Covenants in the Bible

Elements of a Covenant

• Historical preamble
• Commitments
• Self-maledictory oaths (may this happen to me if I break it)
• Symbolism (meal or physical action. Seal or deposit)

? Adam & Eve Not called a covenant, although many people assume it is. No promise

• Genesis 2
  16. And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;
  17. but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

1. With Noah and his descendents (Noahic)

• Genesis 9
  8. Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him:
  9. “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you
  10. and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth.
  11. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

2. With Abraham (Abrahamic)

• Genesis 15
  17. When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.
  18. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates-

3. With the Nation of Israel at Mt Sinai when the law was given (Mosaic)

• Exodus 19
  3. while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel:
  4. You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.
  5. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;
  6. and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation...

4. With King David (Davidic)

• 2 Samuel 7
  12. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
  13. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
  15. but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you...
  16. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’”

5. The New Covenant

• Hebrews 8
  7. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.
  8. For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
  9. not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.
  10. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
  11. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
  12. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”
  13. In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.