CHAPTER 9
COVENANT
(Compact, confederacy, contract, cutting, disposition, league, testament, will)
Covenant of the People, Mediator of a Better and New Covenant, Messenger of the Covenant, Surety of a Better Covenant
OATH (fence, limit, restraint, sacred)
SWEARS (consecrate, hand of power, make oath, means, and direction, ordinance, sworn)
TESTAMENT (contract, covenant, will) Mediator of the New Testament
TESTATOR (appoint, bequest, make compact)
[I underlined the promise of each covenant.]
Genesis 6:18 But with you will I establish my covenant; and you shall come into the ark, you, and your sons, and your wife, and your sons' wives with you.
Genesis 9:8 And God spoke unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, 9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you. 10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. 11And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. 12.And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. 14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: 15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth
Genesis 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be perfect. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly. 3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, 4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5 Neither shall your name any more be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made you. 6 And I will make you exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come out of you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto you, and to your seed after you. 8 And I will give unto you, and to your seed after you, the land wherein you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. 9 And God said unto Abraham, You shall keep my covenant therefore, you, and your seed after you in their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. 11 And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
Genesis 22:16 And said, By myself have I sworn, says the LORD, for because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son. 17 That in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. 18 And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because you have obeyed my voice.
Exodus 6:4 And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.
Exodus 17:15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi. 16 For he said, Because the LORD has sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6 And you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak unto the children of Israel.
Exodus 24:7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD has said will we do, and be obedient. 8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you concerning all these words.
Exodus 31:16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
Numbers 18:19 All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given you, and your sons and your daughters with you, by a statute forever: it is a covenant of salt forever before the LORD unto you and to your seed with you.
Numbers 25:11 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. 12 Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: 13 And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.
Deuteronomy 1:34 And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and swore, saying, 35 Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I swore to give unto your fathers. 36 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he has trodden upon, and to his children, because he has wholly followed the LORD.
Deuteronomy 4:30 When you are in tribulation, and all these things are come upon you, even in the latter days, if you turn to the LORD your God, and shall be obedient unto his voice. 31 (For the LORD your God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore unto them.
Deuteronomy 7:8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, has the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Judges 2:1 And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I swore unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. 2 And you shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; you shall throw down their altars: but you have not obeyed my voice: why have you done this? 15 Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.
1 Chronicles 16:15 Be mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. 16 Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac; 17 And has confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, 18 Saying, Unto you will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance;
Psalms 89:3 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, 4 Your seed will I establish forever, and build up your throne to all generations. 28 My mercy will I keep for him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. 34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. 35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. 36 His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. 37 It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven.
Psalms 103:17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; 18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
Psalms 110:4 The LORD has sworn, and will not repent, You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Psalms 132:11 The LORD has sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of your body will I set upon your throne.
Isaiah 14:24 The LORD of hosts has sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
Isaiah 24:5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
Isaiah 42:6 I the LORD have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and give you for a Covenant Of The People, for a light of the Gentiles;
Isaiah 54:9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with you, nor rebuke you. 10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, says the LORD that has mercy on you.
Isaiah 59:21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, says the LORD; My spirit that is upon you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your seed, nor out of the mouth of your seed's seed, says the LORD, from hereforth and forever.
Isaiah 62:8 The LORD has sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give your corn to be meat for your enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink your wine, for the which you have labored:
Jeremiah 31:31 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah. 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, says the LORD. 33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, says the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Jeremiah 32:40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
Jeremiah 33:20 Thus says the LORD; If you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season. 21 Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. 25 Thus says the LORD; if my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth. 26 Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.
Jeremiah 49:13 For I have sworn by myself, says the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.
Ezekiel 16:60 Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish unto you an everlasting covenant.
Ezekiel 37:26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore.
Amos 6:8 The Lord GOD has sworn by himself, says the LORD the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.
Malachi 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom you delight in: behold, he shall come, says the LORD of hosts.
Matthew 26:27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink you all of it. 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. [Just as the rainbow, circumcision, and keeping the Sabbath we tokens or signs of the old covenant, so too, communion is the token or sign of the new covenant.]
Luke 1:72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant. 73 The oath which he swore to our father Abraham. 74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear. 75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.
Acts 3:25 You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in your seed shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed.
Romans 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
2 Corinthians 3:6 Who also has made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.
Galatians 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which mothers to bondage, which is Agar. 25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27 For it is written, Rejoice, you barren that bear not; break forth and cry, you that travail not: for the desolate has many more children than she which has a husband.
Ephesians 2:12 That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Hebrews 6:13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself, 14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you. 16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. 17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath. 18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. 19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the veil.
Hebrews 7:21 (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord swore and will not repent, You are a priest forever after the order of Melchisedek:). 22 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. 28 For the law makes men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, makes the Son, who is consecrated forevermore.
Hebrews 8:6 But now has he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the Mediator Of A Better Covenant, which was established upon better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. 13 In that he says, A new covenant, he has made the first old. Now that which decays and waxes old is ready to vanish away.
Hebrews 9:15 And for this cause he is the Mediator Of The New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the Testator. 17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator lives. 18 Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.
Hebrews 12:24 And to Jesus the Mediator Of The New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel.
Hebrews 13:20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. 21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Aren't we glad our all consuming God has laid out in plain language how He wants us to relate to Him. How difficult it would be to approach Him without these clear-cut guidelines. The next time we take communion, let's renew our covenant with Jesus. That is one of the purposes of communion. When we do, let's remember what happens in a covenant. All of who we are and what we have belongs to Jesus and all of who He is and what He has belongs to us.
I recommend that if we haven’t read a good book about what a blood covenant is all about, that it would be a good thing for each of us. It is well worth the time and small expense. Also, do a study from the New Testament Epistles about the differences between the Old and New Covenants. This, also, will be worth your while.
Cross References: Gen. 3:15, 12:1-3, Ex, 13:5, 11, 32:13-14, 33:1, Dt. 1:8, 2:14, 26:15, 31;7, Jos. 5:6, 2 Kin. 11:17, 23:3, 1 Chr. 16:17, 2 Chr. 15:12, 23:16, Neh. 10:29, Ps. 95:11, 105:9-11, Is. 44:26, 45:22-23, 49:13, 51:14, 55:3, Jer. 11:5, Am. 4:2, 6:8, Mk. 14:24, Lk. 22:20, Acts 2:30, 7:28,Rom. 9:4, 1 Cor. 11:25, 2 Cor. 3:14, Gal. 3:15, 17, Heb. 3:11-18, 4:3, 8:8-12, 9:4, 10:15-17, Rev. 11:19
See also: Assurance, Calls, Faithful, Jesus, Limited, Savior, Shepherd, Speaks
Hymns: THE SOLID ROCK; STANDING ON THE PROMISES; LET US BREAK BREAD TOGETHER
Study and Application Questions