, the way that ancient middle-eastern societies understood
the concept of a covenant was in terms of an extended family. In his words, a covenant may be
described as “a legal way to make someone part of your family.”[1] Thus, it can be said that the Bible
is essentially the story of God trying to establish an extended family for himself by reaching out to
humanity time and again. One other, very important aspect of a covenantal relationship is that there
are consequences that will be incurred if either party should violate the terms upon which the
covenant was established. We will see these consequences realized as we examine the Mosaic
Covenant and the Davidic Covenant, among others.

Adamic Covenant

Everyone is familiar with the story of the first covenant between God and man in the person of
Adam. Found in the book of Genesis 2:1-24[2], Bergsma describes the creation account in terms of
temple imagery. With each successive day of creation, God adds another “brick” to the temple which
He is building for Himself and His creatures. The seventh day, which is the day of rest, sits atop the
structure of creation as the cap-stone which ties the whole of creation together. Within this temple of
creation, there also sits the Garden of Eden, which is like the Holy of Holies in the Davidic Covenant
and which also foreshadows the Heavenly Jerusalem to come. This concept of the universe being
like one enormous temple in which God’s presence dwells is one which will reappear in the layout of
the temple of the Davidic Covenant.

No sooner is Adam created than he is assigned a position of authority in the temple of creation and
given certain duties to perform. He is made in God’s image and likeness, he is to “till the ground and
keep it,”[3] he is to name all of the animals, and he is to become the father of the human race. While
the naming of animals may seem like a trivial job, it actually represents something far greater. Adam
is here given a certain authority over God’s creation, thus confirming him in his kingly role. The tilling
and keeping of God’s temple indicates that Adam possesses a priestly role as well. He even bears
some elements of a prophet since a prophet is essentially a person who speaks for God. In biblical
language, therefore, Adam is appointed as “firstborn son, king, priest, prophet, and
bridegroom.”[4] Remind you of anyone? Genesis describes Adam as a type of Jesus Christ, Who, as
we know, is the true Firstborn Son of God, the true King of Creation, and so on.

Adam, of course, does not reign alone in God’s temple. God has given him Eve to be the queen of
creation and who is to become the “mother of all the living.”[5] In the New, Eucharistic Covenant, we
see that Eve was a type of the Virgin Mary, who is the true Queen of Creation and who is spiritually
“the mother of all the living,” in terms of those who have received sanctifying grace.

Ultimately, what leads Adam to break this first covenant is what theologians have long termed the
threefold lust. Seeing that the “fruit” of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was “good for food,
and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise,”[6] Adam and
Eve succumbed to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. It is important to
understand that the “knowledge” of good and evil is not so much what is implied here, but rather the
definition of good and evil. In its account of the Fall of Man, Genesis is using symbolic language to
tell us that Adam and Eve wanted to define good and evil for themselves, apart from God. If that
sounds familiar, it is probably because humanity still suffers from this temptation today. As we move
forward in salvation history we will see that time and again, each covenant is broken by yet another
manifestation of the threefold lust combined with a desire to “be like God”[7] in defining good and
evil.

Noahic Covenant

An immense period of time has passed since the Fall of Man took place in the Garden of Eden.
Humanity has increased in numbers and has spread throughout the known world. Tainted, however,
by the stain of sin inherited from Adam, man has become increasingly perverse. Things get so bad
that God decides to wipe out the human race and start over. Noticing the righteousness of Noah,
however, God commissions him to build an ark to house himself, his family, and two of every kind of
animal. This is quite significant in terms of salvation history as the ark built by Noah is now the
symbolic temple in which God’s creation is to be preserved and restored. When the floodwaters
subside, Noah sacrifices a lamb (New Testament imagery) in a priestly act. We now have another
type of Christ who, like Adam, is a priest, prophet, and king. Pleased with Noah’s sacrifice, God then
establishes a “new” covenant with humanity. This covenant is recorded in Genesis 9:8-13, which
reads:

“Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ‘Behold, I establish my covenant with you and
your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you … And God said ‘This is
the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with
you, for all future generations: I set my bow in the cloud …”[8]

The bow, of course, was commonly used as a weapon in the ancient world. Thus, what we are
seeing here is that God is not only establishing a new familial relationship with Noah and his
descendants, but is also forewarning of the consequences that will befall either party should the
covenant be broken. Sadly, this covenant would be broken shortly after it was established due to the
incident of Noah’s drunkenness recorded in Genesis 9:18-28. This would be the second time that
man would break a covenant with God due to the threefold lust.

The imagery of the Noah’s ark has long been associated with that of the Catholic Church. One of the
names by which the Church is often referred is the Ark of Salvation, clearly indicating that Noah’s ark
was not only a symbolic representation of Eden, but also a prefigurement of the Heavenly
Jerusalem, which is the Church Triumphant.

Abrahamic Covenant

Following the incident of Babel when God confused the languages in order to humble the human
race, God then chose a man named Abram to be the father of a new and great nation. God does this
in order to bless all the nations by means of Abram and his descendants. The promises that God
makes to Abram are threefold: “a great nation, a great name, and a blessing to everyone.”[9] Abram
doubts whether God will accomplish these promises, and thus, as recorded in Genesis 15, God tells
Abram to take several kinds of animals and cut them in half. Once Abram has done this, God’s
presence, in the form of a “smoking fire pot and a flaming torch,”[10] passes through the carcasses.
Abram understood that this was God’s way of establishing a covenant with him. The significance of
cutting the animals in half lay in what it symbolizes. By passing through these animal parts, God is
basically telling Abram, “If I don’t keep my promises to you, then may I too be cut in half.”

In spite of this stark imagery, however, Abram experiences severe doubts that God will ever give him
an heir since both he and his wife Sarah are advanced in age. This leads to the fall of Abram when
he chooses to take Hagar as his second wife and has a son with her. Disappointed with Abram’s
lack of faith, God reminds Abram that his heir is supposed to come from Sarah and orders him to
send Hagar away. God then reestablishes His covenant with Abram, whom He renames Abraham,
but under a painful condition. Because Abram broke the initial covenant agreement, which was
made over the cutting of animals, Abram will now have to cut himself in order to be brought back into
that covenantal relationship with God. Hence, the rite of circumcision. That’s why every descendent
of Abraham up to the time of Jesus had to undergo this painful procedure. It was a sign of the once
broken but now restored covenant.

In the course of time, God fulfilled Abraham’s desire for an heir, whom he named Isaac. Isaac is an
immensely important figure in salvation history because he represents Christ on Calvary. As a test of
Abraham’s hitherto weak faith, God orders him to sacrifice the very heir for which he had longed so
much. Having learned from his previous mistakes, Abraham obeys this command until God sends an
angel to stop him at the last possible moment. Genesis[11] records that this sacrifice was to take
place on Mount Moriah.

What is crucial to understand here is not only that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son, but
also that Isaac himself appears to have willingly consented to this sacrifice. This is because
Abraham was an old, feeble man at this time while Isaac is clearly strong enough to carry the wood
for the sacrifice for many miles up a mountain. If Isaac had wanted to escape from his father, he
could surely have done so. It seems rather that Isaac truly is a type of Christ in his willingness to die
for the love of God, while Abraham is a type of Christ in the same three roles as Adam and Noah:
priest, prophet, and king.

Mosaic Covenant

Several generations pass. Abraham’s grandson, Jacob is renamed Israel by God. His descendants
will eventually become the twelve tribes of Israel. In the interim, however, one of Israel’s sons,
Joseph, is sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers who are jealous of him because of Israel’s favor
for him as the son of his second wife, Rachel. Through a complicated series of events recorded in
Genesis 37-48, Joseph is appointed as the Pharaoh’s right-hand-man, and saves his brothers and
father from seven years of severe famine.

A few hundred years later is where Moses comes in. He will ultimately prove to be a type of Christ in
leading the Israelites out of slavery, just as Christ leads His people out of the spiritual slavery of sin.
He will also qualify as a priest, prophet, and king, just as the major biblical types of Christ before
him.

After the famine was over, the sons of Israel decided to stay in Egypt, against the will of God for
them to strive after the land He had promised to Abraham. Over time, the sons of Israel multiplied
exponentially and integrated themselves into Egyptian society. How bad could that be? Pretty bad,
since the Israelites also adopted the worship of pagan gods and became slaves to the Egyptians.

Recognizing the need to deliver His people from Egypt in order to fulfill His promises to Abraham,
God chose Moses as the instrument through which He would lead the Israelites into the promised
land. The sequence of events leading up to this can be found in Exodus 1-14.

Once the Israelites have been delivered from slavery, Moses ascends Mount Sinai, where God gives
him the Ten Commandments written on two stone tablets. The stone itself is a representation of how
hardened were the hearts of the people. This hardness was demonstrated when Moses returned to
find that, in his absence, most of the people had returned to the worship of the pagan gods of Egypt.
Enraged by the spectacle, Moses shatters the tablets on the ground to symbolize that the covenant
has just been broken, and orders those who are faithful to God to slay the idolaters. Because the
tribe of Levi were those who carried out this task, Moses declared that henceforth the priesthood
should be given to the Levites rather than to the Israelites as a whole. Hence, the Levitical
priesthood of the Old Testament in Jesus’ day. It is worth mentioning that John the Baptist, who
baptized Jesus in Jordan River, was himself a Levite.

With the idolaters slain, Moses goes back up Mount Sinai and intercedes on behalf of the people,
“reminding” God of His promise to Abraham. Thus, the covenant is renewed and a second set of
tablets are given to Moses. It is also during this moment, as recorded in Exodus 36-37, that God
commissions Moses to construct the Ark of the Covenant, in which will later be housed the manna
(Exodus 16), Arron’s staff (Exodus 7:8-13), and the stone tablets themselves. The Ark, of course, is
a type of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as the vessel in which the presence of God dwells among his
people. Contained within the Ark is the manna, which is itself a figure of the Eucharist. Unfortunately,
due to the hardness of the people and Moses’ own lack of trust in God, the Israelites were forced to
wander in the desert for 40 years without entering the promised land. Only after the original
generation delivered from Egypt had died off, did God bring them into the land that He had promised
to Abraham so long ago. The Mosaic Covenant remained essentially unaltered from time of Moses’
successor, Joshua until the arrival of King David.

One significant alteration in the Mosaic Covenant to be noted after it was broken initially was the
introduction of animal sacrifices. It seems odd to most people today that God would command the
slaughtering of animals as sacrifices. But the reason for this was actually pedagogical. God wanted
to teach the Israelites to stop worshiping the pagan gods of the Egyptians. The simplest way to
break them of this habit was to order the Israelites to kill the animals that represent these gods. In
addition, they were a prefigurement of Christ’s sacrifice.

Davidic Covenant

For several hundred years, the Israelites lived in a perpetual “cycle of sin against God, suffering
under their enemies, sorrow for their sin, salvation under a God-sent leader, and then the cycle of
sin-suffering-sorrow-salvation”[12] all over again. It was during this time that God sent “judges” to the
people of Israel, who acted as guides or leaders to point them back to the will of God. Once the
judge died, however, the people would lapse into their old, sinful habits once more until another
judge appeared to take his place. Finally, at the time of 1 Samuel 8, we find that the Israelites are
sick of judges and persuade the prophet Samuel to appoint a king for them. Ultimately, they do not
want a king so that they may thereby live more righteous lives, but only to be like all the other
nations.

Conceding to their demands, Samuel anoints Saul as the first literal king of Israel. The act of
anointing points us forward to the “the Christ,” which means “anointed one.” Essentially, anointing
someone was a symbol of authority and of God’s power being with you. Unfortunately, Saul would
become prideful and selfish, thereby forfeiting the right of kingship in God’s eyes. God therefore
selects a humble shepherd boy named David to become the next king of Israel. With God’s favor
upon him, David quickly conquers much of the surrounding region and takes Jerusalem as his
capital. It is here that the Davidic Covenant is established when God promises to David a son who
will “build God’s temple, be the Son of God, and rule over Israel forever.”[13] Notice that Jerusalem
also sits on a mountain, just like Eden, Moriah, and Sinai. Here, God is promising a son to David in
two senses. Literally, David’s son, Solomon, will possess these three characteristics, but
prophetically, the Messiah, Who is to come from David’s line, will possess them in a much fuller and
truer sense.

Ironically, Solomon is the product of David’s fall into adultery and murder, recorded in 2 Samuel 11.
Because David broke the covenant God had made with him, his reign is subject to weakness and
turmoil for the remainder of his life, even to the point of being betrayed by Absalom, whom David
trusted implicitly. This betrayal, of course, points us forward to Judas’ betrayal of Jesus.

The strength of David’s kingdom would be restored under the reign of his son, Solomon, who was
regarded by even the pagan nations as the wisest man on earth, due to his relationship with God.
Both David and Solomon fulfill the roles of priest, prophet, and king and are perhaps the starkest
prefigurements of Christ in all of the Old Testament.

It is worth mentioning that Solomon, as a type of Christ, reserved the role of queen for his mother,
Bathsheba, who, in this respect, is a type of Queen Mother Mary.

Solomon would himself succumb to the threefold lust that has plagued mankind throughout the
millennia as it is recorded[14]that he amassed great wealth for himself, possessed a great number of
horses (military might), and took over seven hundred wives, against the admonition of God through
his prophets.

Thus, even Solomon’s kingdom began to decline after his death, with weak, ineffective leaders
taking his place and with the eventual break away of ten Israelite tribes, which then migrated North
and intermingled with the pagan cultures. These became known at the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel.
What is significant to remember here is that God promises to restore the kingdom of Israel when the
Messiah comes. Hence, St. Paul and the Apostles preaching to the Gentiles in the north. Since the
northern tribes of Israel have intermarried and have been dispersed, the only way to get them back
is to evangelize all of the Gentiles. The remaining two tribes of Israel were eventually conquered and
enslaved by the Assyrians and Babylonians.

Prophetic Covenant

John Bergsma refers to the time of the great prophets as the “new covenant” which is promised to
Israel when the Messiah comes. To avoid some confusion, however, I will refer to this period of time
as the “Prophetic Covenant.” It is the span of several hundred years in which the Israelites are
scattered, enslaved, and hoping for the coming of the promised Messiah prophesied in Isaiah 11:1,
which reads, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out
of his roots.”[15] Here, God promises His people that He will send another from the line of David,
and thus, that they will be great once again.

Afterwards, God sends the prophet Jeremiah, who prophesies: “Behold, the days are coming says
the Lord, when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like
the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to deliver them out of the
hand of Egypt … But this covenant … I will write upon their hearts.”[16] By alluding to the Davidic
Covenant at various instances, God is implying that this “new covenant” will in some way be the
restoration of the Davidic Covenant. As Jesus is the true Son of God and the “Son of David,” this
restoration turns out to be true, albeit in a spiritual sense. Through misinterpretation of this prophecy,
many Israelites are deceived into expecting a mighty, earthly ruler like David to be the messiah, who
would lead them out of slavery. Their hearts were hardened to the possibility that God meant this
prophecy in a spiritual rather than material sense.

There is also ample prophecy in Ezekiel for the coming of a new covenant: “I will make with them a
covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the
wilderness and sleep in the woods … I will send down … showers of blessing.”[17] It is with the
writings and admonitions of the major and minor prophets during this “Prophetic Covenant” that the
Israelites maintained a sense of hope amid their hardships and abuses. Due to another prophecy
outlined in the book of Daniel[18] concerning the number of days that would pass before the coming
of the Messiah, by the time Jesus came along, every Jew in Israel was eagerly awaiting the
triumphant appearance of a great military leader who would deliver them from the Romans and
literally restore the Davidic kingdom. As we know, what they actually received was something quite
different. Hence, the rejection and eventual Crucifixion of the Messiah for Whom they had waited so
long.

Eucharistic Covenant

With the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ on Calvary, God has at last ushered in the New
Covenant which He promised to Israel through Ezekiel so long ago. Each and every covenant that
was made up to this point has been merely a foreshadowing of this New, Eternal Covenant, whereby
mankind is restored in his relationship to God and is, by means of divine grace, taken into God’s
family and endowed with the blessings and privileges of His kingdom. The Church in Heaven is the
true promised land, the heavenly Jerusalem of which Eden, the ark, and David’s kingdom were
merely types. The new, true temple in which God restores his people to Himself is the Body of
Christ. Thus, we see that the temple of Eden, Noah’s ark, and even Solomon’s temple were
prefigurements of the true temple of Christ’s Mystical Body. It is thanks to the infinitely meritorious
sacrifice of Christ Whose Body is at once a temple and a sacrifice, we are now given a covenant that
cannot be broken. This sacrifice, which extends forward for all time by means of the Mass, ensures
that no sin, however great, will ever undermine the Covenant which God has established with His
own Blood. If as individuals, we suffer the misfortune of breaking our own relationship with God, we
may simply repent by confessing our sins to a new covenant priest, through whom God manifests
His presence in the world, so that, by means of Christ’s most precious Blood, we may be cleansed of
our sins and brought back into that covenantal relationship with God.

Conclusion

The story of the Bible is really quite fascinating when we look at it in the context of human history
from the Garden to the Cross to the end of time. When explained in ordinary, comprehensible
language, it is essentially the story of God reaching out to humanity time and time again in
preparation for the day when He would condescend to assume our own nature in order to redeem us
from the fate to which we had consigned ourselves. More to the point, it is a story of God’s love for
His creation. A story that is not quite over yet. Even now, we await the prophesied joining of Heaven
and Earth at the end of time, as recorded in the final chapters of Revelation.[19] It is at this time that
the restoration of man’s relationship to God will be realized in its fullness, as the souls of the
righteous are reunited with their bodies and are permitted entrance to the New Jerusalem, which is
described as both a city and a garden. God is really quite poetic. As the story of man began in a
garden, so shall it end in a garden.

Most Christians today believe that there have only been two covenants established by God in
salvation history. Actually, there were seven. Certainly, there is the major division between the
seventh and preceding six, which we call the Old and New Testaments, but what the acclaimed
author, John Bergsma points out in his book Bible Basics for Catholics is that there is much more to
the Old Testament chronology than is obvious to us at first glance. Accordingly, the only way to
properly understand the story of man’s redemption is to first understand how each of the seven
covenants is interconnected and how they each in some way foreshadow the seventh, New
Covenant in which we are currently living. Even this, however, will paint us an insufficient picture of
salvation history if we do not, above all else, understand the nature of covenants themselves.
What then, is a covenant? Most people think it is merely a promise or pact made between God and
his people. While this is certainly one aspect of a covenant, there is actually much more to be
considered here. According to Bergsma, the way that ancient middle-eastern societies understood
the concept of a covenant was in terms of an extended family. In his words, a covenant may be
described as “a legal way to make someone part of your family.”[1] Thus, it can be said that the Bible
is essentially the story of God trying to establish an extended family for himself by reaching out to
humanity time and again. One other, very important aspect of a covenantal relationship is that there
are consequences that will be incurred if either party should violate the terms upon which the
covenant was established. We will see these consequences realized as we examine the Mosaic
Covenant and the Davidic Covenant, among others.

Adamic Covenant

Everyone is familiar with the story of the first covenant between God and man in the person of
Adam. Found in the book of Genesis 2:1-24[2], Bergsma describes the creation account in terms of
temple imagery. With each successive day of creation, God adds another “brick” to the temple which
He is building for Himself and His creatures. The seventh day, which is the day of rest, sits atop the
structure of creation as the cap-stone which ties the whole of creation together. Within this temple of
creation, there also sits the Garden of Eden, which is like the Holy of Holies in the Davidic Covenant
and which also foreshadows the Heavenly Jerusalem to come. This concept of the universe being
like one enormous temple in which God’s presence dwells is one which will reappear in the layout of
the temple of the Davidic Covenant.

No sooner is Adam created than he is assigned a position of authority in the temple of creation and
given certain duties to perform. He is made in God’s image and likeness, he is to “till the ground and
keep it,”[3] he is to name all of the animals, and he is to become the father of the human race. While
the naming of animals may seem like a trivial job, it actually represents something far greater. Adam
is here given a certain authority over God’s creation, thus confirming him in his kingly role. The tilling
and keeping of God’s temple indicates that Adam possesses a priestly role as well. He even bears
some elements of a prophet since a prophet is essentially a person who speaks for God. In biblical
language, therefore, Adam is appointed as “firstborn son, king, priest, prophet, and
bridegroom.”[4] Remind you of anyone? Genesis describes Adam as a type of Jesus Christ, Who, as
we know, is the true Firstborn Son of God, the true King of Creation, and so on.

Adam, of course, does not reign alone in God’s temple. God has given him Eve to be the queen of
creation and who is to become the “mother of all the living.”[5] In the New, Eucharistic Covenant, we
see that Eve was a type of the Virgin Mary, who is the true Queen of Creation and who is spiritually
“the mother of all the living,” in terms of those who have received sanctifying grace.

Ultimately, what leads Adam to break this first covenant is what theologians have long termed the
threefold lust. Seeing that the “fruit” of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was “good for food,
and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise,”[6] Adam and
Eve succumbed to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. It is important to
understand that the “knowledge” of good and evil is not so much what is implied here, but rather the
definition of good and evil. In its account of the Fall of Man, Genesis is using symbolic language to
tell us that Adam and Eve wanted to define good and evil for themselves, apart from God. If that
sounds familiar, it is probably because humanity still suffers from this temptation today. As we move
forward in salvation history we will see that time and again, each covenant is broken by yet another
manifestation of the threefold lust combined with a desire to “be like God”[7] in defining good and
evil.

Noahic Covenant

An immense period of time has passed since the Fall of Man took place in the Garden of Eden.
Humanity has increased in numbers and has spread throughout the known world. Tainted, however,
by the stain of sin inherited from Adam, man has become increasingly perverse. Things get so bad
that God decides to wipe out the human race and start over. Noticing the righteousness of Noah,
however, God commissions him to build an ark to house himself, his family, and two of every kind of
animal. This is quite significant in terms of salvation history as the ark built by Noah is now the
symbolic temple in which God’s creation is to be preserved and restored. When the floodwaters
subside, Noah sacrifices a lamb (New Testament imagery) in a priestly act. We now have another
type of Christ who, like Adam, is a priest, prophet, and king. Pleased with Noah’s sacrifice, God then
establishes a “new” covenant with humanity. This covenant is recorded in Genesis 9:8-13, which
reads:

“Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ‘Behold, I establish my covenant with you and
your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you … And God said ‘This is
the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with
you, for all future generations: I set my bow in the cloud …”[8]

The bow, of course, was commonly used as a weapon in the ancient world. Thus, what we are
seeing here is that God is not only establishing a new familial relationship with Noah and his
descendants, but is also forewarning of the consequences that will befall either party should the
covenant be broken. Sadly, this covenant would be broken shortly after it was established due to the
incident of Noah’s drunkenness recorded in Genesis 9:18-28. This would be the second time that
man would break a covenant with God due to the threefold lust.

The imagery of the Noah’s ark has long been associated with that of the Catholic Church. One of the
names by which the Church is often referred is the Ark of Salvation, clearly indicating that Noah’s ark
was not only a symbolic representation of Eden, but also a prefigurement of the Heavenly
Jerusalem, which is the Church Triumphant.

Abrahamic Covenant

Following the incident of Babel when God confused the languages in order to humble the human
race, God then chose a man named Abram to be the father of a new and great nation. God does this
in order to bless all the nations by means of Abram and his descendants. The promises that God
makes to Abram are threefold: “a great nation, a great name, and a blessing to everyone.”[9] Abram
doubts whether God will accomplish these promises, and thus, as recorded in Genesis 15, God tells
Abram to take several kinds of animals and cut them in half. Once Abram has done this, God’s
presence, in the form of a “smoking fire pot and a flaming torch,”[10] passes through the carcasses.
Abram understood that this was God’s way of establishing a covenant with him. The significance of
cutting the animals in half lay in what it symbolizes. By passing through these animal parts, God is
basically telling Abram, “If I don’t keep my promises to you, then may I too be cut in half.”

In spite of this stark imagery, however, Abram experiences severe doubts that God will ever give him
an heir since both he and his wife Sarah are advanced in age. This leads to the fall of Abram when
he chooses to take Hagar as his second wife and has a son with her. Disappointed with Abram’s
lack of faith, God reminds Abram that his heir is supposed to come from Sarah and orders him to
send Hagar away. God then reestablishes His covenant with Abram, whom He renames Abraham,
but under a painful condition. Because Abram broke the initial covenant agreement, which was
made over the cutting of animals, Abram will now have to cut himself in order to be brought back into
that covenantal relationship with God. Hence, the rite of circumcision. That’s why every descendent
of Abraham up to the time of Jesus had to undergo this painful procedure. It was a sign of the once
broken but now restored covenant.

In the course of time, God fulfilled Abraham’s desire for an heir, whom he named Isaac. Isaac is an
immensely important figure in salvation history because he represents Christ on Calvary. As a test of
Abraham’s hitherto weak faith, God orders him to sacrifice the very heir for which he had longed so
much. Having learned from his previous mistakes, Abraham obeys this command until God sends an
angel to stop him at the last possible moment. Genesis[11] records that this sacrifice was to take
place on Mount Moriah.

What is crucial to understand here is not only that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son, but
also that Isaac himself appears to have willingly consented to this sacrifice. This is because
Abraham was an old, feeble man at this time while Isaac is clearly strong enough to carry the wood
for the sacrifice for many miles up a mountain. If Isaac had wanted to escape from his father, he
could surely have done so. It seems rather that Isaac truly is a type of Christ in his willingness to die
for the love of God, while Abraham is a type of Christ in the same three roles as Adam and Noah:
priest, prophet, and king.

Mosaic Covenant

Several generations pass. Abraham’s grandson, Jacob is renamed Israel by God. His descendants
will eventually become the twelve tribes of Israel. In the interim, however, one of Israel’s sons,
Joseph, is sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers who are jealous of him because of Israel’s favor
for him as the son of his second wife, Rachel. Through a complicated series of events recorded in
Genesis 37-48, Joseph is appointed as the Pharaoh’s right-hand-man, and saves his brothers and
father from seven years of severe famine.

A few hundred years later is where Moses comes in. He will ultimately prove to be a type of Christ in
leading the Israelites out of slavery, just as Christ leads His people out of the spiritual slavery of sin.
He will also qualify as a priest, prophet, and king, just as the major biblical types of Christ before
him.

After the famine was over, the sons of Israel decided to stay in Egypt, against the will of God for
them to strive after the land He had promised to Abraham. Over time, the sons of Israel multiplied
exponentially and integrated themselves into Egyptian society. How bad could that be? Pretty bad,
since the Israelites also adopted the worship of pagan gods and became slaves to the Egyptians.

Recognizing the need to deliver His people from Egypt in order to fulfill His promises to Abraham,
God chose Moses as the instrument through which He would lead the Israelites into the promised
land. The sequence of events leading up to this can be found in Exodus 1-14.
Once the Israelites have been delivered from slavery, Moses ascends Mount Sinai, where God gives
him the Ten Commandments written on two stone tablets. The stone itself is a representation of how
hardened were the hearts of the people. This hardness was demonstrated when Moses returned to
find that, in his absence, most of the people had returned to the worship of the pagan gods of Egypt.
Enraged by the spectacle, Moses shatters the tablets on the ground to symbolize that the covenant
has just been broken, and orders those who are faithful to God to slay the idolaters. Because the
tribe of Levi were those who carried out this task, Moses declared that henceforth the priesthood
should be given to the Levites rather than to the Israelites as a whole. Hence, the Levitical
priesthood of the Old Testament in Jesus’ day. It is worth mentioning that John the Baptist, who
baptized Jesus in Jordan River, was himself a Levite.

With the idolaters slain, Moses goes back up Mount Sinai and intercedes on behalf of the people,
“reminding” God of His promise to Abraham. Thus, the covenant is renewed and a second set of
tablets are given to Moses. It is also during this moment, as recorded in Exodus 36-37, that God
commissions Moses to construct the Ark of the Covenant, in which will later be housed the manna
(Exodus 16), Arron’s staff (Exodus 7:8-13), and the stone tablets themselves. The Ark, of course, is
a type of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as the vessel in which the presence of God dwells among his
people. Contained within the Ark is the manna, which is itself a figure of the Eucharist. Unfortunately,
due to the hardness of the people and Moses’ own lack of trust in God, the Israelites were forced to
wander in the desert for 40 years without entering the promised land. Only after the original
generation delivered from Egypt had died off, did God bring them into the land that He had promised
to Abraham so long ago. The Mosaic Covenant remained essentially unaltered from time of Moses’
successor, Joshua until the arrival of King David.

One significant alteration in the Mosaic Covenant to be noted after it was broken initially was the
introduction of animal sacrifices. It seems odd to most people today that God would command the
slaughtering of animals as sacrifices. But the reason for this was actually pedagogical. God wanted
to teach the Israelites to stop worshiping the pagan gods of the Egyptians. The simplest way to
break them of this habit was to order the Israelites to kill the animals that represent these gods. In
addition, they were a prefigurement of Christ’s sacrifice.

Davidic Covenant

For several hundred years, the Israelites lived in a perpetual “cycle of sin against God, suffering
under their enemies, sorrow for their sin, salvation under a God-sent leader, and then the cycle of
sin-suffering-sorrow-salvation”[12] all over again. It was during this time that God sent “judges” to the
people of Israel, who acted as guides or leaders to point them back to the will of God. Once the
judge died, however, the people would lapse into their old, sinful habits once more until another
judge appeared to take his place. Finally, at the time of 1 Samuel 8, we find that the Israelites are
sick of judges and persuade the prophet Samuel to appoint a king for them. Ultimately, they do not
want a king so that they may thereby live more righteous lives, but only to be like all the other
nations.

Conceding to their demands, Samuel anoints Saul as the first literal king of Israel. The act of
anointing points us forward to the “the Christ,” which means “anointed one.” Essentially, anointing
someone was a symbol of authority and of God’s power being with you. Unfortunately, Saul would
become prideful and selfish, thereby forfeiting the right of kingship in God’s eyes. God therefore
selects a humble shepherd boy named David to become the next king of Israel. With God’s favor
upon him, David quickly conquers much of the surrounding region and takes Jerusalem as his
capital. It is here that the Davidic Covenant is established when God promises to David a son who
will “build God’s temple, be the Son of God, and rule over Israel forever.”[13] Notice that Jerusalem
also sits on a mountain, just like Eden, Moriah, and Sinai. Here, God is promising a son to David in
two senses. Literally, David’s son, Solomon, will possess these three characteristics, but
prophetically, the Messiah, Who is to come from David’s line, will possess them in a much fuller and
truer sense.

Ironically, Solomon is the product of David’s fall into adultery and murder, recorded in 2 Samuel 11.
Because David broke the covenant God had made with him, his reign is subject to weakness and
turmoil for the remainder of his life, even to the point of being betrayed by Absalom, whom David
trusted implicitly. This betrayal, of course, points us forward to Judas’ betrayal of Jesus.

The strength of David’s kingdom would be restored under the reign of his son, Solomon, who was
regarded by even the pagan nations as the wisest man on earth, due to his relationship with God.
Both David and Solomon fulfill the roles of priest, prophet, and king and are perhaps the starkest
prefigurements of Christ in all of the Old Testament.

It is worth mentioning that Solomon, as a type of Christ, reserved the role of queen for his mother,
Bathsheba, who, in this respect, is a type of Queen Mother Mary.

Solomon would himself succumb to the threefold lust that has plagued mankind throughout the
millennia as it is recorded[14]that he amassed great wealth for himself, possessed a great number of
horses (military might), and took over seven hundred wives, against the admonition of God through
his prophets.

Thus, even Solomon’s kingdom began to decline after his death, with weak, ineffective leaders
taking his place and with the eventual break away of ten Israelite tribes, which then migrated North
and intermingled with the pagan cultures. These became known at the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel.
What is significant to remember here is that God promises to restore the kingdom of Israel when the
Messiah comes. Hence, St. Paul and the Apostles preaching to the Gentiles in the north. Since the
northern tribes of Israel have intermarried and have been dispersed, the only way to get them back
is to evangelize all of the Gentiles. The remaining two tribes of Israel were eventually conquered and
enslaved by the Assyrians and Babylonians.

Prophetic Covenant

John Bergsma refers to the time of the great prophets as the “new covenant” which is promised to
Israel when the Messiah comes. To avoid some confusion, however, I will refer to this period of time
as the “Prophetic Covenant.” It is the span of several hundred years in which the Israelites are
scattered, enslaved, and hoping for the coming of the promised Messiah prophesied in Isaiah 11:1,
which reads, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out
of his roots.”[15] Here, God promises His people that He will send another from the line of David,
and thus, that they will be great once again.

Afterwards, God sends the prophet Jeremiah, who prophesies: “Behold, the days are coming says
the Lord, when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like
the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to deliver them out of the
hand of Egypt … But this covenant … I will write upon their hearts.”[16] By alluding to the Davidic
Covenant at various instances, God is implying that this “new covenant” will in some way be the
restoration of the Davidic Covenant. As Jesus is the true Son of God and the “Son of David,” this
restoration turns out to be true, albeit in a spiritual sense. Through misinterpretation of this prophecy,
many Israelites are deceived into expecting a mighty, earthly ruler like David to be the messiah, who
would lead them out of slavery. Their hearts were hardened to the possibility that God meant this
prophecy in a spiritual rather than material sense.

There is also ample prophecy in Ezekiel for the coming of a new covenant: “I will make with them a
covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the
wilderness and sleep in the woods … I will send down … showers of blessing.”[17] It is with the
writings and admonitions of the major and minor prophets during this “Prophetic Covenant” that the
Israelites maintained a sense of hope amid their hardships and abuses. Due to another prophecy
outlined in the book of Daniel[18] concerning the number of days that would pass before the coming
of the Messiah, by the time Jesus came along, every Jew in Israel was eagerly awaiting the
triumphant appearance of a great military leader who would deliver them from the Romans and
literally restore the Davidic kingdom. As we know, what they actually received was something quite
different. Hence, the rejection and eventual Crucifixion of the Messiah for Whom they had waited so
long.

Eucharistic Covenant

With the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ on Calvary, God has at last ushered in the New
Covenant which He promised to Israel through Ezekiel so long ago. Each and every covenant that
was made up to this point has been merely a foreshadowing of this New, Eternal Covenant, whereby
mankind is restored in his relationship to God and is, by means of divine grace, taken into God’s
family and endowed with the blessings and privileges of His kingdom. The Church in Heaven is the
true promised land, the heavenly Jerusalem of which Eden, the ark, and David’s kingdom were
merely types. The new, true temple in which God restores his people to Himself is the Body of
Christ. Thus, we see that the temple of Eden, Noah’s ark, and even Solomon’s temple were
prefigurements of the true temple of Christ’s Mystical Body. It is thanks to the infinitely meritorious
sacrifice of Christ Whose Body is at once a temple and a sacrifice, we are now given a covenant that
cannot be broken. This sacrifice, which extends forward for all time by means of the Mass, ensures
that no sin, however great, will ever undermine the Covenant which God has established with His
own Blood. If as individuals, we suffer the misfortune of breaking our own relationship with God, we
may simply repent by confessing our sins to a new covenant priest, through whom God manifests
His presence in the world, so that, by means of Christ’s most precious Blood, we may be cleansed of
our sins and brought back into that covenantal relationship with God.

Conclusion

The story of the Bible is really quite fascinating when we look at it in the context of human history
from the Garden to the Cross to the end of time. When explained in ordinary, comprehensible
language, it is essentially the story of God reaching out to humanity time and time again in
preparation for the day when He would condescend to assume our own nature in order to redeem us
from the fate to which we had consigned ourselves. More to the point, it is a story of God’s love for
His creation. A story that is not quite over yet. Even now, we await the prophesied joining of Heaven
and Earth at the end of time, as recorded in the final chapters of Revelation.[19] It is at this time that
the restoration of man’s relationship to God will be realized in its fullness, as the souls of the
righteous are reunited with their bodies and are permitted entrance to the New Jerusalem, which is
described as both a city and a garden. God is really quite poetic. As the story of man began in a
garden, so shall it end in a garden.

[1] John Bergsma, Bible Basics for Catholics: A New Picture of Salvation History. Notre Dame: Ave
Maria Press, 2012. 4.

[2] The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version. “Genesis” 2:1-24. San Francisco: Ignatius Press,
1946.

[3] Ibid.

[4] John Bergsma, Bible Basics for Catholics: A New Picture of Salvation History. Notre Dame: Ave
Maria Press, 2012. 25.

[5] The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version. “Genesis” 3:20. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1946.

[6] Ibid, 3:6

[7] Ibid. 3:5

[8] The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version. “Genesis” 9:8-13 San Francisco: Ignatius Press,
1946.

[9] John Bergsma, Bible Basics for Catholics: A New Picture of Salvation History. Notre Dame: Ave
Maria Press, 2012. 46.

[10] The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version. “Genesis” 15:17 San Francisco: Ignatius Press,
1946.

[11] The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version. “Genesis” 22 San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1946.

[12] John Bergsma, Bible Basics for Catholics: A New Picture of Salvation History. Notre Dame: Ave
Maria Press, 2012. 86.

[13] Ibid, 93

[14] The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version. “1 Kings 11 San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1946.

[15] Ibid, Isaiah 11:1

[16] Ibid, Jeremiah 31:31-34

[17] Ibid, Ezekiel 34:25-26

[18] Ibid, Daniel 9:24-27

[19] Ibid, Revelation 21-22