Biblical Covenants

The Biblical Covenants act as an instructive foundational outline
toward understanding the Word of God in its entirety.

~Covenant, Hebrew berith (ber-eeth). An alliance or treaty between equals or between heads of state and their subjects.

~Covenant, Greek diatheke (dee-ath-ay-kay). Exclusively a "last will and testament," not a contractual agreement.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

*Edenic Covenant: Genesis 1:28-29; 2:15-17

~Adam is instructed to: 1) populate and subdue the earth; 2) exercise dominion/stewardship over the animal creation; 3) tend the garden of Eden and enjoy its abundance; 4) not eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, under penalty of death. [True obedience cannot exist without the choice to disobey.]

~The Edenic Covenant was terminated by man's disobedience when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, thereby initiating their spiritual and physical deaths and thus necessitating the establishment of a new covenant with Adam...

*Adamic Covenant: Genesis 3:14-21

~This covenant is essentially a covenant with humanity, as it establishes conditions that will exist until the Curse of sin is lifted (Isaiah 11:6-10; Rom. 8:18-23). The conditions prevailing under the Adamic Covenant are:

...The serpent is cursed, being the tool Satan employed to effect Adam and Eve's fall. Formerly the most desirable of the animal creation, it is now the most repulsive.
...Satan is judged, but shall achieve limited success per Genesis 3:15. However, this same verse predicts a future Messiah and Satan's ultimate doom.
...Women shall suffer sorrow (emotional pain) and physical pain in childbirth as well as an increase in conception necessitated by the introduction of physical death.
...Women shall also suffer distorted relationships with their husbands (and all men), lending to a nuanced complexity within every relationship.
...The ground and all creation is cursed and thus resists man's efforts to tend, tame, and order it, leading to perpetual frustration which in turn complicates his relationship to a wife, as his attention is divided between God, survival, and anyone within his sphere of influence.
...Spiritual death (separation from God) and physical death (separation from "life") are a reality as the sin nature and spirit nature are perpetually at war. Both contexts of death are purposed to drive man back to God Himself Who is Spirit and Life in their fullness.

*Noahic Covenant: Genesis 9:1-17

~Following the global Flood judgment, only Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives were left to repopulate the earth. God made a covenant with Noah (as with Adam) so that humanity and all creation would be accountable to the provisions concerning the Adamic covenant, which would remain in effect with one addition: an elevated role for human government. The provisions of the Noahic covenant are:

...The responsibility to populate and subdue the earth is reaffirmed.
...Consumption of animal flesh is now permitted, but not the blood. Further, the fear of humanity is placed upon all animal creation.
...The sacredness of human life is established; the shedding of human blood, whether by beast or human, must be punishable by death.
...God promises to never again destroy the earth by a global flood; the next global judgment will be by fire (2 Peter 3:10).
...God declares the rainbow a binding sign of this covenant for Noah and future generations; proving that capital punishment remains a presently viable civil and Biblical policy (Gen. 9:5-6).

{The previous covenants are universal in that they affect all Creation}
~~~
{The following covenants are theocratic in that they reflect God's Sovereignty}

*Abrahamic Covenant: Genesis 12:1-3; 13:14-17; 15:1-21; 17:1-8

~This covenant is unconditional and depends solely upon God acting in grace, indicated by the unconditional declaration, "I will..." The Abrahamic covenant is the foundation for each subsequent covenant and constitutes a connection between all that God initially began (see prior covenants), has historically accomplished, and shall continue to bring to fruition until the end of history (see subsequent covenants). There are three areas of blessing:
-National: "I will make you a great nation..."
-Personal: "I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing."
-Universal: "...in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

~The universal aspect of this covenant is far-reaching and eternal:
...Blessed shall be those people and nations that bless Abraham and Israel.
...Cursed shall be those people and nations that curse Abraham and Israel.
...Blessed shall be all families of the earth through Christ (Abraham's progeny) Who offers Salvation to the world.

~Further study:
-Humility borne in a leader, Gen. 14:21-24
-Faith and circumcision, Gen. 17:9-14 and Romans 4:9-12

*Mosaic Covenant: Exodus 19:3-8; 20:1-17

~This covenant is conditional, evidenced by its formula, "If you (Israel) will indeed obey My voice... then you shall be a special treasure to Me." The Mosaic covenant did not replace the Abrahamic covenant, rather it is an additional covenant given so that Israel would have an ethical standard to follow until the appearance of the Messiah. The apostle Paul clarifies this in Galatians 3:17-19, therein proving that the Law was not given so that by keeping it people could be saved, but so that people would realize they cannot achieve moral and ethical perfection regardless of how determined they are to do so. This effect is purposed toward underscoring an individual's need to receive God's righteousness only by faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:22-24).

~Three areas of covenantal governance are set forth:
-The commandments governed Israel's personal lives in relation to God and to one another (Exodus 20).
-The judgments governed Israel's social lives (Ex. 21-23).
-The sacrificial statutes governed Israel's religious lives, instructing them how to approach God on His terms (Ex. 24-31).

~Israel's identity was forged within this extreme socio-religious system which led to their reluctance to accept the eventual New Covenant that Christ established, the very covenant that the sacrificial statutes pointed to (Hebrews 9).

~Further study:
-God's relational forging of a leader, Ex. 32:7-14, 30-33
-The Law's idolatrous future as a graven image (20:4), Ex. 31:18; 32:16; 34:1, 4
-A God encounter and covenant renewal, Ex. 34:1-10

*Palestinian Covenant: Deuteronomy 29:10-15; 30:11-20

~This covenant covers Israel and the Land promised to them. Two aspects are:
-The legal aspect is immediate and conditional (Deut. 27-29); "If you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God... then the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth." Israel failed in this and remains under God's curse for their disobedience, as Israel has been scattered among the nations and despite her "rebirth" the glory of Jacob has waned in that Israel is not a theocracy but is a secular nation (Isaiah 17:4).
-The grace aspect is future and unconditional (Deut. 30:1-9); "...the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity and have compassion on you and gather you again from all nations where the Lord your God has scattered you." Though this has not been entirely fulfilled we can see the development of its fruition in such circumstances as the aforementioned "rebirth" of national Israel on May 14, 1948 and the constant influx of Jews back to Palestine despite the rise of anti-Semitism and the growing axis of Israel's enemies blatantly condemning her existence. Ezekiel 37 shows the regathering of Israel in preparation for the unfolding of final-age prophecy; refer to Exodus 30:1-10.

~Further study:
-The Way, Truth, and Life, Exodus 30:15-16 and John 14:6
-The Israeli military was not sufficient to survive apart from God, thus the conquest of Canaan required a choice to obey or to perish, Ex. 30:17-18 and Joshua/Judges

*Davidic Covenant: 2 Samuel 7:4-17

~The covenant with David promises three things: 1) a land to dwell in forever; 2) an eternal dynasty; 3) an eternal Kingdom. Though David becomes king of Israel, he is not permitted to build a temple for God, as he is a man of war. However, the birth of Solomon, David's son to succeed him, is prophesied (7:12); it is Solomon who shall establish the throne of the Davidic Kingdom (7:13) and build the temple of God.

~Though Solomon's throne continues, his seed is cursed in the person of Jeconiah (Coniah), who is king when Israel is taken captive to Babylon in BC 586. Jeremiah prophesies that no one whose genealogy could be traced back to David through Jeconiah and Solomon would ever occupy David's throne (Jer. 22:24-30).
...Joseph, the legal, but not biological, father of Jesus traces his lineage back to David through Jeconiah and is thus cursed (Matt. 1:1-17). However, another of David's sons, Nathan, carries a genealogy that is not cursed. It is from this lineage that Mary, Jesus' mother, descends (Luke 3:23-38). Thus, Jesus receives His legal right to the Davidic throne through His adoptive father, Joseph, while His blood right is received through His biological mother, Mary.
...Moreover, the virgin birth not only makes sense of the phrase "her Seed" (Gen. 3:15), since the "seed" and sex of a child is determined by the male, but itself assured the sinless character of Christ (not being born into sin), guaranteed that one of David's lineage would occupy His throne forever, and simultaneously preserved the curse on the lineage of Jeconiah.

*The New Covenant: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 9:11, 24, 28

~This covenant is considered "new" because it actually accomplishes what the Mosaic covenant only alluded to, such being the child of God living a truly fulfilled life consistent with being created in the "image of God." The passion, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ form the foundation of the New Covenant; Jesus' atonement for the "iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6) is more than sufficient for all who would believe in Him.

~Being the last of the covenants, the provisions therein set forth an eternal paradigm:

*Regeneration- God will put His Law in their minds and write it in their hearts.
*National Restoration- Yahweh will be their God and Israel His people.
*Indwelling of the Holy Spirit- all will be individually taught by God.
*Full Atonement- all sins will be forgiven and washed away by His blood.