Covenants (Part 1): I am a progressive dispensational premillennialist

This blog and the next (and possibly one more after that) is about the covenants. The origin of the blog on the subject starting all my theology classes at LBC, especially Church and the Future class. Even the subject came across in Early Church class because the whole Jews and Gentiles issue. A lot of ideas and theories were presented to me. I've realized a lot of it has to deal with God's movement through history. So I decided to sort through them on my own and see what I think. So I journaled on it, and made conclusions. When I came home for the summer, and heard my pastor was preaching a series called, "The New Covenant is Better" I took the time to listen and get ideas for further edits and revisions. So now I believe I am ready to give a full out study to reveal what I believe. And I've found out I'm a progressive dispensational premillennialist. Follow along as I explain my views of the covenants.

Before I get into any covenants, let's talk about covenants in general. We don't talk about covenants often today; the closest we got to covenants are contracts. But covenants are constantly made in Bible times. They were made between two or more kings/cities, as treaties for after war, but also during peace times. Archaeologists doing excavations on Hittite cities have found these ancient covenants and have provided an understanding for how covenants worked. First, covenants named the parties involved. Secondly stated in a covenant is the reason for the covenant, which could state the winners and losers of a war, or be the result of a business proposal. Third, each party would state his responsibilities. Fourth would say what each party gets in return. Next, blessings and curses are written down. Blessings for whoever follows it, and curses for the one who doesn't follow up his end of the bargain. And just as we have a third party signature on contracts, the end of their covenants would have witnesses, usually their gods. This has really help scholars expand their understanding when it comes to the covenants in the Bible between God and His people. We're not going to go into too much depth with it, but skim the surface.

The first covenant in the Bible is the EDENIC/ADAMIC COVENANT (Genesis 1:26-30, 2:15-17, 3:15-17). Now there is disagreement on this. Some say the Edenic and Adamic Covenant are two separate covenants, other say the Edenic and Adamic Covenant are one and the same, and yet others say that it is one covenant in two parts. I believe the third option: this is the same covenant, just in different parts. If this is already confusing, I am also going to say that this covenant is both conditional and unconditional. Before you accuse me of being postmodern, let me explain myself. Both sides of the covenant are God to Adam, but really it's not just Adam, but mankind in general. Remember, "adam" is simply the Hebrew word for "man." God is making a covenant with man here. Why is God making this covenant? God just has just finished making man in His own image. Seeing that man is good, he establishes a covenant with him. On God's side, God gives man seed, land, and blessing. God makes man in His image (1:26,27). On God's side, God makes man ruler over the earth. He is to spread over it by multiplying and also subduing it. Also, God provides food for man by giving him every green plant as food (1:29,30). Man has his responsibilities, too. On his side, man is to work and take care of the garden (2:15). He must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (2:17). The first one man will easily obey because he is innocent, and without the sinful nature, is fully obedient to God. So the only condition in this covenant is "you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil" (2:17a). The curse is clearly stated, "for when you eat of it, you will surely die" (2:17b). But as we know from the narrative, they couldn't even do that. They fell short of God's glory (Romans 3:23). Genesis 3:1-12 tells the story of how man fell. The Fall is the distinctive point where the covenant changes, from Edenic to Adamic, as some might say. The one condition of the covenant is broken. Now instead of blessings, there are curses. Man's work now becomes labor. Woman's childbearing is painful. Also, woman must submit to man, setting up a patriarchal world. So why do I say this covenant as a whole is both unconditional and conditional? Go back to the original blessings. Does man rule over the earth? I say yes. While some might say now Satan or sin is charge of the world, I see man being dominant over the animals. Does man still subdue the earth? While the ground produces thorns and thistles, man can ultimately make it produce fruits, vegetables and grains. So yes. Is man is going to multiply and reproduce? While the female has to undergo childbearing pains, yes, she will still reproduce. Does man still have God's image? While it is broken and blemished, yes, the New Testament recognizes man still carrying God's image, even up to that time (1 Cor. 11:7, Eph. 2:4, Col. 3:10, James 3:9). My point is that all the blessings God gives man at his creation are still in effect. So we see it's unconditional. So where's the conditional part? Count how many times I said "while" in this paragraph. I did state that all blessings on God's part are still there, but I also noted that things were now different. No longer was it the easy road. Things weren't simply provided. Man had to work for it. This is why the post-fall covenants are called "Covenant of works." Man has to work. Man's responsibilities become greater. Not only does he have to work, but sacrifices are needed, as one can see in Genesis 4. But more importantly, is the curse God states with breaking the condition: "you will surely die." I read somewhere the original Hebrew phrase uses a double death, and that's exactly what Adam and Eve experienced. Not only were they no longer immortal but physically going to die one day, they now were going to experience a spiritual death, which is separation from God. But most importantly, even more importantly than the curse from the fall, is the Proto-Gospel in Genesis 3:15. By eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they chose to leave God's covenant with hthem, but God still promised a way back in. Even with the Edenic/Adamic Covenant "rewritten," God still gives promises, a promise of a way back in. This is unconditional.


The NOAHIC COVENANT (Genesis 8:21-9:17) renewed the Edenic/Adamic under Noah, since God had destroyed the rest of humankind with the flood. The covenant is between God and Noah, but just like before, Noah is representing mankind as a whole. The covenant also extends to animals (9:9,12,15) Why does God establish this covenant? When Noah comes out of the ark, he makes a sacrifice to the Lord. The Lord smells the pleasing aroma of the burnt offerings. The offerings serve as a "reminder" (like God forgets) that his covenant with Adam and manking is unconditional, no matter how bad man's sin would get. It was crucial for God to provide salvation for Noah, or else the Lord would be breaking His covenant to Adam/mankind by not sending a Savior before being destruction to the world. So since God brought Noah out of the destruction of the flood and into the ark for salvation from the floodwaters, God starts new with Noah and his family, and start a covenant. The promises to Noah are the same to Adam. Noah will be numerous descandants (seed), will fill the earth (land), and be fruitful (blessing. Compare Genesis 9:1,7 to 1:28). Also, just like in the Adamic Covenant, the Noahic covenant shows what mankind can eat. In the Adamic Covenant, it is every green plant, but in the Noahic Covenant, animals are added to the list of foods (compare Genesis 1:29,30 to Genesis 9:3. Now in the Adamic Covenant, man is given dominion over the animals. In the Noahic Covenant, this isn't explicitly stated, but it is kind of hinted with the animals having "the fear and dread" of man. In a way, Noah somewhat becomes a new Adam, as he is given the same blessings as Adam was given (notice I said "in a way" and "somewhat." Don't take this allusion too far, because Romans says that Jesus Christ is the New Adam). The better way to put it is that the Adamic Covenant is now re-focused on Noah. But the for both of them, the focus is on mankind. This makes sense because with Noah and his family being the only survivors of the flood, every human on earth is a descendant of Noah. Another addition to the covenant is God's promise not to destroy the earth with waters of a flood (9:11-15). The rainbow is the sign of this covenant (9:12-16). On the side of man's responsibilities, man is to respect life and be held accountable for life, especially for loss of life (9:4-6). Maybe God had in mind that the first big sin that happened after the Fall was Cain killing his brother Abel. Yet even with these commands, the covenant is unconditonal. Even if man is murderous and sinful, he will continue to have seed, land and blessing.

10 generations and 3 chapters later, God gives the ABRAHAMIC COVENANT (Genesis 12:1-3, 15:1-19, 17:1-27. The reader even has a hint of it in Genesis 18:17-19 with God's monologue with Himself/the trinity.) I believe these numerous mentions of the covenant were God's reminder of His plan for Abraham as God moved Abraham from place to place. This covenant is the early establishment of Israel. God promises Abraham numerous descendants (seed), who will become a great nation (land). This nation will ble blessed by God and other nations who want to be blessed (blessing). Those who bless Abraham get blessed; those who curse Abraham get cursed. And even in some odd instances, God blesses Abraham and curses the nation (see Abraham and Pharaoh in Gen. 12:10-20). But if you think about this covenant and the story about Abraham, you realize that by the time Abraham dies, it is not fully fulfilled. The only land Abraham receives is his burial plot, which is very little compared to what God promised him (compare Gen. 15:18-21). The only descendants he has is his one son Isaac and his two grandsons Esau and Jacob (Abraham died while Jacob and Esau were teenagers, about 15), since Ishmael and Keturah's sons were sent away and had no part in the inheritance. Abraham sees very little of the covenant fulfilled; it will all be fulfilled in the future. Despite popular belief, the Abrahamic Covenant was not just for Israel. It was meant for all nations. God planned to bless all nations. Israel, Abraham's descendants, were the means of that blessing. So while at those sections, the coveant is made between God and Abraham, but it is set up to have all nations involved. The best example would Lot's descendants, which would become the Ammnonites and Moabites. In Genesis 18, we see God interceding for Lot. Without that intercession, Lot would have never been saved. God saved Lot on request of Abraham. Since Abraham is related to Lot, Lot's descendants, the Moabites and Ammonites, get a small taste of the covenant, as long as they are faithful to God. Why did God choose Abraham? Maybe because in a polytheistic world (Islamic tradition says that Abraham's father Terah worshipped many pagan gods), God knew that Abraham would be monotheistic. Possibly because God knew Abraham would follow in perfect obedience, not questionning God. The reader sees that throughout the whole Abraham narrative. Or maybe it was because in His foreknowledge, God knew Abraham would chose God, follow by faith, and obey God's laws, commands, degrees, and requirements. I believe all are possibilities. But I believe most importantly that God chose Abraham, and Abraham chose. Whatever the reason, I also think one of the main roles was because God had moved Abraham to a new place, and wanted to lead and guide him through this with a covenant. You can see this in Genesis 15, when God says, "I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans..." This brings us to the state of conditionality. Traditionally, this covenant has been declared unconditional. Those who say that use the imagry of God walking alone through the offerings- while typically both parties walk through, only God walks through. But the evidence saying that it is conditional outweighrs it. In Genesis 12:1, God tells Abraham to "Leave and go." If Abraham stays put, God cannot give Abraham the land God will show him. Genesis 17 is an important chapter for this. In verse 1, God commands Abraham to walk before him and be blameless. Verse 9 has God stating the important of keeping the covenant. Chapter 17 goes on to talk about circumcision, which sets up an if/then clause. If you want to be in the covenant, you must be circumcized. If you don't get circumcised, you're out of the covenant. Conditions. You also see Abraham making sacrifices throughtout the narrative. Later on, when God talks to Isaac in Genesis 26:4,5, God says, " I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, (WHY?) because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws.” So I conclude (and I apologize if this sounds postmodern again) that this covenant is also both conditional and unconditional. I would even go as far as say the covenant starts out conditional, but ends unconditonal. Abraham has conditions, passes, and thus the covenant is permanent forever more. Abraham's descendants will get the seed, land and blessing. And like I said, the other nations are involved in this covenant, and for them, it is fully conditional. Nations that are for Abraham's descendats are blessed, but nations against Abraham will be cursed. This covenant is renewed to Isaac and Jacob, Abraham's heir son and gradson respectively. Isaac and Jacob do not get new covenants, but just renewed Abrahamic covenant. Same conditions, same promises, same blessings, same curses (Gen. 26:2-5, Gen. 28:10-22). The Abrahamic Covenant is referred by Paul in Galatians 3 and Romans 4. As both of them state, the main condition is faith. For example, Paul points out that Abraham was declared righteous by any act of circumcision. So it's not by act he is made righteous, but his credited faith.

After leading the Israelites out of Egypt, as foretold to Abraham (Gen. 15:13-16), God establishes the MOSAIC COVENANT to Israel via Moses. It is found scattered all throughout Exodus (ch. 3, 6:1-8, ch. 19-24, ch. 34), is renewed with every new generation (as seen in Deuteronomy and Joshua, and is referenced in the New Testament (i.e. Matt. 5, Gal. 3, and the whole book of Hebrews). The parties involved are God and the nation of Israel. This covenant gets more specific. The Gentiles are not involved in this covenant (Deut. 4:8, Eph. 2:12). But in keeping with the Abrahamic Covenant, Israel was to be a light to the Gentiles, an example of what the people of God were to be like (Exodus 19:6). Also, any Gentile could get in on the covenant if they were circumcised and followed the Mosaic Law. The exclusivity of this covenant is also apparent in the reason. Many times in the Old Testament, God presents Himself as "I am the Lord Your God, who brought you out of Egypt..." Pretty much, God is saying to the Israelites, "I saved you, so I believe you own me. Let's work out a mutual relationship." Once again, God promises seed, land (Exodus 23:29) and blessing. Furthermore, the promise of the messiah is found in this covenant, where God says He will send a prophet like Moses (Deut. 18:15-19). They must listen to this prophet, for if they don't, they will be cut off from God's people. This will come back into play later on in my next blog. All this is promised, but with a big IF. This covenant is majorly conditional. On Israel's side, they receive the 10 Commandments followed by other laws explaining the 10 commandments (what is work, what is murder, what is adultery, etc.) totalling 613 (so the Jews say. yup, they counted). Most scholars divide this into apoditic law (Dos and Do Nots) and caustic laws (if/then). If Israel wants land, seed and blessing, they must be obedient to the Law. Sinning against the Law can be paid with sacrificial blood. Disobedience will lead to the opposite of the promises. Israel receives curses (opposite of blessing), its people will die (opposite of seed), and they will be cut off from the land (opposite of land). Yet because the Mosaic Covenant is still under the Abrahamic Covenant, God will no totally disown Israel. At anytime, if they repent and turn to God, they will be forgiven and everything will be restored. Just like in the Abrahamic Covenant, nation can also receive God's blessing if they bless the nation of Israel. Any nation in its way will be cursed. The Israelites agree to the term and conditions (Exodus 24:7), even though the next time Moses goes up Sinai, Israel breaks the Law by building a golden calf (Exodus 32). Yet by the end of the book, the people repent, and they work something out with God. This prepares the cycle the reader will see going as he reads the whole Old Testament.

In 2 Samuel 7, God sets up with David the DAVIDIC COVENANT. The Davidic Covenant is usually portrayed as a kingly covenant. This covenant gets in more specific, as this is strictly God with David and his descendants. One family line from one tribe. 2 Samuel 7 also reveals why David gets this covenant. 2 Samuel 7:7-8 is God reminding David that He took David out of the weakest clan, the weakest family, and the youngest of the family to lift him up to king. That is why a covenant is being established. This covenant first promises David will have a great name (2 Sam. 7:9) and also land for the people (2 Sam. 7:10). This is the land and the blessing seen in the previous covenant. Now the seed. The covenant promises David that a son will always be on the throne. These kingly sons God adopts as His own son, leading to the Ultimate Son, the Messiah. This tends to lead people to believe that this is an Israel/Judah (even though David's descendants are always kings of Judah, God promises in Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 37 that Israel and Judah will be reuinted) only covenant. I disagree. Why is that? The Davidic Covenant promises the Messiah will come from David's line. This messah from David's dynasty will be the Savior of the world, promised all the way back in Adamic Covenant. This covenant is unconditional. No matter what David's descendants do do, David will always have descendants (seed) on the throne, and the ultimate king will come from Him (although the descendant might face the wrath of the Mosaic Covenant). On top of land, seed, and blessings, David gets house, throne and kingdom (2 Sam. 7:16).

That leads us to the NEW COVENANT. To fully look at the New Covenant, we got to split it into different parts. Now someone might thinkg New Covenant = New Testament. This is not fully true. Turn to Jeremiah 31:31-34 in your Bibles. It simply starts, " 'The time is coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will make a New Covenant...'". Already, the mention of a New Covenant is there before the New Testament is there. Let's skip ahead to the 5th line in Jeremiah 31:32 to find out why this covenant is being made. It reads "because thy broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them." If you're no too familiar with the book of Jeremiah, let me paint the scene. Judah's sin has become too great, and the Lord has pronounced judgment on the nation. They will go into exile. The Lord calls his prophet Jeremiah to announce the judgment. This judgment is the result of breaking the Mosaic Covenant. Judah had fallen into idolatry, and their last 3 kings were corrupt. The Mosaic Covenant had failed, but not because of God. God had been very faithful to keep His promises. It was Israel who could not be faithful to the covenant. Thus, they had to face the curses. Reading Israel's history, the reader can tell the people are incapable of keeping the covenant. There's got to be a better one. That is why God is preparing a covenant that is "not like the covenants I made with their forefathers" because sinful man is just not capable of following the Law. So what's this new law like? Verses 33 and 34 tell the reader. It is not one of merely knowing laws of what to do and what not do do. The Law will be in their hearts, and so will God be. The big change is going from commanding the people to follow laws, to helping the people follow laws by changing them. This change will bring forgiveness of sins, a forgiveness so strong that God forgets the sin. Jeremiah 31:31-34 is an important setup for the New Testament. In fact, this passage is referenced in the New Testament in Romans 11:27, 2 Corinthians 6:16, Hebrews 8:8-12 and Hebrews 10:16-17.

Ezekiel also gets to hear about this New Covenant from the Lord. In Ezekiel 37:15-28, God lays out the New Covenant. First, starting with Ezekiel 37:15-23, God starts by reuniting Judah with the rest of the tribes of Israel to make them one people again, just like I said in the Davidic Covenant. Speaking of Davidic Covenant, verse 24 says David will be king over them. Is it really David? No, he is dead and buried. This is the Messiah, promised through David's line. Going back to verses 15-23, even thought it is the New Covenant, God is still promising the land, seed and blessing promised to Abraham. (vs. 22,26). But the other half of this passage is the same as in Jeremiah. God will be with them and forgive them all their idolotrous sins. Once again, we see this oneness with God and the people. No longer separation with a curtain. No longer the middle man of priests and prophets between God and man. Now it's one on one.

The New Covenant was established by God's Son Jesus Christ. So naturally the first thing to do is defend Jesus Christ's authority on establishing the New Covenant by showing how He fulfilled the Old Covenants. Jesus fulfilled the Adamic Covenant. First, he fulfilled it by being human just as much as He was God. He also fulfilled it by fulfilling Genesis 3:15 by the work on the cross. He fulfilled the Noahic Covenant by being a descendant of Noah, making Jesus a common relative to us all, because we all are related to Noah. He fulfilled the Abrahamic Covenant by being a descendant of Abraham, the promised One. He fulfilled the Davidic Covenant by being the son of David, the promised king. The New Testament starts out with Matthew 1:1, stating that Jesus is the sons of Abraham and David, fulfilling the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenant. He is the promised seed in all those covenants: the promised king, the promised Savior. Jesus fulfilled the Mosaic Covenant by perfectly obeying it and not sinning. He also perfectly obeyed it by being the perfect sacrifice for our sins, representing all the sacrifices in Leviticus. Jesus fulfilled all the the covenants.

On the night our Lord was betrayed, which lead to His "trial," crucifixion execution, and resurrection, Jesus made the NEW COVENANT (Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:17-20). This New Covenant promises a restored relationship with God to those who put their faith in Him, just like Abraham did. We are promised blessings, too. We are promised land. Jesus said in John 14:2,3 that He is preparing a place for His followers up in heaven. Galatians informs us we will be co-heirs with Christ. That leadus to another blessings. Those who receive Christ become children of God (John 1:12). We become the promised seed: the children of God. The ultimate blessing we get is forgiveness of sins, just like Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophecied. Since sin is the separator between God and man, Christ's blood sacrifice, removing the stain of sin, allows to be in the presence of God. Another promise is the Counseleor, the Holy Spirit (John 14). When the Holy Spirit descends in Acts 2, the New Covenant goes into effect immediately. This covenant is from God, but the "to" part specifies no one specific. It can be Jews or Gentiles. In fact, the new people of God is the Jews and Gentiles coming together to form the church, the body of Christ. This covenant is unconditional on acts and works, but conditional on faith. God calls those who choose receive the gift of his salvation. They are the people who confess and repent of their sins and sinful desires, and have a belief in the words and works of Jesus Christ, which can be seen in their thoughts, speech and actions.

As a progressive, dispensationalist, I see not 6 independent covenants, but 6 interdependent covenants. The next covenant adds to, updates, and fulfills the previous covenants. Under the New Covenant, we fulfill all the Old Covenants. How so? We fulfill the Adamic Covenants by being descendants of Adam. We are Adam's fruitful seed We fulfill the Noahic Covenant by being descendats of Noah. We are Noah's fruitful seed. So how did we fulfill the Abrahamic, Mosaic and Davidic Covenant, especially if we are Gentiles? Galatians chapter 3 links it together. We fulfill those 3 covenants because we are in Christ, and Christ fulfilled those 3 covenants. Therefore, we indirectly enter the covenants.