A Covenant Moment

These are the terms of the covenant the LORD commanded Moses to make with the Israelites while they were in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Mount Sinai. [Deuteronomy 29.1]

What does "covenant" mean? Can we answer that question from the Word without relying on libraries of extra-Biblical literature and ideology? Let's try, shall we?

Aa far as I can tell, the first use of the word "covenant" is in Genesis:

But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives. [Genesis 6.18]

Although Genesis 6.18 was the first instance of the use of the word, it certainly was not the last. In the New Living Translation, the word "covenant" is used 328 times (including non-manuscript headings). Of these 328 uses, 293 are in the Old Testament while the remaining 35 are in the New Testament. 

Notice the first use of "covenant" in Genesis 6.18 does not indicate any form of negotiated agreement as we tend to think of a "covenant." Instead, God just told Noah and his family to get in the ark. Then, the next use of "covenant" comes after the flood:

Then God told Noah and his sons, “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, and with all the animals that were on the boat with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals—every living creature on earth. Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.” [Genesis 9.8-11]

Again, the use of "covenant" here does not indicate any form of negotiated agreement between Noah and God.

The next use of "covenant" has to do with Abram in Genesis 15.

After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. So the LORD made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River— the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,  Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.” [Genesis 15.17-21] 

Once again, there was no negotiated agreement between Abram and God. It was just a statement of promise from God just like it was with Noah.

It was not until Genesis 17 that "covenant" actually implied a direct human response to God's promise:

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.” [Genesis 17.1-2]

What follows in Genesis 17 are God's "covenant" conditions including the obedience of circumcision. From there, "covenant" is seen in agreements between men (man to man) and further covenants between man and God (all of which involved man's compliance/obedience).

It should be understood that all the initial occurrences of "covenant" involved God making promises and man complying in terms of obedience. "Covenant" seems to indicate what God promises to those who obey. It is, indeed, an agreement.

As seen in Deuteronomy 29.1 above, the Old Testament seems to be a progressive compilation of "covenants" between God and man. Man's initial consumption of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil insured this would be necessary as with increased knowledge, increased definition of boundaries is necessary. In fact, as man's knowledge blossomed in good and evil, so God's additional "covenants" kept pace. No one will dispute that the Old Testament became an overwhelming manual of rules.

However, if we "back out" all the increased knowledge of good and evil and go back to the first use of the word "covenant," we don't find a negotiation, but simply a promise: get in the boat. Although this is not the first Biblical foreshadowing of Jesus, it is certainly an early one. Just as God foreshadowed Jesus in the Garden of Eden, so He again foreshadowed Jesus in the ark. All of God's blessings can be summed up in Jesus Christ. Jesus was no afterthought to God, but instead, the plan all along. Jesus was the God's "covenant" plan before Creation.

Obedience is what distinguishes man from nature. Nature, simply left to itself, does what it was designed to do. But God did not desire relationship with robots, so, He injected freewill into man. It was a risky move, but the only way to have true fellowship with a being truly "made in His image."

Every "covenant" between God and man foreshadows, or is, Jesus. And, for all the "rules" that evolved from God's first covenant promise to Noah - the rules that eventually became perceived as overwhelming and overbearing, Jesus would then be the climax "covenant" embodying all others. And, here is what Jesus said:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]  

Jesus is every covenant promise of the Old Testament. Jesus is healing. Jesus is provision. Jesus is peace. Jesus is protection. Jesus is life. Every promise of the Bible is fulfilled in Jesus Who didn't give a plethora of rules and regulations to sort out... Instead, Jesus demanded total obedience - giving up every man-way to take up every God-way, in following Him.

While modern Christianity presents the gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus in simplicity compared to the overwhelming Old Testament rules and regulations, it often fails to point out that following Christ is not about obeying certain ways of doing things, but is about giving up altogether on man's way of doing things so that God's way of doing things - faith - even to the point of earthly death - might distinguish us as Christ's.

Just as all God's Old Testament covenants initially revolved around man's devotion and ultimately required man's obedience, following Jesus Christ involves ultimate obedience, surpassing all previous covenants, dying altogether to oneself. This is God's 'progression of covenant.' He fulfilled it Himself! God effectively made it so difficult that only He Himself could meet the demands of His requirements. Thus, all man can do is surrender... giving up his own way, taking up his cross, and following Jesus. Man's only way to please God then, is faith in Jesus.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. [John 14.6]

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. [Hebrews 11.6] 

I apologize if this all seems scattered. The one thing that should stand out is that we are nothing apart from Christ Jesus. All our religion means nothing unless we realize that we have nothing apart from Jesus. The only covenant we are capable of keeping with God is Jesus. The only covenant blessing we are entitled to is Jesus. And, that "entitlement" is only afforded through our obedience of humble selfless faith.

Father, I can only repent today for my insistence upon self-sufficiency. I surrender to You - to Jesus. All my ways are wrong and only Jesus' ways are right. May the world not see me, but see Jesus in me. May "Jesus in me" be seen as what the Bible reveals of Jesus and not what the worldly Church depicts. I am having a "covenant moment" today - and I welcome it... So be it.