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“Covenant” describes a commitment between God and his people. The Mosaic Covenant parallels Hittite covenants (or treaties) in their complexities. Vassal kings answered to a greater king according to the conditions of their covenant. (See Nahash the Ammonite in 1 Samuel 11:1-3 and the Israelites with the Gibeonites in Joshua 9:6-16.) But how can understanding covenants help us understand the Bible and even ourselves better? And how can that inspire how we live?
COVENANTS IN THE BIBLE
A covenant is an agreement between two or more persons in which the following four…elements are present: parties, conditions, results, security…. Two main kinds of covenants in the Bible need to be considered, those specifically designated as covenants, and those implied but not so designated. For the sake of distinction, they can perhaps be called biblical and theological covenants.
From the Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia
THE BACKGROUND OF COVENANTS
A recent study of Hittite treaties…of…mid-second millennium B.C. has revealed that a parallel form existed between these, and God’s covenant with Israel. Each had six elements.
(1) A preamble: “I am the Lord thy God” (Exodus 20:2). In the Hittite treaties this begins with… “thus (saith)…the…king of the Hatti land, son of…the valiant.”
(2) A historical prologue: “which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt….” In the Hittite covenants, the suzerain reminded the vassal ruler of the benefits enjoyed hitherto as a vassal of his kingdom….
(3) The exclusive…obligations of the covenant
(4) Sanctions…blessings and curses which accompanied the keeping or breaking of the covenant.
(5) Witnesses. The Hittite treaties called a long list of deities to witness the document….
(6) The perpetuation of the covenant. This was…depositing them before or under the idol of a heathen god….From ResearchGate and the Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia
THE SPECIFICALLY DESIGNATED COVENANTS
(1) Noahic Covenant (Genesis 8:20-9:17)…. This covenant was chiefly unilateral in that God was…not requiring a promise of acceptance and compliance on the part of Noah as the Israelites vowed at the foot of Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:8)…. It had a condition…that mankind would be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth (9:1, 7), that they must not eat flesh with the life, i.e., the blood still in it (9:4)…. God brought judgment…at the Tower of Babel…. The results were the promise of God never again to destroy the earth by deluge…with the…regularity of seasons…. The security that God would keep this covenant…is found in its sign…the rainbow….
(2) Abrahamic covenant. This is generally considered to be a unilateral covenant in…that it was announced by God in the first place without any attached conditions. A bilateral element does appear, however, in Genesis 17:1…in Genesis 22:16…. The condition…after he had shown his willingness to…offer up Isaac, was faithful obedience…. The results were the promises of God…. The security…was God’s oath by himself and his great name…as well as the shedding of the blood of sacrifices (Genesis 15:9, 10, 17).
(3) Mosaic or Sinai covenant…there is the appearance of a new factor…much more complex. It employed the contemporary form of suzerain-vassal covenants then in vogue in the ancient Near East….
(4) Palestinian covenant (Deuteronomy 29-30). Though a part of the renewal of the Mosaic covenant, this covenant is considered separately by some….
(5) Davidic covenant (2 Samual 7:4-16; Psalm 89:3-4, 26-37, 132:11-18; cf. Isaiah 42:1, 6; 49:8; 55:3-4). This was basically a unilateral covenant in which God promised David first a secure reign for his son and successor Solomon, and then a kingship that should continue forever in the Messiah…. Yet it had a bilateral element, in that for the individual king it contained conditional elements (2 Samual 7:14-15).
(6) New covenant. Like the Sinaitic covenant, with Moses as the mediator…so the new covenant was also established…with Christ…as mediator (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 8:6; 9:15; 12:24). In contrast…the new covenant…is based on better promises and a better sacrifice…. God will write his will within minds and hearts of his people….From the Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia
THEOLOGICAL COVENANTS
These covenants are thus named because they are discovered by applying the definition of covenant to an agreement recorded in Scripture. Where…contracting parties, conditions, results and security are present, there is a covenant. Such covenants, which some theologians consider to be woven into…the Scriptures, are the covenant of works…grace…and redemption. These are usually discussed in the writings of the Reformed theologians…
From the Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia
THE ROOT OF TREATIES, WARS, AND PEACE
Why do wars take place? You may think it’s because of governments and kings, but I say it’s beliefs. Collective and individual beliefs cause wars because they agree it’s better to fight than not to. Beliefs that both sides are right about something and it’s worth dying for.
It boils down to what’s deemed as acceptable conduct. If you feel you can dictate all the terms of all your relationships without any compromising, you’ll feel victimized when all your friends desert you. In contrast, if you let God dictate ALL the terms of how you should live, you’ll have peace no matter what your circumstances are.
Praise God for his covenants and peace!
The above pictures were scanned from the Living in the Time of Jesus of Nazareth
