Hebrew, b'rith, cutting, Biblically is the term generally applied to transactions. The term was a compact between man and man; either between tribes or nations (1 Samuel 11:1; Joshua 9:6, 15) or between individuals (Genesis 21:27) in which each party bound himself to fulfil certain conditions, and promised certain advantages. In the process of making covenants, God was solemnly invoked as a witness (Genesis 31:50), thus came the expression "a covenant of Jehovah," followed by the swearing of an oath (Genesis 21:31). Accordingly, a breach of the covenant was regarded as a heinous sin (Ezekiel 17:12-20). The marriage contact was called "the covenant of God" (Proverbs 2:17). As a witness to a Covenant, a gift was presented, or a pile of stones set up (Genesis 31:51). This pile of stones was referred to as an altar. The setting up of an altar by Biblical characters like Abraham did not serve the purpose of offering a sacrifice (though sometimes a sacrifice was offered), but of renewing one's covenant vows.
Covenant with Adam:Adam, of course, was not a Hebrew. Yet it is important to realise that God made His First Covenant with Adam [Gen 2:16,17]. Adam broke it, but even so, God showed his continuing tender benevolence for his human children [Gen 3:21], concern to maintain friendship with them [Gen 4:4-7] and the promise of salvation from sin through Eve's seed [Gen 3:15]. Even towards the murderer Cain, God showed compassion [Gen 4:13-16]. Before any other further Covenant was established, it was possible for Enoch to "walk with God" and then be taken by God as his own [Gen 5:24, Wis 4:1-15, Sir 44:16]. So does God deal with his friends.
Covenant with Noah:Noah wasn't a Hebrew either, yet he was the recipient of the Second Covenant [Gen 9:1-17] in the name, not only of all humanity, but of all living things [Gen 9:10]. God assured Noah that the judgment would not again come to men in the form of a flood; and that the recurrence of the seasons and day and night should not cease. It was an everlasting covenant God made with all people for all time (Genesis 9:16).
Covenant with Abraham:Abraham is the first Biblical character to be described as the "friend of God". God made his covenant with his friend [Gen 17:1-14]; the benefits flowed through him his whole household: not just his family and clan, but also his slaves [Gen 17:23-26] were affected. It was made initially, then renewed three times, but with slightly different terms each time. The covenant or agreement made with Abraham and his offspring was in essence that God would be their God, and they would be His people.
This was the first Covenant to be made with a sub-set of humanity. For that reason it had a badge - circumcision - to indicate those people who came under its purview. Like his grandson, Jacob, Abraham had a tempestuous relationship with God [Gen 18:22-33, Gen 33:24-32]. As Paul points out [Rom 4:3, Gal 3:6] it is extremely significant that God reckoned Abram (as he was then known) as righteous because Abram trusted God's promise to him [Gen 15:6] well before the Covenant was enacted, before he was circumcised and certainly before Mosaic Law was promulgated.
The condition of this covenant was that Abraham should leave his country, kindred, and his father's house to follow God into a land that he would show him. The promise was a fourfold blessing: Abraham would increase into a large nation of people; blessing of material and spiritual prosperity; and his name would be exalted. God promised not only to bless Abraham, but this blessing was to be extended to others, implicitly by the coming of the Messiah through his descendants (Genesis 12:1-3). The following promise was also given first time around - "I will bless those who bless you and curse them who curse you", but was never repeated in the covenant renewals, nor was it included in subsequent covenants God made with Abraham's offspring.
Later the covenant was renewed, and Abraham was promised a son and a long posterity (Genesis 15). About fourteen years later God promised to make a similar everlasting covenant with Isaac, Abraham's son to Sarah (Genesis 17). In Genesis 13: 14-17, God gave Abraham possession of all the land he saw, and extended the promise to his seed forever. Interestingly, Abraham had numerous opportunities to take up possession of sections of the land promised but on all occasions he declined. As Stephen explained in Acts 7: 3-7, it was a gift of possession (Hebrew word: to take hold of. A different word was used to imply ownership), or occupancy and not ownership. This is confirmed in Genesis 17:8.
In essence, the covenant with Abraham was renewed with his son, Isaac, then later with his son, Jacob (see separate studies). Abraham then passed on a blessing to his sons before his death in which certain parts of the the covenant were passed on to certain sons and grandsons.
Covenant with Moses and The Children of Israel:Moses is also described as God's friend. It was with Moses as deliverer of the Hebrews from Egypt that God enacted the Fourth Covenant. Like the first two, and unlike the third, it was not with an individual: Adam; Noah or Moses, but with a community. Like the third, and unlike the first two, it was not with all humanity, but with a distinct group: the Israelites. Central to the Covenant were the Ten Commandments. According to the Torah, the detailed Levitical-Deuteronomic juridical, hygienic and liturgical code was also an integral part, though Christ and a number of the prophets claimed parts of it as being man-made and not God ordained (see separate study). The essence of the covenant is recorded in Exodus 19: 1-6. The conditions of the covenant that the Israelites were required to keep to maintain its validity - The Ten Commandments - are set out in Exodus 20: 1-17.
Under the covenant with Moses the practice of circumcision was continued - to make the Israelites a 'Peculiar People', set aside and distinct from the mass of humanity: somewhat unwilling and not altogether faithful witnesses to God's Truth. Note that before the promulgation of the Levitical rules, no such rule-set existed. Justice (or righteousness) was not a matter of regulations, but of personal integrity, compassion and honour. Abram found favour with God because of the character of his personal response to God's initiative, and Enoch by "walking with" God. Cain could have achieved his desire to be accepted by God by "doing well" and by mastering - with God's grace - the disorder within his nature that followed from Adam's breaking of the First Covenant: the temptation to sin [Gen 4:7]. The lesson of Genesis is clear. All that God requires is that men respond to his grace by following the Ten Commandments; then He will welcome them as His friends and all will be well.
There is an indication in the Torah that observance to the Law was a means to obtain righteousness [Lev 18:5, Ez 20:11], but this contradicts what God said when He delivered the Ten Commandments. The Israelites were taught that the offering of bulls and goats had the power to take away sins [Lev 5:10]. Hebrews 10: 3 clearly states this is not so; Psalm 50:7-14 echoes a similar sentiment. Paul the Apostle points out that Abraham found favour before God quite apart from the observance of any set of rules, and in accordance with the prophetic insistence that what God really cares about is Justice and Mercy, not rules and sacrifices.
The covenant with Moses was established at Sinai, when the people intimated their acceptance of the words of the covenant as found in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 34:28; 24:3), and promised to keep the same. Their obedience to the commands of the law was to be rewarded by God's constant care of Israel, temporal prosperity and victory over enemies and possession of the Promised Land. The seal of the covenant was to be circumcision, and was called "Jehovah's covenant" (Deuteronomy 4:13). It was renewed at different periods of Jewish history as Biblically noted.
The covenant told the Jews what they would have to do as their side of the covenant, as it was conditional; "... if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation..." (Exodus 19: 5-6). Being conditional, it can be taken that, should Israel break the covenant, they ceased to be his own possession and gave up other rights or privileges given by God to them under the covenant.
God told the people that for their part, they must dedicate themselves to serving God forever, and to making the world a better and holier place by obeying God's laws. The Jewish people agreed to do this by saying, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do." (Exodus 19: 1-8). The covenant at Sinai sets out the relationship between God and the Jews. Much of Judaism and the teachings of the Levitical Law is seen by Jews as the working out of this relationship and the development of the God's rules into a complete lifestyle. The covenant was made with the Jewish People as a nationz, not with each individual Jew.
Covenant with David:Its main objective was to mark with greater exactness the royal line through which the blessing - salvation - promised in the Abrahamic covenant was to find accomplishment. The seed-royal thenceforth was to be in the house of David (2 Samuel 7:12; 22:51), and especially in connection with the One who was to be pre-eminently the child of promise through which, first to Israel, and then to all nations, the promise should be realised (Psalms 2, 22; Isaiah 9:6,7). This covenant is separate to the one made with the Children of Israel which identifies them as the carriers of the light to the nations of the world and the blessing that would come to the nations through their delivery of it. This was an everlasting unconditional covenant.
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