No 27

(Covenants overview)

Covenants occupy an important place in the pages of Scripture. The word “covenant” is mentioned no less than 25 times in Genesis alone; 272 times in all the Bible and God places much significance on the covenants He made with His children. In a broad sense there are two covenants – the covenant of works and the covenant of grace, the New and the Old Testaments. But there are many other covenants that God made with His people and Scripture shows us that He recalls them in application to the lives of His people. Here are some of the examples in the Old Testament: 1) When God heard the groanings of the Hebrews in Egypt, we are told that He “remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob” (Exod. 2:24). 2) When Israel was oppressed by the Syrians in the days of Jehoahaz, we read, “And the Lord was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (2 Kings 13:23). 3) At a later period, when God determined to show mercy unto Israel, after He had punished them for their sins, He expressed it by saying, “Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth” (Ezek. 16:60). 4) As the psalmist declared, “He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant” (111:5). The New Testament has many examples as well.

John Owen (1616-1683) an English theologian defines the Biblical covenants as follows: “An absolute complete covenant is a voluntary convention, pact, or agreement between distinct persons, about the ordering and dispensing of things in their power, unto their mutual concern and advantage” (Quick Verse, version 7.01). A covenant can also be described as an oath – “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:” (Heb 6:17). We will be looking at the covenants in future studies.