Covenants

The word covenant appears more than 300 times in the Bible. God made a covenant with Noah, and a covenant with Abraham, and a covenant with Israel. And, of course, we are part of the New Covenant. But, what does that mean? What is a covenant? According to Holman Bible Dictionary, a covenant is a pact, treaty, alliance, or agreement between two parties of equal or of unequal authority. So, is a covenant just a fancy word for a contract? a) Deuteronomy 7:6 b) Hosea 2:19-23

Structure of an Ancient Near East Covenant

from Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church, by Michael Lawrence, Crossway, 2010, p. 61.

preamble

identifies the great king who authors the covenant

historical prologue identifies what the great king has already done for the vassal (lesser) king stipulations document clause what is expected of the vassal, both summary and detailed a paragraph requiring that copies of the covenant be placed in the temples of each of the kings and that the vassal king periodically read the covenant publicly and pass it on to his sons typically the gods of both kings these would accrue of the covenant was kept these would be invoked should the covenant be broken

witnesses blessings curses

Finally, the covenant would be ratified through an oath and a blood sacrifice

The Suzerain Covenant in the Old Testament

from Meredith G. Kline's The Structure of Biblical Authority, Wipf & Stock, 1997.

Table of Major Biblical Covenants

from Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church, by Michael Lawrence, Crossway, 2010, p. 61.

Name Creation

Type Works

Blessing Eternal sinless life

Curse Spiritual & physical death

Sign The tree of life?

Text Gen 2:15-17 Gen 3:15

Redemption Works (intra- Redemption of the Trinitarian) seed of the woman Noahic Abrahamic Grace Grace

Judgment of the Enmity seed of the serpent between the seeds Rainbow

Judgment postponed None A place and people None under God's rule, blessing the nations Possession of the land Forgiveness and eternal life in the kingdom of God Exile

Gen 9:8-17

Circumcision Gen 15, 17

Mosaic Davidic New

Works Grace Grace

Sabbath A Son Baptism

Ex 20ff 2 Sam 7 Jer 31:27-34; Matt 26:27-30

An eternal kingdom None None

The Covenantal Arrangement of the Christian Bible

by Miles van Pelt

Application
So, let's look at how covenantal structure affects our application. 1) Are we supposed to: a) be a David? b) Joshua? c) Hosea? d) Ezekiel? e) Can we be an apostle, like Peter, performing miracles? I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk! (Acts 3:6) 2) Now, can we be a: a) Daniel (facing the lions)? b) Ruth or a Boaz?