Covenant & treaty - Essay Example

Covenants and Treaties Introduction A covenant is a bond or an agreement between two parties on matters of mutual concern (Harris and Platzner 16).Covenants are usually agreements between two or more persons or groups to do or not to do something specified. Covenants have certain elements that have to be in existence to make the agreement binding. The elements are the presence of a preamble, a stipulation and a prologue. Conditions have to be given and witnesses have to be present. Moreover, there has to be a sign that marks the conclusion of the covenant.

In the Old Testament, God made various covenants with different people. The following is a list of these covenants.The covenants and their significanceAdamic covenant Man was made superior over all creations as he was the only being made in God’s image. God asks Adam and Eve to fill the earth and subdue it, and promises to give to them all seed bearing plants and trees.Noahic covenant In the book of Genesis 9, God made a covenant with Noah. The covenant came right after the great flood that wiped out all the creators from the face of the earth leaving only Noah and his family together with the a couple of each animal species.

God promised never again will He destroyed the world with rain and a rainbow became a sign of God’s reconciliation with mankind (Harris and Platzner 142). The rainbow is a reminder of what humanity faced and signifies the promise.Abrahamic covenant The covenant with Abraham signifies a beginning of a creation of a new nation that was promised by God. In this covenant, God asks Abraham to leave his country and family for a new place. He promises Abraham will be made into a great nation and all the mankind will be blessed through him.

Abraham absolutely trusts in God and does as asked (Harris and Platzner 144).Mosaic covenant The covenant marks the history of the Israelites and shows the redemption of these people. It is a conditional covenant by God to Moses which depended on the response of the people. Therefore, it meant that there would be blessings for obedience, but judgment for disobedience (Ex. 15:26; 19:3-8). Moses was promised that the Israelites will be God’s chosen treasured people. The laws that made the covenant, revealed Gods desire for the nation to be set apart from all other nations.

Davidic (Royal) covenant David is promised an everlasting lineage and kingdom (Harris and Platzner 222). The covenant was made to re-create the relationship that was broken between God and the people. The promise was finally fulfilled in the New Testament as Jesus ruled over the nation.New covenant The covenant is made by God to all mankind. He promises to forgive and grant a universal knowledge of God. The promise freed the Gentiles and the Jew from the stiff penalties of the law. In Jeremiah 31:33, God promises to create a covenant which will make the house of Israel have the laws of the Lord within them.

He promises to write the laws on their hearts. He will be their God, and them His people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to eachother, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more (Jeremiah, 31:34.)Work CitedHarris, Stephen, and Robert Platzner. The Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. 2nd Edition ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2008. 422. Print.

The English Standard Version Bible:  Containing the Old and New Testaments with Apocrypha.  Oxford:  Oxford UP, 2009.  Print