Covenants

What are they and why are they

important in life?
 Covenant
• Even though God is powerful and awesome, he
has a relationship with humanity
• He had an agreement with humanity
• A covenant is between two parties where each
party has to do its part.
• A covenant is an agreement between two
people with solemn promises and conditions.
There must be a binding commitment between
the people.
 The Concept of Covenant

• A covenant in the ancient world was similar to what we

in the modern world would call a contract, treaty, or
will.
• Each covenant established the basis of a relationship,
conditions for that relationship, promises and
conditions of the relationship and consequences if
those conditions were unmet. e.g. marriage.
• God is a covenant-making, covenant-keeping, and
covenant-fulfilling God. God establishes covenants
with certain people and these covenants are the way
God unfolds his redemptive plan.
• The Biblical Covenants
• There are several covenants in the Bible, but five
covenants are crucial for understanding the story of
the Bible and God’s redemptive plan: the Noahic
Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, The Mosaic
Covenant, the Davidic Covenant and the New Covenant.
 The Abrahamic Covenant
• Genesis 12 and 15. This is the most central to
the biblical story
• God promises Abraham
• land, descendants and blessing. This
blessing promised to Abraham would extend
through him to all the peoples of the earth.
• The Abrahamic Covenant is paramount to
understanding issues like
• Promised Land,
• election,
• the people of God, and
• inheritance…
• circumcision, and Jews and Gentiles
divisions.
 Abrahamic covenant
• God had a covenant relationship with Abraham
• God promised Abraham:
 give him lots of children (God would make great
nations out of him) This is when God changed Abram’s
name to Abraham meaning ‘father of many nations’.
 Blessings and redemption (God would bless Abraham and
families of the nation through him) God asked Abraham
to circumcise himself and all Jewish boys after him. This is
a sign of the Abrahamic covenant.
 To give him land (God would give him land) The land of
Canaan then became known as Israel…Promised land
 This was an unconditional covenant. God promised Abraham
and he (Abraham) had done nothing to have these promises
fulfilled.
 What Abraham had to do
• Abraham had to circumcise every male person
in his household
• He was to walk before God blameless
• Abraham obeyed God with no hint of doubt or
disbelief.
• This makes Jews have a special relationship with
their God. They are close to God because of
what Abraham did.
 Importance of Covenant

• Jews understand their relationship with God in terms of a covenant

where both parties agree to look after each other’s interests.
• Jews believe that God chose them as a holy nation, to dedicate
themselves to serve him and prepare the world for a future time of
peace and justice when all people will be united and recognise
God.
• Through Covenants with Abraham and Moses, God made it known
that he had chosen the Jews and gave them rules and commands
on how to live, as an example of how he wanted all people to live.
• Jews believe that this places a special obligation on them to obey
all God’s commands to help fulfil his plans and bring holiness into
the world.
• Jews believe that God has fulfilled his part of the covenant by
rescuing them from slavery and promising never to abandon them.
 Explain why the Covenant with Abraham is
important for Jewish people
• The main reasons include:
• It gave the Jewish people the promise of being a
great nation
• It gave the people the rite of circumcision
• It gave them the promised land
• It helped them to know what the Almighty
expected of them in terms of being the ‘chosen
people of God’.
 Outline what is meant by the term ‘the chosen people’.

• The Jews were chosen by G-d (1) to be a light to

all nations.
• Being a light to others means that Jews have a
great responsibility to behave well.
• It is a belief in a special and unique relationship
between G-d and the Jews.
• Being chosen by G-d means there are different
ethical standards for Jews than for
gentiles/non-Jews.
 The Mosaic Covenant Ex 19 and 24.
• This is the covenant God establishes with the people of
Israel at Mt. Sinai after he led them out of Egyptian slavery.
• With it, God supplies the Law that is meant to govern and
shape the people of Israel in the Promised Land.
• This Law was not a means of salvation but would
distinguish the people from the surrounding nations as a
special kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:1-7).
• This covenant was conditional and defined blessings and
curses based on obedience or disobedience (Deut 28-29).
• Understanding the Mosaic Covenant is foundational to
understanding the cycles of blessing and curse in the Old
Testament, the exiles of Israel and Judah, the disputes
between Jesus and the Pharisees .
 Mosaic Covenant
• Israel was to fulfill certain conditions to receive
the blessings promised
• God promised to make a covenant with the
Israelites (Ex 19:3-6). Before they even knew the
conditions of the contract, the people agreed to
abide by whatever God said (Ex. 19:8).
• This covenant was between God and the people
of Israel
• The Ten Commandments are the foundation of
the covenant. The law was given as a blessing for
Israel to lead them in the way of joy, prosperity,
and peace.
 Sinatic Covenant

• The Sinaitic covenant, although it

included mercy and promises, stressed
human responsibilities.
• Under this covenant Israel could obtain
the promise of life only by fulfilling the
words of the law to obtain righteousness
• This covenant establishes the basis for
the Israelites' relationship with G-d and
their identity as a nation.
What is the relationship of the Mosaic Covenant to the Abrahamic Covenant?

a. The Mosaic Covenant did not annul nor replace the promises
of the Abrahamic Covenant. The Abrahamic Covenant had been
made irrevocable by its promises being confirmed with an oath
b. The Mosaic Covenant was added to or “placed alongside” the
Abrahamic Covenant because of Israel’s transgressions
c. The Mosaic Covenant once instituted was to run parallel or
co-exist with the Abrahamic Covenant. For this reason the
prophets spoke of the covenants co-existing in their day
d. The Mosaic Covenant was imposed or laid upon Israel to
prefigure the person and work of Christ
e. The Mosaic Covenant was temporal, given until Christ the
seed of Abraham would come and until the time of reformation
which would be brought about by the New Covenant.
 Belief in the covenants affects the daily life of Jews.

• The covenant with Moses is the one which establishes the

foundations of the law which Jews must follow in their daily
lives.
• The commitment to worshipping G-d alone is stated at the start
of the Shema, a prayer that is said twice daily as a mitzvah.
There is also a tradition of saying it before sleep.
• The full Shema prayer also gives details of the agreement that
the Jews will obey G-d’s laws and G-d will provide for their
needs. Daily practices such as wearing the tefillin and having a
mezuzah on the doorpost are taken from Shema’s description of
the covenant.
• Keeping kosher is also an expression of the covenantal
relationship; the mitzvah G-d gave about diet, food preparation
and appropriate dress are only for the Jewish people, unlike the
moral laws of the Noahide code, which can be considered
universal.