The covenants. How many covenants has God made with the people of Israel? 
Let’s look at what the bible tells us on this important subject. 

God makes a covenant with Noah 

GEN 9 V 11-13

And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

God makes a covenant with Abram 

GEN 15 V 18

In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

The covenant in more detail between Abraham and God 

GEN 17 V 4-12

As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.

The conditions of the covenant was that the male children from 8 days old be circumcised 

This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.

If the male children were not circumcised then they had broken the covenant 

GEN 17 V 14

And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

Peter spoke about the covenant in his sermon.

ACTS 3 V 25

Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

The covenant, which God made with Abraham would be carried on through Isaac 

GEN 17 V 19

And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.

God makes the covenant of the 10 commandments and statutes and laws with Israel 

EX 24 V 7-8

And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.
And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.

EX 24 V 12

And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.

EX 34 V 27

And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.

God then added a further covenant for the people of Israel 

DEUT 29 V 1

These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.

The Israelites did not have a heart to know nor eyes to see nor ears to hear. 

DEUT 29 V 4

Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

The Israelites were fed on manna so that they would know that the Lord is God.  They should have realized that God was providing for them during all the years of wandering. 

DEUT 29 V 6

Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God.

God wanted Israel to obey Him and reap the benefits. 

DEUT 30 V 8-11

And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.
And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:
If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.

DEUT  30 V 15-16

See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

However to disobey God would mean many curses. 

DEUT 30 V 17-19

But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

DEUT 29 V 21

And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law:

The old covenant made with the Nation of Israel was built on physical blessings for physical obedience.  If people obeyed they were blessed physically.  The penalties for breaking the laws, were severe, and  God executed punishment without mercy. 

HEB 10 V 28

He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

However, the people did not have ears to hear or eyes to see and they disobeyed God and kept not His commandments. The penalties for breaking the covenant will have to be paid in the future and will be the time of  Jacob’s trouble. 

JER 11 V 8

Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do; but they did them not.

God said He would make a new covenant with His chosen people, He would write His laws on their hearts and they would have ears to hear and eyes to see. 
The blessings for obeying Gods spiritual law is that we receive the earnest of the spirit which is the down payment for eternal life. 

EPH 1 V 13-14

In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

The old covenant was built on physical obedience; which would give  physical riches, and blessings. 
The new covenant is spiritual belief and obedience, which will give spiritual riches in the form of eternal life with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. 
Being rich towards God is what is important in this life. 

LUKE 12 V 20-21

But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

 If we show we believe God and obey Him we will then receive eternal life when we get the holy spirit of power.  How amazing is the love and mercy of God.  God will deal with His people with mercy. 

JER 31 V 31-34

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:
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:
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.
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

JER 32 V 39-44

And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.
And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD.

In the future God will deliver Israel when He forgives their sins. 

ROM 11 V 27

For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

God made a covenant with David, that he would always have a descendant on the throne, and that the levites would continue in the ministry. 

JER 33 V 20-22

Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season;
Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.
As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.

MAL 2 V 4

And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.

When Israel returns from captivity, God makes a covenant of peace with them. 

EZEK 34 V 25

And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.

When Israel returns from captivity after Jacobs trouble, God takes away all the wild animals and the sword, and Gods people will find peace. 

HOS 2 V 18

And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.

The new covenant is explained by Paul. 

HEB 8 V 6-10

But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

Notice the following scripture which states that we will have eternal life under the new covenant.  Remember we receive the down payment of eternal life when we receive the earnest of the spirit, then we receive eternal life when we show God that we believe Him and obey Him, then we receive the holy spirit of power.  This is eternal life, when we have that.  Of course we must endure until the end and continue to overcome and grow, but once we do that and God so desires us to be made into spirit beings, then we receive our inheritance. 

HEB 9 V 15-18

And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.

HEB 12 V 24

And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

HEB 13 V 20

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

Today, we must still keep the commandments, which are the laws of God.  We must believe Him and obey Him.  This in itself will still bring physical blessings. 
Today we are under the new covenant of spiritual blessings for spiritual obedience. 
The Israelites did not have the eyes to see or the ears to hear. 
God has enabled us to hear Him and understand Him through His calling, and the giving of the earnest of the Holy Spirit. 
The earnest of the spirit is the down payment for eternal life. 
Once we continue on in our spiritual lives and demonstrate to God that we love Him, obey Him, and believe Him, He will give us the requirement of eternal life….our inheritance, which is eternal life.  This is the Holy Spirit of power. 
This new covenant is all made possible by the death of Jesus Christ who paid the penalty of sins for us, the new covenant is made possible by the shedding of blood and the death of Christ. 

Footnote:

God will show His end time church a great deal of new knowledge. The  laws and statutes will be restored in  the time of the  end.  The knowledge of the covenants will be known by those who fear Him. 

PSALM 25 V 14

The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.

 

Email.. Jim and Peta McGinn
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