The Bible is a book about covenants from beginning to end, and God is a covenant, God. So Paul wrote to the Galatians that through Jesus, the blessing of Abraham comes to the Gentiles, and to the Romans, he noted that Abraham is the father of us all.
To understand the new covenant fully, we must begin with the covenant God made with Abraham. We will begin by defining what a covenant is,
“[an]oath-bound promise whereby one party solemnly pledges to bless or serve another party in some specified way. Sometimes the keeping of the promise depends upon the meeting of certain conditions by the party to whom the promise was made. On other occasions the promise is made unilaterally and unconditionally. The covenant concept is a central, unifying theme of Scripture, establishing and defining God’s relationship to man in all ages.
In the OT, the Hebrew word translated “covenant” is berit. The term probably derives from the term bara, “to bind.” The noun berit originally denoted a binding relationship between two parties in which each pledged to perform some service for the other. The NT, following the Septuagint, uniformly uses the Greek word diatheke for the covenant idea, avoiding the similar term suntheke, which would wrongly portray a covenant as a mutual contract or alliance rather than an oath-bound promise. This does not mean that a covenant may not, in some cases, take on characteristics common to a mutual agreement or contract, but the essence of the covenant concept is clearly that of a binding pledge.”
Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary
A covenant made by God cannot be undone, annulled, or replaced. All the covenants in Scripture connect. The Abrahamic covenant leads to Sinai, which expounds the blessings and curses outlined for His People. The covenant of David establishes the everlasting rule of the Kingdom, and the New Covenant is the culmination of all previous covenants. Jesus is the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. The covenants have a continuous and everlasting connection, so let’s begin with Abraham and work our way to the New Covenant.
You can read the entirety of God’s dealings with Abraham in Genesis twelve through twenty-two; we will only be hitting the highlights in this post for time’s sake. I will also be using the Tree of Life Version throughout, as it adds a fresh yet original Hebrew perspective to the Scriptures.
Genesis 12:1-7 “Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. 6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. 7 And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.”
Abraham was promised that he would become a great nation, that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed, and that he would be a blessing. Those who bless him will be blessed, and those who curse him will be cursed. God also promised land would be given to him. The covenant was cut in chapter fifteen, but instead of Abraham walking through the animals, only the Lord did, signifying God would fulfill the covenant regardless of Abraham’s doing. Even in the Old Testament, the foundation was grace! The covenant sign was given in chapter seventeen. In chapter twenty-six, the covenant was confirmed with Abraham’s son Issac and later to Issac’s son Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, who fathered the twelve tribes of Israel.
Genesis 26:1-5 ““And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. 2 And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: 3 sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; 4 and I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; 5 because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
Genesis 28:12-15 “And he (Jacob) dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. 13 And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; 14 and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.”
Genesis 35:10-12 “And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. 11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; 12 and the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.”
We can see the consistency of the covenant promise from Abraham, to Issac, to Jacob, and the deliverance from Egypt through the wilderness years, all the way to the leadership of Joshua when the promise appears again. Joshua 1:1-5 “Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying, 2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. 5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”
I know this is a lot of Scripture, but the only thing that establishes the eternality of the covenant is the continuity of Scripture. God has a covenant people, Israel, and the covenant includes but is not limited to the land of Israel that God promised Israel. The most contentious subject on the world stage today is the fact that Israel belongs to the Jews, and in the church, it’s a contentious discussion of if the church replaces Israel.
THE LAND OF ISRAEL
Along with the Scriptures already cited, allow me to give a few more from the Prophets and a Psalm.
Jeremiah 24:6 “For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.”
Psalm 105:8-11 “He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. 9 Which covenant he made with Abraham,
and his oath unto Isaac; 10 and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: 11 saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance:”
Isaiah 60:21 “Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever,
the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.”
Ezekiel 34:13 “And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.”
Replacement theologians would have Christians believe that the rebirth of Israel on May 14, 1948, holds no significance. The truth is that great historic day says God is a covenant-keeping God. They would have you believe the church is the “new” Israel; nothing can be further from the truth. Jesus didn’t negate the Old Testament and start a new religion; He came to fulfill the law and save us.
THE FOUNDATION OF THE NEW COVENANT
Jeremiah 31:31-33 “Behold, the days come, saith 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 an husband unto them, saith the Lord: 33 but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith 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.”
Ezekiel 36:24-28 “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. 25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. 28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.”
The New Covenant was prophesied in the Old, and it isn’t as new as we think; it is thoroughly connected to the people of God and the ways of God we read about in Genesis through Malachi.
Paul even takes time in his excellent teaching on salvation and sanctification to the Romans to discuss Israel’s past (Romans 9), present (Romans 10), and future (Romans 11).
I will close with Paul’s words in Romans 11:16-24 “ For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. 17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 18 boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. 19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. 20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21 for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. 23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. 24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?”
The church hasn’t replaced Israel; we have been grafted into Israel. In Ephesians3, Paul said we were separated from Messiah, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenant, but we have been brought near through Jesus. The Covenant began with Abraham and was extended to the nation of Israel; we have been grafted in through Jesus, and in Revelation, Jesus comes back to get all the land promised, save all of Israel, and establish His Kingdom.
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- Read Jeremiah 31:30-39 for the complete prophecy
- Ephesians 2:11-22
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