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.
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