Covenants in the Bible
To understand the old and new covenants, we need to first understand what the word covenant means. In simple terms, it is a formal agreement. It may be an agreement between two people, a treaty between nations (for examples, see appendix 1 below), or a relationship between God and a human individual or nation. A covenant is more personal than a contract �?it involves loyalty and allegiance, not just a financial exchange.
God has made several agreements or covenants with humans. He gives commands and makes promises. What does he command? What promises has he made?
This paper surveys every biblical covenant. In the conclusion, we will give special attention to passages in Romans, Galatians and Hebrews that clarify the difference between the old covenant made at Mt. Sinai and the new covenant mediated by Jesus Christ.
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
Of greatest importance today are the covenants that God made with the patriarchs and the nation of Israel. God called Abram out of Mesopotamia and promised to give his offspring the land of Canaan (Gen. 12:1-7). Abram went to Egypt, returned to Canaan, was generous to Lot, rescued Lot and gave tithes to Melchizedek (Gen. 12-14).
God then reaffirmed his promise that Abram would have offspring (15:1-4). God promised that Abram's descendants would be as numerous as the stars (15:5). This was a phenomenal promise, but "Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness" (15:6). Paul develops this statement further in Rom 4 and Gal 3.
God then repeated his promise to give Abram the land of Canaan, and Abram asked for evidence (Gen. 15:7-8). So God asked for some animals, and Abram cut in half a heifer, a goat and a ram, and also offered a dove and a pigeon (15:9-10). He arranged the pieces, but did not burn them.
God caused Abram to fall into a deep sleep, and in a dream God affirmed that Abram himself would not possess the land, but his descendants would. A smoking firepot and a blazing torch then passed between the pieces of the sacrificed animals. In ancient custom, people making a covenant walked between the halves of a sacrificed animal as part of their oaths (Jer. 34:18-19 shows this ancient custom, as does the Hebrew idiom for making a covenant --- literally, cutting a covenant).
In this dream and covenant, God was giving Abram evidence that his descendants would possess the land of Canaan. This covenant that God made with the father of the faithful is also referred to in Neh. 9:8 and Gal 3:17.
Many years later, God confirmed his covenant, changing Abram's name to Abraham, since he would be the father of not just one nation, but of many nations (Gen. 17:1-6). He promised to renew the covenant with Abram's descendants --- not only that they would be numerous, but also that he would be their God (17:7). This is more than the original covenant promised. God also required more from Abraham and his descendants: Circumcision was to be the sign of the covenant (17:9-14). The covenant was both renewed and expanded. Circumcision �?cutting the foreskin �?was a continuing reminder that God had cut a covenant with Abraham and his descendants. This covenant is referred to in Acts 7:8 and Rom 4:11.
God promised that Abraham would have children not only through Hagar but also through Sarah (Gen. 17:15-17), and God promised to renew the covenant with Isaac (17:19-21).
At Bethel, God gave similar promises to Jacob (28:10-15; 35:11-13). We are not specifically told that this was a covenant, but it apparently was.1 God referred to his covenant with Jacob and his covenant with Isaac and his covenant with Abraham, as if they were three distinct covenants (Lev 26:42), but he could also refer to them as one single covenant, since they contained the same promises (Ex 2:24; 2 Kings 13:23). The same basic covenant was renewed with each generation. Peter mentioned the covenant that God made with the fathers (plural), characterized by the promise given to Abraham (Acts 3:25). This covenant is also referred to in Ex 6:4-5.
The covenant at Mt. Sinai
God remembered the covenant he had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and he brought their descendants out of slavery in Egypt. While they were on their way to the land of Canaan, God made a covenant with them at Mt. Sinai. As their ruler, he gave laws, and they agreed to keep them. "If you obey me fully and keep my covenant," he told them through Moses, "then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.... You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Ex 19:5-6).
The people said they would do everything the Lord had said (19:8). After God spoke the Ten Commandments, the people asked Moses to be their mediator for the remainder of the covenant (20:1-19). Through Moses, God then gave regulations about altars (20:22-26), servants and slaves (21:1-11), murder and sins against others (21:12-32), sins against personal property (21:33-22:15) and other laws of social responsibility (22:16-27; 23:1-9). There were rules about blasphemy, cursing, offerings, firstlings (22:28-30), Sabbath years and days, Holy Days and offerings (23:10-19). God spoke all these laws, and then promised to give the people the land of Canaan (23:20-31).
The Abrahamic covenant, although it included obligations, stressed God's promise. The Sinaitic covenant, although it included mercy and promises, stressed human responsibilities. Moses told the people the laws, and the people said, "Everything the Lord has said we will do" (24:3). And Moses wrote it all down.
The next day, they had sacrifices, Moses read the book of the covenant,2 and the people again agreed to obey (24:4-7). So Moses sprinkled blood on the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words" (24:8). As Heb. 9:18-20 says, the first covenant was put into effect with blood. An animal was cut, and the people came under the covenant by being sprinkled with its blood.
The Ten Commandments formed the core of this covenant. "The words of the covenant --- the Ten Commandments" --- were written on tablets of stone (Ex 34:28). Although the covenant was equated with the Ten Commandments (Ex 34:28; Deut 4:13), the covenant included all of Ex 20-23. The Lord wrote "the law and commands I have written for their instruction" (Ex 24:12).
The tablets of stone were called the "tablets of the covenant" (Deut 9:9, 11, 15; Heb. 9:4). They were placed in the ark of the covenant (Ex 25:16, 21; 31:18), thus giving a name to the ark, and the covenant was said to be inside the ark (1 Kings 8:21; 2 Chron. 6:11).
In this covenant, the people agreed to be servants of God, and he agreed to protect them. The covenant was made not only with Israel as a nation, but also with Moses as its leader (Ex 34:10, 27). Many of the laws in Ex 34 are quoted from Ex 23. It was a covenant renewal or restatement with some variations. Heb. 9:1 says that original covenant also included regulations for worship and the sanctuary (Ex 25-30). The covenant was developed as time went on.
Although the Sabbath was part of the Ten Commandments (20:8-11), and part of the larger covenant (23:12), it was made its own covenant in Ex 31:16. Just as circumcision was an everlasting covenant and a sign of Abraham's covenant (Gen. 17:10-11), the Sabbath was also called a sign and an everlasting covenant (31:12, 16-17). Just as circumcision was a covenant in conjunction with the Abrahamic covenant, the Sabbath was a covenant in conjunction with the Sinaitic covenant.
Also in conjunction with the Sinaitic covenant was the weekly showbread, which was also called an everlasting covenant (Lev 24:8). An everlasting covenant was made with the priesthood, too (Num. 18:19; 25:13). Grain offerings were covenantized, too, since God commanded, "Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings" (Lev 2:13).
Covenant renewals
When the Israelites were ready to enter the promised land, Moses repeated to them the laws of God (Deut 1:1-5). He rehearsed some history, reminded the Israelites to obey God and worship him only, and he repeated the Ten Commandments. Although the people he was talking to were either not yet born or only children at Horeb (Mt. Sinai), Moses said that God had made the Sinaitic covenant with them, not with their parents (5:2-3).3
Moses not only repeated the Ten Commandments, but gave numerous other laws as well (Deut 6�?6). After he described blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience, he led the people to covenant anew with God to be his people. Most of the book of Deuteronomy then forms the "terms of the covenant the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb" (29:1). The covenant was renewed and expanded. This Deuteronomic covenant was built on the foundation of the Sinaitic covenant, the Ten Commandments.
Moses reminded the people that they were making a covenant with the Lord not only for themselves but also for their descendants (29:12-14), and he exhorted them to be faithful to this covenant (29:9). This was a confirmation of the covenant God had made with the patriarchs (29:13) �?it was a development from that patriarchal covenant. Moses wrote down the Deuteronomic law, and it was placed beside (not in) the ark of the covenant (31:9, 24-26).
The covenant was renewed in the days of Joshua (Josh 24:1-24), Asa (2 Chron. 15:12) and in the days of Joash (23:16). Hezekiah planned to make a covenant with God (29:10). Josiah and the Jews renewed the covenant, apparently the Deuteronomic law (2 Kings 23:3; 2 Chron. 34:31-32). Jeremiah called the people to obey the terms of the covenant they had made when their forefathers came out of Egypt (Jer. 11:2-6).4 In Jeremiah's day, the people made a covenant with God (34:15), but they were going back on it, and God would treat them "like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces" (34:18).
Yet another covenant was made in the days of Ezra, in which the people agreed to put away their foreign wives and children (Ezra 10:3).
Throughout Israel's history, covenant was an important concept. They were the "people of the covenant land" (Eze. 30:5); their ruler was "the prince of the covenant" (Dan 11:22). An attack on the Jews was considered an attack "against the holy covenant" (11:28, 30). Paul noted that one of the advantages of the people of Israel is that they had the (plural) "covenants of the promise" (Rom 9:4; Eph 2:12).
A new covenant prophesied
However, something was seriously wrong with the Israelite covenant. The people did not have the heart to obey, and God knew it (Deut 31:16-21, 27-29). Unlike Abraham, they did not believe and were not faithful (Heb. 3:19). The fault was with the people (Heb. 8:7-8).
The Sinaitic covenant had regulations for worship, but it could not transform the heart or the conscience (Heb. 9:9), and yet that is what people really need. The priests had to serve continually, but the high priest could approach God's throne only once a year. This indicated that the sacrificial rituals were not effective (Heb. 9:7-9; 10:1-3). The people's minds were dull; they could not understand (Matt 13:14-15; 19:8; 2 Cor 4:4), so they remained in the slavery of sin.
Therefore, God predicted a new covenant. He hinted at it even in the old �?he said that, after his people had been sent into captivity because they had broken the covenant, he would regather them and "circumcise your hearts" (Deut 4:25-31; 30:4-10).
The prophets predicted a new covenant between God and humans --- a new basis of relationship. There would be no need for this new covenant, of course, unless the old were deficient.
In a messianic prophecy fulfilled by Jesus Christ, Isaiah noted that God would make the Servant "to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles" (Isa. 42:6; 42:7 is similar to 61:1, which is quoted in Luke 4:18). The Servant himself would be the covenant --- he would be the basis of the relationship for both Jews and Gentiles. This was fulfilled in Jesus, for he shed his blood, and it is only through him that we may enter God's holy nation. Mal 3:1 predicted that the Lord would be the messenger of the new covenant.
Isaiah again predicted that God would make the Servant to be a covenant for the people in the day of salvation (Isa. 49:8). Just as God had sworn to Noah that he would never again destroy the earth with a flood, he will never remove this "covenant of peace" (54:9-10). "Come to me, all you who are thirsty," God calls (55:1), a scripture fulfilled in Jesus Christ (John 7:37). "Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you" (Isa. 55:3).
"The Redeemer will come to Zion," Isa. 59:20 prophesies, "to those in Jacob who repent of their sins." God will make a covenant with these repentant people. His Spirit will be upon them, and his words will remain in them (59:21). They will keep the covenant because they will be changed on the inside.
Isaiah 61 was also fulfilled by Jesus. God's Spirit was upon him, so he preached good news, freedom and comfort (61:1-2; Luke 4:18-21). Isaiah predicted a nation of priests (61:6) who will receive a great inheritance (61:7). God will "make an everlasting covenant with them" (61:8).
We are familiar with Jer. 31:31-33, since it is quoted in Hebrews. Jeremiah predicted a new covenant, which the people will not break, because God's law will be in their minds and hearts. All the people will know the Lord, their sins will be forgiven (31:34), and God will never reject the people (31:35-37).
In other prophecies of regathering, Jeremiah predicted an everlasting covenant (32:40), in which the people will never turn away from fearing God (32:38-40; 50:5).
Ezekiel also foresaw that God would remember the covenant and regather the people; he will then "establish an everlasting covenant with you." He will make atonement for the people, and they will be repentant (Eze. 16:60-62). After gathering them, he will make "a covenant of peace" with them, an everlasting covenant (34:25; 36:27; 37:26). Hosea 2:18 describes a similar covenant.
All these prophets predicted a new covenant, a new basis of relationship with God. This covenant will repair the defective hearts of the people, and will therefore not need to be replaced. It will be an everlasting covenant of peace, a covenant of reconciliation.
Jesus and the new covenant
At the Last Supper, Jesus proclaimed that the wine-cup represented his own blood, which would be the blood of the new covenant (Mt 26:28; Mk 14:24; Heb. 10:29). The cup represented the "new covenant in my blood" (Luke 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25). Just as the Sinaitic covenant was sealed with blood, so also the new covenant was ratified when Jesus' blood was poured out on the cross. We renew that covenant and reaffirm our commitment to it when we drink the wine and eat the bread, remembering the Lord's death until he returns. The Lord's Supper is a visible and tangible reminder of the covenant. But the wine is not sprinkled on the surface of the people --- it is swallowed. The new covenant affects our innermost being.
The new covenant is superior to the old, for it has been founded on better promises (Heb. 8:6). The old covenant could never make anyone perfect; no one could meet its righteous demands. It has now become "obsolete" (8:13); its laws are "set aside"5 (7:18; 10:9) --- replaced by a better hope, better promises and an effective transformation of the heart, a transformation that begins with faith.
Jesus Christ is the Messenger and Mediator of the new covenant (Heb. 8:6; 12:24). He is also the sacrifice --- he himself is the new covenant. His teachings are the requirements of the covenant. Faith is required for participation in it. The Holy Spirit is given to transform the heart, and eternal life is the promised inheritance. It is an eternal covenant (13:20), guaranteed by Jesus (7:22). His blood has made us perfect, and he is making us holy (10:10, 14).
The new covenant has phenomenal promises, and all who believe them are counted as righteous. They are considered as faithful to the terms of the covenant. Their allegiance (loyalty and obedience) is given to Jesus Christ.
Our relationship with God is based on the new covenant. God takes away our sins (Rom 11:27). Jesus "died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant" (Heb. 9:15). God's Spirit gives us life (2 Cor 3:6). He puts the terms of the covenant within our hearts and minds so we can be faithful to him (Heb. 8:7-10; 10:16). We may therefore "receive the promised eternal inheritance" (Heb. 9:15).
Terms of the new covenant
We now come to the most important part of this paper. The new covenant has been made, and the old covenant is obsolete (Heb. 8:13). What then are the terms of the new covenant? Is it simply faith and Spirit added to the old rules? No. Some of the old rules are obsolete.
The book of Hebrews explains that the sacrifices, for example, are done away. Hebrews does not say that the sacrifices are obsolete because they were later additions to the covenant. Rather, it is the Sinaitic covenant itself that is obsolete. There has been a change of the law (Heb. 7:12). Levites administered the old covenant; Christian ministers administer the new covenant, not the old.
When we compare the new covenant with the old, we see both similarities and differences. Some laws of the old covenant are continued into the new. The Tenth Commandment, for example, is quoted in the New Testament. As another example, we should still obey Ex 22:22: "Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan." Even though this commandment is not quoted in the New Testament, the principle is still valid.
Other laws are transformed in the way we apply them. Take Ex 22:19, for example: "Anyone who has sexual relations with an animal must be put to death." The prohibition is valid, but the church does not enforce the punishment. Today, we would put such a person out of our fellowship until repentance, instead of killing the offender. Part of the law is valid, and part is not.
Some laws are simply discontinued, such as Ex 20:24: "Make an altar of earth for me." And Ex 22:29-30: "You must give me the firstborn of your sons. Do the same with your cattle and your sheep." The promises of the old covenant are also discontinued �?Christians do not expect God to drive the Canaanites out of the land.
The old covenant was a package of laws and promises between God and his people. That package is now obsolete. Although some laws in the old covenant continue to be valid, others have ceased to be valid. We cannot assume that any particular law is valid simply on the basis of it being commanded in the old covenant.
This principle is taught in Gal 3:17: "The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise." Paul is not singling out ritualistic laws. He is talking about the entire package of laws that was given four centuries after Abraham. The Sinaitic laws cannot do away with the promises God gave to Abraham.
In other words, once a promise has been given, conditions cannot be added (3:15). God knew in advance that the Israelites could not obey the covenant he gave them, and he did not use their disobedience to abandon the promises he had given to Abraham. The old covenant was an addition, given for a temporary purpose. It is now expired, no longer in effect.
The Galatian Christians had received the Holy Spirit by believing the gospel (3:2, 5). By believing, they became children of Abraham (3:7, 29) and partakers of his blessing (3:9, 14). The Galatian believers had the same covenant with God that Abraham did, and so do Christians today. Paul is explaining that our inheritance depends on promise (3:18), not on the law of Moses. We are children of God by faith, not by law (3:26).
In other words, our relationship with God is based on faith and promise, just as Abraham's was. We are justified by faith and saved by promise --- by grace. Laws that were added at Sinai cannot change the promise given to Abraham, nor can those laws change the promise given to us, since we are Abraham's children by faith. God gave his oath to Abraham, and he cannot break his promise by introducing new requirements (3:15). The promise still stands.
Even circumcision, which was given to Abraham as a sign of the covenant, cannot change the original promise, which was given on the basis of faith. Paul points out that Abraham was declared righteous, and therefore acceptable to God, while he was uncircumcised (Rom 4:9-11). The promise in Gen. 15 was given without conditions. Abraham is therefore the father of all who have faith, whether they are circumcised or not, and all who have faith can be heirs of the original promise (Rom 4:16). Circumcision, the sign of the covenant, is now a matter of the heart (Rom 2:29). Obedience should be in our hearts.
However, no one obeys perfectly. Everyone breaks the law. Law cannot give life (Gal 3:21, 10-12). It was never meant to be a means of salvation. All it can do is condemn us. So what was its purpose? It was added because of transgressions and was to be in force only until Christ came (3:19). It held us prisoners (3:23). Why? "The law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith" (3:24). The law helps us see what sin is, our need for forgiveness, our need for grace, our need for a Savior, and our need for faith.
"Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law" (3:25). The law �?meaning the covenant added 430 years after Abraham �?was temporary, added until the coming of the "Seed" the promise referred to �?Christ (3:19). The old covenant was a temporary addition, and it is now obsolete.
By establishing the new covenant, Jesus set aside the first covenant (Heb. 10:9). He did away with many laws, but he also reaffirmed many laws and stressed that obedience should begin in the heart. He also added commands not found in the old covenant at all. The new covenant has many laws of its own.
Faith in Christ means allegiance to him. Faith produces obedience to the laws of the new covenant. All that the Lord has said, we should obey. We look to Jesus' teachings, and the teachings of his inspired apostles, to see the way that Christian faith should work in our lives. Since we always fall short of these New Testament commands, however, they continue to show us our need for salvation by grace through faith in our Savior.