Five covenants of God with Israel?

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What are the five covenants with Israel?

I know them, I am hoping for a concise statement for each one, if that is possible.

THANKS!

I am asking because Benedict teach that they are an unfolding of God’s plan and fulfill in Jesus Christ.

THANKS!
 
Jim_Baur said:
What are the five covenants with Israel?

I know them, I am hoping for a concise statement for each one, if that is possible.

THANKS!

I am asking because Benedict teach that they are an unfolding of God’s plan and fulfill in Jesus Christ.

THANKS!
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I like how Scott Hahn describes it as expanding concentric circles with each successive covenant including more and more people. We have a covenant with a couple (Adam & Eve), family (Noah), tribe (Abraham), nation (Moses), kingdom (David) and Church (Jesus). The group just gets bigger and bigger because God wants all to be saved. 🙂
 
Joe_5859 said:
I like how Scott Hahn describes it as expanding concentric circles with each successive covenant including more and more people. We have a covenant with a couple (Adam & Eve), family (Noah), tribe (Abraham), nation (Moses), kingdom (David) and Church (Jesus). The group just gets bigger and bigger because God wants all to be saved. 🙂
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I think there’s a danger of oversimplification here. The boundaries of the “tribe”, “nation”, and “kingdom” on this list were in a sense the same, for instance, though of course the absolute numbers of people were bigger each time. Also in a sense the covenants with Adam & Eve and with Noah were with all humanity, whereas God did something new and initially more limited with Abraham and Israel. Also those more limited covanents, renewed every generation for a while (further messing up the five covenants idea) were initially given to one family and even to one man. It applied to Abraham but not the rest of his family, to Isaac but not Ishmael, to Jacob but not Esau. To interpret all that as a covenant with a “tribe” is to do violence to the historical reality in order to force it into this pattern.

Also the re-establishment of Judah after the return from the Babylonian Exile was an extremely significant new step in salvation history and probably the proximate fulfillment of the prophesied “new covenant”, but is left off the list and is not easy to see as an expansion of the covenant people.
 
Aelred_Minor said:
I think there’s a danger of oversimplification here. The boundaries of the “tribe”, “nation”, and “kingdom” on this list were in a sense the same, for instance, though of course the absolute numbers of people were bigger. Also in a sense the covenants with Adam & Eve and with Noah were with all humanity, whereas God did something new and initially more limited with Abraham and Israel.

Also the re-establishment of Judah after the return from the Babylonian Exile was an extremely significant new step in salvation history and probably the proximate fulfillment of the prophesied “new covenant”, but is left off the list and is not easy to see as an expansion of the covenant people.
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Good points. I agree. In looking for “conciseness”, there is always a danger of oversimplification.
 
If you like Scott Hahn, read A Father Who Keeps His Promises. It is all about the covenants, is very concise, and easy to understand (I teach sixth grade CCD and use the book to prepare my lectures on the OT). God bless.
 
Pretty much based on Scott Hahn’s book…

The word covenant comes from the Latin word, convenire which means “to come together” or “to agree”. Covenants are not contracts. There is a difference.
  • A contract involves a promise while a covenant involves an oath. The Latin word sacramentum literally means oath and is where we get the word sacrament. Every sacrament is an oath.
  • Contract comes with an escape clause - how you get out of the contract. There is no escape clause with a covenant - it stands until one party dies.
  • Contracts establish relationships for mutual benefit while covenants form family bonds.
Every covenant has a blessing for faithfulness and a curse for unfaithfulness. Every covenant has a mediator. There is a sign of the covenant - something real which can be pointed to as signifying that a covenant was established such as a ring (marriage) or a pillar of stones. Covenants are usually ratified with a sacrifice and a shared meal. An oath is sworn. Most importantly, a family bond is established - This is how God could call Israel his “son” and how we call God “Our Father”, because we are in a covenant relationship with God. We are family.

There are several covenants in the Bible. God establishes a family relationship with mankind several times. I think there are more than five covenants.

Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:26-2:3) - Adam is the mediator. The condition is not to eat from the tree and there is a clear curse if the condition is not met - the consequences were severe. The family bond of husband and wife is established. The word covenant is not used but the story is told in biblical covenant language.

Noah and his family (Genesis 9:8-17) - Noah is the mediator. The covenant is with all of humanity. The blessing is fruitfulness and filling the earth. The sign is a rainbow. The conditions are not to drink animal blood and not to shed human blood. The form of the covenant now grows from just husband and wife (Adam and Eve) to an extended family (Noah, his wives, children and grandchildren).

**Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 12:1-3; 17:1-14; 22:16-18) **- Abraham is the clan leader and mediator. The blessing is a promise of land, children as numerous as the sand in the sea and a nation. Both the sing of the covenant and its condition is circumcision. The form of the family now grows from extended family to a tribe or clan.

Moses and the Israelites (Exodus 19:5-6; 3:4-10; 6:7) - Moses the judge and liberator is mediator. The blessing is that God will be Israel’s God and protect them and the condition is that Israel worship no other God and that they keep his commandments. The sign is the passover. The form is a nation, a kingdom of priests.

David and the Kingdom of Israel (2 Samuel 7:8-19) - David is mediator. The blessing is a kingdom forever, David’s son on the throne forever and wisdom to be given to all nations. The sign is the throne and the temple. The form now becomes a royal empire.

Jesus and the Church (Matthew 26:28; 16:17-19) - Jesus the High Priest is the mediator and he fulfills all promises from all previous covenants. The conditions are to believe in Jesus, be baptized, eat and drink His flesh and blood and live by all He taught. The Eucharist is the sign. The form is the universal (catholic) worldwide kingdom, the brotherhood of all men, adoption as sons of the Father - the Church. The blessing is eternal life.

The Bible truly is a book of covenants. There are others. I think these six are the major ones.

-Tim-
 
What about the covenant with Phineas in Numbers? I never did get how that fits in with Scott Hahn’s covenant history outline.
 
Scriabin, I wasn’t aware of a covenant with Phinehas until you pointed it out.

And the LORD said to Moses, “Phin’ehas the son of Elea’zar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. Therefore say, `Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace; and it shall be to him, and to his descendants after him, the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the people of Israel.’” (Numbers 25:10-13)

It appears that this is the perpetual priesthood in which Jesus shared as the high priest and which priests share today.

-Tim-
 
scriabin said:
What about the covenant with Phineas in Numbers? I never did get how that fits in with Scott Hahn’s covenant history outline.
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Hahn’s outline is just that: an outline. I don’t think he intends it to be taken as an exhaustive list of the only OT covenants. He’s just hitting the highlights.

Although, I thought he usually does touch on Phineas in the discussion of the Mosaic covenant. With the wandering in the desert at both the beginning and the end there is a sort of apostasy followed by a narrowing of the priestly line.
 
Thanks!

Is there one covenant?

With the Incarnate Word, is it a New Covenant?

We generally say, those of us that are Christian, there is ONE Old Testament. There is one New Testament.

So are all of the covenants after Adam and Eve renewals?

THANKS!

Again, how many total covenants or renewals?

I do not have the time to research it.

THANKS!!!
 
Jim_Baur said:
Thanks!

Is there one covenant?

With the Incarnate Word, is it a New Covenant?

We generally say, those of us that are Christian, there is ONE Old Testament. There is one New Testament.

So are all of the covenants after Adam and Eve renewals?

THANKS!

Again, how many total covenants or renewals?

I do not have the time to research it.

THANKS!!!
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Perhaps there are different theological schools of thought, but I would say that there is ultimately one covenant. It is the family relationship God wishes to extend to the whole human race. It began with Adam and Eve and was ultimately fulfilled in Christ and is open to all of us.

The whole Old Testament is the story of God continually reaching out. Human beings would respond, and then still sin and need to repent and return to the Lord and renew that relationship. That is the story of salvation history, and really the story of all of our individual lives as well. That’s why there is Reconciliation after Baptism.

I wouldn’t get overly hung up on quantifying, numbering, and naming all the covenants, nor draw too sharp of distinctions between them as though they are totally unrelated. It’s ultimately about the fact that God wants a relationship with all of us, with you. And so we want to respond to that invitation with “I am not worthy, but I humbly accept!”
 
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