Outlook of 5 Covenants from the Old Testament - Research Paper Example

A close look into the 5 covenants mentioned in the Bible's Old Testament Introduction to the covenants According to thefreedictionary.com, a covenant is “A binding agreement; a compact “. And most sources indicate that this is an agreement made between men that require action and fidelity from both parties, but in the bible, specifically in the Old Testament, God has allowed himself to be in agreement with man despite himself being all-knowing and all-powerful, while man being fickle, volatile and shaky. This act, among others, shows us his love. Another thing to keep in mind is that in the biblical sense, the Hebrew word for “covenant” means more than just a contract. According to padfield.com, the word for “covenant” in the Old Testament “comes from a Hebrew root word that means "to cut." This explains the rituals used in the Old Testament when people enter into a covenant, such as passing thru cut bodies of slain animals, or sharing a meal. The goal of this paper is to take a closer look at 5 of the Old Testament’s greatest covenants between God and certain men. We will take a close look at each of these covenants and look at their details and conditions if any. We will then determine which of these covenants are conditional and dependent on the fidelity of the human, and which one is everlasting and unconditional. This will be done thru the paper's parts and discussions such as: ??The five covenants of the Old Testament ??Covenant of God with Noah ?Covenant of God with Abraham ?Covenant of God with Moses ?Covenant of God with David. ?The mention of the fifth covenant ?A look into these covenants; Conditional and unconditional ??The importance of the mentioned fifth covenant to the theology of the new testament ?Conclusion The five covenants of the Old Testament In the Old Testament, there were many covenants that were made, however our paper will focus on the covenants that were made between man and God. According to most sources, excluding God's “covenant” with Adam, there are 5 covenants mentioned in the old testament of the bible. These are covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses, Davis, and a fifth covenant that was mentioned in one of the verses. The next part of this paper will look into these 5 covenants and their details. Covenant of God with Noah Definition: This covenant was made between Noah and God, although it does affect all of creation. This came about during the time of the great flood and Noah’s ark. According to presenttruthmag.com, God made the covenant with Noah before the earth was destroyed by flood. This is what saved Noah and his family. Afterwards, when Noah stepped out of the ark and presented the Lord with a sacrifice, God renewed the covenant with Noah that the world would never again be destroyed by flood. Scriptural basis: The covenant of God and Noah started with the story of the world’s judgment, the building of the ark, and the great flood. This story can be found in the bible’s book of Genesis, Chapter 6-8. This chapter was mainly dedicated to the story of Noah’s acts and covenant with God. In Genesis 6:9, Noah is recognized to be a man who “walked with God”, setting him apart from the rest of the world. Genesis 6:11 then goes on to describe the world as being corrupt and the people within it, corrupt as well. The succeeding verses then tell the story of how God told Noah to build an ark, how to build it and what to do in preparation of the flood. This story goes on from the flood its self, to Noah’s burnt sacrifice until finally in Genesis 8:20, the lord renewed the covenant and swore never again to “curse the ground” for our sake. This makes the covenant a covenant of salvation because the lives of evil men are spared in conjunction with God’s oath to Noah not to curse the land again. According to presenttruthmag.com, this is similar to Acts 27 when a ship full of people was saved because of the presence of Paul in the ship. Features: This covenant mainly revolves around God’s wrath. He initially let it loose on the world due to man’s corruption and afterward, he promised to never again let the world be destroyed or cursed. The initial part of the covenant is only with Noah, being that he was obedient to god, he and his family were saved, but the renewal of the covenant extended to all of creation and man. The initial covenant also came with instructions for Noah, once again banking on Noah’s obedience to God, however, there was no condition given in the scriptures for the renewed covenant as, written in Genesis 8:21, God promised not to curse the earth despite man being evil. Covenant of God with Abraham Definition: The covenant that God made with Abraham can be seen in many ways and was used by many people in the bible in many ways as well, however, we must understand that the covenant is not one dimensional. The covenant promised Abraham a son in his old age, however, according to padfield.com, God also promised to bless Abraham’s descendants and make him a great nation, and in return, Abraham must remain faithful, and he must remain as an open channel for God’s blessings to flow. The massive importance of this covenant can be seen in Genesis 15 when God performed a covenant ritual with Abraham, giving this covenant a special kind of attribute. This portion of the bible that describes the ritual also presents a consequence for people who would have broken the covenant with the Lord. It is mentioned by presenttruthmag.com as “the men who transgressed my Covenant . . . I will make like the calf which they cut in two."   Scriptural basis: This covenant was mentioned in the bible many times by different people and for different situations. The main story of this covenant is found in the book of Genesis, chapter 15. This entire chapter is dedicated to telling the story of God’s promise to Abraham about his heir and his bloodline. It also contains the description of the ritual that Abraham conducted regarding the severed animals. Aside from this main story, Abraham’s covenant was mentioned by Stephen in the book of Acts, chapter 7:1-8. According to presenttruthmag.com, Paul also mentions this covenant in the book of Romans, Chapter 4 and Galatians Chapter 3.   Features: This covenant deals in both The Lord’s promise to Abraham of a child despite his and his wife’s old age, and that his bloodline will be blessed. In return, he must remain faithful. This covenant provides a clear requirement for Abraham and his descendants. The bible’s account also describes a consequence for the transgression of this covenant; these beings that people who transgress this covenant will be “like the calf which they cut in two.”. This conditional covenant was made in the Old Testament and thus, was nullified and overpowered by the new covenant in which Jesus Christ was sacrificed for all of mankind. Covenant of God with Moses Definition: This covenant was a renewal of God's promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This came after 400 years of slavery for Abraham and Jacob’s descendants. God renewed the covenant with Moses as he was used by God to set Abraham’s descendents free from Egyptian slavery. God had promised Moses the he would provide all of Moses' needs and that he would provide all of the tools and powers that Moses needed in order to set the Israellies free from Egyptian slavery. God showed us that he would do anything for his people when he made good on his promise to Moses and sent the 10 plagues on the Egyptians in order to give enough leverage for the Israellites to be set free. Scriptural basis: We can find the story of this covenant in the book of Exodus, chapter 3, when Moses was tending to Jethro's flock, God called to him from a burning bush and gave him instructions. God told him what to say to the Israellites and despite Moses' doubt, God reassured him and told him that he would be with him. The continuation of this covenant is when, after the israelites have been saved, God made them one nation after he had spoken to them at Mt. Sinai. He made Moses the head of this nation and assured him that he would provide all that they needed. This can be found in the bible, after the description of the 10 plagues of Egypt, in Exodus chapter 12, starting from verse 31. Features: This Covenant, according to padfield.com, was mainly between Moses, the people of Israel, and God. It is stated that this covenant is temporary anD God had promised to make a new covenant, this time, will all of mankind. This covenant also revolved around the 10 commandments of God, and these commandments were to be followed by the people of Israel til the new covenant was established. God passed these commandments to Moses, who was tasked to disseminate them to the people. As for the present status of the covenant, we must understand that even then, God had already let the Israellites know that it was temporary and that the new covenant made with the Blood of Christ had fulfilled the promise of this new covenant. Covenant of God with David. Definition: This covenant that was made between God and David was a promise from God that David and his bloodline would inherit the nation of Israel. They were to become rulers of the nation. This covenant reached its fulfillment when Jesus Christ, who was mentioned as the “son of David” multiple times in the bible, and who is a descendent of the bloodline of king David, was born in a manger in Bethlehem. According to padfield.com, the gospel of Matthew started of presenting Christ as :son of David” and this backing his claim of rule over the people. Scriptural basis: The story of the covenant its self can be found in the second book of Samuel, chapter 7,verses 1 to 17. These verses were dedicated to promising and assuring David that his line would rule the nation. This covenant was again mentioned by Peter who said that Christ was “a fulfillment of God's promise to David “ in Acts 2:29-36 Features: This is a very special covenant as is does not involve just one person, or just one tribe but an entire country, and afterward, the whole of humanity and creation. David was promised that his bloodline would be ruler of the nation and would have power over men. That God himself would be as father to this child and he would also be the son of God. He would build a house for the Lord and that he will inherit the throne. No penalty was mentioned for this covenant but it was not everlasting as the new covenant of Christ would be both this covenant's fulfillment, and its replacement as a better covenant that spans all of mankind. The only promise that David made to God, which is shown in succeeding chapters of the second book of Samuel, was to remain faithful to the Lord's promise and remain a servant. The mention of the fifth covenant Definition: This is not necessarily a covenant but it is an assurance that a new covenant will be formed between God and the people of Israel and Judah. This particular assurance cannot be considered the 6th and final covenant of the Old Testament mainly because no covenant was made and there was no human party that received a covenant. This is plainly just an assurance that a new covenant will be made. This particular verse can be considered a supportive account of Gods covenant with David, as that particular covenant promised David's line the throne of the nation of Israel, and therefor that also becomes a covenant with Israel herself, along with the rest of the world. Scriptural basis: This particular mention can be found in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 31, verses 31 to 36. This part of the bible was dedicated to assuring us that his promise will come true. A look into these covenants; Conditional and unconditional             As the paper peered into the details of these covenants, we must look at certain covenants which stand out. Sticking with the 5 covenants of the Old Testament which were all discussed above, this section aims to determine which covenant can be considered unconditional and which covenant is dependent on the fidelity of the human participant. As we can remember, God's covenant with Abraham was dependent on him maintaining himself as a channel for God's blessing, while with Moses; there were the 10 commandments that needed to be followed. David's covenant with God was mainly concerned with promising that his line would inherit the throne, however it was also conditional as the new covenant replaced this one and was also its fulfillment, in exchange David needed to remain faithful to the Lord's promises. These are the covenants that we can consider to have conditions that the human partner needed to follow and was dependent on the fidelity of the human participant, while with the covenant of God with Noah, there was no consequence mentioned, there was no rule for people to follow, and God even promised never to curse the land despite people being evil by nature. This makes this covenant very unconditional. This is God's assurance to us that he will never again destroy the earth by flood. The importance of the mentioned fifth covenant to the theology of the New Testament. As previously mentioned in both the provided handouts, and in the earlier parts of this paper, a fifth covenant was mentioned in the Old Testament after the mention of God's covenant with David. This particular few verses do not establish a new covenant but instead, erasure God's covenant with David, as well as his promise to David that he will make a place for his people. This is very important in that as early as the Old Testament, God had already promises that Israel would be saved, and that the coming of his son was already assured a number of times to different people in as early a time as this. This shows is that God had already planned a path for us and that his love spans time Conclusion When taking a look at these covenants, there are many thing s that we can be assured of. One among them is that God creates ways of taking care of his people. This is seen in every covenant that was made; from protection from flood, to deliverance from slavery, God's people will always be taken care of. The next thing that we will notice is that the participants of the covenants become more plentiful and more divers, from just one family, to one tribe, to a nation and finally, God's whole kingdom. This shows us that God finds ways and makes new ways of saving more and more people. This gives us assurance and hope, especially since the new covenant made with Christ's sacrifice ensures salvation for all of mankind. Resources and works cited Berry, G. (2011). Covenant, In the Old Testament. http://www.searchgodsword.org/enc/isb/view.cgi? number=T2377 Biblefellowshipunion.co.uk. (2011). The Covenants. http://www.biblefellowshipunion.co.uk/2005/May_Jun/Covants5.htm Guzik, D. (2002). 2 Samuel 7 - God's Covenant with David. http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/1007.htm Hahn, S. (2010). Covenant Salvation History. http://www.stmargaretmary.com/rcia/SHahnCovenants.html. Harvesttruthdatabase.com. (August 31 2010). GOD'S COVENANT AT MOUNT SINAI. http://www.harvesttruthdatabase.com/htdbv6/r5285.htm Nelson, T. (1982). Acts 7 (NKJ Vesion). http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts %207&version=NKJV Padfield, D. (2011). Five Great Bible Covenants http://www.padfield.com/2004/covenants.html Presenttruthmag.com. (2010). The Names and Features of the Covenant. http://www.presenttruthmag.com/archive/XXVIII/28p1-5.htm Read More