Comparison between First and Last Covenants of the Old Testament - Term Paper Example

? Comparison between First and Last Covenants of the Old Testament Module Module no: The Old Testament is the Holy Scripture for the Jewish and Christian communities, which discusses in details the covenants and commandments issued from the Lord to man for the worldly benefits as well as spiritual and moral uplift of the latter and his future generations. The Scripture narrates these holy covenants that were entered into at various occasions between the Lord on the one hand and the holiest personalities including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses and David on the other, which not only establish(ed) a complete code of life and provided guideline to all human activities, but also following of the same ensured the everlasting bounties upon the true followers of the covenant(s) in heavens in the life Hereinafter. The Old Testament views God’s commands decreed upon Adam, the father of humanity, during his stay in the Garden of Eden, as the first covenant issued by the Lord to the humankind. The covenant assured bestowing of God’s countless bounties and blessings upon man, against which it imposed only one single restriction on him i.e. not to taste the fruit of the forbidden tree (of knowledge). (Genesis, 2: 16-17) Additionally, God blessed Adam with the mandate of remaining fruitful and multiply subsequently, as the Old Testament reveals that God said to Adam to “be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:28). Similarly, the Lord made His covenant with King David, which is stated to be the last covenant described in the Old Testament; according to which God would not only send Messiah from the line of David, but also the rulers and kings would also belong to the same line. Additionally, messiah would also rule over the entire world, and all the races would be as his subjugated ones. Hence, God would bless Davidic seed with the spiritual and materialistic domination for the future generations to come. “The Davidic king would be the one to defeat all the Satanic enemies of God and establish the kingdom of blessing all over the world (Ps. 2, 89:21-29; 110). He would be the seed of the woman who would defeat the seed of the serpent and save the world. Not only a king, he is also a priest after the order of Melchizedek (Ps. 110). It is even hinted that He would offer Himself as the sacrifice for sin (Isaiah. 52:13-53:12).” (Quoted in Smith, 2009: 8) This prophecy pointed to the future work of the Lord Jesus Christ. By closely examining both the covenants, it becomes crystal clear that Adam’s covenant maintains several similarities in with the Davidic one. God had blessed Adam and his children with the supremacy over every creature. On the other hand, King David was also favored with the same bounty, as he and his son king Solomon were not only granted the crown, wealth, power and prestige, but also they had domination over the djinns, ogres, humans and beast alike. King David intended to build a house for God, though the Lord refused the offer. Instead He blessed David with glorious house, power and throne, and a wise and powerful son in the person of King Solomon. “God promised to give him a son who would ultimately reign on the throne of David for ever and build a house of worship for all nations of the world.” (Quoted in the kingdom divided) Hence, God blessed a comfortable dwelling to David, according to the Covenant, as He had blessed Adam an outstanding abode in heavens. God had allowed Adam to reside in heavens and get involved into every type of activity of his own choice from dawn to dusk and dusk to dawn. Consequently, Adam and Eve led a very exuberant life in heaven. Somehow, since man has been created frail and weak, the first parents of humanity could not constrain themselves from the covenant they had made with their Creator, and thus broke their allegiance with the Lord by eating fruit from the forbidden tree, as Milton states: “Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal taste brought Death into the World, and all our woe, with loss of Eden…” (Paradise Lost, I: lines 1-4) Though Adam blamed Eve for tempting him to taste the fruit, and Eve declared Satan, in the serpent’s guise, responsible for seducing her to break the covenant, yet the first parents of humanity could not restrict themselves from eating from the tree and thus deviated from the path of obedience and glory. Before embarking upon the topic under examination, it would be quite apposite to discuss the circumstances that paved towards the decreeing of covenant from the Creator to His tiny creature. Actually Almighty God the Lord has always been vehemently benevolent and merciful towards humans at large. He not only created man in His own image, but also blessed him with the domination over the fish of water and over the fowl of the air. (Genesis, 3: 12-13) Since the Lord had created man to worship Him and to acknowledge and admire His mighty powers, countless mercies and astonishing creative talent, evident in billions of the creatures, creations, articles and things including the canopy of seven endless firmaments, high heavens, the earth, the sun, moon, stars, angels, ghosts, djinns, humans, animals, beasts, birds, sea animals, reptiles and countless forms of gorgeous flora, thick forests, high mountains, vast deserts, deep oceans and much more, man was granted the mental faculties to admire and appreciate the blessings and powers of the Lord. God formed him into the best shape, and He bestowed supremacy over other creatures. God offered a very comfortable and luxurious life to man in his first dwelling in the Eden Garden, as every creature in the Garden was under his control, and the fruits and edibles of several types were available for him. Besides, the atmosphere of his dwelling was gorgeous and dreamful indeed. God also created a female partner Eve as man’s companion, and allowed him to eat, drink and be merry in the dwelling. Hence, the Creator showered His countless mercies upon this newly fashioned creature i.e. human. However, amongst unlimited joys and unrestricted liberty, God imposed one single restraint upon him, which was actually the very first covenant has been mentioned in the Old Testament. There appeared to be a meaningful purpose behind the restriction made by God through the first covenant. The first and foremost objective of the covenant included to make man realize about the very fact that he is created by the Supreme Being, and He maintains the power to deprive him from the same whenever His intends. Similarly, the covenant conveys God’s message that every creature is bound to comply with the commands of the Lord, and non-compliance of which must invite the wrath of the Lord in the form of the deprivation of the same blessings from him. Additionally, the covenant made man realized that the entire universe had been created in a systematic manner, under the rules and regulations prescribed and determined by the Lord of heavens and hell. Since man has also become the part of the universe, he would also have to abide by the rules in order to win the will of his Lord. Furthermore, Almighty Lord also ordained man with the information that Satan was a rebel angel, who refused to accept God’s decision of creating man and showering His blessings upon him. Consequently, having access to the fruit of forbidden tree could only be possible out of the enticement made by Satan. Hence, revolting against and violating the command of the Lord not only deprived them of their covering, but also they acknowledged the very reality that they had lost the favors of their Lord and hence were not in a position to present them before their Lord in the Eden Garden. Hence, the vital points appeared in the first covenant included that the covenant was made between the Lord and man, where God had blessed man with numerous facilities including splendid dwelling, magnificent environment, consoling companionship, unlimited access to delicious fruits and domination over all other creatures. And in return, man was bound not to taste the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Since God intended to keep humans neat, clean, flawless, immortal and spiritually elevated ones, He ordered man to keep away from the knowledge of evil and filth. Thus, tasting the fruit not only turned the Lord angry with them, but also Adam and Eve had to surrender all the blissful life they had been enjoying since their birth and long stay in Eden. Since man had been created with rebellious nature, he could not abide by one single restriction, and thus proved himself as disobedient and rebel. Similarly, King David built Jerusalem as the House for God, which turned out to be the bone of contention between the children of Israel. As a result, the future generations of Israel not only fought against one another for obtaining possession of this mighty temple, but also the kingdom was divided into two parts, where the Jewish factions underwent heavy losses in men and material for waging wars against each other. Thus, Solomon’s death brought the message of the decline to Judaism, where only few groups displayed their loyalty to the House of David. “Two tribes would be loyal to the house of David, whilst the other ten would establish their own kingdom. After Solomon’s death his son Rehoboam came to the throne. He threatened to increase the burdensome taxes that were already laid upon the nation and this foolish act caused a revolt of the northern ten tribes, led by Jeroboam.” (1 Kings 12) Not only this that both the factions lost their kingdom, but also the future religious faiths including the Christians and Muslims asserted their Divine rights and claims on the same. Thus, the children of Israel were deprived of the spiritual and materialistic domination over others because of the disobedience made by different warring factions of the Jews. Consequently, slavery and humiliation was inflicted upon them because of the transgressions they committed by breaking the holy covenant. Adam and Eve were kicked out of heavens because of their transgression, and God declared the earth as the dwelling place of their children. Adam and Eve had realized the bitter reality that non-compliance with the commands of the Lord was sure to bring destruction, deprivation and despair in human life. Consequently, they taught their children to be faithful and subservient to the ways of God. Somehow, defiance and breaking the rules were part of human nature, which compelled Cain to kill his real brother Abel out of sheer jealousy and malice. The transgressions and non-compliance carried on among the future human generations till God sent a pious man Noah to convey the humanity the sacred message of the Lord. Hence, God also made covenant with Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses and David; all of which bound the humans to worship One God, obey their parents, do good to the neighbors, relations and fellow-humans at large, practice honesty and chastity and keep off from malpractices, sins and hurting and harming others. Thus, idol worshipping, stealing, fornication, extra marital sexual relationship and others were strictly banned by God through these covenants. In return, humans would observe a respectable and comfortable life on the earth, along with affluence in children, cattle, edibles and health, as well as political, spiritual, social, economic and physical dominance over others. Similarly, man would enjoy God’s rewards in the form of immortality after the day of resurrection and regaining His blessings by man’s return to Eden. “Fittingly, just as the first book of the Bible, Genesis, recounts the story of Adam and Eve being cast out from the Garden, its last book, Revelation, prophesies a permanent return to Eden for the sanctified.36 In that day, the veil that separates man and the rest of fallen creation from God will be swept away, and all shall be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Bradshaw, 2008:6) However, getting indulged into non-compliance with the ways of God would lead the transgressors in the high flames of burning hell in the companionship of Satan. Thus, the children of Israel received the same holy message from their Lord with slight amendments and manifested teachings mentioned in the Scripture for their guidance and welfare in this life and in the life after Resurrection. God’s address to King David and His covenant with him was actually the continuity of the very first covenant made with Adam. It is therefore both the covenants maintain various similarities in their nature and scope. King David used to live in a magnificent house, whereas the ordinary tabernacle was assumed as the temple or the house of the Lord. David felt it quite awkward that he was living in a splendid dwelling, while the Ark of Tabernacle was consisted of mere an ordinary tent. “He had subdued all his enemies, it begun to bother him that he lived in palatial luxury, while the Ark of the Tabernacle, the central focus of all Israel, rested in a humble structure which consisted of only a frame covered animal skins.” Consequently, he displayed his intention to build the temple is such a magnificent manner as he had constructed his residence. Thus, at the very first place, God allowed David, through Prophet Nathan, to practice everything he wishes to do in respect of introducing improvements in temple. However, He associated the same with remaining obedient and respectful to the Lord and following His commands with unabated honesty and sincerity. Hence, the covenant is partially the same in nature as with God’s covenant with Adam due to the very fact that God had allowed Adam to live in heaven out of his free will, but he was not allowed to taste the fruit of the forbidden tree. Similarly, both Adam and David were communicated the prophecy of spiritual and worldly domination on others. However, both these covenants also differ from one another. One of the most prominent difference between the covenants included that the first covenant was made to Adam only; however, Eve and all the future human generations had to bear the brunt of the breach of contract. On the contrary, in the Davidic covenant with God, the future generations were also included as the party to the sacred covenant. “David tells Solomon that God said, "If your sons take heed to their ways, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you a man on the throne of Israel."” (Piper, 1983:7) It simply meant that violating these statutes might certainly result in the opposite. It is therefore, the humiliation, poverty and disgrace was inflicted and imposed upon the transgressor children of Solomon. Another difference between both the covenants includes the relation of the covenant with heavenly and earthly lives, as Adam’s covenant was meant for his life in heavens, where he was forbidden to taste the fruit of the tree. On the contrary, David entered into covenant with the lord that imposed restrictions on his life on the earth. Furthermore, another main difference between the covenants is this that Adam’s covenant ensured humans’ physical and worldly domination over the rest of the creatures, while Davidic covenant assured the supremacy of Davidic seed over the fellow human beings. “Davidic covenant, like the Abrahamic covenant, was wholly promissory. God made a promise to David and confirmed it by an oath.” (Quoted in Present Truth) Another major difference between both the covenants is this that the first covenant between God and Adam was made at the eve of the birth of Adam and Eve, where Adam did not have any experience of the breach of the sacred contract between the Creator and the creation. Though he has closely witnessed the unfortunate end of the rebel angels, yet no one was there in human race the precedent of which could be kept in mind before breaking the covenant with God. On the other hand, David and his upcoming generations had vast knowledge about the significance of the contract as well as the outcome of the breach for the same. They had the precedents of several rebel and transgressor nations including the people of Noah, King Nimrod, the people of Lot and Jethro, the brothers of Joseph, the nation of Moses and Aaron, fate of Goliath and many others, which had been inflicted with severe punishment out of the wrath of God for deviating from the right path and hence going astray and turning wicked. Adam’s breaking the statutes of the sacred covenant brought him, his spouse and future children from high heavens to the earth, which was the actual dwell meant for the generations of Adam till the Day of Resurrection. On the other hand, David and his upcoming generations had already been living on the earth, and breach of the covenant simply meant the snatching of all their comforts, luxuries, religious supremacy and worldly domination at the hands of the Nature. It was actually the malpractices and misdeeds of the house of David, which resulted into the regrettable fate of the descendents of David. Thus, both the covenants under-analyses maintain many similarities and little dissimilarity in their nature and scope. Works Cited Bradshaw, Jeffrey M. “The Creation and the Garden of Eden as Models for Temple Architecture” Salt Lake City, UT: Eborn Publishing, 2010. Retrieved from http://www.imageandlikeness.net/publications/Meridian/100114-The%20Creation%20and%20the%20Garden%20of%20Eden%20as%20Temple%20Models.pdf Bradshaw, Jeffrey M. In God's Image and Likeness: Ancient and Modern Perspectives on the Book of Moses. Salt Lake City, UT: Eborn Publishing, 2010. Piper, Pastor John “God's Covenant with David” (2 Samuel 7:4-17) 1983 Quoted in http://www.soundofgrace.com/piper83/121883m.htm Smith, Ralph Allan “Adam, Noah, and the Kingdom: The Covenants of Genesis and Consistent Eschatology” 2009 Retrieved from http://www.berith.org/pdf/Adam_Noah.pdf Present Truth Magazine “The Names and Features of the Covenants” Volume Twenty-Eight— Part 1 Article 5 Retrieved from http://www.presenttruthmag.com/archive/XXVIII/28p1-5.htm “The Kingdom Divided—Israel & Judah Reading: 1 Kings 11 & 12 Solomon Builds the Temple in Jerusalem” Christadelphian Bible Mission Exploring The Bible Retrieved from http://www.cbm.org.uk/etb-15.pdf King James Bible Version Genesis 1:28 “The Creation” Retrieved from http://www.bartleby.com/108/01/1.html Samuel 7:16 “God’s Covenant with David” Retrieved from http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+7%3A16&version=KJV Read More