What is Covenant in the Old Testament sense - Research Paper Example

Introduction In the Old Testament, the b’rith terms refers to covenant in Hebrew. A covenant refers to the agreement made between two or more people. God initiated many covenants with various people in biblical history. These include Abraham, Noah and Adam among many others. A covenant formed an important component of the biblical history and modern day theology. The flow of the biblical covenants includes (Mason 177): First of all, God made a covenant with His Son regarding the elect before the creation of the universe and consisted of the Father promising to bring to His Son all the people the Father had given Him (John 17: 9-24 ; 6:39). Manifestation of the covenant occurred in the world through the sequence of additional covenants between God and individuals. These include Adam (Gen 2: 15-17), Abraham (Gen 17), Noah (Gen 9:12-16), Mt Sinai covenant with Israelites (Ex 34:28), David (Sam 7:12-16) and New covenant believers (Jer 31:31-37). All the additional covenants involved the ‘Covenant of Grace’ when God establishes covenants with His elect with the promise of salvation through Faith in Jesus Christ (Mason 178). According to some theologians, there is only one covenant referred as the covenant of redemption within which all other covenants originate. This involved the agreement between the Father and the Son that gave the Son as Redeemer and head of the elect. As a result, the Son took the place assigned by the Father voluntarily. This formed a twofold assurance of Son as a guarantee and surety to fulfil the requirements of God’s laws. The Covenant of Grace involved God’s redemption of the sinners. Therefore, Old Testament covenant reflects the legal contract of Partnership, union and fellowship of god with men. Definition of the ‘Covenant’ The word covenant appears 286 times in the Old Testament where it forms a background for each book. This led to a precise definition on the essence of covenant involves various definitions. However, all definitions encompass sovereignty administered relationship between God and His people within bonds of mutual love and faithfulness (McAleese 236). Covenant can be defined as the unilateral or bilateral agreement that defines the previous relationship and made binding using symbolic or verbal oath. Covenant in Hebrew depicted the development of God’s covenant ranging from the time of creation to the time of the new covenant. In Arabic, covenant involved the contract binding humanity and God. The concept of covenant provides a distinctive and unique fellowship with God. This fellowship depends on legal covenant, and this implies the existence of dependable and stable element in Old Testament religion (McAleese 237). Concepts of Covenant Faith inspiring Fellowship The covenant concept gave the Old Testament people a mighty anchor for their faith. This allowed them a vantage ground with their God where God remained obligated to them through the covenant. He remained to be their God, and they become His people. For instance, this covenant background enabled Jacob cling to the angel until He blessed him. This covenant required people turn away from their sins after which they could claim God’s favour (Wood 133). Exclusive Fellowship The covenant established exclusive fellowship between Hebrews and God. Hebrews remained as His chosen people, and He remained Yahweh their God. The covenantal idea formed a background for the Jewish religion, and it demanded exclusive loyalty to preclude the possibility of multiple loyalties in other religions. The illustration of loyalty to God took place through marriages, where Hosea, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah charged Israelites against adultery. The expression of God as being their God and them being His people comprised of the legal formula taken from marriage sphere and attested through legal documents from Ancient Near east (Hosea 2:4). This explains why prophets such as Isaiah frowned on alliance made by Israelites with their neighbours (Wood 133). Douglas Stuart Guidelines on Old Testament Covenant Old Testament law forms a covenant since it involved binding between two parties with obligations specified. In old testaments, most covenants involved the suzerainty type. There involved suzerain or overlord and the servants, where they guaranteed the servants protection and benefits. In return, servants expressed loyalty to suzerain due to warnings of any punishments in case of disloyalty. The old testament represents the old covenant that people no longer keep Some old covenant stipulations remained even after renewal in the new covenant like the ritual and civil laws among Israelites Types of Covenant A covenant involves mutual agreement where there is the command from superior to the inferior. It involves an obligation from one person to another. Covenant refers to agreement of magnitude and is a sacred binding. In the Old Testament, the term oath acted as an equivalent of covenant. The Old Testament had ceremonial references in partaking the covenant between them. Some of the major covenants in the Old Testament include Edenic, Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Palestinian, the new covenant and Davidic (Wood 135). Covenants of Creation The three covenants of creation include Noahic, Adamic and Edenic. These started from creation of the world until after floods when God promised never to destroy people again. The Edenic covenant involves the acts of God of creation, where God created human beings and the world and promised a partner, woman. He instructed them to subdue and propagate the earth, and gave them dominion over all animals and stewardship over gardens. This covenant happened between God and Adam and is different from the Adamic covenant. It concerns life of man prior to fall and involved blessings and curses. This covenant prohibited man from eating the tree of knowledge (Mason 178). On the other hand, Adamic began after Adam and Eve became awareness of their sin and involved the period between comings of the kingdom and took place in the mountain of God. Instead of blessings, Adamic covenant involved various curses, when God told the woman to suffer pain during child birth. The Noahic covenant involved God’s regret over the creation, where Noah created an ark to relent His anger by saving Noah. The floods destroyed the earth. The Noahic covenant is a progression of Adamic and Edenic covenant where individuals involved were couples. In Noahic covenant, God made a covenant with Noah and his extended family. After the floods, God promised not to destroy people with floods. He reaffirmed the life conditions of fallen man enduring after he laid down the Adamic covenant. God promised that man must master all other animals, confirming the natural order. God issued an instruction to man not to eat the tree at the middle of the garden and required that man must be responsible for the human life. This demanded and reckoned for any loss, and this establishes the human government where man must be responsible for the life of other people. God made several declarations of cursing Canaan to be Shem’s slave. Shem was declared blessed and entered into a unique relationship with Lord. The commentators note the future divine revelation through Semitic men, who were Shem’s descendants. The sign for covenant was the bow, and it appeared in the clouds (Gen 9:6). Abrahamic Covenant The Abrahamic covenant involved a promise. Foreseeing the justification of gentiles by faith, God promised to save all the nations of the earth through Abraham. In the development of the redemptive purpose, God called Abram promising him descendants and land. God formalized the covenant through theophany where He restated the promises and made them binding through oaths. However, God demanded a demonstration of walk in faith for the covenant between Him and Abraham. God promised Abraham an everlasting covenant with him as the father of the multitude of nations and kings coming through him. God ratified the covenant to demonstrate His seriousness in the covenant. This covenant involved blessings to the gentiles and involved the entire humanity. The intentions of God during the covenant involved spiritual blessings. The obligation involved circumcision of the heart and not of the flesh (Dynes 170) Sinai (Mosaic) Covenant Sinai covenant came upon the preparation of Israelites in their entry to the Promised Land. During this period, God gave out commandments to Moses, and the covenant was universal and communal. It required Israelites become a kingdom of priests through which God would pour His blessings to all humanity, and the realization of the promises required Israelites’ obedience. The ratification of Sinai covenant took place using blood. Sprinkling the blood on the altar expressed deep relationship with God and confirmed the covenant. From the book of Leviticus, God established a sacrificial system that culminated in the Day of Atonement to represent forgiveness and purification. God promised Israel to make them special people to Him, and that Israel occupied a special place before God; to be a holy nation and kingdom of priests (Ex 19:5-6). The call of Moses fulfilled God’s promises to Abraham. The conditional fulfilment of liberating Israelites fulfilled the Abrahamic covenant. Union and Communion with God forms the centre of both Abrahamic and Sinai covenants. Furthermore, God made covenants with David and prophets like Zechariah, Malachi and Isaiah among others. This involved restoration of Israel. God’s covenant with David involved promises of his descendant saving the world and Jesus Christ came from the root of David. The prophets restored Israel after they fall short of God’s glory. Through-it all, God remained faithful. Failure of Israel in remaining loyal to God led to eschatological hopes and an ultimate understanding of the importance of God’s purpose for the covenant than the provision of the laws. This led to development to the new covenant (Dynes 172). Works Cited Dynes, Russell R. "Noah and Disaster Planning: The Cultural Significance of the Flood Story." Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management 11.4 (2003): 170-77. Print. Mason, S. D. "Another Flood? Genesis 9 and Isaiah have Broken Eternal Covenant." Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 32.2 (2007): 177-98. Print. McAleese, K. "Book Review: Scripture: Glory and Power, Ritual and Relationship: The Sinai Covenant in the Postexilic Period. By Richard J. Bautch. New York / London: T & T Clark, 2009. Pp. Viii + 175. Price:  50 (hbk). ISBN 978-0-567-02822-8." Irish Theological Quarterly 75.2 (2010): 236-38. Print. Wood, John Halsey. "Merit in the Midst of Grace: The Covenant with Adam Reconsidered in View of the Two Powers of God." International Journal of Systematic Theology 10.2 (2008): 133-48. Print. Read More