COVENANTS

Historical Covenants

Covenants were common in the Near East from the third-millennium Sumer civilizations onward.

The Hittites, around 1450-1200 BCE (the time of Moses), made ample use of covenants and the archeological remains exist to help modern scholars understand them.. Hittite covenants followed a set pattern:

–A preamble–An historical prologue–Stipulations–Provisions for publication and reading–List of witnesses and–A formula for curses and blessings

Biblical covenants (especially from Deut.) follow a similar format.

Covenant and the Old TestamentThe biblical Hebrew term brit "covenant," or "contract," covers a range of agreements among people or between God and a person or group of persons. Among the covenants with God we find one with Noah, several with Abraham (mostly in connection with circumcision), with Israel through Moses, with David, with Aaron and Phineas (priesthood), with Joshua, Josiah and Ezra. Jeremiah promised a new and lasting covenant in the context of the restoration of Israel and Judah to their land: "I will set my law within them and write it on their hearts" (Jer 31:33).

Much biblical legislation constitutes the conditions, "small print," of covenants. For instance, the legislation in Deuteronomy 12 through 28 constitutes the terms of the covenant of 29. However, the law stands in its own right, God’s gracious gift for our benefit. That God has favored us with a covenant is an additional blessing, a sign of his love; but what really matters is His guidance as expressed in the law. Perhaps rather than reading the laws as small print of the covenant we should regard the covenant as an addendum to the laws.

+ Norman Solomon, Oxford, 2001

The Basics of a Biblical CovenantPreamble: Identifying the King’s lordship and stressing his greatness, dominance, and eminence.

Historical Prologue: Recounting the King’s past relationship with the subjects.

Ethical Stipulations: Listing the subject’s obligations to the King

Sanctions: Blessings for obeying and curses for breaking the covenant

Succession Arrangements: Provisions for carrying on the covenant with future generations.

(For an example, consider Moses’ covenant renewal treaty in Deuteronomy.)

Linking Covenant to the Puritans“We are entered into covenant with Him for this work… Now if the Lord shall please to hear us, and bring us in peace to the place we desire, then hath He ratified this covenant and sealed our commission… If we shall neglect the observation of these articles… the Lord will surely break out in wrath against us… and make us know the price of the breach of such a covenant.”

“[W]e are commanded this day to love the Lord our God, and to love one another, to walk in his ways and to keep his Commandments and his ordinance and his laws, and the articles of our Covenant with Him…”

Consider: In what ways does “A Model of Christian Charity” follow the format of a Biblical covenant?

Complete Resources

Solomon, Norman. “Covenant”. 2001.

http://www.bc.edu/dam/files/research_sites/cjl/texts/center/conferences/solomon.htm

Hunt, Michael. “The Covenant Treaty in Sacred Scripture”. 2001.

http://www.agapebiblestudy.com/charts/Covenant%20Treaty%20Format%20in%20Sacred%20Scripture.htm