God’s Grace in the Old Testament (Study 3 in a series of 7) The Promise key as Covenant

In the first session we asked the question, “Is there a key or central theme of the Bible that comes from the text itself?

The key to unlocking the grace of God in the Old Testament comes when we understand the biblical concept of promise. It is because of God’s covenant love for us that he promises to save and protect us. This is a demonstration of his grace.

Last time we looked at ‘blessing’. This is one of many aspects of the central key of promise in the Old Testament.

The most common setting for blessings is in the family of people who love God. Fathers have blessed family members at weddings; they have blessed their members before they left on a journey; and those who were facing death blessed their offspring.

Unfortunately, God’s promised blessing is met with human rebellion. The human condition is found in each of the three catastrophes (creation/fall; flood; & tower of Babel). The consequences were a promised word (of judgment from God).

Yet despite the human failure there was a follow up blessing in each case.

After the fall, there was the promise of a blessing: a Seed (Genesis 3:15).

After the flood there is the promise of another blessing: God dwelling in Shem’s tents (Genesis 9:25-27).

After the fall of the Tower of Babel, there is yet another promise: a worldwide blessing (Genesis 12:1-3). Abraham was blessed in order to be a blessing to others. We shared blessings we had received.

Being blessed by God is a sign of his covenant love. But the opposite is not the case. That is, trouble, heartache and sorrow are not because God has removed his blessing from us. The difficult times are there to enable us to trust that God is still with us, just like he promised.

This time we will look at the concept of ‘covenant’, as a symbol of grace in the Old Testament.

Covenants are agreements which bind two parties together. Furthermore, covenants between people in the ANE had religious content. The most significant examples of covenants in the Bible are those between God and his people.

What sort of covenants do we have today? In what ways can they be binding? What do covenants do?

There were several OT words used to describe the making of a covenant. God would ‘cut’ (kārat̠) a covenant (Genesis 15:9-18) with Abraham as Abraham had ‘cut’ the sacrifices (15:10).

God would ‘give’ / ‘grant’ (nāt̠an) (NIV = confirm) his covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17:1-2).

God would ‘establish’ (hēqȋm) an everlasting covenant that would bless Abraham’s descendants through Isaac. (17:4-8, 19-22).

The Lord would ‘swear’ (nišba‘) a covenant with Abraham (22:15-18), that his family would be as numerous as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the beach.

In David’s last words he affirms that the Lord can ‘set down’ (śȋm) a covenant (2 Samuel 23:3-5).

The Lord reminded Joshua that He did ‘command’ (șiwwâ) a covenant that needed to be enforced (Joshua 7:10-12)

The covenants God made were with individuals or groups of people.

The covenant that God made to Noah, sealed with a rainbow, was to the world; while the covenant with Abram was God’s promise to one man. But the covenant that God made through Moses (the Law) was his promise for the whole nation of Israel.

The new covenant that God has made through Jesus benefits the whole world.

In the business world, if a covenant was broken by either party, there were usually dire consequences for the one who broke it. But, in the Bible, God keeps the covenants he makes with his people. But always, the ones with whom God makes his covenant, break their part. Yet, God’s covenant always contains mercy.

In what ways did the people of God benefit from the covenants that the Lord made with his people?

The old covenant is ratified by the blood of sacrificed animals.

The new covenant is ratified by the blood of Jesus.

In what ways is God’s new covenant of benefit to you?

© 27 th September 2011, K. Sarlow