Examples Of Covenants In The Old Testament
Maddie Natrop
Throughout the stories in the Old Testament, the reader encounters numerous examples of covenants that God creates between Himself and His people as a way of testing their faith. A covenant is a sacred agreement formed between God and humanity, except unlike other promises, this covenant cannot be broken, or God will reap the consequences among those who disobey.
In Genesis 15, God forms a covenant with Abraham, which is one of the first in the sequence of covenants to be made later in the Old Testament. However instead of appearing face to face with Abram, God appeared in the form of a vision. The sole reason for this is because of the Fall of Adam and Eve. In a perfect world, humans would experience God face to face, and humanity would know what it was like to be in God's presence. However, after the Fall, God no longer made Himself known in a visible way, but rather chose to do so using His voice, visions or dreams, angels or messengers, the Holy Spirit, and various symbolic objects. In addition, when God is speaking to Abraham, He states, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield" (Gen. 15:1). God uses these words to describe Himself because Abram had recently defeated an army and may have been fearful of being …show more content…
attacked, so this way God reassures Abram that He will protect him from all harm and reward him for his feat.
However, instead of being grateful for God's protection, Abram replies with a series of complaints. Of these, Abram's largest concern is how he will fulfill God's promise of having descendants, for he has no children with his own wife. Although God has promised to protect Abram, it all means nothing if he has no son of his own to pass on his name. In a sense, it almost seems as though Abram is doubting God's ability, which then leads to God initiating a covenant with Abram.
In the covenant, God needs to remind Abram's that his descendants will come directly from his own blood, and not from his right-hand man. This reiterates the fact that humankind makes mistakes and continuously needs to be reminders to be pushed in the right direction. Then God said, "Look toward Heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them… so shall your descendants be" (Gen. 15:4-5). Once again, God is reiterating something He had previously promised, telling Abram that there would be many generation to come in his name. In order for this promise to be fulfilled, Abram must truly believe.
Similarly, to how God repeated His promise with Abram, God also repeats his introduction, claiming to be the LORD who will give him the Promised Land. This is done to reiterate His power and remind Abram of why He has called him. He is not reintroducing Himself because He thinks Abram forgot, but rather he is performing the steps of creating a covenant, which includes stating who He is in His many names.
Following Abram's sacrifice to God, he falls into a deep sleep, under the power of God. This event was first seen in the Creation story when God placed a deep sleep upon Adam, so He could remove a rib and form the woman, Eve. This is done as yet another way of God remaining invisible and not allowing humans to experience Him face to face. The deep sleep also refers to darkness in that even in troublesome times, when it appears God has abandoned mankind, God is always present through it all.
While still asleep, God lists the obligations that must be met in both sides of the covenant. God states that Abram's offspring will be slaves in another land and will be treated poorly for hundreds of years, but then He will judge the nation that ruled over them, and they will then be freed with their possessions. This is referring to the Israelites being enslaved by the Egyptians, and only finally released when God sends horrible plagues among them. Also, God promises that Abram and all his descendants will live to be an old age and pass on for generations, despite living in a time when people died young, and children often did not reach adulthood. Finally, God promised that eventually all the land would be given to His people, which he was referring to the Promised Land, set aside for only His chosen people.
Following this vision, a fire pot and torch passed between the pieces of the earlier sacrifice Abram had offered.
The fire spot is symbolic of a cloud of smoke in that it foreshadows a cloud of smoke encircling Mount Sinai as Moses receives the Ten Commandments. The torch is symbolic of God's revelation as fire, which appears to Moses later in the form of a burning bush. The significance of the two passing through the sacrifices refers back to ancient sacrifices when members of the covenant would walk through the sacrifice to set an understanding that if the covenant was broken, they would receive the same fate. Through the use of smoke and fire, both symbols of God's revelation, God is agreeing to make true His part of the
covenant.
To conclude, God entered into this covenant with mankind because He wanted to prove that He truly cared about the people of His creation and truly wanted to be in a relationship with all of them. If God did not care about being close to his people, He would not have chosen to interact with them in such a way that benefits them. By stating, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river," and then continuing to name specific names of lands, God makes it clear that His promise is not just a spiritual or figurative promise, but rather a physical promise in that eventually the Israelites will inherit that land (Gen. 15:18-21). In the end, God is ultimately proving that as long as His people are faithful to Him, He will never give up on them for as long as they live.
Throughout the stories in the Old Testament, the reader encounters numerous examples of covenants that God creates between Himself and His people as a way of testing their faith. A covenant is a sacred agreement formed between God and humanity, except unlike other promises, this covenant cannot be broken, or God will reap the consequences among those who disobey.
In Genesis 15, God forms a covenant with Abraham, which is one of the first in the sequence of covenants to be made later in the Old Testament. However instead of appearing face to face with Abram, God appeared in the form of a vision. The sole reason for this is because of the Fall of Adam and Eve. In a perfect world, humans would experience God face to face, and humanity would know what it was like to be in God's presence. However, after the Fall, God no longer made Himself known in a visible way, but rather chose to do so using His voice, visions or dreams, angels or messengers, the Holy Spirit, and various symbolic objects. In addition, when God is speaking to Abraham, He states, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield" (Gen. 15:1). God uses these words to describe Himself because Abram had recently defeated an army and may have been fearful of being …show more content…
attacked, so this way God reassures Abram that He will protect him from all harm and reward him for his feat.
However, instead of being grateful for God's protection, Abram replies with a series of complaints. Of these, Abram's largest concern is how he will fulfill God's promise of having descendants, for he has no children with his own wife. Although God has promised to protect Abram, it all means nothing if he has no son of his own to pass on his name. In a sense, it almost seems as though Abram is doubting God's ability, which then leads to God initiating a covenant with Abram.
In the covenant, God needs to remind Abram's that his descendants will come directly from his own blood, and not from his right-hand man. This reiterates the fact that humankind makes mistakes and continuously needs to be reminders to be pushed in the right direction. Then God said, "Look toward Heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them… so shall your descendants be" (Gen. 15:4-5). Once again, God is reiterating something He had previously promised, telling Abram that there would be many generation to come in his name. In order for this promise to be fulfilled, Abram must truly believe.
Similarly, to how God repeated His promise with Abram, God also repeats his introduction, claiming to be the LORD who will give him the Promised Land. This is done to reiterate His power and remind Abram of why He has called him. He is not reintroducing Himself because He thinks Abram forgot, but rather he is performing the steps of creating a covenant, which includes stating who He is in His many names.
Following Abram's sacrifice to God, he falls into a deep sleep, under the power of God. This event was first seen in the Creation story when God placed a deep sleep upon Adam, so He could remove a rib and form the woman, Eve. This is done as yet another way of God remaining invisible and not allowing humans to experience Him face to face. The deep sleep also refers to darkness in that even in troublesome times, when it appears God has abandoned mankind, God is always present through it all.
While still asleep, God lists the obligations that must be met in both sides of the covenant. God states that Abram's offspring will be slaves in another land and will be treated poorly for hundreds of years, but then He will judge the nation that ruled over them, and they will then be freed with their possessions. This is referring to the Israelites being enslaved by the Egyptians, and only finally released when God sends horrible plagues among them. Also, God promises that Abram and all his descendants will live to be an old age and pass on for generations, despite living in a time when people died young, and children often did not reach adulthood. Finally, God promised that eventually all the land would be given to His people, which he was referring to the Promised Land, set aside for only His chosen people.
Following this vision, a fire pot and torch passed between the pieces of the earlier sacrifice Abram had offered.
The fire spot is symbolic of a cloud of smoke in that it foreshadows a cloud of smoke encircling Mount Sinai as Moses receives the Ten Commandments. The torch is symbolic of God's revelation as fire, which appears to Moses later in the form of a burning bush. The significance of the two passing through the sacrifices refers back to ancient sacrifices when members of the covenant would walk through the sacrifice to set an understanding that if the covenant was broken, they would receive the same fate. Through the use of smoke and fire, both symbols of God's revelation, God is agreeing to make true His part of the
covenant.
To conclude, God entered into this covenant with mankind because He wanted to prove that He truly cared about the people of His creation and truly wanted to be in a relationship with all of them. If God did not care about being close to his people, He would not have chosen to interact with them in such a way that benefits them. By stating, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river," and then continuing to name specific names of lands, God makes it clear that His promise is not just a spiritual or figurative promise, but rather a physical promise in that eventually the Israelites will inherit that land (Gen. 15:18-21). In the end, God is ultimately proving that as long as His people are faithful to Him, He will never give up on them for as long as they live.