Covenants Of The Bible

I. Covenants Between God and Man[1]

Covenant	Made With	Status	Key Passages
Noahic	All living creatures.	Unconditional	Gen. 9, 9
Abrahamic	Abraham	Unconditional	Gen. 12, 15, 17
Mosaic	Israel	Conditional, Broken, Superceded	Ex. 19, 20, 24 Lev. 26
Palestinian	Israel	Unconditional	Deu. 30, 30
Davidic	David	Unconditional	2S. 7, 1Chr. 17, Ps. 89
New	Israel	Unconditional	Jer. 31, Eze 34, 36, 37, Mat. 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, Heb. 7, 8, 10

The Abrahamic covenant feeds into three additional covenants

II. Noahic Covenant

Made with: All living creatures. Gen. 9:9-11; 9:9-11
Status: Unconditional, permanent

Sign: Rainbow Gen. 9:13,17

Provisions:

1. Never again curse the ground. Gen. 5:29; see Gen. 5:29

2. Never again destroy every living thing. Gen. 8:21

3. Seasons and day/night will not cease while the earth remains. Gen. 8:22

4. Never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth. Gen. 9:11

III. Abrahamic Covenant

Made with: Abraham
Status: Unconditional, permanent.

Sign: Circumcision: Gen. 17:9-14.[2]

Three aspects of the covenant are developed further by subsequent unconditional covenants:
(1) land � Palestinian Covenant; (2) physical seed � Davidic Covenant; (3) spiritual seed (blessing) � New Covenant

Provisions:

1. A great nation was to come out of Abraham, namely the nation of Israel.� Gen. 13:16; 13:16; 15:5; 17:1-2, 7; 22:17.

2. Abraham was promised a land specifically, the land of Canaan. Gen. 12:1,7; 13:14-15,17; 17:8; 17:8.

3. Abraham to be blessed. Gen. 12:2; 15:6; 22:15-17.

4. Abraham�s name to be great. Gen. 12:2. [3]

5. Abraham will be a blessing to others. Gen. 12:2.

6. Those who Abraham bless will be blessed. Gen. 12:3.

7. Those who curse Abraham will be cursed. Gen. 12:3.

8. In Abraham, all will be ultimately blessed, a promise of Gentile blessing. Gen. 12:3; 22:18.

9. Abraham would receive a son through Sarah. Gen. 17:16-21; 17:16-21.

10. Abraham�s descendents to undergo Egyptian bondage. Gen. 15:13-14.

11. Other nations to come out of Abraham. Gen. 17:3-4,6.

12. Abram�s name changed to Abraham. Gen. 17:5.

13. Sarai�s name changed to Sarah. Gen. 17:15.

14. Circumcision as token of the covenant. Gen. 17:9-14.

The promises can be categorized as follows: (1) to Abraham: #3, #4, #5, #9, #12, #13; (2) to physical seed of Abraham: #1, #2, #10, #11, #14; (3) to spiritual seed of Abraham (includes Gentiles): #6, #7, #8

IV. Mosaic Covenant

Made with: Israel
Status: Conditional, broken, superceded. Deu. 31:16; Jer. 11:10; 31:32; Heb. 8:7
Sign: Sabbath (Ex. 31:13,17; Ex. 20:12,20)

Contains 613 laws (10 commandments + 603 additional laws) designated as� commands (moral issues ), ordinances (religious issues), and judgments (civil issues).

Attributes:

1. Given to Israel, not the church. Deu. 4:8; Ps. 147:20; Mal. 4:4; Rom. 9:4

2. Not a means of salvation. Rom. 3:19,28 ; 8:3; Gal. 2:21

3. Contains the Law of Moses.

4. Conditional: divine blessings upon human faithfulness. Ex. 19:5; Ex. 19:5

5. Never did-nor does now-apply to the church.� Not in any part.[4]

6. Ratified by blood. Ex. 24:1-11

Purpose:

1. Reveal holiness of God and His standards of righteousness. Lev. 19:1-2; Lev. 11:44; Rom. 7:12; 1Pe. 1:15

2. Rule of life for Old Testament saints. Lev. 11:44-45; 19:2; 20:7-8,26; Ps. 119:77,97,103-104, 159; Gal. 3:24

3. Provide Israel occasions for individual and corporate worship.� The 7 holy seasons of Israel (Lev. 23) is one example.

4. Keep Jews a distinct people. Ex. 19:5; Lev. 20:26; Due. 7:6

5. To produce a wall of separation. Eph. 2:11-18

6. To reveal sin. Rom. 5:20; 5:20; 13,13

7. To make one sin more. Rom. 5:20; 5:20; 1Cor. 15:56

8. To show inability to please God by own merit. Rom. 7:22-23; Gal. 2:21

9. To bring to saving faith in Christ. Gal. 3:24

1. Distinct from Mosaic Covenant. Deu. 29:1

2. Israel with be dispersed. Deu. 29:28

3. Israel will repent. Deu. 30:2

4. Israel will be regathered. Deu. 30:3-4

5. Israel will possess the Promised Land. Deu. 30:5

6. Israel will be regenerated. Deu. 30:6

7. Enemies of Israel to be cursed. Deu. 30:7

8. Israel to be blessed. Deu. 30:8-10

9. Awaiting future fulfillment. Jer. 9:15; Amos 9:15

1. House of David will never lack one with the right to rule from his throne.� Throne itself may be unoccupied due to divine judgment, but there will always be one with the right to rule. 2S. 7:14-16; Ps. 132:12; Jer. 22:30; 36:30

2. One of David�s sons was to be established on the throne after David. 2S. 7:12

3. Solomon would build the temple. 2S. 7:13

4. Covenant can never be abrogated. Ps. 19-37, 19-37.

5. An eternal throne is guaranteed. 2S. 16, 16.

6. An eternal kingdom is promised. Luke 1:32-33.

7. An eternal house or dynasty. 2S. 7:11;16; 1Chr. 17:10,14; Jer. 33:17; Isa. 9:6-7.

8. Solomon would be disciplined for disobedience, but God�s loving kindness not removed from him. 2S. 7:14-15

VII. New Covenant

The New Covenant develops the blessing aspects (spiritual seed-related) of the Abrahamic Covenant.
Made with: Israel and the spiritual seed of Abraham. Jer. 31:31; Rom. 4:16; Rom. 9:8[7]
Status: Unconditional, permanent.

Scriptures: Isa. 55:3; 59:20-21; 61:8-9; Jer. 31:31-40; 32:40; Eze. 16:60; 34:25-31; 37:21-28; Mat. 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:14-20; Rom. 11:26; 1Cor. 11:25; 2Cor. 3:6; Heb. 7:22; 8:6-13; 9:15; 10:13,16,29; 12:24; 11:25-27; Rom. 11:25-27

Characteristics:

1. �New� in contrast to Mosaic covenant which was conditional and was broken and was not followed. Jer. 31:32, Heb. 8:9.

2. As given in OT, clearly applies to the national Israel. Given to the houses of Judah and Israel. Made with the same people as was the Mosaic Covenant. Jer. 31:31

3. Frequently connected with the restoration of Israel to her land as a nation.

4. Stated as such by the apostle Paul. Rom. 2:11-12; Eph. 2:11-12.

5. Some aspects of fulfillment still future. Paul refers to Isa. 59:20-21 from Rom. 11:26.

6. New testament fulfillment spiritually in the Church. Mat. 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; Rom. 11:27; 1Cor. 11:25; 2Cor. 3:6; Heb. 8:8-10; 9:15; 10:13; 12:24.

7. Similarity with Abrahamic covenant: spiritual and physical blessings to Israel[8]; spiritual blessings appropriated by church.[9]

8. New Covenant instituted by Christ�s death, but benefits not entirely fulfilled until the second advent.

9. Israel to be regenerated. Jer. 59:21; Isa. 59:21
Regeneration universal among all Jews. Jer. 31:34; Rom. 11:26

10. Provides for forgiveness of sin (that which Mosaic covenant could not do). Jer. 31:34

11. Indwelling of Holy Spirit. Eze. 36:2

[1] �� Only major agreements between God and man which are actually denoted as covenants in Scripture are treated herein.� What some have termed the Adamic and Edenic �covenants� are not here treated, nor are the conjectured covenants of Covenant Theology.

[2] �� This, along with the actions of God in Gen. 15:18, render it a blood covenant.

[3] �� Abraham is revered by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

[4] �� As evidenced by the need for the Jerusalem council in Acts 15?

[5] �� Palestine - name given by Roman emperor Hadrian after the second Jewish revolt under Bar Cochba (A.D. 132-135) for the purpose of erasing any Jewish remembrance of the land as part of his policy to de-judaize the land.� Not so named in scripture.

[6] �� Those who argue that the promised land was fulfilled in the days of Solomon�s reign cannot explain why prophets subsequent to Solomon see its fulfillment yet future nor how they could be said to occupy the land forever and never again be plucked up from it�yet do not have it even today.

[7] �� Care is needed to avoid equating the spiritual seed of Abraham with Israel.� Nowhere in all of scripture are believers referred to as the �new Israel� as Covenant Theology teaches. The term �Israel� always refers to the physical offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob�not the church.

[8] �� Physical blessings include inheritance in a land, material blessings on the earth, and rest from oppression.

[9] �� Salvation, forgiveness of sin, ministry of Holy Spirit.