Covenantal Theology

The Hebraic Viewpoint

Covenantal Theology

Covenant – “Brit” – means “to cut”

"Covenants" are contracts between two parties.

Genesis 15 – Abram and God

Covenant Customs:

Blood sacrifice – Genesis 15:9-18; 31:43-54; Exodus 24:5-8; Jeremiah 34:18-19

Memorial Covenant meal – Genesis 31:54; Exodus 24:9-11

Compare with Newer Covenant

Blood sacrifice: Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 9:12-22

Covenant meal –Matthew 26:26-28

8 Covenants in Scripture:

1) Edenic 2) Adamic 3) Noahic 4) Abrahamic 5) Mosaic 6) “Palestinian” 7) Davidic 8) “New” Covenant

Principles of Covenantal Theology:

1 - When God makes a covenant with “forever,” “eternal,” “throughout your generations” elements, He is true to that covenant - FOREVER! (Deuteronomy 7:9)

2- A later covenant does NOT do away with a Previous Covenant. (Galatians 3)

3- A later covenant often expands and enlightens the previous covenants.

1) Edenic Covenant

Similar to what Dispensationalists call the “Age of Innocence.” The terms of this covenant are set forth in Genesis 1:28; 2:15-17.

2) Adamic Covenant

Similar to what Dispensationalists call the “Age of Conscience.” The terms of this covenant are found in Genesis 3:14-23.

3) Noahic Covenant

Gen 9:11 - 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."

Sign of the Noahic Covenant

Gen 9:12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:

Gen 9:13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

4) Abrahamic Covenant

The Abrahamic Covenant is an everlasting covenant of promise and grace. It consisted entirely of God's promises to Abraham & his children & the Gentile nations that would be blessed in Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3,7). The promises were promises of great personal, family & national blessings - many offspring, land & eternal blessings.

Abrahamic Covenant

Genesis 15:18-21 : On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates…

Leviticus 26:42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

Sign of the Abrahamic Covenant:

Genesis 17:10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.Genesis 17:11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.

5) Mosaic Covenant

Renewed with Moses and the nation of Israel at Mt Sinai. The further manifestation, the Torah as the contents of this covenant, providing the guidelines for living in the Abrahamic Covenant. It was a covenant of dwelling in the promise. A person comes to life (become spiritually alive) through the Abrahamic Covenant by faith and thereafter, the Mosaic Covenant brings him into living out that new life in God.

Mosaic Covenant

Exodus 24:7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient." Exodus 24:8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, "Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words."

Sign of Mosaic Covenant The sign of the Shabbat, which is reminder of

the high honor to be given to God, was given under the Mosaic Covenant (Exodus 31:12-13):

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for {this} is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.”

6) “Palestinian” Covenant – Romans called Land “Palestinia”

Deuteronomy 29:1-29 - 30:1-10 - Erroneously called by theologians by this name. The Bible does not recognize the land by that name. Land called Israel in the Bible.

Regards Israel’s final possession of their ancient land. Genesis 15:18-20; Exodus 23:21; Ezekiel 47:13-23

Eternal, Unconditional Covenant

The Palestinian Covenant is an unconditional, eternal covenant (Ezekiel 16:60) because it is a part of the Abrahamic Covenant and an amplification of it.

7) Davidic Covenant [Kingly]

2 Samuel 7:11-13 - Cut with David to establish an everlasting kingdom. A royal, eternal dynasty of rulers and leaders. It demonstrates God's governing authority and government as illustrated in the life of king David and his dynasty, representing the government of the Son of David who will reign forever.

Davidic Covenant Fulfilled

Jeremiah 33:14-16 – “14 `Behold, days are coming,' declares the LORD, `when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 `In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. 16 `In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the LORD is our righteousness.'

Jeremiah 33:17-18

17 "For thus says the LORD, `David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; 18 and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices continually…' ”

8) New Covenant

Jeremiah 31:31-32 - The cutting of a new, yet not brand new but renewed covenant with the House of Judah & House of Israel, descendants of Abraham.

Fault with First Covenant

Hebrews 8 - 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. 8 For finding fault with them, He says, "BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH;

Weakness of the Law – It could not cause the flesh to comply with its requirements! - Romans 8 3 For what the Law could not do, weak

as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Why a Need for “New” Covenant?

There was a need for renewal because the people had consistently failed to keep the Mosaic Covenant. The fault lay with the people, for they did not mix hearing the message with faith (Hebrews 4:2, 8:8).

Remedy the Problem – Make a “New” Covenant Jeremiah 31:31-32 – “Behold, days are

coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD…”

Fix the People Jeremiah 31:30-34 "But this is the covenant

which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

Law is Spiritual – Romans 7

14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.

Law is Holy – Romans 7

12 So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

We’re NOT – Romans 7

14 but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

Romans 7

21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.

So God puts His Law within us! Jeremiah 31:33

"I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it…”

AND gives us His Spirit! Ezekiel 36

24 "For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. 25 "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. 28 "You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.

Ezekiel 11:17-20 17 "Therefore say, `Thus says the Lord GOD, "I

will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel."' 18 "When they come there, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it. 19 "And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.

Walk by the Spirit – Galatians 5

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.