Old/New Testament Covenants

Covenant and law are both prevalent themes that are used throughout the Old Testament of the Bible. A covenant is a binding contract in which “a kinship bond between two parties” is created when each party carries out assigned expectations established in the making of the covenant (Hahn and Bergsma 1). A law is a binding rule or regulation that is used to regulate the conduct of a community or group of people and is usually enforced by some kind of authority. There are many similarities and differences between covenant and law, and in some cases covenant and law can be connected so that one supports the other. This is especially true when talking about the Mosaic Law and God’s covenant with Israel. In these two items God creates expectations through the covenant, rules and regulations through the Law, and allows for covenant-maintenance by using both together rather than a simple law code.

13. How are the covenant accounts in Genesis 13:14-17, 15: 17-21, and 17:1-21 alike, and how do they differ? In all three chapters, talk about God talk about Abram or Abraham seeds and establish a covenant between God in Abraham. The implement that he will be the father of many nations. However, the difference is when God changes Abraham name.

The tithing (or giving) issue is one that comes up often and that tends to bring up larger issues of law, Christian freedom, grace, generosity, faithfulness and priorities. With this issue, as is true of so many areas of the Christian life and, more specifically, church life, there is broad freedom with respect to many particular decisions or courses of action we might take, provided we take them for biblical reasons and with biblical principles in mind.

The first question that Lamb raises is if God’s anger in the Old Testament is justifiable. In other words, can God be concerned with Love and still kill people in his anger? Lamb argues that God 's anger, although sometimes extreme is justified and necessary. To prove his point, Lamb uses the story of Uzzah (2 Sam. 6:1-8). In this story, King David recovered the Ark of The Covenant and paraded it throughout Israel in the back of an ox cart. In front of a large crowd of Israelites the Ark became unstable and Uzzah reached out to steady it, because of this God killed Uzzah instantly. At first this seems completely unjustified, it looks as though Uzzah was just protecting the Ark. But, the more we look into God’s motives, the more it makes sense. First, God commanded the Israelites to carry the Ark by two long poles that attach to the side of the Ark, and he was very clear about this. Second, by killing Uzzah in front of all of these people, God sent a message that said his laws shall not be disobeyed. It

The bible teaches us many things about God. From Genesis and Exodus we can learnwhat the Judeo-Christian view of God was. Genesis shows us that God made the sun, the moon,the earth and every living thing. During the days of creation God made all things good. On theseventh day of creation God rested and declared all he made to be very good (Genesis 1:31). God created human beings in his own image. We as humans can be certain of our owndignity and self worth because we have been created in the image of God. The book of Genesisshows us that people disobey God by choosing to do wrong. Even great bible heros failed Godand disobeyed him. The bible teaches us that God is forgiving. God has many attributes. God makes no mistakes and this is wisdom. God is infinite, heknows

In Genesis, God interacts with Adam by speaking to him face to face. Whether God was giving out instructions or punishment to Adam and Eve, he was always doing it on a personal level. The usual portrayal of God as an omniscient being is instead replaced as mentor to Adam and Eve who is trying to help them understand their existence. This close relationship is shown even when man does something wrong. The only rule that God gives to Adam is that he must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve go on to break the singular rule and be punished; but not to the extent most would think. Before partaking of the fruit God says that, "the day that you eat of it you shall die"(Genesis). Instead of dying, Adam and Eve are removed from the garden and go begin their lives. God punishes them for their actions, but also gives clothes and allows them to take the knowledge they have gained from the tree. Even after breaking the one rule that he has set for them, God allowed them to keep the knowledge they gained to begin mankind. This grace towards humanity is shown once again with Adam and Eve's children, Cain and Abel. Cain kills Abel after God accepts Abel's offering and not his own. Even with Cain having killed his own brother, God still does not punish Cain severally; "you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth"(Genesis). This punishment is especially seen as inadequate as Cain goes on to settle in Nod and have his own family. This mercy by God shows that he was unable to punish humanity even for the most serious of offenses. This lack of punishment shows God's sympathy for mankind because of his close relationship with them. This close relationship stems from God's close bond with mankind because of their similar image and knowledge. This relationship that began as two very similar beings, has further blossomed as God has given great responsibility to

Biblical covenant is “legal term denoting a formal and legally binding declaration of benefits to be given by one party to another, with or without conditions attached.” (Arnold) Biblical covenant is a part of God holy plan and they reveal enteral plan. Each covenant plays a part of God plan of salvation. The Mosaic covenant showed that being saved by works was impossible and reveals God’s Holy character the need of a savior. “The Mosaic Covenant was like the vassal treaties of the ancient Near East, where a more powerful king entered into a relationship with a lesser king.” Knowing the Bible)

The names “Old Testament” and “New Testament” are inherently theological in nature. Because there is a difference distinctly built into giving them different notations, it implies that there are differences between each the Old Testament and the New Testament, whether it is subtle in nature or obvious in nature. To Christians, the difference means that the Old Testament contains dealings between God and the world and even some of the rules made are made irrelevant by the interactions of Christ Jesus with the world. One of the differences between the New Testament and the Old Testament is the way each of the Testaments describe God and God’s nature. The Old Testament describes an angry God, one who only created the world and was obsessed with laws and rules. The New Testament describes a loving God who redeemed the world. The different ways the Old Testament and New Testament describe God and his nature are very much influenced by their perspective of God. By the rules, actions, and laws God made, the early writers of the Old Testament made their judgements about God and wrote those perspectives into the books of the Old Testament. The writers of the Old Testament did the best they could with the information they had and got some things about God right, but also got things wrong. The writers of the New Testament and therefore, Christian believers understand God better.

God of the Old Testament is a God of election. Throughout the Old Testament we see God choosing whether to bless or curse people. Youngblood explains this through Jacob and Esau. Both were from the same father yet he chooses to bless Jacob who was younger than Esau. Election removes pride and boastfulness in humans and puts all of us on the same level waiting for God’s will in different ways. Youngblood than brings out the aspect of the covenant. Since the beginning of the time, God made covenants with the people. Through these covenants, God portrays that he always keeps his promise, and he is fair, and trustworthy to all who honor God.

It all began in the covenant with Abraham, God promised many things to him. God promised numerous descendants, land, and a relationship with him. God’s first blessing would provide Abraham with numerous descendants, which in turn would become a great nation. His second blessing would provide him and his family with a place to call home. His third blessing states that Abraham will have a relationship with God. This means that, anyone who blesses Abraham will be blessed by God, anyone that curses him will be cursed. In return for all of these promises, Abraham and all of his male members and descendants were circumcised to let God know that they belong to him.

What do you think was the original purpose of the 10 Commandments? Do you think people in general have the correct perception of the original purpose of the 10 Commandments as a covenant document?

Did you know that the Holy Bible was written over 3500 years ago ("When Was the Bible Written?" - Biblica. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.)? In Genesis 1-4, by God this book was written over thousands ago. This story in the Bible is about one great God putting everything we know into existing and creating human however one of the human named Cain gets jealous of his younger brother Abel and kills him. Ultimately, the story portrays the relationship between creation story, jealousies, love, murder and punishment in mankind. In return of God’s creation being jealous, God states the punishment upon Cain however, God still shows love by letting Cain Know that if anybody body tries to kill will suffer sevenfold vengeance (The Norton Anthology World

Fortunately, God alters his ideology over time.  After destroying the world with a flood in the story of Noah, God realizes He has made a mistake, and accepts that no one is flawless.  “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.” (28).    God’s promise never to flood the world again has much meaning to it, and displays a change in God’s nature.  From a very early age, when one commits a wrong doing he promises never to do repeat the mistake again.  By making this oath, one acknowledges the fact that he is at fault.  Admitting to a wrongdoing by pledging never do the same again is simply human nature.  Since God is the creator of mankind, He is the one who originally sets the base for human nature.  Therefore, His actions can be decoded similarly to the actions of humans.  After destroying the world with a flood, God regrets it, and admits His wrong doing by vowing never to destroy the world again.  The flood incident allows God to realize that even a divine figure can make a bad decision, and to accept the fact that humans have flaws.  The Lord is not longer so strict

The word ‘covenant’ is, in the Old Testament, it is the Hebrew word ‘berith’ and is used

The Old Testament is the largest part of the bible nestled behind the leather binding in the front of the book. Unlike most books, told from one-person or even two this is comprised of multiple, some stories even having two different versions in another point of view; over time it has become a large collection of ancient texts written and re-written by different authors and editors over the many years. The stories show the ancient Israelites, they show the laws, and rituals, which make up their religion and the small embers, which will one day, turn to a flame that is Christianity. The Jewish people view these stories as collected in what they call the Torah, is the collection for what makes up their history and the promise that God gave to them, as well as their laws and what they worship today. For the Christians the Old Testament is still seen as sacred, but most place a stronger importance to the New Testament.