A Beginning Study on Covenant

Wednesday, we had a good conversation about the Law, the old covenant and such, and recently I felt like I should read from Galatians Chapter 3, where Paul is speaking about the Law, and the original covenant with Abraham.

Galatians 3:17-19, 23-25 NIV
[17] "What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. [18] For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. [19] Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator."

[23] "Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. [24] So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. [25] Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian."

Paul's message is clear, there was a covenant of blessing that pre-existed prior to the law being put into place. The Covenant was between God and Abraham, and was a promise of God sending help. As I was reading these verses and thinking through some of the things we have been reading concerning Covenant, I think this particular author was very minimalistic in his perspective of covenant. The word translated covenant in the old testament, is defined as follows:

covenant, alliance, pledge
a. between men
1. treaty, alliance, league (man to man)
2. constitution, ordinance (monarch to subjects)
3. agreement, pledge (man to man)
4. alliance (of friendship)
5. alliance (of marriage)
b. between God and man
1. alliance (of friendship)
2. covenant (divine ordinance with signs or pledges)

The author was saying how an covenant was an agreement that if broken resulted in the death of the person who broke it, but that is clearly not the definition of the word, or how it was often used.

I think the issue is more that Jesus established a new covenant and met the requirements of the Law, and His blood was shed for forgiveness of all our sins. If we look at Genesis there were several covenants that God made wth people. The first was with Noah and his descendants to never destroy the world again by flood. The second was with Abram and his descendants to give him the promised land. The third was with Abram to bless him and multiply him, and was the first to really require any action on man's part, namely that all the males would be circumcised. Again, this covenant was to bless, and the requirement was cutting (the root of the word covenant) but not death if broken.

The Law was clearly another covenant, or agreement between God and man. The beginning of establishing the Law, was a covenant between God and the nation of Israel- Exodus 19:5-6 NIV: [5] "Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, [6] you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."

The Law was part of the covenant - see Exodus 25:16 NIV: "Then put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law, which I will give you."

More to come -