The protoevangelium decree of the living God set in motion a covenantal framework by which intervals of overlapping and sequential promises were rendered certain along a course of their fulfillment. This post attempts to trace what God has ordained, accomplished, and set forth toward the formation and redemption of humanity toward fellowship with Him for His good pleasure and glory. After the fall of humanity in the garden, through history, and by the projection of eschatological events, there would be a reckoning and reconciliation process to forge an everlasting Kingdom fellowship of people who live and abide with God forever. The subject of this research project is about how God develops His Kingdom through covenants, as traced from Scripture. God’s intentions were made clear throughout redemptive history toward His overall soteriological purpose for His glory and good pleasure.
Abstract
Jesus said, “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Lk 12:32). Speaking to His “little flock” of sheep, Jesus made entirely clear our Father’s intentions. By the inexpressible magnitude and gravity of His love and sovereign will, God has formed regenerative humanity into a Kingdom through a series of covenants to reclaim humanity after the fall. Covenants that are not merely sequential but overlap and extend to individuals, tribes, and nations. The overwhelming beauty and magnificence of God’s covenantal progression of promises narrow further toward specific Messianic fulfillment. Sovereignly crafted circumstances around empires, kingdoms, and governments appear supported in Scripture through the lineage of peoples with types and conditions of covenantal advancement.
This post aims to show the validity of covenant purpose as it covers in some detail each covenant and corresponding contributions to the framework of God’s redemptive intent. Specifically, as revealed in Scripture, how God intends to give His flock the kingdom (Lk 12:32) through Christ Jesus. To answer the question, how does God perform the necessary actions to accomplish His perfect will, a Scriptural walkthrough of eight covenants represents a biblical theology of macro soteriological purpose. As salvation belongs to the LORD, this post topically traverses the Edenic covenant, the Adamic covenant, the Noahic covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, the Deuteronomic Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, and the New Covenant. The literary support that matches overlapping points of covenantal integration across time and generations (i.e., epochs or dispensations) shall be covered. From the point of Adam, through the table of nations, and the covenants of law and grace where biblical events unfold, and outcomes are tracked toward successive completion of kingdom objectives.
As a zoomed-out view of what occurred by God’s revealed Word, the post begins with a macro perspective. Each covenant examination entered into successive focus to understand their respective roles and intended purpose of involving a pervasive messianic thread. The prospective concluding idea concerns God’s work as the crowning glory of Jesus in Scripture; illuminated by His entire biblical path through all covenants. This post examines the biblical theology concerning covenantal fulfillment through a chronological timeline and divinely prescribed order while guided by sound hermeneutical methods necessary for proper exegetical interpretation. The authorial intent of the biblical writers shall be best effort honored throughout this entire research project.
Introduction
This post aims to highlight and explore the various covenants that chronologically appear within the Old and New Testaments. By carefully studying the canonical covenants of Scripture, there is a continuity of redemptive work from Yahweh as made evident over time. This post attempts to trace what God has ordained, accomplished, and set forth toward the formation and redemption of humanity toward fellowship with Him for His good pleasure and glory. After the fall of humanity in the garden, through history, and by the projection of eschatological events, there would be a reckoning and reconciliation process to forge an everlasting Kingdom fellowship of people who live and abide with God forever. The subject of this research project is how God develops His Kingdom on Earth through covenants, as traced from Scripture. God’s intentions were made clear throughout redemptive history toward His overall soteriological purpose for His glory and good pleasure.
The approach of this project involves a covenant-by-covenant review of Scripture to recognize and absorb what each meant. A cursory and above-the-surface level view to get at the purposes, methods, and trajectories of all covenants should provide a means of understanding God’s written Word to better value His redemptive work and its implications through covenants formed across generations. There is much to learn from each covenant, as each has a significant underlying depth. Throughout the biblical narratives, a sequence of promises and judgments were upon people to remedy and correct desperate circumstances and behaviors that thoroughly illustrate God’s mercies, justice, and sovereign intentions. There are several covenants with historical and functional distinctions that accomplish prescribed and necessary outcomes as a result of humanity’s fallen condition. Moreover, God, in His wisdom, chooses to return appointed humanity to Him through the instruments of covenantal lineage and retention.
Background
There are eight covenants that this post will cover topically. Due to this project’s limited scope and intent, the subject matter shall be limited to descriptions, definitions, or the plain meaning of covenants as interpreted from Scripture. Through principles of proper hermeneutical methodology, the intent of the biblical authors is sought and applied to understand the meaning and purpose of each covenant correctly—the relationship of each one along a timeline is examined to recognize which covenants overlap or supersede others. As covenant participants are covered by the terms and stipulations of each covenant, some are named after the inheritors to which they were enacted. For example, the “Noahic Covenant” was established with Noah and his family, where God spoke about its purpose and the unique conditions in which it was set in place.
From the time of the historical fall of literal Adam and Eve, the Adamic Covenant, a sequence of covenants was set in motion and propagated across history to restore humanity and creation toward redeemable states of existence. At any moment in time, there was never a covenant that lapsed or became suspended, as recorded by biblical events throughout the pages of Scripture. Covenants anchored by promises generally rendered and to specific men by name were set forth to enact means of reconciliation and standing position before God through His justice and mercy for salvific purposes. Initiation of covenants situated among individuals that originate from God align toward where redemptive history is projected from a retrospective view of covenants. Their interrelated characteristics assure continuity toward a prophetic New Covenant that becomes fulfilled according to promises that were messaged through various prophets. The collection of covenants interspersed with Scripture converges to fulfillment in Christ as God Himself satisfies the requirements necessary for the restored created order.
Old Testament
The seven Old Testament covenants that preceded the new covenant as fulfilled in the New Testament included existing conditions overlapping various biblical events over time. Intervals of time between the initiation of each covenant constitute periods of history that include further covenants followed by or succeeded by additional covenants. For example, before the Edenic covenant (Gen 3:14-19), there was a period of innocence and dominion (Gen 1:28-30) where it is written that God walked the garden among His created man and woman, both male and female (Gen 3:8). After Adam and Eve’s fall at the garden of Eden, an ante-diluvian period preceded the biblical account of Noah and the Mesopotamian flood1 that destroyed humanity for some duration before the inauguration of the Noahic covenant that followed. The Adamic covenant of Genesis 3:15 remained in effect while the Noahic covenant was established and ran its course throughout redemptive history. The duration of the Adamic covenant extends throughout the law and the prophets to the New Testament and beyond toward the eschatological Parousia.2 The propagating covenants within the Old Testament make evident a sovereignly orchestrated assembly of circumstances, events, conditions, and outcomes by which the proclamations between the serpent and the woman of Genesis 3:15 become fulfilled.
After a lengthy study of the various covenants throughout history, biblical readers get the impression they are not freestanding or isolated eras of time without unrelated purposes. They separately carry forward a necessity of a messianic figure who appears among various intertextual genres of Scripture. Numerous themes and recurring narratives identify the presence of God and His involvement, where He prominently appears among kingdoms, kings, prophets, tribes, and nations. His redemptive work throughout human history remains within a covenant context as He is directly and solely responsible for the eschatological purpose of humanity.
To understand the biblical context and use of the term “covenant,” it is necessary to view its meaning from an Ancient Near Eastern perspective. As the “covenant” term has largely fallen out of use in modern society, it will only at times appear within marriage or contract and property language in a legal sense. Historically, the meaning of covenant correlates to the semantic range of the Hebrew word bĕrı̂t. Namely, as a “loyalty oath,” “treaty,” or “charter,” the biblical history of the covenant term had a direct bearing upon individual and tribal behavior patterns that were socially enacted.3 As the contextual meaning of covenant within a biblical framework remains settled, the use of the term marks the nature of the relationship between God and humanity as He defines it by His Word within Scripture. In a more coarse way of looking at the broader meaning of covenant, both Old and New Testaments are viewed as Old and New Covenants by comparison.
The Old Testament of Old Covenants comprises of pre-incarnate arrival of God as Messiah within Creation. The New Testament of the New Covenant consists of Christ Jesus within the first century as the fulfillment of messianic prophecy from the Old Testament covenants. The genealogical relevance of subsequent lineages from Adam through Noah and his offspring assured a generational path of Christ’s arrival. To assure the transition from Old Covenant requirements of the law to New Covenant conditions of grace and indwelling regeneration, an emergence of created historical and social order was necessary for the life and redemptive work of Christ to bring the Kingdom of God to Earth. A kingdom of believers inhabited by the Holy Spirit as the presence of God to reclaim appointed humanity. The supremacy of Christ and His kingdom on Earth for eschatological purposes eventually returns all of redeemed creation to the Father. The spiritual mechanism to which that is achieved is through covenants.
The Edenic Covenant
(Genesis 1:28-30)
Before the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, God’s work of creation was originated and formed to place humanity before Him in fellowship. In perfect harmony, the innocence of people was before God to satisfy His interests, as the apostle Matthew informs us that He made them male and female (Matt 19:4). There were two genders from creation to clarify the complementary order of human work and reproduction.4 No other genders were created before or after the formation of humanity from the garden, nor specified elsewhere throughout the pages of Scripture. Male and female were blessed and told to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. The blessing of God was inherent and intentional toward the created order He situated around Adam and Eve. This blessing was antithetical to any withdrawal or curse as Adam and Eve were innocent before God even while there was the presence of evil in the Universe beforehand (Isa. 14:12, Luke 10:18, 2 Pet 2:4, Jude 1:6).5 As God provided food for both Adam and Eve in their innocence, there was an expectation to satisfy His interests while He knew of the presence of evil beings separated from Him. Uncorrupted, Adam and Eve were given a covenant charter to occupy and fill the earth according to the will of God.
God revealed humanity’s given ability to choose freely from the trees in the garden by voicing the existence of human agency and choice. He informed Adam and Eve that if they were to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or touch it, they would “surely die” (Gen 2:17, 3:3). Adam and Eve carried with them God’s blessing, yet they had the choice to obey God by keeping the covenant given to them within Eden. Under no circumstances were they to betray God by their disobedience and reject the covenant bestowed toward them. Yet of the fall inevitable by the sin Adam and Eve chose to commit, God’s purposes prevail.
The Adamic Covenant
(Genesis 3:14-19)
There are two main covenants within Scripture—first, the covenant of works initially described by Genesis in the garden of Eden. Second is the covenant of grace as narrated in the New Testament. From the Edenic Covenant to the Adamic Covenant, the fall narrative of Genesis informs readers of the circumstances surrounding the serpent’s deception and subsequent outcomes. The judgment and curses God put upon Adam meant condemnation upon humanity, and the suffering of sin brought into the world would remain upon all males and females across generations for thousands of years. The covenant of grace first appeared in Genesis as curses were applied to Adam and Eve in the garden. Subordinate to that covenant was the Adamic Covenant, in which God extends mercy to both. The male would be permitted to live the remaining years of his life, and the female would be redeemed through childbearing (1 Tim 2:15).6 Beyond the immediate pronouncement of judgment, there was hope as the deceptive serpent figure was cursed, made lower than all creatures, and rendered hidden from view throughout creation (Gen 3:14).
The first gospel appears immediately after the fall of man. Referred to as the protoevangelion by theologians, it was the first promise of redemption in Scripture.7 Sometimes referred to as the protoevangelium, and it is the promise and prophecy of a coming messianic savior. With the breaking of the Edenic covenant, the Adamic covenant takes effect as God’s pronouncement of curses, judgment, and the promise of coming salvation.8 Genesis 3:15 is the key by which it is necessary to understand the Adamic covenant.
To understand the Adamic covenant and its implications, Scripture informs its readers that the promise would last until the destruction and renewal of the heavens and the Earth, as described by Peter’s letter to the early Church (2 Pet 3:7-13). During the course of redemptive history, various subordinate covenants of works would follow until fulfilled in Christ. The Adamic covenant remains in effect through the first and second coming of Christ. In contrast, the new covenant of grace superseded the covenants of works that extend back to the protoevangelium. More explicitly, the Adamic covenant includes the Genesis 3:15 pronouncement to the serpent as follows (ESV):
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring
and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
God’s pronouncement upon the serpent wasn’t a one-and-done conflict. The hostility would remain continuous throughout the course of history. Again and again, the enemy of humanity would suffer violence to iterate upon the judgment and condemnation of the serpent. In the books of the law, the prophets, and the writings, the skull of the serpent’s seed (vis-à-vis) the serpent would be crushed in a recurring fashion.9 The continued animosity between the woman and her offspring reflects the present and ongoing war upon the evil where the incarnate messiah would prevail. At regular prophetic intervals, kingdoms would rise and fall with kingly accessions toward final fulfillment in Christ Jesus. The New Testament gospels record the arrival of Christ, where the Kingdom of God provides the second exodus as people are redeemed by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9). The means of escape from the snare of the serpent became a bruising defeat as people were once held captive by sin and deception.
The Noahic Covenant
(Genesis 9:1-27)
The wider Scriptural account of the Noahic covenant is recorded in Genesis 8:20–9:17. More notably, the “covenant” term bĕrı̂t is again in view in Genesis 9:9, and the term carries the same meaning as prior covenants made. A covenant is an agreement enacted by two parties as actions, performances, or a refrain from behaviors stipulated in advance comprises a covenant between people or organizations. In the language of Genesis, the covenant pertains to the agreements between God and specific individuals or people groups. As such, the Noahic covenant is unique from the others due to preceding historical events and its conditions as Noah and his family recovered from the flooding God caused to wipe out all human life throughout the Mediterranean and Mesopotamian regions of the ancient near east.
The backstory to the Noahic covenant concerns the flood discourse of Genesis 7-8. The infamous accounts of interbreeding between human females and sons of God (Nephilim as evil spirits who inhabited men)10 predicated God’s regret and sorrow for the creation of humanity on the earth (Gen 6:1-4). The days of Noah were abundantly evil to the extent that humanity was entirely corrupted. Yet while the Edenic and Adamic covenants were historically made with eschatological implications, the fulfillment of the protoevangelium of Genesis 3:15 remained a future certainty. A new covenant was to follow with Noah and his offspring. Specifically, three proleptic covenant provisions were specified in Scripture as rendered distinct from the others, while prior covenants were precursors to reset the entire trajectory of the human condition.
The Abrahamic Covenant
(Genesis 12:1-3, 13:14-17, 15:1-18, 17:1-8, 22:15-18)
Noah’s descendants were divided among the nations listed in Genesis 10. At the tower of Babel event of Genesis 11:1-9, they were placed under the governance of the “sons of God.” As a punitive action against the people for violating the Edenic, Adamic, and Noahic covenants, they were allotted (Deut 4:19–20; 29:25–26) to the sons of God, who were lesser divine beings.14 The peoples did not disperse, fill the earth and multiply but instead gathered in one language and concentrated humanity to serve their interests against the directives of God for covenant fulfillment. Placed over the nations were sons of God (elohim) who acted within and among rulers separated from God’s direct and abiding attention. Instead, God reserved a people as His portion through the Abrahamic descendants for covenant continuity and fulfillment (Deut 32:9). From Mesopotamia, the people of Babel were dispersed throughout regions surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, the Dead Sea, and the Jordan River. The positional locality of dispersed peoples was of the table of nations described in Genesis 10.
More specifically, the descendants of Shem, Japheth, and Ham, the sons of Noah, were the progenitors of peoples scattered and given over to the governance of corrupted rulers (Ps 82:2-8). However, God selected and appointed another man from Ur in the land of Shinar, who would continue through the Genesis 3:15 promise. Just as Noah believed God, Abraham did as well, and his faith was counted to him as righteousness (Gen 15:6, Rom 4:3, 5, 9, Jas 2:23). While Deut 32:9 is God’s spiritual claim upon His people from among all other nations, Genesis 12:1-3 is the Abrahamic foundation that extends to God’s relationship with all humanity.15
The propagation of the Abrahamic covenant was a supernatural endeavor. While the covenant was conditional upon Abraham’s obedience to leave his homeland, God puts upon him the obligation to obey to receive descendants and blessings. The intentionality of God’s call to Abraham was with blessings in mind. The tension between God’s displeasure at Babel, the scattering of nations, and His desire to favor Abraham and his offspring rests upon God’s desire to bless humanity or all the nations on earth. How Abraham attained blessings in fulfillment of the covenant wasn’t rationalistic or synergistic efforts.
Contrary to Abraham’s efforts and interests in how to attain the blessings, God’s method of bestowing land and offspring to Abraham and his descendants was a divinely monergistic activity. Abraham wanted Ishmael as first-born by natural means, while Isaac wasn’t born of God’s work toward fulfillment. God intentionally waited until Abraham was of the age that “he was as good as dead” before he conceived a child with Sarah.16 The arrival of Isaac was by necessity of God alone through supernatural means (i.e., flesh and promise of Gen. 17:18, 19; Gal. 4:23). To assure that the continuity of covenants reaches their intended purpose, God did not entirely leave the trajectory of Genesis 3:15 in the hands of His faithful people.
To clearly see the specifics of the Abrahamic covenant, it is necessary to parse and analyze Genesis 12:1-3. There are several components to the covenant that are both temporal and eternal through the extended reach of the blessings. First, God promised Abraham that He would make him a great nation both in a natural and spiritual sense. Genesis 13:16, 17:20 refers to the “dust of the earth” concerning both Isaac and Ishmael. Conversely, “the stars of heaven” (Gen 15:5) concerns the spiritual posterity of Abraham (Gal. 3:6-7, 29). Further depth of blessings was promised to Abraham as the covenant details were made more explicit.
Just as the natural and supernatural descendants were promised to Abraham, so were the more immediate blessings as well. Livestock and lands were given to Abraham (Gen. 13:14–18; 15:18–21; 24:34, 35) as well as a spiritual blessing from God’s confidence in Abraham’s faith (Gen 15:6). The notoriety of Abraham’s name became widely known as God would make his name great among nations and across generations. Extending to nations throughout the centuries, God blessed Abraham both in his time and to the Gentiles much later in time (Gal 3:14). All the families of the earth would become blessed as a promise fulfilled in Christ Jesus, who are spiritual heirs to the covenant of Abraham (Deut. 28:8–14; Isa. 60:3–5, 11, 16). Lastly, the covenant was permanently codified as a spiritual certainty when Abraham obeyed God’s voice and offered his only son as a sacrifice (Gen. 22:15–18). The Abrahamic covenant, still in effect, became an everlasting covenant (Gen. 17:1–8).
The Mosaic Covenant
(Exodus 20:1-26, 31:12-17)
The covenants propagated through the patriarchs of Genesis included Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob becomes Israel through blessing and hardship, and his son Joseph was taken captive to Egypt as an enslaved person to gain authority later and rule over the nation by supernatural and divine activity. He became an administrator and protector from a devastating famine through God’s intervention to preserve the people of Israel as Jacob and his sons were reconciled to Joseph.17 As the nation of Israel itself became enslaved by political changes related to its prosperity, population growth, and the dread of the Egyptian people, the Mosaic covenant would take shape through a child born of Hebrews to lead people to freedom through an exodus of enormous natural and supernatural significance.
Both natural and supernatural activity is narrated through the biblical account of Exodus. While the prior patriarchs experienced their share of the presence of God and His work to continue the march toward Genesis 3:15 fulfillment, the spectacular work of God was abundantly evident in the life of Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and the tribes of Israel. The entire sequence of historical confrontations between Moses and the Pharaoh of Egypt was an epic undertaking of monumental proportions. The judgments of God against Pharaoh for refusing to release the Israelite people from slavery were directed against Pharaoh and the people of Egypt. Furthermore, God’s sovereignty and direct action were at work against the spiritual entities who opposed God’s people Israel (Ex 12:12, Rom 9:17).
Once God attained victory over the gods of Egypt, and Pharaoh released the people of Israel after numerous devastating and miraculous judgments, He led them through the parting of the Red Sea to safety in the Sinai wilderness. In the Sinai wilderness, the appearance of the Mosaic covenant emerges through the interaction between God and Moses. The continuity of the covenants that precede the Mosaic covenant propels its purpose as a covenant of works. The Mosaic covenant was developed by God’s design as His sovereign intent was clear about humanity’s inability to save or recover itself. Moreover, any spiritually evil entity or force that would accuse God of entering a covenant of grace toward humanity has no place in redemptive history. The gravity of sin and rebellion must undergo judgment as a necessity to bring about salvation for God’s glory.18 The Mosaic covenant that begins a new era of redemption by works takes its fullest expression in what not to do through behavioral commandments by divine revelation. The ten commandments (Ex 20:1-17) revealed God’s will as a set of moral imperatives God’s people could not escape. There would be many additional laws to follow.
The scope of the Mosaic covenant was more expansive than the decalogue of commandments that God gave to Moses on Mt Sinai.19 The initial covenant as ten commandments originated from Moses before God on behalf of his people to continue their relationship with Him as God’s chosen people. The development of the covenant as commandments soon after took shape as a body of laws around three primary categorical areas. As the ten commandments are foundational to natural law, it is written in the hearts of all people, so it binds all of humanity to it as a standard.20 First, this is the moral law (Ex 20:1-26) as the ten commandments that act as an external constraint, reveal sin, and serve as a body of rules for Godly living. The second categorical area of the Mosaic covenant as law is judicial or civil law (Ex 21:1-24:18). The political requirements of Israel between tribal members expired with the nation as its social equity changed over time to satisfy obligations according to legal and magisterial conditions. For example, the Westminster Confession of Faith specifies, “To them also he gave sundry judicial laws, which expired together with the state of that people, not obliging any now by virtue of that institution; their general equity only being of moral use” (WCF 19.4) to correspond to Paul’s letter to the Corinthians concerning principles of equity and justice (1 Cor 9:8-10). The third and final category of the Mosaic covenant involved ceremonial laws (Ex 25:1-40:38) now abrogated within the New Testament (Acts 10; 15; 1 Cor. 8; Heb. 10) to demonstrate its limited usefulness for its intended duration and purpose (WCF 19.3). For example, laws concerning the Tabernacle, the Priesthood, etc., are now extinct.21 These categories of the Mosaic covenant set a framework for a covenantal living before God.
The Deuteronomic Covenant
(Deuteronomy 28:69-30:20)
The decalogue within Deuteronomy widens the scope and depth. It fully expresses what is required to reiterate the Mosaic covenant. While the Mosaic covenant and the ten commandments were about what not to do in keeping the law and covenant of works, the Deuteronomic covenant is about what to do positively. The Deuteronomic structure of the decalogue further develops the Mosaic covenant by specifying what worshipers of Yahweh are not to do; The Deuteronomic Law is in contrast to what they are to do.22 Covenant loyalty to Yahweh was imperative as Israel was prone to covenantal and social injustices, idolatry, and ritualism that poisoned their worship (Deut 12:29-31, 32:16-17).
Before Israel was to leave the wilderness without Moses, they were called to repentance (Deut 30:1-10) and given a choice of life and death to love God and obey His voice (Deut 30:11-20). They were to hear the reading of the law (Deut 31:9-13) upon the renewal of the Mosaic covenant, and God’s promise to remain with Joshua (Deut 31:23) was voiced to bring them into the land of Canaan as promised. The perpetuated covenants that extended back from Genesis 3:15 reached further into the future as the Mosaic covenant was renewed after the Exodus generation died off (Deut 2:14) as the remaining Israelite people were to enter their new homeland.
The renewed Mosaic covenant in the form of the Deuteronomic covenant was more expansive about what to do and what not to do as the people of God. Compared to the moral, judicial, and ceremonial laws, there were more details of living from a nomadic people to a settled nation. However, it was the “covenant of the LORD” they were to obey (Deut 31:25).
The Davidic Covenant
(2 Samuel 7:6-17)
The harmonized covenant promises given to Abraham correlate to those promised to David. Namely, David was promised a great nation, peace, and a kingdom (Gen 12:1-3; 2 Sam 7:8-14).23 Just as Abraham was promised land, offspring, and blessing, the purpose of covenants stem from the Adamic covenant that makes the continuation of the Davidic kingdom and promises inevitable. From the time of David, kingly accessions took place where the prominence and failures of rulers led to messianic fulfillment many years later. The building of the Solomonic temple carried with it implications about a house God would build for David. When David intended to build a house for God out of gratitude for temporary covenant fulfillment of peace, he did so to honor God and the Mosaic covenant through priestly practices associated with the tabernacle, offerings, ceremonies, and judicial law.
While God did not permit David to build the temple, Solomon, David’s son, was enabled to do so. However, the crux of the covenant was that God would build David a house instead (2 Sam 7:11). A house that would endure forever as fulfillment toward God’s messianic intentions became the path where a covenant of grace through Christ would emerge. The promise of the Davidic covenant begins with the building of the house of David as it would never be destroyed. While his kingdom and successors would be destroyed and exiled as a consequence of disobedience and covenant violations, David’s throne and kingdom would never be destroyed (2 Sam 7:13). In fact, the Davidic covenant would extend to messianic fulfillment as the angel Gabriel sent from God informed Mary, Jesus’s mother, that she would give birth to a son who would be given the throne of David (Luke 1:32).
Synthesis of Old Testament Covenants
The redemptive path of humanity is along a series of covenants toward eschatological fulfillment. The New Testament is a continuation of the covenants throughout a redemptive-historical timeline that perpetuates recurring themes of the human dynasty, divine events, and God’s direct involvement.24 As there is an enormous background of redemptive history, it is clear that both natural and supernatural work takes place toward the salvation of humanity through judgment for the glory of God. The preservation of God’s people, and nations, even through the destruction of many peoples and nations, still assure that God’s glory would remain, and His promises of covenant fulfillment would eventually situate a kingdom of God both on Earth and within His domain.
The numerous Old Testament covenants consist of a threaded means of redemptive work through various means. Compared to the New Testament covenant of grace, a covenant of works was common among all Old Testament covenants. Both positive and negative expressions involve divine and human activity to recount what went wrong and return to God for His glory where humanity can enjoy Him forever.
The promises of blessings, protection, peace, prosperity and well-being in fellowship with God continued as a recurring cycle. From Adam to Noah and from Noah to Abraham and David, the biblical theology concerning the covenants they carried applied to them individually but also to their immediate surroundings, including families, relatives, property, creation, and humanity itself. Even before the arrival of Christ Jesus, there was a pattern of covenants that implied a convergence toward fulfillment through God’s sovereign will.
New Testament
The narratives of the New Testament gospels offer the clearest view of Christ Jesus’s life to understand what the new covenant would accomplish. The trajectory of Old Testament covenants culminates in the life of Christ and what He was to accomplish. The patriarchs, poets, and prophets wrote about the coming Messiah. And they looked for His arrival with hope and anticipation as they knew the promised fruit of the covenants God spoke to them about. The human appeal to the biblical covenants in the New Testament is compelling because of the desperate need for salvation from sin and condemnation by eternal separation from God.
There is a larger theological rationale concerning the Trinity that cannot be avoided or neglected. Guy M. Richard, in his paper “The Covenant of Redemption,” he offers a perspective that goes to the heart of what covenant theology is about. He makes the point that the inner life of God consists of genuine communication between the three persons of the trinity without lapsing into tritheism.24 While reaching back to the time of creation, the trinitarian effort to make man in their image was an act of divine will to share a cooperative covenant between them (Gen 1:26). References to the Christian life are found in the work of each triadic person’s contribution to the salvation of a person, the church and its leadership, and the Godly life.25
The revelation of Christ as God incarnate further reinforced the spiritual and physical realities of who God is and what His intentions involved. The Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Messiah were foretold across Old Testament covenants and worked toward humanity’s redemption, each carrying out their will according to Old and New Testament events.
As the new covenant fulfillment unfolds throughout the pages of the New Testament, eternal Christ Jesus enters into creation to accomplish the mission of the Adamic covenant in Genesis 3:15. From Christ’s birth to His life’s ministry and redemptive work, God made it fully known that He was to fulfill numerous prophecies and bring to completion the covenants of old that transitioned to the new covenant as promised through Jeremiah the prophet (Jer 31:31). As Jesus carried out His mission toward the end of His time on Earth, He spoke of the New covenant. The night before His capture, as recorded in Luke 22:20, Jesus was together with His disciples as they shared their Passover meal commemorating the Passover event related to the Exodus (Ex 12:14). The significance of this time in history cannot be overstated as Christ was the new and flawless Passover lamb without blemish (Ex 12:5, Lev 22:20-21, 1 Cor 5:7) and the new Moses who led His people out of captivity. To the Israelites under the old covenant of works by Moses and humanity under the new covenant of grace by Jesus, one exodus was physical while the other was spiritual.
The New Covenant
(Jeremiah 31:31-37, Luke 22:20, Hebrews 8:7-13)
New covenant theology is an enormous topic that takes multiple lifetimes to pursue without ever reaching its fullest extent. However, a minimal perspective about the new covenant must take into account the various covenants established before it. The various means by which God attains glory through the salvation of His people culminates in the life and work of Christ. Jesus said that His blood of the covenant was offered for the forgiveness of sins (Matt 26:28). This covenant Jesus refers to is the “new covenant,” as corroborated by Luke (Lk 22:20). While Clarence Larkin, in 1918, wrote that this is a covenant not yet made until Israel is back in their land, the inauguration of the new covenant is biblically supported by what Jesus said and did through the course of prophetic fulfillment. The covenant of grace was only possible and made effective by Christ’s work and His historical accomplishments. There is no scriptural basis to which the new covenant would only become effective after a lapse of time between Christ’s sacrificial death, resurrection, and ascension and the return of Israel to their homeland (which occurred on May 14th, 1948).26
From among the Old Testament covenants, Jesus is seen as the fulfilling agent throughout redemptive history. In the Adamic covenant, He is the woman’s offspring (Gen 3:15). In the Noahic covenant, the ark foreshadows a vessel by which humanity begins anew. In the Abrahamic covenant, Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac in obedience to God foreshadows God the Father’s relationship with God the Son in Christ Jesus (Gen 22:2). In the Mosaic covenant, Jesus was the second Moses who led many from captivity to freedom (Luke 4:18). From the Davidic covenant, Jesus is the eternal King of kings and Lord of lords of the new Jerusalem (Rev 21:9-10).
The new covenant, as articulated in depth throughout the New Testament, has abundant intertextual references throughout Scripture. The New Testament’s use of the Old reaches back in time to bring out numerous textual references such as “eternal covenant” (Jer 32:40), “covenant of peace” (Ezek 37:26), or “My covenant” (Isa 49:8; 59:21; Hos 2:18–23; Ezek 16:6–3).27 Particularly among the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel, there are numerous references to new covenant characteristics. Primarily, the new covenant is about spiritual regeneration (Titus 3:5), the forgiveness of sins (Matt 26:28), and the fulfillment of historical covenants concerning Israel and God’s people throughout humanity across many generations.
James Hamilton makes a compelling case about the Holy Spirit’s presence within believers who live within today’s new covenant of grace. He makes further distinctions between the Old and New Testaments as he surveys the continuity and discontinuity of the Holy Spirit among God’s people between old and new covenant believers. With the Holy Spirit either with them (old covenant), indwelling them (new covenant), or neither. While Ezekiel 36:27 explicitly translates as “And I will put My Spirit within you,” there is a range of corresponding and contradictory perspectives that Hamilton maps across theologians of various eras. Namely, from the early to modern church, various well-known names are attributed to the old and new covenant distinctions about the presence of the Spirit as encountered by Joshua (“I will be with you,” Deut 31:23) or at Pentecost (“They were filled with the Holy Spirit,” Acts 2:4).
The relatively even distribution of numerous theologians from different perspectives either affirms or denies the Holy Spirit’s continuity among old and new covenant believers. However, Hamilton makes a continuing persuasive case that God provided a means of regeneration and sanctification of saints from both old and new covenants. He argues that the full force of John 7:39, 14:16-17, and 16:7 stand along with the external presence of the Holy Spirit according to various Old Testament narratives.28
Conclusion
There are numerous ways in which the old and new covenants apply to believers today. Modeled throughout Scripture is God’s patience and willingness to stay the course with Israel, His chosen people. In the Old and New Testaments, He remained faithful to Israel while they repeatedly rejected Him. Believers today, as God’s people, can do the same with one another.
In the New Testament, the people of Israel were often hostile to Christ Jesus, their Messiah. The burden of individuals or leaders in the local church who are too often cruel, indifferent to fellow believers, and inattentive to the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23) can have an adverse effect on fellowship or the kind of relationships that God expects. Tolerance and forgiveness of people by the guidance of the Word and the Holy Spirit are immediate ways in which believers can meet God’s expectations (Matt 18:21).
The long view of service within the church should reflect the work of God among the covenants among His people. Attainment of interpersonal synergies and weathering various hardships requires communication from a covenantal perspective. As the members of the Trinity remain in communication with one another, the three persons of God are an example to believers within the Church today.
A covenant commitment to the local church and individuals supports the space or spiritual environment in which personal development or discipleship can occur. Even with substantial resistance to instructions about living out the imperatives of Christ to love God and others, there is a covenant model of persistence to achieve peace and interpersonal advancement toward pleasing God and others for a more fruitful life.
Citations
1 Gleason Archer Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, 3rd. ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1994), 214–215.
2 James M. Hamilton, “The Skull Crushing Seed of the Woman: Inner-Biblical Interpretation of Genesis 3:15,” Southern Baptist Journal of Theology Volume 10 10, no. 2 (2006): 43.
3 George E. Mendenhall and Gary A. Herion, “Covenant,” ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 1180.
4 Craig L. Blomberg, “Matthew,” in Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, UK: Baker Academic; Apollos, 2007), 58.
5 P. W. Coxon, “Nephilim,” ed. Karel van der Toorn, Bob Becking, and Pieter W. van der Horst, Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible (Leiden; Boston; Köln; Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge: Brill; Eerdmans, 1999), 619.
6 Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible, First Edition. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015), 90.
7 R. C. Sproul, ed., The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) (Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2015), 19.
8 Clarence Larkin, Dispensational Truth, or “God’s Plan and Purpose in the Ages“ (Philadelphia, PA: Clarence Larkin, 1918), 162.
9 James M. Hamilton, “The Skull Crushing Seed of the Woman: Inner-Biblical Interpretation of Genesis 3:15,” Southern Baptist Journal of Theology Volume 10 10, no. 2 (2006): 34-39.
10 Thomas R. Schreiner, The King in His Beauty: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 11–12.
11 Miles V. Van Pelt, “The Noahic Covenant of the Covenant of Grace,” in Covenant Theology: Biblical, Theological, and Historical Perspectives, ed. Guy Prentiss Waters, J. Nicholas Reid, and John R. Muether (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 118.
12 Miles V. Van Pelt, “The Noahic Covenant of the Covenant of Grace,” in Covenant Theology: Biblical, Theological, and Historical Perspectives, ed. Guy Prentiss Waters, J. Nicholas Reid, and John R. Muether (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 120.
13 Daniel I. Block, Covenant: The Framework of God’s Grand Plan of Redemption (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2021), 2.
14 Michael S. Heiser, Angels: What the Bible Really Says about God’s Heavenly Host (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018), 45.
15 T. Desmond Alexander, From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Pentateuch, Third Edition. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012), 175.
16 Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2003), 81.
17 Eugene H. Merrill, Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel, Second Edition. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 70.
18 James M. Hamilton Jr., God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 91.
19 Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Decalogue,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 607.
20 J. Nicholas Reid, “The Mosaic Covenant,” in Covenant Theology: Biblical, Theological, and Historical Perspectives, ed. Guy Prentiss Waters, J. Nicholas Reid, and John R. Muether (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 159.
21 Clarence Larkin, Dispensational Truth, or “God’s Plan and Purpose in the Ages“ (Philadelphia, PA: Clarence Larkin, 1918), 164.
22 John H. Walton, “The Decalogue Structure of the Deuteronomic Law.” In Interpreting Deuteronomy: Issues and Approaches, by David G Firth, & Philip S. Johnston (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2012), 93-117.
23 G. K. Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011), 29–30.
24 Guy M. Richard, “The Covenant of Redemption,” in Covenant Theology: Biblical, Theological, and Historical Perspectives, ed. Guy Prentiss Waters, J. Nicholas Reid, and John R. Muether (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 59.
25 Millard J. Erickson, God in Three Persons: A Contemporary Interpretation of the Trinity (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1995), 189.
26 Clarence Larkin, Dispensational Truth, or “God’s Plan and Purpose in the Ages“ (Philadelphia, PA: Clarence Larkin, 1918), 165.
27 Abner Chou, “New Covenant,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
28 James M. Hamilton Jr., God’s Indwelling Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Old & New Testaments (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2006), 24.
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