There are as many explanations and interpretations of Covenant as there are suns in our galaxy. Which one gives the most light depends are where you are standing when you look. The one that makes the most sense to me personally is the explanation that there is only one covenant, spoken of as the everlasting covenant. It basically says, “I, God, covenant (promise) to care for my children. I will take any action necessary, go to any lengths to establish trust and to insure that they spend eternity with me.” Simply put, God promises to save us. Period.

   In ancient times, before written contracts, parties of a transaction would take an animal, slice it in half, and each party walk between the halves. As they walked they would say, “May I be as this animal (split asunder) if I violate my half of the bargain.” This type of contractual agreement is recorded in Genesis 15. God is pictured as entering into covenant with Abraham. The animals were split as the tradition prescribed but amazingly ONLY GOD walked between the sacrifice. Abraham was in a deep sleep at the time. God said in effect, “This transaction, this covenant, I am making is not a two-way street. I and I alone take responsibility for its fulfillment.”

   Whenever God speaks his covenant, he always phrases it in a meaningful way to his hearers. He always meets them on the level of their needs. To Noah, he promised no more floods; to Abraham, he promised posterity; to David he promised a continued kingdom; to the disciples he promised he would not leave them orphans. God always “renews” his faithful promise(s) in a personal, meaningful way.


Old & New Covenant

   So how do I deal with all the references to “old” and “new” covenants? Once upon a time God delivered his people from slavery requiring nothing of them but willingness to follow him. He gave no commands about burnt offerings or any other kinds of sacrifices when he brought them out of Egypt. He merely explained to them how free people live. (i.e. maintain relationship with God and respect the freedom of your brothers and sisters.)

   But slavery mentality prevailed and they saw his gracious laws as the level of behavior necessary for acceptance. So when God spoke to them from the mountaintop, they responded, “All that you have said we will do.” And God, ever meeting people on their level of need, said, “OK.” Just as at a later date when the Israelites asked for a King, God granted their wish, at Sinai, God went along with their desire to be in a covenant relationship of works. And according to the customs and laws of that day, God even ratified it in blood with them!

   This was - and is - the Old Covenant. A two-way agreement, we promise to be good and God will be obligated to take care of us. We keep the law and God will save us. Tit for Tat. The Old Covenant is based on works, it is impossible to keep, but it is the covenant that the children of Israel wanted. And it is the one that appeals to us as well! We want so desperately to DO SOMETHING! Merely accepting God’s gracious offer seems too simple, too easy. (And if it were really true, if it were really that easy, than anyone one could be saved – horrors!)


God’s Covenant Renewed

   The Old Covenant, quickly broken at Sinai, necessitated God making a New Covenant with them. What he did in actuality was to renew the everlasting covenant, by putting it into language they could understand and making promises that meet their needs. Moses and the prophets who followed repeatedly tried to bring Israel into an understanding of the true covenant relationship that God desired, but as the writer of Hebrews sadly records, they never entered into his rest.

   Contrary to popular thinking, the concept of New Covenant is not a New Testament idea. When Jeremiah spoke of the everlasting covenant he described God’s gracious promise of salvation as God’s “New Covenant.” The word for new being RENEWED not BRAND NEW. And when the writer of Hebrews picked up on this “covenant” theme (Hew. 8:10-12) he quoted Jeremiah, again using the word meaning renewed rather than brand new.

   So today, God says to us, “This is the covenant I made with them (Deut. 30:13) and I will make with you (Rom 10:6-13). My EVER NEW PROMISE to every generation and every people is that I will be your God and you will be my people. Not because of anything you do, not because of any innate qualities or attributes of character, but just because you are mine and I love you.


Covenant language

   Scattered throughout the Old Testament are two Hebrew words, ‘emeth and hesed. Once one understands the meaning and recognizes the significance of these two words the whole of scripture begins to come alive. They are like road signs or landmarks warning the reader that covenant talk is ahead. Anyone who takes the character of God seriously will find exquisite joy when encountering these expressions.

   Hesed is a tender, almost excessively benign predisposition toward someone. It is translated love, loving kindness, and/or mercy. ‘Emeth is true blue loyalty and complete dependability. Whenever God acts he does so in loving kindness. Whenever God makes promises he does so in faithfulness.

   The covenant relationship consists of God promising to love and be faithful and expecting love and faithfulness from us in return. But what is so amazing is that God says, Even if you are unfaithful, I will still be faithful. Even if you are unloving I will never cease to love you. “I will betroth myself to you forever, I will betroth myself in righteousness and justice, loyalty and love; I will be faithful to my promise and you will know the Lord.”


Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone; the new has come. All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others God’s Friends as well.