Unlocking the Old Testament Covenants Part 1 - Introduction -ENCORE

Ever wondered why the divine covenants are often referred to as the backbone of the Bible? Well, you're in for a treat! In this 4 part series on  Old Testament covenants,  you'll gain a deeper understanding of these agreements God made with his people and the crucial role they play in the grand narrative of the Bible. We unravel how these covenants, whether conditional or unconditional, embody a beacon of hope and a source of strength amidst the tempest of life's trials.

Discover how understanding these covenants can empower you to face challenges with confidence and find redemption. Tune in now for an enlightening journey of faith and restoration.

Episode Highlights:

• Importance of Understanding God's Nature
• Definition and Characteristics of Divine Covenants
• Conditional and Unconditional Divine Covenants
• Five Crucial Divine Covenants

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

• Our God is Awesome: Encountering the Greatness of God, Tony Evans 
• Christ of the Covenants, O. Palmer Robertson

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Note: All scripture references are from the NIV translation unless otherwise indicated.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 3:05 Covenant Defined - General
• 4:26 Divine Covenants Defined
• 7:11 Conditional / Unconditional

Transcript

Jacqui: 1:07

I'm your host, J Adewale, and this is the Bible Basics Podcast, where, weekly, we break down the Bible into understandable, bite-sized chunks. Before we begin, let's take a moment to reflect on the importance of understanding who God is. Many of us find ourselves in the state of what Tony Evans calls unconscious Christianity. We lack a Christian perspective on how the world works. When trials come our way, we are caught totally off guard. We're not able to face our daily challenges with confidence and boldness. We're not prepared to wage war against the spiritual forces of wickedness. We don't know that we have a God who promises to keep us, be with us and he will never leave us. Well, why is this relevant to our discussion on covenants? Well, friends, as we embark on this journey, you'll come to realize that we can depend on God's Word. This series will showcase God's unfailing faithfulness and give us hope in the midst of life's challenges. But that's not the only reason to understand covenants. Think of them as the backbone of the Bible, the spine that holds the entire narrative together. Just like our physical backbone provides the foundation for our bodies, the covenants serve as a foundation for the events of the Bible. They help us to better understand and follow the unfolding story, peeling back the layers to reveal God's grand plan for redemption. God uses his covenants to restore his people. He always intended to guide his people to a more secure and prosperous future, to restore his children to himself. Future to restore his children to himself.

Jacqui: 3:10

So first let's define a covenant. A general definition is that it's an agreement between two parties and involves promises on the part of each to the other. In the Old Testament we find examples of covenants made between people who related to each other as equals. For instance, there's a deep bond of love and friendship between David and Jonathan, which led to a formal covenant of loyalty and loving kindness, a friendship bond, was sealed by oath between them. Then there was Abimelech and Isaac. When Abimelech and Isaac decided to settle their land dispute, they made a binding agreement, or a covenant, to live in peace. An oath confirmed it. The third example would be Joshua, on behalf of Israel and the Gibeonites. Joshua and the Gibeonites bound themselves by oath to live in peace together in Canaan. The problem with this covenant was that Yahweh had commanded Israel that they were not to bind themselves to the people living in the land of Canaan. This situation turned out pretty bad for both the Gibeonites and the Israelites. However, in this series we're going to focus on what we call divine covenants, those covenants made by God himself.

Jacqui: 4:36

For a better understanding, let's turn to O Palmer Robinson's definition, found in his book called Christ, of the Covenants. He says that a divine covenant is a bond in blood, sovereignly administered. I'll unpack each part of that definition. First of all, it's a bond. That means it's an oath-bound commitment. In its most essential aspect, a covenant is what binds people together. Nothing lies closer to the heart of the biblical concept of covenant than the imagery of an unbreakable bond. Think superglue bond, think superglue though hopefully your fingers aren't involved in that bond, then it's a bond in blood. It involves commitments with life and death consequences.

Jacqui: 5:32

When a covenant is formed, the parties make a solemn commitment to each other. They seal it through a formal process of bloodshedding. This bloodshedding represents the intense nature of their commitment. By the covenant they're bound together for life and death. The final piece of that definition is that it's sovereignly administered. This means that the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth dictates the terms of this covenant. There is no room for bargaining. Okay, so I'll repeat it again A divine covenant is a bond in blood, sovereignly administered. That means it's an oath-bound commitment that binds the parties together in an unbreakable bond. This commitment involves life and death consequences symbolized by bloodshedding and, most importantly, the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth initiates and dictates the terms of his covenant. There is no room for negotiating when God is involved. It's essential to distinguish these divine covenants from other covenants, which are basically like contracts, in that they are changeable, they're negotiated agreements and the parties are basically on equal terms, are basically on equal terms, but divine covenants are far more profound and unchangeable. No-transcript. Now we'll address another feature of divine covenants conditions.

Jacqui: 7:16

There are two types of divine covenants conditional and unconditional. First let's look at the conditional covenant. This type of covenant depends on people taking specific actions in response to God's promises. God's conditions must be met by humanity in order to receive the covenant blessings. Of course, god can always be depended upon to keep his end of the bargain. The open question is whether the people will honor their side of the covenant. Out of the five divine covenants we're going to discuss in this series, only God's covenant with Moses is conditional. In the Mosaic covenant, god promises to bless the people if they follow his law. Then there's the unconditional covenant. In this type of covenant, god makes promises with a certain purpose and they'll be fulfilled regardless of human actions. While there might be some human responsibilities involved, the ultimate fulfillment of these promises relies on God's power. Unconditional covenants stand out because their ultimate fulfillment is promised by God. They are not dependent on human actions.

Jacqui: 8:44

Now let's talk numbers. There are five explicit covenants that are crucial to understanding the events of the Bible. These covenants are made with Noah, abraham, moses, david and there's the new covenant. They guide and propel the biblical narrative, leading us to the ultimate fulfillment Jesus himself. We'll cover each of these five covenants over the next few episodes. In next week's episode, we'll discuss God's covenant with Noah and Abraham. Now, why do I emphasize the significance of understanding covenants? It's because they form the essential framework that binds the entire biblical narrative together. Throughout the unfolding story of the Bible, we witness God's character as a covenant maker, covenant keeper and covenant fulfiller. These covenants play a crucial role in revealing God's redemptive plan. Essentially, the covenants act as a foundational structure that shapes the entire story. Thank you for tuning in. If this has been beneficial to you, please share it with others, subscribe or follow, and all of you Apple podcast listeners, drop us a review. You.