The Covenant

Our Bible is divided into two parts that we generally refer to as the Old Testament
and the New Testament. The word 'testament' comes from the Latin word,
tesamentum which means, "covenant with God."

The Old Testament is the record of the covenant made between God and Abram's
seed.

"And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in
their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy
seed after thee." (Genesis 17:7)

"And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the
blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these
words." (Exodus 24:8)

"Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with
our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the
earth be blessed." (Acts 3:25)

The New Testament is a record of the fulfillment of the the Promise of the Old.

"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:" (Jeremiah 31:31)

"And to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling,
that speaketh bether things than that of Abel." Hebrews (12:24)

Before going on, I want you to notice something. These are blood covenants.
What is a blood covenant? In ancient times, it was the only covenant that
mattered.

Oftentimes before getting a bank loan, the creditor is required to put up collateral
to secure the loan. My mortgage is secured by the value of my home. If I default
on my mortgage, the bank can seize the property.

The collateral on my car loan is my car. If I default on my car payments, they can
seize my car.

So a blood covenant is an agreement in which one puts up one's life as collateral

against a default.
In Genesis Chapter 15, we find Abram questioning God's promise that his seed
will be numbered as the stars of heaven and that they would inherit the land to
which God had led him.

"And he [Abram] said, LORD God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?"
(15:8)

It was then that God proposed a blood covenant after the manner of the
Chaldeans.

"And he [God] said unto him, [Abram] Take me an heifer of three years old, and a
she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a
young pigeon."

Abram knew what to do next, since this was something he was familiar with. He
recognized the elements necessary for a blood covenant.

"And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each
piece one against another: but the birds divided he not."

The blood covenant worked this way. The animals were slaughtered and cut up.
The pieces were intermingled and then carefully arranged to form a kind of aisle
through which the two parties to the covenant would walk together, hands joined.

The principle of a blood covenant, and the symbolism of the rended animal parts
was clearly understood to Abram. Whoever broke the covenant would end up like
those piles of animals.

A blood covenant was, by common custom, a joining of 2 or more persons,

families, clans, tribes, or nations, where the participants agree to do or refrain
from doing certain acts.

More specifically, God had proposed a patriarchal covenant. The patriarchal form
of covenant is a self-imposed obligation of a superior party, to the benefit of an
inferior party, as between a father and his son.

God's proposal included not only Abram, but extended to Abram's seed forever.

Genesis tells us that, having prepared the covenant ritual, Abram waited for God
to show up so the two of them could walk through the grisly aisle together,
sealing its terms.
Instead, as Abram waited for God, a deep sleep fell upon him. During that deep
sleep;

"it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a
smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the
same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I
given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:"
(Genesis 15:17-18)

The burning lamp was the Shekinah Glory of God. The smoking furnace
symbolized the spiritual darkness of this world. The penalty for defaulting on a
blood covenant was death.

The covenant was further refined at Mt Sinai and codified as the Ten
Commandments. But note that Abram did NOT walk through the aisle with
God.

God passed through the aisle alone.

Assessment:

“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for
it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of
Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive
the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

Jesus Christ was cursed on our behalf, ‘hanged on a tree’ (the Cross) to fulfill the
terms of the Old Covenant.

The New Covenant did NOT replace the Old Covenant with Israel, it extended it
to all men.

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to
destroy, but to fulfil.” (Matthew 5:17)

The Old Covenant is exclusively between God and the seed of Abraham and is
represented by the Law of Moses.

The curse of the law was two-fold in that; 1) it was impossible to keep, and 2) the
penalty for not keeping it was death.
The New Covenant is not with a people, but with the individual, whether he be
Jew or Gentile. The New Covenant is between Jesus Christ and “whosoever will.”

The Apostle Paul was, before his conversion on the road to Damascus, a Pharisee,
or a religious lawyer, one well qualified to explain the law of covenant oaths.

As Paul explains, "Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are
the children of Abraham. (Galatians 3:9) Further. that “they which be of faith are
blessed with faithful Abraham." (3:9)

And also, "But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident:
for, The just shall live by faith." (3:11)

Of the covenant that God signed on behalf of Abraham, Paul explains "Though it
be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth
thereto." (3:15)

The covenant could only be confirmed when the price demanded for its violation
was paid in full.

The blood Covenant demanded satisfactory payment for its violation, and no one
who had broken that covenant was qualified to stand in payment.

It is for that reason that Jesus Christ stepped out of eternity and into space and
time. To keep the provisions of the original covenant and be the true Son that it
demanded.

And having kept its terms on behalf of sinful humanity, He made payment as
justice demanded, for its violation by those on whose behalf the covenant was
signed.

He allowed Himself to be torn and rended like the animals that formed the
corridor through which God alone passed.

"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are
healed." Isaiah (53:3)

To make restitution on behalf of the seed of Abraham. You. Me. And everyone
who ever sinned. All of us.
Jesus made that payment on our behalf. On the Cross, as He gave up the ghost,
Jesus cried with a loud voice "Teletelstai!" (using the same word that would be
written on a slave's manumission papers), meaning,"Paid in Full".

The terms of the violated Covenant were met, its price was paid by its Signer.
God's justice was fulfilled.

That is why Jesus took on human form and allowed Himself to be crucified by His
own creation. That is the reason the Blood of Christ is so precious. Why nothing
less would do.

And why nothing more is necessary.

The Covenants
This morning, I received the following email from a fellow who signed his name
“Pastor” Steve. I am always a bit wary of those who sign off a personal email with
their title and their first name. It seems like a contrived formality.

“Pastor” is the honorific bestowed upon the leader of a local church. It identifies a
person as the shepherd over a particular flock. I’m not sure how it is relevant
outside the local church.

In any case, Pastor Steve was writing to address a column he read recently and he
didn’t mince any words in the process.

“You misrepresent Calvinism to try and prove "dispensationalism" which is a

man made theory that distorts the truth that people have always been saved by
grace through faith. You are a false teacher who are [sic] not even honest enough
to share the truth about Calvinism, but distort it to prove your point. You will
have to answer to God for your twisted views of Scripture. Pastor Steve”

(I’m surprised he didn’t sign it “in Christian love”.)

Since Pastor Steve didn’t identify which column he was taking umbrage with or
specify the untruths about Calvinism that I had distorted, or how my views of
Scripture were twisted, I don’t know exactly what his point is, other than he
apparently rejects dispensationalism, since he offset it with quotes.
In the mid 1600s a theologian named Johannes Cocceius introduced the one-
covenant-of-grace idea, giving rise to the belief that God has but one objective
insofar as His interaction with human beings is concerned.

But it does not necessarily follow that because there is only one righteous ground
upon which God can deal graciously with sinners, that there must be but one
covenant relationship between God and man.

God has earthly, as well as heavenly purposes, transforming blessings adapted to

each group and the sphere to which they belong. God has made various
covenants with Israel. Some are conditional and some are unconditional.

Conditional covenants are those that require human faithfulness; unconditional

covenants are those in which God simply declares what He will do, completely
apart from the question of either human worthiness or faithfulness.

The Scriptures identify nine separate covenants entered into between God and
man on this earth. It is via these nine covenants that all Scripture binds
together.

The Edenic Covenant: This covenant conditioned unfallen man’s life at Eden
and is in seven parts. In essence, it placed humanity at the center as the focal
point of God’s creation. It was an unconditional covenant on God’s part. On
Adam’s part, remaining in fellowship with God demanded obedience.

The Adamic Covenant: This was God’s covenant with Adam after the Fall – it
is also in seven parts. Adam's unbelief and disobedience resulted in the failure of
the Edenic covenant, which resulted in "death being passed upon all men" and
the need for a Redeemer to come.

The Noahic Covenant: This was God’s seven-part covenant with Noah for
governing live after the flood. The Noahic covenant otherwise known as the
covenant of preservation, was "a renewal of the provisions of creation, and even
reflected closely the language of the original covenant." (Genesis 9:9-11)

The Abrahamic Covenant: This is the first formal covenant between God and
a people, rather than with persons, as before. It is a covenant between God and
Abraham’s seed.

God not only made this covenant with Abraham but also with Isaac and Jacob,
which not only included the promises of the previous covenants (Edenic, Adamic
and Noahic) but expanded upon them.
God assured Abraham of his covenant by his instructions to present certain
animals in a particular form to God (Gen. 15:7-9). These instructions were exactly
in the form of a covenant that might take place between two men.

Abraham halved the animals placing the halves opposite each other, except the
bird which he killed but did not divide (Gen. 15:10-11).

As Abraham slept, the Lord came as a "blazing torch" (Gen. 15:17), passed in
between the animals, and established a covenant that could never be annulled
(Gal 3:15-17).

This act symbolized the participants pledged to the other total commitment, and
that if that was to be broken "they were asking that their own bodies be torn in
pieces just as the animals had been divided ceremonially."

In other words, if the covenant was broken, somebody had to die. Since God pass
through the aisles alone, only God was judicially capable of redeeming the
covenant. 2000 years later, God stepped out of eternity and into time and space
in the Person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ kept the terms of the covenant, and was therefore guiltless of
violating it. That made Him the only One qualified to pay the debt incurred,
since He had no debt obligation of His own to satisfy.

When He paid the penalty for Abraham and his seed, He also opened up a way for
Gentiles to enter into their own covenant relationship with Him. But it was all
set in motion by God's covenant with Abraham, without which, it could not have
been.

The Abrahamic covenant is an unconditional, seven part covenant.

1. “I will make of thee a great nation”

2. “And I will bless thee.”
3. “And make thy name great”
4. “And thou shalt be a blessing”
5. “And I will bless them that bless thee”
6. “And curse him that curse thee”
7. “And in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
The Mosaic Covenant: The Mosaic Covenant is made between God and Israel
alone. But the Law was given Israel, not as a means of redemption or to attain a
covenant relationship with God, but rather because Israel is already in a right
relationship with God as a redeemed nation -- under
God’s unconditional covenant with Abraham.

"And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the
Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is My covenant
unto them, when I shall take away their sins. "(Romans 11:26)

Replacement theology claims the blessings of the Old Covenant relationship with
God, often including the Ten Commandments.

It is obvious that the Commandments were never intended to address Christians

but for some reason there are those within the Church that cannot understand
that the saints of God in the age of Grace cannot be under the Law.

"For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under
grace" (Romans 6:14)

The covenant of the Law was not made with the Church. It was not made with
the Gentiles. It is a covenant agreement entered into by God and the Israelites
fleeing Egypt. There are two sides to a covenant agreement, even an
unconditional covenant agreement.

The Church cannot be under a Covenant agreement made between God and
Israel. That’s why the Reformers spiritualized Israel into meaning “the
Church.”

It seemed to make sense – when there was no Israel. Which brings us to the sixth
covenant.

The Palestinian Covenant: The sixth covenant, also expressed in seven parts,
set out the conditions of Israel's relationship to the Promised Land. The Land
will be for them an everlasting possession and to it they were prophesied to
return.

The Palestinian Covenant is unconditional – it cannot be broken, transferred or

otherwise abrogated. (Not even by order of the Vatican's Middle East Synod.)

The Davidic Covenant: The seventh covenant is with David and it is set forth
in but five parts.
 1. David’s posterity will fail not – there will always be a member of the line of
David.
2. David’s throne is established forever; Israel will never have a King from
any other lineage.
3. David’s kingdom or sphere of rule, will also last forever.
4. The line of David will never lack a son
5. The Messiah will be a direct descendant of King David.

The Kingdom Covenant: This is the eighth covenant – also established with
Israel. It conditions their life in the Kingdom during the Millennial Reign. God
tells Jeremiah that this is a “New Covenant” – one that both replaces and yet
includes parts of the Mosaic Covenant.

Assessment:

Are you starting to see where this leads? God has entered into nine different
covenant agreements with mankind. Each covenant contract was presented by
God to mankind, who was then free to accept or reject God’s covenant promise.

Once entered into, however, a covenant agreement is forever.

Every covenant that God made with His people demonstrated his grace and
mercy, each one being unique and all being interrelated, progressively revealing
and pointing toward the new covenant which fulfilled all of the earlier
covenants and itself -- equating to the great everlasting covenant.

I said there are nine covenants between God and mankind. Note that each one
formed a progressive revelation from God. God revealed more of Himself and His
plan to mankind with each successive covenant agreement.

The first three were between God and named individuals; Adam and Eve, Adam
and later, Noah. The next five were between God and the descendants of
Abraham, Isaac and Joseph.

Jesus Christ fulfilled the terms of the Abrahamic Covenant at the Cross,
introducing the ninth covenant, the New Covenant, and not with the Jews only,
but with all mankind.

The Abrahamic Covenant was not abrogated – it was fulfilled – but it is still in
force. The seed of Abraham continue to bless the nations of the world. It
was through the Abrahamic Covenant that the Lord introduced the New
Covenant blessing of salvation by grace through faith.

The New Covenant, established in His Blood, is irrevocable but not

unconditional. To enter into the New Covenant, one must personally receive the
gift of salvation obtained for them at the Cross. Every person is free to reject the
offer and stand before the Lord clothed in his own righteousness.

Ok, so what are the take-away facts here?

First, the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. God cannot take back
His covenant relationship with Israel and God cannot transfer it to the Church.
To do either would make God a liar.

Secondarily, transferring Israel’s blessings to the Church is redundant. The

Church has its own Covenant relationship and combining it with Israel’s makes
salvation by grace through faith impossible.

Israel’s new covenant rests on the sovereign “I will” of God. The new covenant
for the Church is written in Christ’s Blood.

Put another way, everything that the Abrahamic Covenant promises to Israel in
the future, the Church already possesses, and infinitely more.

Looking at the Nine Covenants of God one sees that God was, is and always will
be a promise-keeping God. God always keeps His promises—irrespective of
persons – and the gifts and calling of God is without repentance – God didn’t
change His mind about the national redemption of Israel.

For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. For I know
this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not
sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse
things, to draw away disciples after them. (Acts 20:27-30)

Replacement theology seems simple enough, on the surface. If one doesn’t know
what the Bible teaches about covenant relationships, it is easy to believe that God
got so mad at the Jews over Jesus that He washed His Hands of them and passed
their covenant blessings along to the Church.

It's a little harder to buy into that nonsense when you read what the Bible says
about it.
"For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye
should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel,
until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in." (Romans 11:25)

"Lest we be wise in our own conceits" -- that sums it up nicely.