Reference: Covenant
American
The word testamentum is often used in Latin to express the Hebrew word which signifies covenant; whence the titles, Old and New Testaments, are used to denote the old and new covenants. See TESTAMENT.
A covenant is properly an agreement between two parties. Where one of the parties is infinitely superior to the other, as in a covenant between God and man, there God's covenant assumes the nature of a promise, Isa 59:21; Jer 31:33-34; Ga 3:15-18. The first covenant with the Hebrews was made when the Lord chose Abraham and his posterity for his people; a second covenant, or a solemn renewal of the former, was made at Sinai, comprehending all who observe the law of Moses. The "new covenant" of which Christ is the Mediator and Author, and which was confirmed by his blood, comprehends all who believe in him and are born again, Ga 4:24; Heb 7:22; 8:6-13; 9:15-23; 12:24. The divine covenants were ratified by the sacrifice of a victim, to show that without an atonement there could be no communication of blessing and salvation form God to man, Ge 15:1-8; Ex 24:6-8; Heb 9:6. Eminent believers among the covenant people of God were favored by the establishment of particular covenants, in which he promised them certain temporal favors; but these were only renewals to individuals of the "everlasting covenant," with temporal types and pledges of its fulfilment. Thus God covenanted with Noah, Abraham, and David, Ge 9:8-9; 17:4-5; Ps 89:3-4, and gave them faith in the Savior afterwards to be revealed, Ro 3:25; Heb 9:15.
In common discourse, we usually say the old and new testaments, or covenants-the covenant between God and the posterity of Abraham, and that which he has made with believers by Jesus Christ; because these two covenants contain eminently all the rest, which are consequences, branches, or explanations of them. The most solemn and perfect of the covenants of God with men is that made through the mediation of our Redeemer, which must subsist to the end of time. The Son of God is the guarantee of it; it is confirmed with his blood; the end and object of it is eternal life, and its constitution and laws are more exalted than those of the former covenant.
Theologians use the phrase "covenant of works" to denote the constitution established by God with man before the fall, the promise of which was eternal life on condition of obedience, Ho 6:7; Ro 3:27; Ga 2:19. They also use the phrase, "covenant of grace or redemption," to denote the arrangement made in the counsels of eternity, in virtue of which the Father forgives and saves sinful men redeemed by the death of the Son.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, "Understand that I am confirming My covenant with you and your descendants after you,
After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great. But Abram said, "Lord God , what can You give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" read more. Abram continued, "Look, You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir." Now the word of the Lord came to him: "This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir." He took him outside and said, "Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then He said to him, "Your offspring will be that [numerous]." Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness. He also said to him, "I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess." But he said, "Lord God , how can I know that I will possess it?"
"As for Me, My covenant is with you, and you will become the father of many nations. Your name will no longer be Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations.
Moses took half the blood and set it in basins; the [other] half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. He then took the covenant scroll and read [it] aloud to the people. They responded, "We will do and obey everything that the Lord has commanded." read more. Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, "This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you concerning all these words."
[The Lord said,] "I have made a covenant with My chosen one; I have sworn an oath to David My servant: 'I will establish your offspring forever and build up your throne for all generations.' " Selah
"As for Me, this is My covenant with them," says the Lord: "My Spirit who is on you, and My words that I have put in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouth of your children, or from the mouth of your children's children, from now on and forever," says the Lord.
"Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days"-the Lord's declaration. "I will place My law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying: Know the Lord, for they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them"-the Lord's declaration. "For I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sin."
But they, like Adam, have violated the covenant; there they have betrayed Me.
God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.
Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By one of works? No, on the contrary, by a law of faith.
For through the law I have died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ;
Brothers, I'm using a human illustration. No one sets aside even a human covenant that has been ratified, or makes additions to it. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say "and to seeds," as though referring to many, but and to your seed, referring to one, who is Christ. read more. And I say this: the law, which came 430 years later, does not revoke a covenant that was previously ratified by God, so as to cancel the promise. For if the inheritance is from the law, it is no longer from the promise; but God granted it to Abraham through the promise.
These things are illustrations, for the women represent the two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery-this is Hagar.
But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree He is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been legally enacted on better promises. For if that first [covenant] had been faultless, no opportunity would have been sought for a second one. read more. But finding fault with His people, He says: "Look, the days are coming," says the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah- not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day I took them by their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. Because they did not continue in My covenant, I disregarded them," says the Lord. "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days," says the Lord: "I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be My people. And each person will not teach his fellow citizen, and each his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their sins." By saying, a new [ covenant ], He has declared that the first is old. And what is old and aging is about to disappear.
These things having been set up this way, the priests enter the first room repeatedly, performing their ministry.
Therefore He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions [committed] under the first covenant.
Therefore He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions [committed] under the first covenant. Where a will exists, the death of the testator must be established. read more. For a will is valid only when people die, since it is never in force while the testator is living. That is why even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood. For when every commandment had been proclaimed by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll itself and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded for you. In the same way, he sprinkled the tabernacle and all the vessels of worship with blood. According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be purified with these [sacrifices], but the heavenly things themselves [to be purified] with better sacrifices than these.
Easton
a contract or agreement between two parties. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word berith is always thus translated. Berith is derived from a root which means "to cut," and hence a covenant is a "cutting," with reference to the cutting or dividing of animals into two parts, and the contracting parties passing between them, in making a covenant (Ge 15; Jer 34:18-19).
The corresponding word in the New Testament Greek is diatheke, which is, however, rendered "testament" generally in the Authorized Version. It ought to be rendered, just as the word berith of the Old Testament, "covenant."
This word is used (1) of a covenant or compact between man and man (Ge 21:32), or between tribes or nations (1Sa 11:1; Jos 9:6,15). In entering into a convenant, Jehovah was solemnly called on to witness the transaction (Ge 31:50), and hence it was called a "covenant of the Lord" (1Sa 20:8). The marriage compact is called "the covenant of God" (Pr 2:17), because the marriage was made in God's name. Wicked men are spoken of as acting as if they had made a "covenant with death" not to destroy them, or with hell not to devour them (Isa 28:15,18).
(2.) The word is used with reference to God's revelation of himself in the way of promise or of favour to men. Thus God's promise to Noah after the Flood is called a covenant (Ge 9; Jer 33:20, "my covenant"). We have an account of God's covernant with Abraham (Ge 17, comp. Le 26:42), of the covenant of the priesthood (Nu 25:12-13; De 33:9; Ne 13:29), and of the covenant of Sinai (Ex 34:27-28; Le 26:15), which was afterwards renewed at different times in the history of Israel (De 29; Jos 1:18; 2Ch 15; 23; 29; 34; Ezr 10; Ne 9). In conformity with human custom, God's covenant is said to be confirmed with an oath (De 4:31; Ps 89:3), and to be accompanied by a sign (Ge 9; 17). Hence the covenant is called God's "counsel," "oath," "promise" (Ps 89:3-4; 105:8-11; Heb 6:13-20; Lu 1:68-75). God's covenant consists wholly in the bestowal of blessing (Isa 59:21; Jer 31:33-34).
The term covenant is also used to designate the regular succession of day and night (Jer 33:20), the Sabbath (Ex 31:16), circumcision (Ge 17:9-10), and in general any ordinance of God (Jer 34:13-14).
A "covenant of salt" signifies an everlasting covenant, in the sealing or ratifying of which salt, as an emblem of perpetuity, is used (Nu 18:19; Le 2:13; 2Ch 13:5).
COVENANT OF WORKS, the constitution under which Adam was placed at his creation. In this covenant, (1.) The contracting parties were (a) God the moral Governor, and (b) Adam, a free moral agent, and representative of all his natural posterity (Ro 5:12-19). (2.) The promise was "life" (Mt 19:16-17; Ga 3:12). (3.) The condition was perfect obedience to the law, the test in this case being abstaining from eating the fruit of the "tree of knowledge," etc. (4.) The penalty was death (Ge 2:16-17).
This covenant is also called a covenant of nature, as made with man in his natural or unfallen state; a covenant of life, because "life" was the promise attached to obedience; and a legal covenant, because it demanded perfect obedience to the law.
The "tree of life" was the outward sign and seal of that life which was promised in the covenant, and hence it is usually called the seal of that covenant.
This covenant is abrogated under the gospel, inasmuch as Christ has fulfilled all its conditions in behalf of his people, and now offers salvation on the condition of faith. It is still in force, however, as it rests on the immutable justice of God, and is binding on all who have not fled to Christ and accepted his righteousness.
CONVENANT OF GRACE, the eternal plan of redemption entered into by the three persons of the Godhead, and carried out by them in its several parts. In it the Father represented the Godhead in its indivisible sovereignty, and the Son his people as their surety (Joh 17:4,6,9; Isa 42:6; Ps 89:3).
The conditions of this covenant were, (1.) On the part of the Father (a) all needful preparation to the Son for the accomplishment of his work (Heb 10:5; Isa 42:1-7); (b) support in the work (Lu 22:43); and (c) a glorious reward in the exaltation of Christ when his work was done (Php 2:6-11), his investiture with universal dominion (Joh 5:22; Ps 110:1), his having the administration of the covenant committed into his hands (Mt 28:18; Joh 1:12; 17:2; Ac 2:33), and in the final salvation of all his people (Isa 35:10; 53:10-11; Jer 31:33; Tit 1:2). (2.) On the part of the Son the conditions were (a) his becoming incarnate (Ga 4:4-5); and (b) as the second Adam his representing all his people, assuming their place and undertaking all their obligations under the violated covenant of works; (c) obeying the law (Ps 40:8; Isa 42:21; Joh 9:4-5), and (d) suffering its penalty (Isa 53; 2Co 5:21; Ga 3:13), in their stead.
Christ, the mediator of, fulfils all its conditions in behalf of his people, and dispenses to them all its blessings. In Heb 8:6; 9:15; 12:24, this title is given to Christ. (See Dispensation.)
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die."
God also said to Abraham, "As for you, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations are to keep My covenant. This is My covenant, which you are to keep, between Me and you and your offspring after you: Every one of your males must be circumcised.
After they had made a covenant at Beer-sheba, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, left and returned to the land of the Philistines.
If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives, though no one is with us, understand that God will be a witness between you and me."
The Israelites must observe the Sabbath, celebrating it throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.
The Lord also said to Moses, "Write down these words, for I have made a covenant with you and with Israel based on these words." Moses was there with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. He wrote down on the tablets the words of the covenant-the Ten Commandments.
You are to season each of your grain offerings with salt; you must not omit from your grain offering the salt of the covenant with your God. You are to present salt with each of your offerings.
if you reject My statutes and despise My ordinances, and do not observe all My commands-and break My covenant,
then I will remember My covenant with Jacob. I will also remember My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
"I give to you and to your sons and daughters all the holy contributions that the Israelites present to the Lord as a perpetual statute. It is a perpetual covenant of salt before the Lord for you as well as your offspring."
Therefore declare: I grant him My covenant of peace. It will be a covenant of perpetual priesthood for him and his descendants, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites."
He will not leave you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your fathers that He swore to them by oath, because the Lord your God is a compassionate God.
He said about his father and mother, "I do not regard them." He disregarded his brothers and didn't acknowledge his sons, for they kept Your word and maintained Your covenant.
Anyone who rebels against your order and does not obey your words in all that you command him, will be put to death. Above all, be strong and courageous!"
They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, "We have come from a distant land. Please make a treaty with us."
So Joshua established peace with them and made a treaty to let them live, and the leaders of the community swore an oath to them.
Nahash the Ammonite came up and laid siege to Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to him, "Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you."
Deal faithfully with your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant before the Lord with you. If I have done anything wrong, then kill me yourself; why take me to your father?"
Remember them, my God, for defiling the priesthood as well as the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.
I delight to do Your will, my God; Your instruction resides within me."
[The Lord said,] "I have made a covenant with My chosen one; I have sworn an oath to David My servant:
[The Lord said,] "I have made a covenant with My chosen one; I have sworn an oath to David My servant:
[The Lord said,] "I have made a covenant with My chosen one; I have sworn an oath to David My servant: 'I will establish your offspring forever and build up your throne for all generations.' " Selah
He forever remembers His covenant, the promise He ordained for a thousand generations- [the covenant] He made with Abraham, swore to Isaac, read more. and confirmed to Jacob as a decree and to Israel as an everlasting covenant: "I will give the land of Canaan to you as your inherited portion."
The Lord declared to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool."
who abandons the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God;
For you said, "We have cut a deal with Death, and we have made an agreement with Sheol; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, it will not touch us, because we have made falsehood our refuge and have hidden behind treachery."
Your deal with Death will be dissolved, and your agreement with Sheol will not last. When the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be trampled.
and the ransomed of the Lord will return and come to Zion with singing, crowned with unending joy. Joy and gladness will overtake [them], and sorrow and sighing will flee.
"This is My Servant; I strengthen Him, [this is] My Chosen One; I delight in Him. I have put My Spirit on Him; He will bring justice to the nations. He will not cry out or shout or make His voice heard in the streets. read more. He will not break a bruised reed, and He will not put out a smoldering wick; He will faithfully bring justice. He will not grow weak or be discouraged until He has established justice on earth. The islands will wait for His instruction." This is what God the Lord says- who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk on it- "I, the Lord, have called you for a righteous [purpose], and I will hold you by your hand. I will keep you, and I make you a covenant for the people [and] a light to the nations,
"I, the Lord, have called you for a righteous [purpose], and I will hold you by your hand. I will keep you, and I make you a covenant for the people [and] a light to the nations, in order to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, [and] those sitting in darkness from the prison house.
The Lord was pleased, because of His righteousness, to magnify [His] instruction and make it glorious.
Yet the Lord was pleased to crush Him, and He made Him sick. When You make Him a restitution offering, He will see [His] seed, He will prolong His days, and the will of the Lord will succeed by His hand. He will see [it] out of His anguish, and He will be satisfied with His knowledge. My righteous servant will justify many, and He will carry their iniquities.
"As for Me, this is My covenant with them," says the Lord: "My Spirit who is on you, and My words that I have put in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouth of your children, or from the mouth of your children's children, from now on and forever," says the Lord.
"Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days"-the Lord's declaration. "I will place My law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.
"Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days"-the Lord's declaration. "I will place My law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying: Know the Lord, for they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them"-the Lord's declaration. "For I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sin."
"This is what the Lord says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night so that day and night cease to come at their regular time,
"This is what the Lord says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night so that day and night cease to come at their regular time,
"This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, saying: At the end of seven years, each of you must free his Hebrew brother who sold himself to you. He may serve you six years, but then you must send him out free from you. But your ancestors did not obey Me or pay any attention.
As for those who disobeyed My covenant, not keeping the terms of the covenant they made before Me, I will treat them like the calf they cut in two in order to pass between its pieces. The officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf
Just then someone came up and asked Him, "Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?" "Why do you ask Me about what is good?" He said to him. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."
Then Jesus came near and said to them, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has visited and provided redemption for His people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, read more. just as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets in ancient times; salvation from our enemies and from the clutches of those who hate us. He has dealt mercifully with our fathers and remembered His holy covenant- the oath that He swore to our father Abraham. He has given us the privilege, since we have been rescued from our enemies' clutches, to serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness in His presence all our days.
Then an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.
But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name,
The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son,
We must do the works of Him who sent Me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
for You gave Him authority over all flesh; so He may give eternal life to all You have given Him.
I have glorified You on the earth by completing the work You gave Me to do.
I have revealed Your name to the men You gave Me from the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
I pray for them. I am not praying for the world but for those You have given Me, because they are Yours.
Therefore, since He has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, He has poured out what you both see and hear.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned. In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to one's account when there is no law. read more. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression. He is a prototype of the Coming One. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man's trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift overflowed to the many by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ. And the gift is not like the one man's sin, because from one sin came the judgment, resulting in condemnation, but from many trespasses came the gift, resulting in justification. Since by the one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is life-giving justification for everyone. For just as through one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.
He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
But the law is not based on faith; instead, the one who does these things will live by them. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written: Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.
But when the completion of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, read more. He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death-even to death on a cross. For this reason God also highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow- of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth- and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began,
For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself: I will most certainly bless you, and I will greatly multiply you. read more. And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham obtained the promise. For men swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute. Because God wanted to show His unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this [hope]-like a sure and firm anchor of the soul-that enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because He has become a "high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek."
But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree He is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been legally enacted on better promises.
Therefore He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions [committed] under the first covenant.
Therefore, as He was coming into the world, He said: You did not want sacrifice and offering, but You prepared a body for Me.
Fausets
Hebrew berit, Greek diatheekee. From baarah "to divide" or" cut in two" a victim (Gesenius), between the parts of which the covenanting parties passed (Ge 15:9, etc.; Jer 34:18-19). Probably the covenanting parties eating together (which barah sometimes means) of the feast after the sacrifice entered into the idea; compare Ge 31:46-47, Jacob and Laban.
A COVENANT OF SALT, taken in connection with the eastern phrase for friendship, "to eat salt together," confirms this view. Salt, the antidote to corruption, was used in every sacrifice, to denote purity and perpetuity (Le 2:13; Mr 9:49). So a perpetual covenant or appointment (Nu 18:19; 2Ch 13:5). The covenant alluded to in Ho 6:7 margin is not with Adam (KJV "men" is better, compare Ps 82:7), for nowhere else is the expression "covenant" applied to Adam's relation to God, though the thing is implied in Ro 5:12-19; 1Co 15:22; but the Sinaitic covenant which Israel transgressed as lightly as "men" break their every day covenants with their fellow men, or else they have transgressed like other "men," though distinguished above all men by extraordinary spiritual privileges.
Covenant in the strict sense, as requiring two independent contracting parties, cannot apply to a covenant between God and man. His covenant must be essentially one of gratuitous promise, an act of pure grace on His part (Ga 3:15, etc.). So in Ps 89:28 "covenant" is explained by the parallel word "mercy." So God's covenant not to destroy the earth again by water (Genesis 9; Jer 33:20). But the covenant, on God's part gratuitous, requires man's acceptance of and obedience to it, as the consequence of His grace experienced, and the end which He designs to His glory, not that it is the meritorious condition of it. The Septuagint renders berit by diatheekee (not suntheekee, "a mutual compact"), i.e. a gracious disposal by His own sovereign will. So Lu 22:29, "I appoint (diatithemai, cognate to diatheekee, by testamentary or gratuitous disposition) unto you a kingdom."
The legal covenant of Sinai came in as a parenthesis (pareiselthee; Ro 5:20) between the promise to Abraham and its fulfillment in his promised seed, Christ. "It was added because of the (so Greek) transgressions" (Ga 3:19), i.e. to bring them, and so man's great need, into clearer view (Ro 3:20; 4:15; 5:13; 7:7-9). For this end its language was that, of a more stipulating kind as between two parties mutually covenanting, "the man that doeth these things shall live by them" (Ro 10:5). But the promise to David (2 Samuel 7; Psalm 89; 2; 72; Isaiah 11) took up again that to Abraham, defining the line, the Davidic, as that in which the promised seed should come.
As the promise found its fulfillment in Christ, so also the law, for He fulfilled it for us that He might be "the Lord our righteousness," "the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Jer 23:6; 1Co 1:30; Ro 10:4; Mt 3:15; 5:17; Isa 42:21; 45:24-25). In Heb 9:15-18 the gospel covenant is distinguished from the legal, as the New Testament contrasted with the Old Testament "Testament" is the better translation here, as bringing out the idea of diatheekee, God's gracious disposal or appointment of His blessings to His people, rather than suntheekee, mutual engagement between Him and them as though equals.
A human "testament" in this one respect illustrates the nature of the covenant; by death Christ chose to lose all the glory and blessings which are His, that we, who were under death's bondage, might inherit all. Thus the ideas of "mediator of the covenant," and "testator," meet in Him, who at once fulfills God's "covenant of promise," and graciously disposes to us all that is His. In most other passages "covenant" would on the whole be the better rendering. "Testament" for each of the two divisions of the Bible comes from the Latin Vulgate version. In Mt 26:28, "this is My blood of the new testament" would perhaps better be translated "covenant," for a testament does not require blood shedding. Still, here and in the original (Ex 24:8) quoted by Christ the idea of testamentary disposition enters.
For his blood was the seal of the testament. See below. Moses by "covenant" means one giving the heavenly inheritance (typified by Canaan) after the testator's death, which was represented by the sacrificial blood he sprinkled. Paul by testament means one with conditions, and so far a covenant, the conditions being fulfilled by Christ, not by us. We must indeed believe, but even this God works in His people (Eph 2:8). Heb 9:17, "a testament is in force after men are dead," just as the Old Testament covenant was in force only in connection with slain sacrificial victims which represent the death of Christ. The fact of the death must be "brought forward" (Heb 9:16) to give effect to the will. The word" death," not sacrifice or slaying, shows that "testament" is meant in Heb 9:15-20. These requisites of a "testament" here concur:
1. The Testator.
2. The heirs.
3. Goods.
4. The Testator's death.
5. The fact of His death brought forward. In Mt 26:28 two additional requisites appear.
6. Witnesses, His disciples.
7. The seal, the sacrament of the Lord's supper, the sign of His blood, wherewith the testament is sealed. The heir is ordinarily the successor of him who dies, and who so ceases to have possession. But Christ comes to life again, and is Himself (including all that He had), in the power of tits now endless life, His people's inheritance; in His being heir (Heb 1:2; Ps 2:8) they are heirs.
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He said to him, "Bring Me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."
He said to him, "Bring Me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."
Then Jacob said to his relatives, "Gather stones." And they took stones and made a mound, then ate there by the mound.
Then Jacob said to his relatives, "Gather stones." And they took stones and made a mound, then ate there by the mound. Laban named the mound Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob named it Galeed.
Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, "This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you concerning all these words."
Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, "This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you concerning all these words."
You are to season each of your grain offerings with salt; you must not omit from your grain offering the salt of the covenant with your God. You are to present salt with each of your offerings.
You are to season each of your grain offerings with salt; you must not omit from your grain offering the salt of the covenant with your God. You are to present salt with each of your offerings.
"I give to you and to your sons and daughters all the holy contributions that the Israelites present to the Lord as a perpetual statute. It is a perpetual covenant of salt before the Lord for you as well as your offspring."
"I give to you and to your sons and daughters all the holy contributions that the Israelites present to the Lord as a perpetual statute. It is a perpetual covenant of salt before the Lord for you as well as your offspring."
Ask of Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance and the ends of the earth Your possession.
Ask of Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance and the ends of the earth Your possession.
I will always preserve My faithful love for him, and My covenant with him will endure.
I will always preserve My faithful love for him, and My covenant with him will endure.
The Lord was pleased, because of His righteousness, to magnify [His] instruction and make it glorious.
The Lord was pleased, because of His righteousness, to magnify [His] instruction and make it glorious.
It will be said to Me: Only in the Lord is righteousness and strength." All who are incensed against Him will come to Him and be put to shame.
It will be said to Me: Only in the Lord is righteousness and strength." All who are incensed against Him will come to Him and be put to shame. All the descendants of Israel will be justified and find glory through the Lord.
All the descendants of Israel will be justified and find glory through the Lord.
In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. This is what He will be named: The Lord Is Our Righteousness.
In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. This is what He will be named: The Lord Is Our Righteousness.
"This is what the Lord says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night so that day and night cease to come at their regular time,
"This is what the Lord says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night so that day and night cease to come at their regular time,
As for those who disobeyed My covenant, not keeping the terms of the covenant they made before Me, I will treat them like the calf they cut in two in order to pass between its pieces.
As for those who disobeyed My covenant, not keeping the terms of the covenant they made before Me, I will treat them like the calf they cut in two in order to pass between its pieces. The officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf
The officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf
But they, like Adam, have violated the covenant; there they have betrayed Me.
But they, like Adam, have violated the covenant; there they have betrayed Me.
Jesus answered him, "Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him [to be baptized].
Jesus answered him, "Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him [to be baptized].
"Don't assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
"Don't assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
For this is My blood [that establishes] the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.
For this is My blood [that establishes] the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.
For this is My blood [that establishes] the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.
For this is My blood [that establishes] the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.
I bestow on you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one on Me,
I bestow on you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one on Me,
For no flesh will be justified in His sight by the works of the law, for through the law [comes] the knowledge of sin.
For no flesh will be justified in His sight by the works of the law, for through the law [comes] the knowledge of sin.
For the law produces wrath; but where there is no law, there is no transgression.
For the law produces wrath; but where there is no law, there is no transgression.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned. In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to one's account when there is no law.
In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to one's account when there is no law.
In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to one's account when there is no law.
In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to one's account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression. He is a prototype of the Coming One.
Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression. He is a prototype of the Coming One. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man's trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift overflowed to the many by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ.
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man's trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift overflowed to the many by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ. And the gift is not like the one man's sin, because from one sin came the judgment, resulting in condemnation, but from many trespasses came the gift, resulting in justification.
And the gift is not like the one man's sin, because from one sin came the judgment, resulting in condemnation, but from many trespasses came the gift, resulting in justification. Since by the one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Since by the one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is life-giving justification for everyone.
So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is life-giving justification for everyone. For just as through one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.
For just as through one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more,
The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more,
What should we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin if it were not for the law. For example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet.
What should we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin if it were not for the law. For example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet. And sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law sin is dead.
And sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life
Once I was alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses writes about the righteousness that is from the law: The one who does these things will live by them.
For Moses writes about the righteousness that is from the law: The one who does these things will live by them.
Brothers, I'm using a human illustration. No one sets aside even a human covenant that has been ratified, or makes additions to it.
Brothers, I'm using a human illustration. No one sets aside even a human covenant that has been ratified, or makes additions to it.
Why the law then? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise was made would come. [The law] was ordered through angels by means of a mediator.
Why the law then? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise was made would come. [The law] was ordered through angels by means of a mediator.
For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift-
For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift-
In these last days, He has spoken to us by [His] Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things and through whom He made the universe.
In these last days, He has spoken to us by [His] Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things and through whom He made the universe.
Therefore He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions [committed] under the first covenant.
Therefore He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions [committed] under the first covenant.
Therefore He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions [committed] under the first covenant.
Therefore He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions [committed] under the first covenant. Where a will exists, the death of the testator must be established.
Where a will exists, the death of the testator must be established.
Where a will exists, the death of the testator must be established.
Where a will exists, the death of the testator must be established.
Where a will exists, the death of the testator must be established.
Where a will exists, the death of the testator must be established. For a will is valid only when people die, since it is never in force while the testator is living.
For a will is valid only when people die, since it is never in force while the testator is living.
For a will is valid only when people die, since it is never in force while the testator is living.
For a will is valid only when people die, since it is never in force while the testator is living.
For a will is valid only when people die, since it is never in force while the testator is living.
For a will is valid only when people die, since it is never in force while the testator is living. That is why even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood.
That is why even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood. For when every commandment had been proclaimed by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll itself and all the people,
For when every commandment had been proclaimed by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll itself and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded for you.
saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded for you.
Hastings
The term is of frequent occurrence in the Bible, and is used in the general sense of a compact or agreement between parties, and also in the more technical and legal sense of an arrangement entered into by God, and confirmed or sealed with the due formalities. The Hebrew word (ber
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And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die."
but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die."
But I will establish My covenant with you, and you will enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives.
Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, "Understand that I am confirming My covenant with you and your descendants after you, read more. and with every living creature that is with you-birds, livestock, and all wildlife of the earth that are with you-all the animals of the earth that came out of the ark. I confirm My covenant with you that never again will all flesh be wiped out by the waters of a deluge; there will never again be a deluge to destroy the earth." And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations:
And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations: I have placed My bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. read more. Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh: water will never again become a deluge to destroy all flesh. The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh on earth." God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have confirmed between Me and all flesh on earth."
So he brought all these to Him, split them down the middle, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut up the birds.
When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided [animals]. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, "I give this land to your offspring, from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River:
I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you greatly." Then Abram fell to the ground, and God spoke with him: read more. "As for Me, My covenant is with you, and you will become the father of many nations. Your name will no longer be Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations. I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you. I will keep My covenant between Me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, as an everlasting covenant to be your God and the [God] of your offspring after you.
I will keep My covenant between Me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, as an everlasting covenant to be your God and the [God] of your offspring after you. And to you and your offspring after you I will give the land where you are residing-all the land of Canaan-as an eternal possession, and I will be their God." read more. God also said to Abraham, "As for you, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations are to keep My covenant. This is My covenant, which you are to keep, between Me and you and your offspring after you: Every one of your males must be circumcised. You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin to serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and you. Throughout your generations, every male among you at eight days old is to be circumcised. This includes a slave born in your house and one purchased with money from any foreigner. The one who is not your offspring, a slave born in your house, as well as one purchased with money, must be circumcised. My covenant will be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant. If any male is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that man will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant." God said to Abraham, "As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai, for Sarah will be her name. I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will produce nations; kings of peoples will come from her." Abraham fell to the ground, laughed, and thought in his heart, "Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?" So Abraham said to God, "If only Ishmael could live in Your presence!" But God said, "No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will certainly bless him; I will make him fruitful and will multiply him greatly. He will father 12 tribal leaders, and I will make him into a great nation. But I will confirm My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year."
Then Abraham took sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant.
So he prepared a banquet for them, and they ate and drank. They got up early in the morning and swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.
Come now, let's make a covenant, you and I. Let it be a witness between the two of us." So Jacob picked out a stone and set it up as a marker. read more. Then Jacob said to his relatives, "Gather stones." And they took stones and made a mound, then ate there by the mound. Laban named the mound Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob named it Galeed. Then Laban said, "This mound is a witness between me and you today." Therefore the place was called Galeed, and [also] Mizpah, for he said, "May the Lord watch between you and me when we are out of each other's sight.
and [also] Mizpah, for he said, "May the Lord watch between you and me when we are out of each other's sight.
Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat a meal. So they ate a meal and spent the night on the mountain.
So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Now if you will listen to Me and carefully keep My covenant, you will be My own possession out of all the peoples, although all the earth is Mine,
Then the Lord told Moses, "This is what you are to say to the Israelites: You have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. You must not make gods of silver to rival Me; you must not make [gods of gold] for yourselves.
He then took the covenant scroll and read [it] aloud to the people. They responded, "We will do and obey everything that the Lord has commanded."
He then took the covenant scroll and read [it] aloud to the people. They responded, "We will do and obey everything that the Lord has commanded." Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, "This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you concerning all these words."
And the Lord responded: "Look, I am making a covenant. I will perform wonders in the presence of all your people that have never been done in all the earth or in any nation. All the people you live among will see the Lord's work, for what I am doing with you is awe-inspiring. Observe what I command you today. I am going to drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. read more. Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land that you are going to enter; otherwise, they will become a snare among you. Instead, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, and chop down their Asherah poles. You are to never bow down to another god because the Lord, being jealous by nature, is a jealous God. "Do not make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land, or else when they prostitute themselves with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, they will invite you, and you will eat of their sacrifice. Then you will take some of their daughters [as brides] for your sons. Their daughters will prostitute themselves with their gods and cause your sons to prostitute themselves with their gods. "Do not make cast images of gods for yourselves. "Observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread. You are to eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib as I commanded you. For you came out of Egypt in the month of Abib. "The firstborn male from every womb belongs to Me, including all your male livestock, the firstborn of cattle or sheep. You must redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a sheep, but if you do not redeem [it], break its neck. You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons. No one is to appear before Me empty-handed. "You are to labor six days but you must rest on the seventh day; you must even rest during plowing and harvesting times. "Observe the Festival of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering at the turn of the [agricultural] year. Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord God , the God of Israel. For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your territory. No one will covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord your God. "Do not present the blood for My sacrifice with anything leavened. The sacrifice of the Passover Festival must not remain until morning. "Bring the best firstfruits of your land to the house of the Lord your God. "You must not boil a young goat in its mother's milk." The Lord also said to Moses, "Write down these words, for I have made a covenant with you and with Israel based on these words." Moses was there with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. He wrote down on the tablets the words of the covenant-the Ten Commandments.
You are to season each of your grain offerings with salt; you must not omit from your grain offering the salt of the covenant with your God. You are to present salt with each of your offerings.
then I will remember My covenant with Jacob. I will also remember My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
Yet in spite of this, while they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject or abhor them so as to destroy them and break My covenant with them, since I am the Lord their God.
"I give to you and to your sons and daughters all the holy contributions that the Israelites present to the Lord as a perpetual statute. It is a perpetual covenant of salt before the Lord for you as well as your offspring."
He did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with all of us who are alive here today.
When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant the Lord made with you, I stayed on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. I did not eat bread or drink water.
The Lord gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant, at the end of the 40 days and 40 nights.
"So I went back down the mountain, while it was blazing with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands.
I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets you broke, and you are to place them in the ark.'
and I went back down the mountain and placed the tablets in the ark I had made. And they have remained there, as the Lord commanded me."
'Cursed is the person who makes a carved idol or cast image, which is detestable to the Lord, the work of a craftsman, and sets [it] up in secret.' And all the people will reply, 'Amen!'
These are the words of the covenant the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant He had made with them at Horeb.
Therefore, observe the words of this covenant and follow them, so that you will succeed in everything you do.
They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, "We have come from a distant land. Please make a treaty with us."
On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people at Shechem and established a statute and ordinance for them.
And Joshua said to all the people, "You see this stone-it will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words the Lord said to us, and it will be a witness against you, so that you will not deny your God."
Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as much as himself.
So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. King David made a covenant with them at Hebron in the Lord's presence, and they anointed David king over Israel.
Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord, the king, and the people that they would be the Lord's people and [another one] between the king and the people.
Next, the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant in the presence of the Lord to follow the Lord and to keep His commandments, His decrees, and His statutes with all his mind and with all his heart, and to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book; all the people agreed to the covenant.
It is in my heart now to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel so that His fierce wrath may turn away from us.
Let us therefore make a covenant before our God to send away all the [foreign] wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God. Let it be done according to the law.
They pledged to send their wives away, and being guilty, [they offered] a ram from the flock for their guilt;
For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I look at a young woman?
The secret counsel of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He reveals His covenant to them.
Consider the covenant, for the dark places of the land are full of violence.
For they have conspired with one mind; they form an alliance against You-
[The Lord said,] "I have made a covenant with My chosen one; I have sworn an oath to David My servant:
[the covenant] He made with Abraham, swore to Isaac,
who abandons the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God;
My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor or entered into an agreement with a stranger,
One without sense enters an agreement and puts up security for his friend.
For you said, "We have cut a deal with Death, and we have made an agreement with Sheol; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, it will not touch us, because we have made falsehood our refuge and have hidden behind treachery."
Your deal with Death will be dissolved, and your agreement with Sheol will not last. When the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be trampled.
"I, the Lord, have called you for a righteous [purpose], and I will hold you by your hand. I will keep you, and I make you a covenant for the people [and] a light to the nations,
This is what the Lord says: I will answer you in a time of favor, and I will help you in the day of salvation. I will keep you, and I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to make them possess the desolate inheritances,
"For this is like the days of Noah to Me: when I swore that the waters of Noah would never flood the earth again, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you.
Pay attention and come to Me; listen, so that you will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the promises assured to David.
"As for Me, this is My covenant with them," says the Lord: "My Spirit who is on you, and My words that I have put in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouth of your children, or from the mouth of your children's children, from now on and forever," says the Lord.
For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and injustice; I will faithfully reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them.
"Look, the days are coming"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
"Look, the days are coming"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
"Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days"-the Lord's declaration. "I will place My law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.
"I will make with them an everlasting covenant: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put fear of Me in their hearts so they will never again turn away from Me.
In those days and at that time I will cause a Branch of righteousness to sprout up for David, and He will administer justice and righteousness in the land.
"This is what the Lord says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night so that day and night cease to come at their regular time, then also My covenant with My servant David may be broken so that he will not have a son reigning on his throne, and the Levitical priests will not be My ministers.
This is what the Lord says: If I do not [keep] My covenant with the day and with the night and fail to establish the fixed order of heaven and earth,
As for those who disobeyed My covenant, not keeping the terms of the covenant they made before Me, I will treat them like the calf they cut in two in order to pass between its pieces.
They will ask about Zion, [turning] their faces to this road. They will come and join themselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.
But I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.
He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. He did all these things even though he gave his hand [in pledge]. He will not escape!"
Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you." [This is] the declaration of the Lord God . "I will make you pass under the rod and will bring you into the bond of the covenant.
"I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate dangerous animals in the land, so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forest.
"For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.
tell them: This is what the Lord God says: I am going to take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over all of them. They will no longer be two nations and will no longer be divided into two kingdoms. read more. They will not defile themselves any more with their idols, their detestable things, and all their transgressions. I will save them from all their apostasies by which they sinned, and I will cleanse them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God. My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow My ordinances, and keep My statutes and obey them. "They will live in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They will live in it forever with their children and grandchildren, and My servant David will be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. I will establish and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people. When My sanctuary is among them forever, the nations will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel."
He will make a firm covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering. And the abomination of desolation will be on a wing of the temple until the decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator."
A flood of forces will be swept away before him; they will be shattered, as well as the covenant prince.
The king of the North will return to his land with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant; he will take action, then return to his own land.
Ships of Kittimwill come against him, and being intimidated, he will withdraw. Then he will rage against the holy covenant and take action. On his return, he will favor those who abandon the holy covenant.
The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Tyre for three crimes, even four, because they handed over a whole community of exiles to Edom and broke a treaty of brotherhood.
As for you, because of the blood of your covenant, I will release your prisoners from the waterless cistern.
Yet you ask, "For what reason?" Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have acted treacherously against her, though she was your marriage partner and your wife by covenant.
"See, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple, the Messenger of the covenant you desire-see, He is coming," says the Lord of Hosts.
"See, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple, the Messenger of the covenant you desire-see, He is coming," says the Lord of Hosts.
For this is My blood [that establishes] the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.
He said to them, "This is My blood [that establishes] the covenant; it is shed for many.
Now listen! You will become silent and unable to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time."
In the same way He also took the cup after supper and said, "This cup is the new covenant [established by] My blood; it is shed for you.
You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your forefathers, saying to Abraham, And in your seed all the families of the earth will be blessed.
"Is this true?" the high priest asked.
Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision. This being so, he fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; Isaac did the same with Jacob, and Jacob with the 12 patriarchs.
They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises.
And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The Liberator will come from Zion; He will turn away godlessness from Jacob.
He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit produces life.
Brothers, I'm using a human illustration. No one sets aside even a human covenant that has been ratified, or makes additions to it.
Brothers, I'm using a human illustration. No one sets aside even a human covenant that has been ratified, or makes additions to it.
These things are illustrations, for the women represent the two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery-this is Hagar.
At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, with no hope and without God in the world.
who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.
Because God wanted to show His unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath,
But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree He is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been legally enacted on better promises.
But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree He is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been legally enacted on better promises. For if that first [covenant] had been faultless, no opportunity would have been sought for a second one. read more. But finding fault with His people, He says: "Look, the days are coming," says the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah- not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day I took them by their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. Because they did not continue in My covenant, I disregarded them," says the Lord. "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days," says the Lord: "I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be My people. And each person will not teach his fellow citizen, and each his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their sins." By saying, a new [ covenant ], He has declared that the first is old. And what is old and aging is about to disappear.
It contained the gold altar of incense and the ark of the covenant, covered with gold on all sides, in which there was a gold jar containing the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.
Where a will exists, the death of the testator must be established. For a will is valid only when people die, since it is never in force while the testator is living.
saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded for you.
How much worse punishment, do you think one will deserve who has trampled on the Son of God, regarded as profane the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus-the great Shepherd of the sheep-with the blood of the everlasting covenant,
Morish
To this subject as spoken of in scripture there are two branches:
1. man's covenant with his fellow, or nation with nation, in which the terms are mutually considered and agreed to: it is then ratified by an oath, or by some token, before witnesses. Such a covenant is alluded to in Ga 3:15; if a man's covenant be confirmed it cannot be disannulled or added to. When Abraham bought the field of Ephron in Machpelah, he paid the money "in the audience of the sons of Heth" as witnesses, and it was thus made sure unto him. Ge 23:16. In the covenant Jacob made with Laban, they gathered a heap of stones to be witness between them, and "they did eat there upon the heap." Ge 31:46. When the Gibeonites deceived Joshua and the heads of Israel, "the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord, and . . . sware unto them." Jos 9:14-15. So to this day, if a stranger in the East can get the head of a tribe to eat with him, he knows he is safe, the eating is regarded as a covenant. In 2Ch 13:5 we read of 'a covenant of salt;' and to eat salt together is also now regarded as a bond in the East.
2. The covenants made by God are of a different order. He makes His covenants from Himself, without consulting man. With Noah God made a covenant that he would not again destroy the world by a flood, and as a token of that covenant, He set the rainbow in the cloud. Ge 9:8-17. This kind of covenant takes the form of an unconditional promise. Such was God's covenant with Abraham, first as to his natural posterity, Ge 15:4-6; and secondly, as to his seed, Christ. Ge 22:15-18. He gave him also the covenant of circumcision, Ge 17:10-14; Ac 7:8,
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Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, "Understand that I am confirming My covenant with you and your descendants after you, read more. and with every living creature that is with you-birds, livestock, and all wildlife of the earth that are with you-all the animals of the earth that came out of the ark. I confirm My covenant with you that never again will all flesh be wiped out by the waters of a deluge; there will never again be a deluge to destroy the earth." And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations: I have placed My bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh: water will never again become a deluge to destroy all flesh. The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh on earth." God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have confirmed between Me and all flesh on earth."
Now the word of the Lord came to him: "This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir." He took him outside and said, "Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then He said to him, "Your offspring will be that [numerous]." read more. Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.
This is My covenant, which you are to keep, between Me and you and your offspring after you: Every one of your males must be circumcised. You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin to serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and you. read more. Throughout your generations, every male among you at eight days old is to be circumcised. This includes a slave born in your house and one purchased with money from any foreigner. The one who is not your offspring, a slave born in your house, as well as one purchased with money, must be circumcised. My covenant will be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant. If any male is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that man will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."
Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, "By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, read more. I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gates of their enemies. And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed My command."
Abraham agreed with Ephron, and Abraham weighed out to Ephron the silver that he had agreed to in the hearing of the Hittites: 400 shekels of silver at the current commercial rate.
Then Jacob said to his relatives, "Gather stones." And they took stones and made a mound, then ate there by the mound.
Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, "Keep every command I am giving you today.
"Now if you faithfully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all His commands I am giving you today, the Lord your God will put you far above all the nations of the earth.
Then the men [of Israel] took some of their provisions, but did not seek the Lord's counsel. So Joshua established peace with them and made a treaty to let them live, and the leaders of the community swore an oath to them.
Don't you know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?
Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision. This being so, he fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; Isaac did the same with Jacob, and Jacob with the 12 patriarchs.
And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while still uncircumcised. This was to make him the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, so that righteousness may be credited to them also.
Brothers, I'm using a human illustration. No one sets aside even a human covenant that has been ratified, or makes additions to it. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say "and to seeds," as though referring to many, but and to your seed, referring to one, who is Christ. read more. And I say this: the law, which came 430 years later, does not revoke a covenant that was previously ratified by God, so as to cancel the promise.
And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, heirs according to the promise.
Smith
Covenant.
The Heb. berith means primarily "a cutting," with reference to the custom of cutting or dividing animals in two and passing between the parts in ratifying a covenant.
In the New Testament the corresponding word is diathece (diatheke), which is frequently translated testament in the Authorized Version. In its biblical meaning two parties the word is used--
1. Of a covenant between God and man; e.g. God covenanted with Noah, after the flood, that a like judgment should not be repeated. It is not precisely like a covenant between men, but was a promise or agreement by God. The principal covenants are the covenant of works --God promising to save and bless men on condition of perfect obedience --and the covenant of grace, or God's promise to save men on condition of their believing in Christ and receiving him as their Master and Saviour. The first is called the Old Covenant, from which we name the first part of the bible the Old Testament, the Latin rendering of the word covenant. The second is called the New Covenant, or New Testament.
2. Covenant between man and man, i.e. a solemn compact or agreement, either between tribes or nations,
or between individuals,
by which each party bound himself to fulfill certain conditions and was assured of receiving certain advantages. In making such a covenant God was solemnly invoked as witness,
and an oath was sworn.
A sign or witness of the covenant was sometimes framed, such a gift,
or a pillar or heap of stones erected.
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He replied, "You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand so that this act will serve as my witness that I dug this well." Therefore that place was called Beer-sheba because it was there that the two of them swore an oath.
Come now, let's make a covenant, you and I. Let it be a witness between the two of us."
If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives, though no one is with us, understand that God will be a witness between you and me."
This mound is a witness and the marker is a witness that I will not pass beyond this mound to you, and you will not pass beyond this mound and this marker to do me harm.
They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, "We have come from a distant land. Please make a treaty with us."
So Joshua established peace with them and made a treaty to let them live, and the leaders of the community swore an oath to them.
As for those who disobeyed My covenant, not keeping the terms of the covenant they made before Me, I will treat them like the calf they cut in two in order to pass between its pieces. The officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf
Watsons
COVENANT. The Greek word ??????? occurs often in the Septuagint, as the translation of a Hebrew word, which signifies covenant: it occurs also in the Gospels and the Epistles; and it is rendered in our English Bibles sometimes covenant, sometimes testament. The Greek word, according to its etymology, and according to classical use, may denote a testament, a disposition, as well as a covenant; and the Gospel may be called a testament, because it is a signification of the will of our Saviour ratified by his death, and because it conveys blessings to be enjoyed after his death. These reasons for giving the dispensation of the Gospel the name of a testament appeared to our translators so striking, that they have rendered ??????? more frequently by the word testament, than by the word covenant. Yet the train of argument, where ??????? occurs, generally appears to proceed upon its meaning a covenant; and therefore, although, when we delineate the nature of the Gospel, the beautiful idea of its being a testament, is not to be lost sight of, yet we are to remember that the word testament, which we read in the Gospels and Epistles, is the translation of a word which the sense requires to be rendered covenant. A covenant implies two parties, and mutual stipulations. The new covenant must derive its name from something in the nature of the stipulations between the parties different from that which existed before; so that we cannot understand the propriety of the name, new, without looking back to what is called the old, or first. On examining the passages in Galatians 3, in 2 Corinthians 3, and in Hebrews 8-10, where the old and the new covenant are contrasted, it will be found that the old covenant means the dispensation given by Moses to the children of Israel; and the new covenant the dispensation of the Gospel published by Jesus Christ; and that the object of the Apostle is to illustrate the superior excellence of the latter dispensation. But, in order to preserve the consistency of the Apostle's writings, it is necessary to remember that there are two different lights in which the former dispensation may be viewed. Christians appear to draw the line between the old and the new covenant, according to the light in which they view that dispensation. It may be considered merely as a method of publishing the moral law to a particular nation; and then with whatever solemnity it was delivered, and with whatever cordiality it was accepted, it is not a covenant that could give life. For, being nothing more than what divines call a covenant of works, a directory of conduct requiring by its nature entire personal obedience, promising life to those who yielded that obedience, but making no provision for transgressors, it left under a curse "every one that continued not in all things that were written in the book of the law to do them." This is the essential imperfection of what is called the covenant of works, the name given in theology to that transaction, in which it is conceived that the supreme Lord of the universe promised to his creature, man, that he would reward that obedience to his law, which, without any such promise, was due to him as the Creator.
No sooner had Adam broken the covenant of works, than a promise of a final deliverance from the evils incurred by the breach of it was given. This promise was the foundation of that transaction which Almighty God, in treating with Abraham, condescends to call "my covenant with thee," and which, upon this authority, has received in theology the name of the Abrahamic covenant. Upon the one part, Abraham, whose faith was counted to him for righteousness, received this charge from God, "Walk before me, and be thou perfect;" upon the other part, the God whom he believed, and whose voice he obeyed, beside promising other blessings to him and his seed, uttered these significant words, "In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." In this transaction, then, there was the essence of a covenant; for there were mutual stipulations between two parties; and there was superadded, as a seal of the covenant, the rite of circumcision, which, being prescribed by God, was a confirmation of his promise to all who complied with it, and being submitted to by Abraham, was, on his part, an acceptance of the covenant.
The Abrahamic covenant appears, from the nature of the stipulations, to be more than a covenant of works; and, as it was not confined to Abraham, but extended to his seed, it could not be disannulled by any subsequent transactions, which fell short of a fulfilment of the blessing promised. The law of Moses, which was given to the seed of Abraham four hundred and thirty years after, did not come up to the terms of that covenant even with regard to them, for, in its form it was a covenant of works, and to other nations it did not directly convey any blessing. But although the Mosaic dispensation did not fulfil the Abrahamic covenant, it was so far from setting that covenant aside, that it cherished the expectation of its being fulfilled: for it continued the rite of circumcision, which was the seal of the covenant; and in those ceremonies which it enjoined, there was a shadow, a type, an obscure representation, of the promised blessing, Lu 1:72-73.
Here, then, is another view of the Mosaic dispensation. "It was added, because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made," Ga 3:19. By delivering a moral law, which men felt themselves unable to obey; by denouncing judgments which it did not of itself provide any effectual method of escaping; and by holding forth, in various oblations, the promised and expected Saviour; "it was a schoolmaster to bring men unto Christ." The covenant made with Abraham retained its force during the dispensation of the law, and was the end of that dispensation.
The views which have been given furnish the ground upon which we defend that established language which is familiar to our ears, that there are only two covenants essentially different, and opposite to one another, the covenant of works, made with the first man, intimated by the constitution of human nature to every one of his posterity, and having for its terms, "Do this and live;"
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He said to him, "Bring Me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." So he brought all these to Him, split them down the middle, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut up the birds.
When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided [animals]. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, "I give this land to your offspring, from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River:
Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army. Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me? You hated me and sent me away from you." read more. They replied, "We have clearly seen how the Lord has been with you. We think there should be an oath between two parties-between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you: You will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have only done what was good to you, sending you away in peace. You are now blessed by the Lord." So he prepared a banquet for them, and they ate and drank. They got up early in the morning and swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.
Come now, let's make a covenant, you and I. Let it be a witness between the two of us." So Jacob picked out a stone and set it up as a marker. read more. Then Jacob said to his relatives, "Gather stones." And they took stones and made a mound, then ate there by the mound.
Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat a meal. So they ate a meal and spent the night on the mountain.
You are to bring there your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tenths and personal contributions, your vow offerings and freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. You will eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice with your household in everything you do, because the Lord your God has blessed you.
As for those who disobeyed My covenant, not keeping the terms of the covenant they made before Me, I will treat them like the calf they cut in two in order to pass between its pieces.
He has dealt mercifully with our fathers and remembered His holy covenant- the oath that He swore to our father Abraham. He has given us the privilege,
Why the law then? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise was made would come. [The law] was ordered through angels by means of a mediator.
"But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days," says the Lord: "I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.