Photo by rawpixel.com, public domain
One of the main ways God relates to his people in the Bible is by means of a covenant. But this isn’t a word we use in daily conversation. What does this word mean?
The Heart of Relationship
The word “covenant” appears in many of the most famous passages of the Bible. As we read these passages, and as younger Christians ask us about these passages, we need to have an explanation ready.
“Covenant” is at the center of serious relationships in the Bible. Here are a few examples.
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” (Genesis 9:8–11)
And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. (Genesis 17:7)
Covenants in the Bible are not always between God and an Old Testament figure. We read about covenants between Abraham and Abimelech (Gen 21:27) as well as Jacob and Laban (Gen 31:44). God warns the Israelites about making a covenant with the inhabitants of Canaan (Ex 34:12). Marriage is described using covenant language (Mal 2:14). The word “covenant” even appears in the language many of us hear when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11:25).
Old and New
God has made several covenants with his people throughout history. But the Bible speaks distinctly about an “old” covenant and a “new” covenant.
Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 31:31–32)
But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. (Hebrews 8:6–7)
Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15)
Scores of books have been written about the old and new covenants, and we don’t have the space to explore that in depth here. However, this distinction is vital to our understanding of redemption. The old/new covenant connection is at the heart of the book of Hebrews, and we can assert with its author the central feature of the new covenant:
For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:24–26)
An Agreement
Of our articles in the Big Bible Words series, this one might contain the simplest definition. A covenant is a serious agreement. This agreement may come with promises and threats, this agreement may be conditional or unconditional, but at its heart, a covenant is an agreement. (Don’t let the length of some Bible dictionary entries complicate the matter for you.)
As with all Biblical terminology, we should be able to explain “covenant” to adults and children of any age. Here is an illustration that might help the youngsters in your home or church.
A mother sent her two daughters upstairs with two specific tasks. They were to clean the bathroom and put away their laundry, and if they didn’t finish these jobs there would be no dessert after dinner.
The younger daughter enjoyed sweeping, while the older despised it. The younger girl also had trouble hanging her clean dresses up in the closet. So the girls hatched a plan.
The older daughter would help her sister hang up her clothes, and the younger daughter would take care of sweeping the bathroom. The girls realized they were depending on each other to obey their mother, but they trusted each other.
They both loved dessert, so obeying their mother in this matter was serious business. Instinctively, after they talked through their idea, they shook hands. They made a covenant.
Thanks to commenter bryantjonz on the article Big Bible Words: Righteousness for the question/inspiration for this post!
Leave a Reply