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General Information
A covenant is a mutual agreement between 2 or more persons to do or refrain from doing certain acts. Sometimes, this is the undertaking of one of the parties. In the Bible, God is regarded as the witness of this pact (Gen. 31:50, 1Sam. 20:8).
In the Old Testament, there are three different types of covenant:
God made several such covenants in the Bible:
The prophets foretold a New Covenant (Jer. 31:31-34) which would center in a person (Isa. 42:6; 49:8). In the New Covenant, the Covenant of Grace, man is placed in right relationship to God through Christ (Heb. 7:22; 8:6-13; 2Cor. 3:6-18).
Covenant is a legal concept often used in the Bible as a metaphor to describe the relationship between God and humankind. The biblical usage was derived from ancient secular usage, where covenant meant a binding and solemn agreement between two or more parties. There were different kinds of covenants in the biblical world, however, just as there are different kinds of contracts today. One type of ancient covenant that serves as a model for certain biblical passages is the royal grant. In this type of covenant, a king or other person in authority rewards a loyal subject by granting him an office, land, exemption from taxes, or the like. It is typical of such covenants that only the superior party binds himself; conditions are not imposed on the inferior party.
Such covenants are also referred to as covenants of promise or unconditional covenants. The covenants God made with Noah (Gen. 9:8 - 17), Abraham (Gen. 15:18), and David (2 Sam. 7; 23:5) fit this pattern. In each of these cases, it is God alone who binds himself by a solemn oath to keep the covenant.
The Mosaic covenant (Ex. 19 - 24; Deut.; Josh. 24) seems to have been modeled on another type of ancient covenant, the political treaty between a powerful king and his weaker vassal. Following the standard form of such treaties, God, the suzerain, reminds Israel, the vassal, how God has saved it, and Israel in response accepts the covenant stipulations. Israel is promised a blessing for obedience and a curse for breaking the covenant.
These two different conceptions of covenant, one stressing promise, the other obligation, eventually modified one another. Jesus Christ added a third model, that of a last will and testament. At the Last Supper, he interpreted his own life and death as the perfect covenant (Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20). The idea of a covenant between God and humankind lies at the heart of the Bible. This idea explains the selection of the word testament, a synonym for covenant, in naming the two parts of the Bible.
J J M Roberts
Bibliography
D R Hillers, Covenant: The History of a Biblical Idea
(1969); G E Mendenhall, The Tenth Generation: The Origins of the
Biblical Tradition (1973); A W Pink, The Divine Covenants (1984).
Covenant primarily signifies "a disposition of property by will or otherwise." In its use in the Septuagint, it is the rendering of a Hebrew word meaning a "covenant" or agreement (from a verb signifying "to cut or divide," in allusion to a sacrificial custom in connection with "covenant-making," e.g., Gen. 15:10, "divided" Jer. 34:18-19). In contradistinction to the English word "covenant" (lit., "a coming together"), which signifies a mutual undertaking between two parties or more, each binding himself to fulfill obligations, it does not in itself contain the idea of joint obligation, it mostly signifies an obligation undertaken by a single person.
For instance, in Gal. 3:17 it is used as an alternative to a "promise" (vv. 16-18). God enjoined upon Abraham the rite of circumcision, but His promise to Abraham, here called a "covenant," was not conditional upon the observance of circumcision, though a penalty attached to its nonobservance. "
The NT uses of the word may be analyzed as follows: (a) a promise or undertaking, human or divine, Gal. 3:15; (b) a promise or undertaking on the part of God, Luke 1:72; Acts 3:25; Rom. 9:4; 11:27; Gal. 3:17; Eph. 2:12; Heb. 7:22; 8:6, 8, 10; 10:16; (c) an agreement, a mutual undertaking, between God and Israel, see Deut. 29-30 (described as a 'commandment,' Heb. 7:18, cf. v. 22); Heb. 8:9; 9:20; (d) by metonymy, the token of the covenant, or promise, made to Abraham, Acts 7:8; (e) by metonymy, the record of the covenant, 2 Cor. 3:14; Heb. 9:4; cf. Rev. 11:19; (f) the basis, established by the death of Christ, on which the salvation of men is secured, Matt. 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25; 2 Cor. 3:6; Heb. 10:29; 12:24; 13:20. "This covenant is called the 'new,' Heb. 9:15, the 'second,' 8:7, the 'better,' 7:22. In Heb. 9:16-17, the translation is much disputed. There does not seem to be any sufficient reason for departing in these verses from the word used everywhere else. The English word 'Testament' is taken from the titles prefixed to the Latin Versions."
Covenant, lit., "to put together," is used only in the middle voice in the NT, and, means "to determine, agree," John 9:22 and Acts 23:20; "to assent," Acts 24:9; "to covenant," Luke 22:5. Note: In Matt. 26:15 the KJV translates histemi, "to place (in the balances)," i.e., to weigh, "they covenanted with"; RV, "they weighed unto."
The doctrine of the covenant was one of the theological contributions that came to the church through the Reformation of the sixteenth century. Undeveloped earlier, it made its appearance in the writings of Zwingli and Bullinger, who were driven to the subject by Anabaptists in and around Zurich. From them it passed to Calvin and other Reformers, was further developed by their successors, and played a dominant role in much Reformed theology of the seventeenth century when it came to be known as covenant, or federal, theology. Covenant theology sees the relation of God to mankind as a compact which God established as a reflection of the relationship existing between the three persons of the Holy Trinity.
This emphasis on God's covenantal dealings with the human race tended to lessen what appeared to some to be harshness in the earlier Reformed theology which emanated from Geneva, with its emphasis on the divine sovereignty and predestination. From Switzerland covenant theology passed over into Germany, and from there into the Netherlands and the British Isles. Among its early and most influential advocates were, besides Zwingli and Bullinger, Olevianus (Concerning the Nature of the Covenant of Grace Between God and the Elect, 1585), Cocceius (Doctrine of the Covenant and Testaments of God, 1648), and Witsius (The Oeconomy of the Covenants, 1685). It was taken up into the Westminister Confession and came to have an important place in the theology of Scotland and New England.
Inasmuch as he was acting not only for himself but representatively for mankind, Adam was a public person. His fall therefore affected the entire human race that was to come after him; all are now conceived and born in sin. Without a special intervention of God there would be no hope; all would be lost forever.
The good news, however, is that God has intervened in behalf of mankind with another covenant. Unlike the earlier covenant of works, whose mandate was "Do this and you shall live" (cf. Rom. 10:5; Gal. 3:12), the covenant of grace is bestowed on men in their sinful condition with the promise that, in spite of their inability to keep any of the commandments of God, out of sheer grace he forgives their sin and accepts them as his children through the merits of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, on the condition of Faith.
On this foundation covenant theology affirms that God the Father and God the Son covenanted together for the redemption of the human race, the Father appointing the Son to be the mediator, the Second Adam, whose life would be given for the salvation of the world, and the Son accepting the commission, promising that he would do the work which the Father had given him to do and fulfill all righteousness by obeying the law of God. Thus before the foundation of the world, within the eternal being of God, it had been determined that creation would not be destroyed by sin, but that rebellion and iniquity would be overcome by God's grace, that Christ would become the new head of humanity, the Savior of the world, and that God would be glorified.
Thus Heb. 7:22 calls Jesus the "surety" or "guarantee" of the new covenant, which is better than that which came through Moses. Within the context of this last passage repeated mention is made of God's promise to Christ and his people. He will be their God and they will be his people. He will bestow on them the grace they need to confess his name and live with him forever; in humble dependence on him for their every need, they will live in trustful obedience from day to day. This latter, called faith in Scripture, is the sole condition of the covenant, and even it is a gift of God (Eph. 2:8 - 9).
Although the covenant of grace includes various dispensations of history, it is essentially one. From the promise in the garden (Gen. 3:15), through the covenant made with Noah (Gen. 6 - 9), to the day that the covenant was established with Abraham, there is abundant evidence of God's grace. With Abraham a new beginning is made which the later, Sinaitic covenant implements and strengthens. At Sinai the covenant assumes a national form and stress is laid on the law of God. This is not intended to alter the gracious character of the covenant, however (Gal. 3:17 - 18), but it is to serve to train Israel until the time would come when God himself would appear in its midst. In Jesus the new form of the covenant that had been promised by the prophets is manifest, and that which was of a temporary nature in the old form of the covenant disappears (Jer. 31:31 - 34; Heb. 8). While there is unity and continuity in the covenant of grace throughout history, the coming of Christ and the subsequent gift of the Holy Spirit have brought rich gifts unknown in an earlier age.
These are a foretaste of future blessedness when this present world passes away and the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, comes down out of heaven from God (Rev. 21:2).
M E Osterhaven
Bibliography
L Berkhof, Systematic Theology; C Hodge, Systematic
Theology, II; H Heppe, Reformed Dogmatics; H Bavinck, Our
Reasonable Faith; G Schrenk, Gottesreich und Bund in alteren
Protestantismus; H H Wolf, Die Einheit des Bundes.
Covenant, in Old Testament theology, is a compact between God and his worshipers. Covenants were originally developed by the civilizations of the ancient Middle East as a means of regulating relations between social or political entities. The earliest evidence for covenants comes from Sumer in the 3rd millennium BC. In the late Bronze Age (14th century to 13th century BC), covenants were used by the Hittites to define the reciprocal obligations of suzerain and vassal. Covenants often took the form of military treaties and were used to specify the terms of peace between a victor and a defeated foe.
The earliest covenant recorded in the Old Testament occurs in Genesis 15:12-21, in which Yahweh pledges himself unconditionally to grant the land of Palestine to Abraham's descendants. Similarly, in 2 Samuel 7:13-17, Yahweh promises to establish the dynasty of King David forever. This type of unilateral pledge is called a promissory covenant, in contrast to the obligatory covenant, such as that made between Yahweh and Moses, in which both parties bind themselves to abide by certain stipulations. Exodus 24:7 relates that Moses took "the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, 'All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.'!" Contemporary scholars believe that "the book of the covenant" includes the section in Exodus from 20:23 through 23:33.
From these and other passages in the Pentateuch has arisen the conception of a covenant between Yahweh and the people of Israel, whereby the Israelites were to enjoy the blessing and protection of Yahweh in return for remaining obedient and faithful to him. After the Jews were driven out of Palestine and scattered over the earth, the covenant between the Jews and Yahweh was interpreted by them to include an eventual restoration of their ancient homeland.
According to Christian theology, Jesus Christ, by his death on the cross, made a covenant for the redemption of humanity. Theologians differ about the precise meaning of this covenant, sometimes called the New Covenant or the Covenant of the New Testament. Some believe that Christ's voluntary sacrifice redeemed all; others contend that only those who earn their redemption by faith alone, or by faith and good works, can or will be saved.
A covenant is a contract or agreement between two parties. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word berith is always thus translated. Berith is derived from a root which means "to cut," and hence a covenant is a "cutting," with reference to the cutting or dividing of animals into two parts, and the contracting parties passing between them, in making a covenant (Gen. 15; Jer. 34:18, 19).
The corresponding word in the New Testament Greek is diatheke, which is, however, rendered "testament" generally in the Authorized Version. It ought to be rendered, just as the word berith of the Old Testament, "covenant." This word is used (1) of a covenant or compact between man and man (Gen. 21: 32), or between tribes or nations (1 Sam. 11:1; Josh. 9:6, 15). In entering into a convenant, Jehovah was solemnly called on to witness the transaction (Gen. 31:50), and hence it was called a "covenant of the Lord" (1 Sam. 20:8). The marriage compact is called "the covenant of God" (Prov. 2:17), because the marriage was made in God's name. Wicked men are spoken of as acting as if they had made a "covenant with death" not to destroy them, or with hell not to devour them (Isa. 28:15, 18).
(2.) The word is used with reference to God's revelation of himself in the way of promise or of favour to men. Thus God's promise to Noah after the Flood is called a covenant (Gen. 9; Jer.l 33:20, "my covenant"). We have an account of God's covernant with Abraham (Gen. 17, comp. Lev. 26:42], of the covenant of the priesthood (Num. 25:12, 13; Deut. 33:9; Neh. 13:29), and of the covenant of Sinai (Ex. 34:27, 28; Lev. 26:15], which was afterwards renewed at different times in the history of Israel (Deut. 29; Josh. 24; 2 Chr. 15; 23; 29; 34; Ezra 10; Neh. 9). In conformity with human custom, God's covenant is said to be confirmed with an oath (Deut. 4:31; Ps. 89:3), and to be accompanied by a sign (Gen. 9; 17). Hence the covenant is called God's "counsel," "oath," "promise" (Ps. 89:3, 4; 105:8-11; Heb. 6:13-20; Luke 1:68-75). God's covenant consists wholly in the bestowal of blessing (Isa. 59:21; Jer. 31:33, 34). The term covenant is also used to designate the regular succession of day and night (Jer. 33:20), the Sabbath (Ex. 31:16), circumcision (Gen. 17:9, 10), and in general any ordinance of God (Jer. 34:13, 14). A "covenant of salt" signifies an everlasting covenant, in the sealing or ratifying of which salt, as an emblem of perpetuity, is used (Num. 18:19; Lev. 2:13; 2 Chr. 13:5).
This covenant is also called a covenant of nature, as made with man in his natural or unfallen state; a covenant of life, because "life" was the promise attached to obedience; and a legal covenant, because it demanded perfect obedience to the law. The "tree of life" was the outward sign and seal of that life which was promised in the covenant, and hence it is usually called the seal of that covenant. This covenant is abrogated under the gospel, inasmuch as Christ has fulfilled all its conditions in behalf of his people, and now offers salvation on the condition of faith. It is still in force, however, as it rests on the immutable justice of God, and is binding on all who have not fled to Christ and accepted his righteousness.
The conditions of this covenant were,:
(Easton Illustrated Dictionary)
The Covenanters were Scottish Presbyterians of the 17th century who subscribed to covenants (or bonds), the most famous being the National Covenant of 1638 and the Solemn League and Covenant of 1643. The National Covenant opposed the new liturgy introduced (1637) by King Charles I. This led to the abolition of episcopacy in Scotland and the Bishops' Wars (1639-41), in which the Scots successfully defended their religious freedom against Charles.
In the Solemn League and Covenant, the Scots pledged their support to the English parliamentarians in the English Civil War with the hope that Presbyterianism would become the established church in England. This hope was not fulfilled. In fact, after the Restoration (1660), King Charles II restored the episcopacy and denounced the covenants as unlawful. Three revolts of the Covenanters (1666, 1679, 1685) were harshly repressed. After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, William III reestablished the Presbyterian church in Scotland but did not renew the covenants.
Charles H. Haws
Bibliography
Cowan, I. B., Scottish Covenanters (1976);
Stevenson, D., The Scottish Revolution, 1637-44 (1973).
The Covenant of Works, was entered into by God with Adam as the representative of the human race (comp. Gen. 9:11, 12; 17: 1-21), so styled because perfect obedience was its condition, thus distinguishing it from the covenant of grace.
(Easton Illustrated Dictionary)
We are not to suppose that the promises were fulfilled by Israel's restoration from the Babylonian captivity. It will be recalled that she was not then scattered "among all the nations" or "unto the utmost parts of heaven." Moreover, when God recalled them from Babylon, they were not all brought back nor multiplied above their fathers (5), nor were their hearts circumcised to love the Lord (6). It may be said that there was a foreshadowing of the ultimate fulfilment of the prophecy at that time, but nothing more. The complete accomplishment is yet to come. Israel is yet to be converted to Jesus Christ as her Messiah, and returned to her land in accordance with what all the prophets teach.
Questions 1. Name and distinguish between the two covenants mentioned. 2. How many of the Scripture references have you examined under the paragraph "The Need of Eye Salve"? 3. Name the seven features of the Palestinian covenant. 4. Why was not the restoration from Babylon the fulfilment of these promises? 5. When will they be fulfilled?
covenant
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