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
Furthermore, God spake unto Noah and to his sons with him saying, "See, I make my covenant with you and your seed after you,
After these deeds, the word of God came unto Abram in a vision, saying, "Fear not Abram, I am thy shield; and thy reward shall be exceeding great." And Abram answered, "LORD Jehovah, what wilt thou give me? I go childless, and the cater of mine house, this Eliezer of Damascus, hath a son." read more. And Abram said, "See, to me hast thou given no seed: lo, a lad born in my house shall be mine heir!" And behold, the word of the LORD spake unto Abram saying, "He shall not be thine heir, but one that shall come out of thine own body shall be thine heir." And he brought him out at the doors and said, "Look up unto heaven and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them." And said unto him, "Even so shall thy seed be." And Abram believed the LORD, and it was counted to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, "I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur in Chaldea to give thee this land to possess it." And he said, "LORD God, whereby shall I know that I shall possess it?"
"I am. Behold, my covenant is with thee, that thou shalt be a father of many nations. Therefore shalt thou no more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham: for a father of many nations have I made thee,
And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant and read it in the audience of the people. And they said, "All that the LORD hath said, we will do and hear." read more. And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, "Behold, this is the blood of the covenant which the LORD hath made with you upon all these words."
"I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant: Thy seed will I establish forever, and set up thy throne from one generation to another." Selah.
I will make this covenant with them, sayeth the LORD: My spirit that is come upon thee, and the words which I have put in thy mouth, shall never go out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy children, nor out of the mouth of thy children's children, from this time forth for evermore.
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, sayeth the LORD: I will plant my law in the inward parts of them, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And from thenceforth shall no man teach his neighbour or his brother, and say, 'Know the LORD.' But they shall all know me, from the lowest unto the highest, sayeth the LORD. For I will forgive their misdeeds, and will never remember their sins anymore.
But even like as Adam did, so have they broken my covenant, and set me at naught.
- whom God hath set forth for a mercy seat through faith in his blood, to show the righteousness which before him is of valour, in that he forgiveth the sins that are passed,
Where is then thy rejoicing? It is excluded. By what law? By the law of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
But I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
Brethren, I will speak after the manner of men. Though it be but a man's testament, yet no man despiseth it, or addeth anything thereto when it is once allowed. To Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, "in the seeds," as in many: But, "in thy seed," as in one, which is Christ. read more. This I say, that the law which began afterward, beyond four hundred and thirty years, doth not disannul the testament, that was confirmed afore of God unto Christ ward, to make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance come of the law, it cometh not of promise: but God gave it unto Abraham by promise.
Which things betoken mystery. For these women are two testaments, the one from the mount Sinai, which gendreth unto bondage, which is Hagar.
Now hath he obtained a more excellent office, inasmuch as he is the mediator of a better testament, which was made for better promises. For if that first testament had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. read more. For in rebuking them he saith, "Behold the days will come, saith the Lord, and I will finish upon the house of Israel, and upon the house of Judah, a new testament; not like the testament that I made with their fathers at that time, when I took them by the hands, to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they continued not in my testament, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the testament that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws in their minds, and in their hearts, I will write them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'know the Lord': For they shall know me, from the least to the most of them. For I will be merciful over their unrighteousness, and on their sins and on their iniquities." In that he saith a new testament, he hath abrogated the old. Now that which is disannulled and waxed old, is ready to vanish away.
When these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle and executed the service of God:
And for this cause is he the mediator of the new testament, that through death which chanced for the redemption of those transgressions that were in the first testament, they which were called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
And for this cause is he the mediator of the new testament, that through death which chanced for the redemption of those transgressions that were in the first testament, they which were called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For wheresoever is a testament, there must also be the death of him that maketh the testament. read more. For the testament taketh authority when men are dead: For it is of no value as long as he that made it is alive. For which cause also, neither that first testament was ordained without blood. For when all the commandments were read of Moses unto all the people, he took the blood of calves, and of goats, with water and purple wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, saying, "This is the blood of the testament, which God hath appointed unto you." Moreover, he sprinkled the tabernacle with blood also, and all the ministering vessels. And almost all things are, by the law, purged with blood, and without shedding of blood, is no remission. It is then need that the similitudes of heavenly things, be purified with such things: but the heavenly things themselves are purified with better sacrifices than are those.
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 Adam, saying, "Of all the trees of the garden see thou eat: But of the tree of knowledge of good and bad see that thou eat not: For even the same day thou eatest of it, thou shalt surely die.
And God said unto Abraham, "See thou keep my covenant, both thou and thy seed after thee in their times. This is my covenant which ye shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee: that ye circumcise all your men children.
Thus made they a bond together at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol his chief Captain rose up and turned again unto the land of the Philistines.
that thou shalt not vex my daughters neither shalt take other wives unto them. Here is no man with us: behold, God is witness betwixt thee and me."
Wherefore let the children of Israel keep the Sabbath, that they observe it throughout their generations, that it be an covenant forever.
And the LORD said unto Moses, "Write these words, for upon these words I have made a covenant with thee and with the children of Israel." And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights, and neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote in the tables the words of the covenant: even ten verses.
All thy meat offerings thou shalt salt with salt: neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: but upon all thine offerings thou shalt bring salt.
or if ye shall despise mine ordinances, either if your souls refuse my laws, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but shall break mine covenant:
"'And I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac, and my covenant with Abraham, and will think on the land.
All the holy heave offerings which the children of Israel heave unto the LORD, I give thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, to be a duty forever. And it shall be a salted covenant forever, before the LORD: unto thee and to thy seed with thee."
Wherefore, say, 'Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace, and he shall have it and his seed after him, even the covenant of the priest's office forever, because he was jealous for his God's sake and made an atonement for the children of Israel.'"
For the LORD thy God is a merciful God: he will not forsake thee neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant made with thy fathers which he sware unto them.
He that sayeth unto his father and mother, 'I saw him not,' and unto his brethren, 'I knew not,' and to his son, 'I know not': for they have observed thy words and kept thy covenant.
And whosoever disobey thy mouth, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, let him die: Only be strong and of good courage."
And they came unto Joshua, unto the host to Gilgal, and said unto him and unto the men of Israel, "We be come from a far country, now therefore make agreement with us."
And Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to save their lives: and the lords of the congregation sware unto them.
Then Nahash the Ammonite came and besieged Jabesh in Gilead. And all the people of Jabesh said unto Nahash,
And then thou shalt show mercy unto thy servant, for thou hast made with me thy servant a bond in the LORD. Notwithstanding, if there be in me any trespass, then slay me thyself, for what needeth thee to bring me to thy father?"
O my God, think thou upon them that are quit of the priesthood, and have defiled the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites!
that I should fulfill thy will, O my God. I am content to do it; yea, thy law is within my heart."
"I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant:
"I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant:
"I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant: Thy seed will I establish forever, and set up thy throne from one generation to another." Selah.
He is always mindful of his covenant and promise, that he made to a thousand generations, even the covenant that he made with Abraham, and the oath that he sware unto Isaac, read more. and appointed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting testament; saying, "Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance."
{A Psalm of David} The LORD said unto my LORD, "Sit thou on my righthand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool."
forsaketh the husband of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
For ye comfort yourselves thus: "Tush, we have made a covenant with death, and with hell we are at an agreement. Though there break out any sore plague, it shall not come upon us. For with deceit will we escape, and with nimbleness will we defend ourselves."
Thus the covenant that ye have made with death shall be done away: and the condition that ye made with hell, shall not stand. Yea, when the sore plague goeth forth, ye shall be trodden down under it.
And the redeemed of the LORD shall convert, and come to Zion with thanksgiving. Everlasting joy shall they have, pleasure and gladness shall be among them. And as for all sorrow and heaviness, it shall vanish away.
Behold now therefore, this is my servant whom I will keep to myself: mine elect; In whom my soul shall be pacified. I will give him my spirit, that he may show forth judgment and equity among the Gentiles. He shall not be an out-crier, nor a high-minded person. His voice shall not be heard in the streets. read more. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: but faithfully and truly shall he give judgment. He shall neither be overseen nor hasty, that he may restore righteousness unto the earth: and the Gentiles also shall keep his laws. For thus sayeth God the LORD unto him, even he that made the heavens, and spread them abroad, and set forth the earth with her increase: which giveth breath unto the people that is in it, and to them that dwell therein, "I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and led thee by the hand. Therefore will I also defend thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, and to be the light of the Gentiles.
"I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and led thee by the hand. Therefore will I also defend thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, and to be the light of the Gentiles. That thou mayest open the eyes of the blind; let out the prisoners, and them that sit in darkness, out of the dungeon house.
The LORD be merciful unto them for his righteousness' sake, that his word might be magnified and praised.
And yet the LORD determined to bruise him with infirmities. His soul giving herself for trangression, he shall see seed of long continuance; and the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Because of the labour of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied. With his knowledge, he, being just, shall justify my servants: and that a great number. And he shall bear their iniquities.
I will make this covenant with them, sayeth the LORD: My spirit that is come upon thee, and the words which I have put in thy mouth, shall never go out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy children, nor out of the mouth of thy children's children, from this time forth for evermore.
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, sayeth the LORD: I will plant my law in the inward parts of them, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, sayeth the LORD: I will plant my law in the inward parts of them, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And from thenceforth shall no man teach his neighbour or his brother, and say, 'Know the LORD.' But they shall all know me, from the lowest unto the highest, sayeth the LORD. For I will forgive their misdeeds, and will never remember their sins anymore.
"Thus sayeth the LORD: May the covenant which I have made with day and night be broken, that there should not be day and night in due season?
"Thus sayeth the LORD: May the covenant which I have made with day and night be broken, that there should not be day and night in due season?
"Thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers, when I brought them out of Egypt, that they should no more be bondmen: saying, 'When seven years are out, every man shall let his bought servant, a Hebrew go free, if he have served him six years.' But your fathers obeyed me not and hearkened not unto me.
Yea, those men that have broken my covenant, and not kept the words of the covenant which they made before me - when they hewed the calf in two, and when there went through the two halves thereof - The princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the gelded men, the Priests and all the people of the land, which went through the two sides of the calf.
And behold, one came, and said unto him, Good master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" He said unto him, "Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, and that is, God: But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."
And Jesus came, and spake unto them, saying, "All power is given unto me in heaven, and in earth.
"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people. And hath raised up a horn of salvation unto us, in the house of his servant David. read more. Even as he promised by the mouth of his holy prophets which were since the world began. That we should be saved from our enemies: And from the hands of all that hate us: To fulfill the mercy promised to our fathers; And to remember his holy covenant; And to perform the oath, which he sware to our father Abraham, for to give us. That we, delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear: all the days of our life, in such holiness and righteousness that are accept before him.
And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, comforting him.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to be the sons of God: in that they believed on his name:
Neither judgeth the father any man: but hath committed all judgment unto the son,
I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day. The night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
"I have declared thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy sayings.
I pray for them, and I pray not for the world: but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine,
Since now that he by the righthand of God exalted is, and hath received of the father the promise of the holy ghost, he hath shed forth that which ye now see and hear.
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by the means of sin; And so death went over all men, insomuch that all men sinned. For even unto the time of the law was sin in the world: but sin was not regarded, as long as there was no law: read more. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them also that sinned not, with like transgression as did Adam: which is the similitude of him that is to come. But the gift is not like as the sin. For if, through the sin of one, many be dead: much more plenteous, upon many, was the grace of God and gift by grace: which grace was given by one man, Jesus Christ. And the gift is not over one sin, as death came through one sin of one that sinned. For damnation came of one sin unto condemnation: But the gift came to justify from many sins. For if by the sin of one, death reigned by the means of one, much more shall they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life by the means of one; that is to say, Jesus Christ. Likewise, then, as by the sin of one, condemnation came on all men: even so, by the justifying of one cometh the righteousness that bringeth life, upon all men. For as by one man's disobedience many became sinners: so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
for he hath made him to be sin for us, which knew no sin, that we by his means should be that righteousness which before God is allowed.
The law is not of faith: but the man that fulfilleth the things contained in the law, shall live in them. But Christ hath delivered us from the curse of the law, and was made accursed for us - for it is written, "Cursed is everyone that hangeth on tree" -
But when the time was full come, God sent his son - born of a woman, and made bond unto the law - to redeem them which were under the law: that we through election might receive the inheritance that belongeth unto the natural sons.
Which, being in the shape of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Nevertheless, he made himself of no reputation, and took on him the shape of a servant, and became like unto men, and was found in his apparel as a man. read more. He humbled himself and became obedient unto the death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath exalted him, and given him a name above all names: That in the name of Jesus should every knee bow, both of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under earth; and that all tongues should confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord unto the praise of God the father.
which is after godliness upon the hope of eternal life; which life God, that cannot lie, hath promised before the world began:
For when God made promise to Abraham, because he had no greater thing to swear by, he sware by himself, saying, "Surely I will bless thee, and multiply thee indeed." read more. And so after that he had tarried a long time, he enjoyed the promises. Men verily swear by him that is greater than themselves; And an oath to confirm the thing, is among them an end of all strife. So God, willing very abundantly to show, unto the heirs of promise, the stableness of his counsel; he added an oath, that by two immutable things - in which it was impossible that God should lie - we might have perfect consolation, which have fled, for to hold fast the hope that is set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. Which hope also entereth in, into those things which are within the veil, whither the forerunner is for us entered in, I mean Jesus that is made a high priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.
Now hath he obtained a more excellent office, inasmuch as he is the mediator of a better testament, which was made for better promises.
And for this cause is he the mediator of the new testament, that through death which chanced for the redemption of those transgressions that were in the first testament, they which were called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, "Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not have: but a body hast thou ordained 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.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And he said unto him, "Take a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a three year old ram, a turtle dove and a young pigeon."
And he said unto him, "Take a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a three year old ram, a turtle dove and a young pigeon."
and said unto his brethren, "Gather stones." And they took stones, and made a heap, and they ate there, upon the heap.
and said unto his brethren, "Gather stones." And they took stones, and made a heap, and they ate there, upon the heap. And Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called Gilead.
And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, "Behold, this is the blood of the covenant which the LORD hath made with you upon all these words."
And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, "Behold, this is the blood of the covenant which the LORD hath made with you upon all these words."
All thy meat offerings thou shalt salt with salt: neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: but upon all thine offerings thou shalt bring salt.
All thy meat offerings thou shalt salt with salt: neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: but upon all thine offerings thou shalt bring salt.
All the holy heave offerings which the children of Israel heave unto the LORD, I give thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, to be a duty forever. And it shall be a salted covenant forever, before the LORD: unto thee and to thy seed with thee."
All the holy heave offerings which the children of Israel heave unto the LORD, I give thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, to be a duty forever. And it shall be a salted covenant forever, before the LORD: unto thee and to thy seed with thee."
Desire of me, and I shall give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance; and the uttermost parts of the world for thy possession.
Desire of me, and I shall give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance; and the uttermost parts of the world for thy possession.
My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
The LORD be merciful unto them for his righteousness' sake, that his word might be magnified and praised.
The LORD be merciful unto them for his righteousness' sake, that his word might be magnified and praised.
saying, "Verily in the LORD is my righteousness and strength. To him shall men come: but all they that think scorn of him, shall be confounded."
saying, "Verily in the LORD is my righteousness and strength. To him shall men come: but all they that think scorn of him, shall be confounded." And the whole seed of Israel shall be justified, and make their boast in the LORD.
And the whole seed of Israel shall be justified, and make their boast in the LORD.
In his time shall Judah be saved and Israel shall dwell without fear. And this is the name that they shall call him: even, 'The LORD our righteous maker.'
In his time shall Judah be saved and Israel shall dwell without fear. And this is the name that they shall call him: even, 'The LORD our righteous maker.'
"Thus sayeth the LORD: May the covenant which I have made with day and night be broken, that there should not be day and night in due season?
"Thus sayeth the LORD: May the covenant which I have made with day and night be broken, that there should not be day and night in due season?
Yea, those men that have broken my covenant, and not kept the words of the covenant which they made before me - when they hewed the calf in two, and when there went through the two halves thereof -
Yea, those men that have broken my covenant, and not kept the words of the covenant which they made before me - when they hewed the calf in two, and when there went through the two halves thereof - The princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the gelded men, the Priests and all the people of the land, which went through the two sides of the calf.
The princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the gelded men, the Priests and all the people of the land, which went through the two sides of the calf.
But even like as Adam did, so have they broken my covenant, and set me at naught.
But even like as Adam did, so have they broken my covenant, and set me at naught.
Jesus answered and said to him, "Let it be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he suffered him.
Jesus answered and said to him, "Let it be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he suffered him.
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the Prophets: No, I am not come to destroy them but to fulfill them.
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the Prophets: No, I am not come to destroy them but to fulfill them.
This is my blood of the new testament, that shall be shed for many, for the forgiveness of sins.
This is my blood of the new testament, that shall be shed for many, for the forgiveness of sins.
This is my blood of the new testament, that shall be shed for many, for the forgiveness of sins.
This is my blood of the new testament, that shall be shed for many, for the forgiveness of sins.
"Every man therefore shall be salted with fire: And every sacrifice shall be seasoned with salt.
"Every man therefore shall be salted with fire: And every sacrifice shall be seasoned with salt.
And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my father hath appointed to me:
And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my father hath appointed to me:
because that by the deeds of the law, shall no flesh be justified in the sight of God. For by the law cometh the knowledge of sin.
because that by the deeds of the law, shall no flesh be justified in the sight of God. For by the law cometh the knowledge of sin.
Because the law causeth wrath. For where no law is, there is no transgression.
Because the law causeth wrath. For where no law is, there is no transgression.
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by the means of sin; And so death went over all men, insomuch that all men sinned.
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by the means of sin; And so death went over all men, insomuch that all men sinned. For even unto the time of the law was sin in the world: but sin was not regarded, as long as there was no law:
For even unto the time of the law was sin in the world: but sin was not regarded, as long as there was no law:
For even unto the time of the law was sin in the world: but sin was not regarded, as long as there was no law:
For even unto the time of the law was sin in the world: but sin was not regarded, as long as there was no law: Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them also that sinned not, with like transgression as did Adam: which is the similitude of him that is to come.
Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them also that sinned not, with like transgression as did Adam: which is the similitude of him that is to come. But the gift is not like as the sin. For if, through the sin of one, many be dead: much more plenteous, upon many, was the grace of God and gift by grace: which grace was given by one man, Jesus Christ.
But the gift is not like as the sin. For if, through the sin of one, many be dead: much more plenteous, upon many, was the grace of God and gift by grace: which grace was given by one man, Jesus Christ. And the gift is not over one sin, as death came through one sin of one that sinned. For damnation came of one sin unto condemnation: But the gift came to justify from many sins.
And the gift is not over one sin, as death came through one sin of one that sinned. For damnation came of one sin unto condemnation: But the gift came to justify from many sins. For if by the sin of one, death reigned by the means of one, much more shall they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life by the means of one; that is to say, Jesus Christ.
For if by the sin of one, death reigned by the means of one, much more shall they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life by the means of one; that is to say, Jesus Christ. Likewise, then, as by the sin of one, condemnation came on all men: even so, by the justifying of one cometh the righteousness that bringeth life, upon all men.
Likewise, then, as by the sin of one, condemnation came on all men: even so, by the justifying of one cometh the righteousness that bringeth life, upon all men. For as by one man's disobedience many became sinners: so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
For as by one man's disobedience many became sinners: so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. But the law, in the meantime, entered in that sin should increase. Neverthelater, where abundance of sin was, there was more plenteousness of grace.
But the law, in the meantime, entered in that sin should increase. Neverthelater, where abundance of sin was, there was more plenteousness of grace.
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid: but I knew not what sin meant but by the law. For I had not known what lust had meant, except the law had said, "Thou shalt not lust."
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid: but I knew not what sin meant but by the law. For I had not known what lust had meant, except the law had said, "Thou shalt not lust." But sin took an occasion by the means of the commandment, and wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For verily, without the law sin was dead.
But sin took an occasion by the means of the commandment, and wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For verily, without the law sin was dead. I once lived without law: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I was dead.
I once lived without law: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I was dead.
For Christ is the end of the law to justify all that believe.
For Christ is the end of the law to justify all that believe. Moses describeth the righteousness which cometh of the law, how that the man which doth the things of the law shall live therein.
Moses describeth the righteousness which cometh of the law, how that the man which doth the things of the law shall live therein.
Brethren, I will speak after the manner of men. Though it be but a man's testament, yet no man despiseth it, or addeth anything thereto when it is once allowed.
Brethren, I will speak after the manner of men. Though it be but a man's testament, yet no man despiseth it, or addeth anything thereto when it is once allowed.
Wherefore then serveth the law? The law was added because of transgression - till the seed came, to which the promise was made - and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
Wherefore then serveth the law? The law was added because of transgression - till the seed came, to which the promise was made - and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
For by grace are ye made safe through faith, and that, not of yourselves: For it is the gift of God,
For by grace are ye made safe through faith, and that, not of yourselves: For it is the gift of God,
but in these last days he hath spoken unto us by his son, whom he hath made heir of all things: by whom also he made the world.
but in these last days he hath spoken unto us by his son, whom he hath made heir of all things: by whom also he made the world.
And for this cause is he the mediator of the new testament, that through death which chanced for the redemption of those transgressions that were in the first testament, they which were called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
And for this cause is he the mediator of the new testament, that through death which chanced for the redemption of those transgressions that were in the first testament, they which were called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
And for this cause is he the mediator of the new testament, that through death which chanced for the redemption of those transgressions that were in the first testament, they which were called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
And for this cause is he the mediator of the new testament, that through death which chanced for the redemption of those transgressions that were in the first testament, they which were called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For wheresoever is a testament, there must also be the death of him that maketh the testament.
For wheresoever is a testament, there must also be the death of him that maketh the testament.
For wheresoever is a testament, there must also be the death of him that maketh the testament.
For wheresoever is a testament, there must also be the death of him that maketh the testament.
For wheresoever is a testament, there must also be the death of him that maketh the testament.
For wheresoever is a testament, there must also be the death of him that maketh the testament. For the testament taketh authority when men are dead: For it is of no value as long as he that made it is alive.
For the testament taketh authority when men are dead: For it is of no value as long as he that made it is alive.
For the testament taketh authority when men are dead: For it is of no value as long as he that made it is alive.
For the testament taketh authority when men are dead: For it is of no value as long as he that made it is alive.
For the testament taketh authority when men are dead: For it is of no value as long as he that made it is alive.
For the testament taketh authority when men are dead: For it is of no value as long as he that made it is alive. For which cause also, neither that first testament was ordained without blood.
For which cause also, neither that first testament was ordained without blood. For when all the commandments were read of Moses unto all the people, he took the blood of calves, and of goats, with water and purple wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,
For when all the commandments were read of Moses unto all the people, he took the blood of calves, and of goats, with water and purple wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, saying, "This is the blood of the testament, which God hath appointed unto you."
saying, "This is the blood of the testament, which God hath appointed unto 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
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the LORD God commanded Adam, saying, "Of all the trees of the garden see thou eat: But of the tree of knowledge of good and bad see that thou eat not: For even the same day thou eatest of it, thou shalt surely die.
But of the tree of knowledge of good and bad see that thou eat not: For even the same day thou eatest of it, thou shalt surely die.
But I will make mine covenant with thee, that both thou shalt come into the ark and thy sons, thy wife and thy sons' wives with thee.
Furthermore, God spake unto Noah and to his sons with him saying, "See, I make my covenant with you and your seed after you, read more. and with all living things that is with you: both fowl and cattle, and all manner beast of the earth that is with you, of all that cometh out of the ark, whatsoever beast of the earth it be. I make my covenant with you, that henceforth all flesh shall not be destroyed with the waters of any flood, and that henceforth there shall not be a flood to destroy the earth." And God said, "This is the token of my covenant which I make between me and you, and between all living thing, that is with you forever:
And God said, "This is the token of my covenant which I make between me and you, and between all living thing, that is with you forever: I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant made between me and the earth; read more. so that when I bring in clouds upon the earth, the bow shall appear in the clouds. And then will I think upon my covenant which I have made between me and you, and all that liveth, whatsoever flesh it be. So that henceforth there shall be no more waters to make a flood to destroy all flesh. The bow shall be in the clouds, and I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and all that liveth upon the earth, whatsoever flesh it be." And God said unto Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have made between me and all flesh that is on the earth."
And he took all these and divided them in the midst, and laid every piece, one over against another. But the fowls divided he not.
When the sun was down and it was waxed dark, behold, there was a smoking furnace and a fire brand that went between the said pieces. And that same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "Unto thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt, even unto the great river Euphrates:
And I will make my covenant between thee and me, and will multiply thee exceedingly." And Abram fell on his face. And God talked moreover with him, saying, read more. "I am. Behold, my covenant is with thee, that thou shalt be a father of many nations. Therefore shalt thou no more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham: for a father of many nations have I made thee, and I will multiply thee exceedingly, and will make nations of thee: yea, and kings shall spring out of thee. Moreover, I will make my covenant between me, and thee, and thy seed after thee; in their times to be an everlasting testament, so that I will be God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
Moreover, I will make my covenant between me, and thee, and thy seed after thee; in their times to be an everlasting testament, so that I will be God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger: even all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and will be their God." read more. And God said unto Abraham, "See thou keep my covenant, both thou and thy seed after thee in their times. This is my covenant which ye shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee: that ye circumcise all your men children. Ye shall circumcise the foreskin of your flesh, and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And every manchild when it is eight days old, shall be circumcised among you in your generations, and all servants also born at home or bought with money, though they be strangers and not of thy seed. The servant born in thy house, and he also that is bought with money, must needs be circumcised, that my covenant may be in your flesh, for an everlasting bond. If there be any uncircumcised manchild, that hath not the foreskin of his flesh cut off, his soul shall perish from his people: because he hath broken my covenant." And God said unto Abraham, "Sarai, thy wife, shall no more be called Sarai: but Sara shall her name be. For I will bless her and give thee a son of her; and will bless her so that people, yea and kings of people, shall spring of her." And Abraham fell upon his face and laughed, and said in his heart, "Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? And shall Sara, that is ninety years old, bear?" And Abraham said unto God, "O that Ishmael might live in thy sight!" Then said God, "Nay. Sara thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaac. And I will make my covenant with him, that it shall be an everlasting covenant unto his seed after him. And as concerning Ishmael also, I have heard thy request: lo, I will bless him and increase him, and multiply him exceedingly. Twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make a great nation of him. But my covenant will I make with Isaac, which Sara shall bear unto thee: even this time, twelve month."
And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them unto Abimelech. And they made both of them a bond together.
And he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. And they rose up betimes in the morning and sware one to another. And Isaac sent them away. And they departed from him in peace.
Now therefore, come on, let us make a bond, I and thou together, and let it be a witness between thee and me." Then took Jacob a stone and set it up on end, read more. and said unto his brethren, "Gather stones." And they took stones, and made a heap, and they ate there, upon the heap. And Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called Gilead. Then said Laban, "This heap be witness between thee and me this day." Therefore is it called Gilead. "And this toot-hill which the LORD seeth," said he, "be witness between me and thee when we are departed one from another:
"And this toot-hill which the LORD seeth," said he, "be witness between me and thee when we are departed one from another:
Then Jacob did sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread. And they ate bread and tarried all night in the hill.
And their complaint came up unto God from the labour. And God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Now therefore if ye will hear my voice and keep mine covenant: ye shall be mine own above all nations, for all the earth is mine.
And the LORD said unto Moses, "Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, 'Ye have seen how that I have talked with you from out of heaven. Ye shall not make therefore with me gods of silver nor gods of gold: in no wise shall ye do it.
And he took the book of the covenant and read it in the audience of the people. And they said, "All that the LORD hath said, we will do and hear."
And he took the book of the covenant and read it in the audience of the people. And they said, "All that the LORD hath said, we will do and hear." And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, "Behold, this is the blood of the covenant which the LORD hath made with you upon all these words."
And he said, "Behold, I make an covenant before all this people; that I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the world, neither among any nation. And all the people, among which thou art, shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee. Keep all that I command thee this day, and behold: I will cast out before thee the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. read more. Take heed to thyself, that thou make no covenant with the inhabiters of the land whither thou goest lest it be cause of ruin among you. But overthrow their altars and break their pillars, and cut down their groves, for thou shalt worship no strange god. For the LORD is called jealous, because he is a jealous God: lest, if thou make any covenant with the inhabiters of the land, when they go a whoring after their gods and do sacrifice unto their gods, they call thee and thou eat of their sacrifice; And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and when their daughters go a whoring after their gods, they make thy sons go a whoring after their gods also. Thou shalt make thee no gods of metal. The feast of sweet bread shalt thou keep, and seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed in the month of Abib: for in the month of Abib thou camest out of Egypt. All that breaketh up the matrix shall be mine, and all that breaketh the matrix among thy cattle, if it be male: whether it be ox or sheep. But the first of the ass thou shalt buy out with a sheep, or if thou redeem him not: see thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou must needs redeem. And see that no man appear before me empty. "Six days thou shalt work, and the seventh thou shalt rest: both from earing and reaping. Thou shalt observe the feast of weeks with the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the years' end. Thrice in a year shall all your men children appear before the Lord Jehovah, God of Israel: for I will cast out the nations before thee and will enlarge thy coasts, so that no man shall desire thy land, while thou goest up to appear before the face of the LORD thy God, thrice in the year. "Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread: neither shall ought of the sacrifice of the feast of Passover, be left unto the morning. The first of the first fruits of thy land, thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God. And see that thou seethe not a kid in his mother's milk." And the LORD said unto Moses, "Write these words, for upon these words I have made a covenant with thee and with the children of Israel." And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights, and neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote in the tables the words of the covenant: even ten verses.
All thy meat offerings thou shalt salt with salt: neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: but upon all thine offerings thou shalt bring salt.
"'And I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac, and my covenant with Abraham, and will think on the land.
And yet, for all that; when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not so cast them away nor my soul shall not so abhor them, that I will utterly destroy them and break mine covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God.
All the holy heave offerings which the children of Israel heave unto the LORD, I give thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, to be a duty forever. And it shall be a salted covenant forever, before the LORD: unto thee and to thy seed with thee."
The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us: we are they, which are all here alive this day.
after that I was gone up into the mount, to fetch the tables of stone, the tables of covenant which the LORD made with you. And I abode in the hill forty days and forty nights and neither ate bread nor drank water.
And when the forty days and forty nights were ended, the LORD gave me the two tables of stone, the tables of the covenant,
And I turned away and came down from the hill - and the hill burnt with fire - and had the two tables of the covenant in my hands.
and I will write in the table, the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark.'
And I departed and came down from the hill and put the tables in the ark which I had made: and there they remained, as the LORD commanded me.
Cursed be he that maketh any carved image or image of metal - an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman - and putteth it in a secret place.' And all the people shall answer and say, 'Amen.'
These are the words of the covenant which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.
Keep therefore the words of this covenant and do them, that ye may understand all that ye ought to do.
And they came unto Joshua, unto the host to Gilgal, and said unto him and unto the men of Israel, "We be come from a far country, now therefore make agreement with us."
And so Joshua made a covenant with the people the same day and set ordinances and laws before them in Shechem.
And Joshua said unto all the people, "Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake with us. It shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye lie unto your God."
And Jonathan and David bound themselves the one to the other, for Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
And so all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron. And king David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD. And they anointed David king over Israel.
And Jehoiada made a covenant both between the LORD and the king, and between the people and the LORD, that they should be the LORD's people: and also between the king and the people.
And the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the LORD that they should walk after the LORD, and keep his commandments and his witnesses and his ordinances with all their hearts and all their souls, and make good the words of the said covenant that were written in the foresaid book. And all the people consented to the covenant.
Now have I in my heart to strike a covenant with the LORD God of Israel: that his wrath may cease.
for now will we make a covenant with our God, that we shall put away all the wives - and such as are born of them - according to the counsel of the LORD and of them that fear the commandment of our God, that we may do according to the law.
And they gave their hands thereupon, that they would put away their wives: and for their trespass offering to give a ram for their trespass.
But the castles in the land shall be confederate with thee, and the beasts of the field shall give thee peace.
I made a covenant with mine eyes, that I would not look upon a damsel.
Will he make a covenant with thee? Or art thou able to compel him to do thee continual service?
The secret of the LORD is among them that fear him, and he showeth them his covenant.
Yea, they lay hands upon such as be at peace with him, and so they break his covenant.
Yea, they lay hands upon such as be at peace with him, and so they break his covenant.
Look upon the covenant, for the dark houses of the earth are full of wickedness.
For they have cast their heads together with one consent, and are confederate against thee.
"I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant:
even upon such as keep his covenant, and think upon his commandments to do them.
even the covenant that he made with Abraham, and the oath that he sware unto Isaac,
forsaketh the husband of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
My son, if thou be surety for thy neighbour, thou hast fastened thine hand with another man:
Whoso promiseth by the hand, and is surety for another; he is a fool.
Be not thou one of them that bind their hand upon promise, and are surety for debt;
For ye comfort yourselves thus: "Tush, we have made a covenant with death, and with hell we are at an agreement. Though there break out any sore plague, it shall not come upon us. For with deceit will we escape, and with nimbleness will we defend ourselves."
Thus the covenant that ye have made with death shall be done away: and the condition that ye made with hell, shall not stand. Yea, when the sore plague goeth forth, ye shall be trodden down under it.
"I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and led thee by the hand. Therefore will I also defend thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, and to be the light of the Gentiles.
And thus sayeth the LORD: In the time appointed will I be present with thee. And in the hour of health will I help thee, and deliver thee. I will make thee a pledge for the people, so that thou shalt help up the earth again, and challenge again the scattered heritages:
And this must be unto me as the water of Noah. For like as I have sworn that I will not bring the water of Noah any more upon the world: so have I sworn, that I will never be angry with thee, nor reprove thee.
Incline your ears, and come unto me, take heed, and your soul shall live. For I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
I will make this covenant with them, sayeth the LORD: My spirit that is come upon thee, and the words which I have put in thy mouth, shall never go out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy children, nor out of the mouth of thy children's children, from this time forth for evermore.
For I the LORD, which love right and hate robbery, though it were offered me, shall make their works full of faithfulness, and make an everlasting covenant with them.
Behold, the days come, sayeth the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Behold, the days come, sayeth the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, sayeth the LORD: I will plant my law in the inward parts of them, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
And I will set up an everlasting covenant with them; Namely: that I will never cease to do them good, and that I will put my fear in their hearts, so that they shall not run away from me.
Behold, the days will come saith the LORD, that I will stir up unto David a righteous branch, and he shall reign a king, and shall be wise, and shall do equity and justice in the earth.
"Thus sayeth the LORD: May the covenant which I have made with day and night be broken, that there should not be day and night in due season? Then may my covenant also be broken, which I made with David my servant, and so he not to have a son to reign in his Throne. So shall also the priests and Levites never fail, but serve me.
Therefore thus sayeth the LORD: If I have made no covenant with day and night, and given no statute unto heaven and earth;
Yea, those men that have broken my covenant, and not kept the words of the covenant which they made before me - when they hewed the calf in two, and when there went through the two halves thereof -
They shall ask the way to Zion; thither shall they turn their faces, and come and hang upon thee, in a covenant that never shall be broken.
"'Nevertheless, I will remember the covenant that I made with thee in thy youth, insomuch that it shall be an everlasting covenant:
And so I will renew my covenant with thee, that thou mayest know that I am the LORD:
For seeing he hath despised the oath, and broken the covenant - whereas he yet gave his hand thereupon - and done all these things, he shall not escape.
Like as I punished your forefathers in the wilderness, so will I punish you also, sayeth the LORD God. I will bring you under my jurisdiction, and under the bond of the covenant.
Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them, and drive all evil beasts out of the land: so that they may dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
And I will take you from the heathen, and will gather you out from all lands and will bring you out of your own country.
and shalt say unto them, 'Thus sayeth the LORD God: Behold, I will take away the children of Israel from among the Heathen, unto whom they be gone, and will gather them together on every side, and bring them again into their own land. Yea, I will make one people of them in the land, upon the mountains of Israel, and they all shall have but one king. They shall no more be two peoples from henceforth, neither be divided into two kingdoms: read more. they shall also defile themselves no more with their abominations, Idols, and all their wicked doings. I will help them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned: and will so cleanse them, that they shall be my people, and I their God. David my servant shall be their king, and they all shall have one shepherd only. They shall walk in my laws, and my commandments shall they both keep and fulfill. They shall dwell in the land that I gave unto Jacob my servant, whereas your fathers also have dwelt. Yea even in the same land shall they, their children, and their children's children dwell for evermore: and my servant David shall be their everlasting prince. Moreover, I will make a bond of peace with them, which shall be unto them an everlasting covenant. I will settle them also, and multiply them; my Sanctuary will I set among them for evermore. My dwelling shall be with them, yea I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Thus the Heathen also shall know, that I the LORD am the holy maker of Israel: when my Sanctuary shall be among them for evermore.'"
He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of the abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation determined shall be poured upon the desolate."
He shall fight against the armies of the mighty, and destroy them; yea, and against the prince of the covenant.
Then shall he go home again into his own land with great good, and set his heart against the holy covenant. He shall be busy against it, and then return home.
And why? The ships of Chittim shall come upon him, that he may be smitten and turn again: that he may take indignation against the covenant of holiness, to meddle against it. Yea he shall turn him, and draw such unto him, as leave the holy covenant.
Thus sayeth the LORD, 'For three and four wickednesses of the city of Tyre, I will not spare her: because they have increased the captivity of the Edomites, and have not remembered the brotherly covenant.
Thou also, through the blood of thy covenant, shalt let thy prisoners out of the pit, wherein is no water.
And yet ye say, 'Wherefore?' Even because that whereas the LORD made a covenant betwixt thee and the wife of thy youth, thou hast despised her: Yet is she thine own companion and married wife.
Behold, I send my messenger which shall prepare the way before me. And suddenly shall the Lord whom ye seek, come unto his temple, and the messenger of the covenant whom ye desire. Behold, he cometh saith the LORD Sabaoth.
Behold, I send my messenger which shall prepare the way before me. And suddenly shall the Lord whom ye seek, come unto his temple, and the messenger of the covenant whom ye desire. Behold, he cometh saith the LORD Sabaoth.
This is my blood of the new testament, that shall be shed for many, for the forgiveness of sins.
And he said unto them, "This is my blood, of the New Testament, which is shed for many.
And behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak until the time that these things be performed, because thou believedst not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season."
Likewise also, when they had supped, he took the cup saying, "This cup is the new testament, in my blood, which shall for you be shed.
Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant, which God hath made unto our fathers, saying to Abraham, 'Even in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.'
Then said the chief priest, "Is it even so?"
And he gave him the covenant of circumcision, and he begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day, and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs.
Which are the Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants and the law that was given and the service of God, and the promises,
And so all Israel shall be saved. As it is written, "There shall come out of Zion he that doth deliver, and shall turn away the ungodliness of Jacob.
which hath made us able to minister the new testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit. For the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
Brethren, I will speak after the manner of men. Though it be but a man's testament, yet no man despiseth it, or addeth anything thereto when it is once allowed.
Brethren, I will speak after the manner of men. Though it be but a man's testament, yet no man despiseth it, or addeth anything thereto when it is once allowed.
Which things betoken mystery. For these women are two testaments, the one from the mount Sinai, which gendreth unto bondage, which is Hagar.
remember, I say, that ye were at that time without Christ, and were reputed aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and were strangers from the testaments of promise, and had no hope, and were without God in this world.
which saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our deeds, but according to his own purpose and grace, which grace was given us through Christ Jesus before the world was,
So God, willing very abundantly to show, unto the heirs of promise, the stableness of his counsel; he added an oath,
Now hath he obtained a more excellent office, inasmuch as he is the mediator of a better testament, which was made for better promises.
Now hath he obtained a more excellent office, inasmuch as he is the mediator of a better testament, which was made for better promises. For if that first testament had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. read more. For in rebuking them he saith, "Behold the days will come, saith the Lord, and I will finish upon the house of Israel, and upon the house of Judah, a new testament; not like the testament that I made with their fathers at that time, when I took them by the hands, to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they continued not in my testament, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the testament that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws in their minds, and in their hearts, I will write them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'know the Lord': For they shall know me, from the least to the most of them. For I will be merciful over their unrighteousness, and on their sins and on their iniquities." In that he saith a new testament, he hath abrogated the old. Now that which is disannulled and waxed old, is ready to vanish away.
which had the golden censer, and the ark of the testament overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot with manna, and Aaron's rod that sprung, and the tables of the testament.
For wheresoever is a testament, there must also be the death of him that maketh the testament. For the testament taketh authority when men are dead: For it is of no value as long as he that made it is alive.
saying, "This is the blood of the testament, which God hath appointed unto you."
Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be counted worthy, which treadeth underfoot the son of God: and counteth the blood of the testament as an unholy thing, wherewith he was sanctified, and doth dishonour to the spirit of grace.
The God of peace that brought again from death our Lord Jesus Christ, the great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting testament,
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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Furthermore, God spake unto Noah and to his sons with him saying, "See, I make my covenant with you and your seed after you, read more. and with all living things that is with you: both fowl and cattle, and all manner beast of the earth that is with you, of all that cometh out of the ark, whatsoever beast of the earth it be. I make my covenant with you, that henceforth all flesh shall not be destroyed with the waters of any flood, and that henceforth there shall not be a flood to destroy the earth." And God said, "This is the token of my covenant which I make between me and you, and between all living thing, that is with you forever: I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant made between me and the earth; so that when I bring in clouds upon the earth, the bow shall appear in the clouds. And then will I think upon my covenant which I have made between me and you, and all that liveth, whatsoever flesh it be. So that henceforth there shall be no more waters to make a flood to destroy all flesh. The bow shall be in the clouds, and I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and all that liveth upon the earth, whatsoever flesh it be." And God said unto Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have made between me and all flesh that is on the earth."
And behold, the word of the LORD spake unto Abram saying, "He shall not be thine heir, but one that shall come out of thine own body shall be thine heir." And he brought him out at the doors and said, "Look up unto heaven and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them." And said unto him, "Even so shall thy seed be." read more. And Abram believed the LORD, and it was counted to him for righteousness.
This is my covenant which ye shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee: that ye circumcise all your men children. Ye shall circumcise the foreskin of your flesh, and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. read more. And every manchild when it is eight days old, shall be circumcised among you in your generations, and all servants also born at home or bought with money, though they be strangers and not of thy seed. The servant born in thy house, and he also that is bought with money, must needs be circumcised, that my covenant may be in your flesh, for an everlasting bond. If there be any uncircumcised manchild, that hath not the foreskin of his flesh cut off, his soul shall perish from his people: because he hath broken my covenant."
And the angel of the LORD cried unto Abraham from heaven the second time, saying, "By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, because thou hast done this thing and hast not spared thy only son, read more. that I will bless thee and multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand upon the sea side. And thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice."
And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron and weighed him the silver which he had said in the audience of the sons of Heth. Even four hundred silver sicles of current money among merchants.
and said unto his brethren, "Gather stones." And they took stones, and made a heap, and they ate there, upon the heap.
And Moses, with the elders of Israel, commanded the people, saying, "Keep all the commandments which I command you this day.
If thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, the LORD will set thee on high above all nations of the earth.
And the men took of their victuals, and counseled not with the mouth of the LORD. And Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to save their lives: and the lords of the congregation sware unto them.
Becometh it not you to know how the LORD God of Israel gave the kingdom of Israel to David forever, even to him and to his sons, with a salted covenant.
And he gave him the covenant of circumcision, and he begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day, and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs.
And he received the sign of circumcision, as a seal of the righteousness which is by faith: which faith he had, yet being uncircumcised, that he should be the father of all them that believe: though they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also;
Brethren, I will speak after the manner of men. Though it be but a man's testament, yet no man despiseth it, or addeth anything thereto when it is once allowed. To Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, "in the seeds," as in many: But, "in thy seed," as in one, which is Christ. read more. This I say, that the law which began afterward, beyond four hundred and thirty years, doth not disannul the testament, that was confirmed afore of God unto Christ ward, to make the promise of none effect.
If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs by 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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And he answered, "Seven lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that it may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well." Wherefore the place is called Beersheba, because they sware both of them.
Now therefore, come on, let us make a bond, I and thou together, and let it be a witness between thee and me."
that thou shalt not vex my daughters neither shalt take other wives unto them. Here is no man with us: behold, God is witness betwixt thee and me."
this heap be witness and also this mark, that I will not come over this heap to thee, and thou shalt not come over this heap and this mark, to do any harm.
And they came unto Joshua, unto the host to Gilgal, and said unto him and unto the men of Israel, "We be come from a far country, now therefore make agreement with us."
And Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to save their lives: and the lords of the congregation sware unto them.
Yea, those men that have broken my covenant, and not kept the words of the covenant which they made before me - when they hewed the calf in two, and when there went through the two halves thereof - The princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the gelded men, the Priests and all the people of the land, which went through the two sides 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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And he said unto him, "Take a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a three year old ram, a turtle dove and a young pigeon." And he took all these and divided them in the midst, and laid every piece, one over against another. But the fowls divided he not.
When the sun was down and it was waxed dark, behold, there was a smoking furnace and a fire brand that went between the said pieces. And that same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "Unto thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt, even unto the great river Euphrates:
Then came Abimelech to him from Gerar; and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol his chief captain. And Isaac said unto them, "Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me and have put me away from you?" read more. Then said they, "We saw that the LORD was with thee, and therefore we said that there should be an oath betwixt us and thee, and that we would make a bond with thee: that thou shouldest do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and have done unto thee nothing but good, and send thee away in peace: for thou art now the blessed of the LORD." And he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. And they rose up betimes in the morning and sware one to another. And Isaac sent them away. And they departed from him in peace.
Now therefore, come on, let us make a bond, I and thou together, and let it be a witness between thee and me." Then took Jacob a stone and set it up on end, read more. and said unto his brethren, "Gather stones." And they took stones, and made a heap, and they ate there, upon the heap.
Then Jacob did sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread. And they ate bread and tarried all night in the hill.
And thither thou shalt come, and thither ye shall bring your burnt sacrifices and your offerings, your tithes and heave offerings of your hands, your vows and free will offerings and thy first born of your oxen and of your sheep. And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye lay your hands on, both ye and your households, because the LORD thy God hath blessed thee.
Yea, those men that have broken my covenant, and not kept the words of the covenant which they made before me - when they hewed the calf in two, and when there went through the two halves thereof -
To fulfill the mercy promised to our fathers; And to remember his holy covenant; And to perform the oath, which he sware to our father Abraham, for to give us.
Wherefore then serveth the law? The law was added because of transgression - till the seed came, to which the promise was made - and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
For this is the testament that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws in their minds, and in their hearts, I will write them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.