After all of this breaking of the covenant between the people and God, God foretold of another covenant.

We read of it in Jeremiah 31:31-34: “Behold, the days are coming, says 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 that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

The first covenant mentioned here (with the nation of Israel “in the day” when God led them out of the land of Egypt) did not involve God putting His laws in the minds of the people. It was a covenant that would guarantee many physical blessings and long life if kept but did not have a promise of eternal life. But this new covenant would be the answer to the question raised in Deuteronomy 5:29 (compare also Deuteronomy 29:4 and Joshua 24:19, as discussed in the previous Q&A). God would give them a heart to fear Him and keep His commandments.

This passage in Jeremiah 31:31-34 is quoted almost identically in Hebrews 8:8-12. Hebrews 8:6-8 gives us information of this new covenant: “But now He (Christ) has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant [note, in passing, that the word “covenant” has been added here by the translator] had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them….” Hebrews 8:13 informs us, “In that He says, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”

We read previously in Exodus 24:8, “And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words.’” Likewise, the new covenant was also certified with blood, this time not with the blood of animals but with the blood of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 9:12 informs us, “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” Hebrews 9:14-15 states, “… how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.”

While the first or old covenant between God and the nation of Israel had many physical blessings, it did not have the promise of eternal life. However, this new covenant has a promise of eternal inheritance which certainly necessitates eternal life. So especially in this promise, the new covenant is greatly superior to the old covenant.

So from this we know there was nothing wrong with the first covenant, in fact it was very beneficial at the times it was kept, but God found fault with the people because mostly they did not keep it. As we read in Deuteronomy 5:29, the people did not have such a heart in them to keep all of God’s commandments on which the covenant was based.

There are other covenants mentioned in the Old Testament between individuals. One is mentioned in 1 Samuel 18:1: “Now when he (David) had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” 1 Samuel 18:3-4 adds: “Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armour, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.” Again, these were signs for this covenant. As we read the story, David and Jonathan kept this covenant until after the death of Jonathan. David’s lamenting is described in 2 Samuel 1:19-27, particularly in 2 Samuel 1:26. “I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; You have been very pleasant to me; Your love to me was wonderful, Surpassing the love of women.” Their covenant was an extremely strong relationship (but it has nothing to do with the absolutely false allegation that David and Jonathan were gay lovers.)

God did make another covenant, this time with king David. The fact that it was made is stated, as a part of David’s last words, in 2 Samuel 23:5, although it is not stated here what it involved: “Although my house is not so with God, Yet He had made with me an everlasting covenant, Ordered in all things and secure. For this is all my salvation and all my desire; Will He not make it increase?” 2 Chronicles 13:5 relates a time when David, Solomon and Rehoboam had died and Abijah was king over Judah and fighting against Jeroboam and the tribes of Israel: “Should you not know that the LORD God of Israel gave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, by a covenant of salt?” Here we find that this covenant was for David and his sons to reign over Israel forever. And it was a covenant of salt, showing its permanence.

This covenant is also stated clearly in Psalm 89:3-4: “I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David: Your seed I will establish forever, And build up your throne to all generations…” And finally, about this covenant, God states that unless the covenant with day and night can be broken, then His covenant with David, and that with the Levites, cannot be broken. Jeremiah 33:20-22 states: “Thus says the LORD: ‘If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.’”

This covenant involves David’s descendants to be rulers over at least one tribe of Israel (compare our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”). However, David himself knew he would be resurrected to eternal life long before this covenant was made with him. He states in Psalm 17:15. “As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.” He knew he would be resurrected to eternal life as a Spirit Being.

In conclusion, we see that covenants are the method God used in His dealings with men, and also occurred between individuals. Putting aside for the moment the covenants between God and some individuals like Phinehas or the tribe of Levi, there were several periods of time when God made covenants, and some of these are very beneficial to us today. Apart from the indication of God’s covenant of marriage (see our discussion in part 2 of this series), the first period refers to the time of Noah when God promised He would never again destroy all life by means of a flood. This we can rely on that we will be safe from a total worldwide flood. The second period relates to the time of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The covenants included blessings of a land, descendant nations and kings.

In Genesis 18:17-18, God reveals that all nations of the earth shall be blessed in Abraham: “And the LORD said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?’” This is repeated in Genesis 26:4: “And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” And why would this be? Verse 5 continues: “… because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

But, of course, since we are a part of all nations to be blessed because of Abraham’s obedience, this covenant is beneficial to us today. In addition, the descendants of Abraham and, through him, the house of Israel would be greatly blessed physically as well, but those blessings would be removed when they would refuse to obey, as we are seeing today. And even more to the point, as Galatians 3:16 informs us, “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ.” So, we greatly benefit through Christ. As true Christians, we are spiritual Israelites, and we are thereby promised eternal life through the Seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ.

The third time period when God made covenants with men was at Sinai (and subsequently at Moab). In addition to the covenant which God made with Levi at that time, it was not just a man or he and his family that God made a covenant with, but with a whole nation of millions of people. This was the first covenant dedicated with blood. As we read in Hebrews 9:18-20, “Therefore not even the first covenant [note, in passing, that the word “covenant” was added here by the translator] was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.’” As we pointed out previously in Part 4, God made also a separate covenant with the people of Israel regarding the weekly and annual Sabbath days. We read in Isaiah 56:6-7 that even those who may not be Israelite by birth, if they refuse to defile the Sabbath and hold fast to this covenant, God will make them joyful in His house of prayer. This potentially includes all people of the world.

The fourth time period when God made a covenant was with David. This was for David to always have descendants to sit on the throne of Israel, not for his own eternal life.

The fifth time period when God promised a covenant was when it was stated in Jeremiah 31:31-34 that God was going to make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. This time, God would put His laws in their hearts so they could keep them as they were intended to be kept. We read in Galatians 3:29, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” This new covenant included the promise of eternal life and rulership over all of God’s creation.

Hosea 2:16 informs us when this new covenant is in force, we will no longer call God our Master: “‘And it shall be, in that day,’ Says the LORD, ‘That you will call Me “My Husband,” And no longer call Me “My Master.”’” This obviously refers to Revelation 19:7, “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”

There are many covenants in the Bible, too many to mention in this short discussion, but they are the main way God uses in dealing with His people throughout the ages and into the future.

(To Be Continued)

Lead Writer: Paul Niehoff

God does not forget His covenant with the children of Israel, but in order to receive the blessings of the covenant, the people had to return to the LORD. God gives a strong warning to those who break the laws and the covenant in Deuteronomy 17:2-5: “If there is found among you, within any of your gates which the LORD your God gives you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the LORD your God, in transgressing His covenant, who has gone and served other gods and worshipped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded, and it is told you, and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination has been committed in Israel, then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed that wicked thing, and shall stone to death that man or woman with stones.”

Near the end of the book of Deuteronomy, just before the death of Moses and the children of Israel entering the Promised Land, God had Moses address all the people. We read in Deuteronomy 29:10-15. “All of you stand today before the LORD your God: your leaders and your tribes and your elders and your officers, all the men of Israel, your little ones and your wives—also the stranger who is in your camp, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water—that you may enter into covenant with the LORD your God, and into His oath, which the LORD your God makes with you today, that He may establish you today as a people for Himself, and that He may be God to you, just as He has spoken to you, and just as He has sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I make this covenant and this oath, not with you alone, but with him who stands here with us today before the LORD our God, as well as with him who is not here with us today.”

This is very comprehensive, as it included all the children of Israel as well as others who were not of the children of Israel but were present. The expression “as well as with him who is not here with us today,” could include those who may have been sick or indisposed for some other reason at that time. However, the Jewish Soncino commentary suggests it means the posterity of those standing there. This is confirmed in Scriptures like Deuteronomy 5:10 where God shows “…mercy to thousands (of generations), to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” In other words, those who live by the laws on which the covenant was based.

To show God’s consistency, the statement concerning the stranger or foreigner is also mentioned in Isaiah 56:6-7: “Also the sons of the foreigner Who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, And to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants—Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant—Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” An interesting point about this passage in Isaiah is that here, the Sabbath and the covenant are treated as separate items. We noted previously that the Sabbath was a stand-alone covenant as well as being a part of the Ten Commandments.

A further point of interest in Deuteronomy 29:11 is the term “the stranger who is in your camp, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water.” A similar term is only used again concerning the Gibeonites in Joshua 9:27; so again, did the elders of that time remember what God had promised in Deuteronomy 29 as stated previously, or was it that the one who cuts your wood and the one who draws you water were the lower class of citizens?

In Deuteronomy 5:2-3, Moses states that God made a covenant with them at Horeb, even though most of them standing there were not even born at the time. Only a handful of those over twenty years old at the time God made the covenant with the children of Israel had not died in the wilderness. We read Deuteronomy 5:2-3: “The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The LORD did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive.” The literal translation of Deuteronomy 5:3 by Richard Elliot Friedman is enlightening: “YHWH did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us! We! These! Here! Today! All of us! Living!”

His comment on this passage is both interesting and informative: “…Moses mixes past, present, and future. He speaks to the people in front of him as if they had all been at Sinai forty years earlier. Now he says it explicitly, powerfully, unmistakably, with seven different words: Each generation must see themselves as personally standing at Sinai, not just as inheriting their parents’ covenant, but as making the covenant themselves. It is a present, living commitment” (Friedman, Richard Elliott. Commentary on the Torah (p. 2579). HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

So even when God made the covenant with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, just before they entered the land of Canaan (compare Deuteronomy 29:1, 12), they could consider that they, in effect, partook of the original covenant at Sinai.

The final chapters of the book of Deuteronomy contain many warnings of what would happen if they broke their covenant with God. In fact, God warned Moses that they would break the covenant and follow after other gods and God would punish them as He had promised. In one place, Deuteronomy 5:29, God lamented that the people did not have a heart to obey the commandments: “Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!” Two translations, the Douay-Rheims and the Richard Elliot Friedman translations, render the passage as a question, as follows: “Who would make it so, that they would have such a heart (or, “Who shall give them to have such a mind”, Douay-Rheims) to fear Me and observe all My commandments every day, so it would be good for them and for their children forever?”(Friedman). The implication is that only God could make it so but He needs to give the people a new heart and a new mind, so that they are going to obey Him voluntarily.

Actually, the question is answered which we will learn, when we read about the New Covenant.

In Old Testament times, however, very few were able and willing to obey God. Moses told the people again in Deuteronomy 29:4: “Yet the LORD has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day… “

Also, Joshua tells the people in Joshua 24:19: “…You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.”

At the end of the book of Joshua, just before he died, he warned the people again not to serve foreign gods. Joshua 24:20 states: “If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.” Then the people answered in Joshua 24:24-27: “And the people said to Joshua, ‘The LORD our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!’ So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. Then Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took a large stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. And Joshua said to all the people, ‘Behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of the LORD which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God.’”

As mentioned previously, the covenants often had a sign, or witness, for them to be remembered by. In this case, the stone that was set up under the oak tree was to be a witness.

When we come to the book of Judges, there is a continual description of the people breaking the covenants that God had made with their ancestors and, by extension, with them. The result was, of course, that God allowed them to be conquered, but when they cried out to God, He would send them judges to release them from this captivity. Judges 2:1-3 describes this: “Then the Angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: ‘I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said “I will never break My covenant with you. And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.” But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? Therefore I also said, “I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.”’”

This is either an angel speaking God’s words or, more probably, Jesus Christ Himself—the Angel or Messenger of God the Father—as it was He who led the children of Israel to the land of Canaan.

In fact, in the book of Judges, the term “The people did evil in the sight of the LORD” occurs at least eight times. Actually, when we examine the history of the nation of Israel after the split with the nation of Judah, there were no good kings in the House of Israel who observed their covenant with God, and because of that, God sent them into captivity in Assyria.

Considering the nation of Judah, there were many kings who ignored their covenant with God, but there were some who observed it. The last of these was Josiah. 2 Chronicles 34:29-33 describes his actions and his humility when he heard the words of the law: “Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. The king went up to the house of the LORD, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the Levites, and all the people, great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the LORD. And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. And he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin take a stand. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. Thus Josiah removed all the abominations from all the country that belonged to the children of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel diligently serve the LORD their God. All his days they did not depart from following the LORD God of their fathers.” So, while Josiah made a covenant before the LORD, it was to observe the covenant that God had made before with the “fathers.”

Unfortunately, after Josiah was killed at a young age in battle, the following kings and the people following them did evil in the sight of the LORD (compare Jehoiakim in 2 Chronicles 36:5; Jehoiachin in 2 Chronicles 36:9; and Zedekiah in 2 Chronicles 36:12). Therefore, God also sent the nation of Judah into captivity in Babylon.

And yet, even when a small number returned from Babylonian captivity after seventy years, some of the priests and Levites and others had taken pagan wives from the people of the land. So in Ezra 10:3, we read, “Now therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of my master and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.”

So many men had taken pagan wives that it took two months to examine each individual case and to determine the correct judgement.

(To Be Continued)

Lead Writer: Paul Niehoff (Australia)

In Exodus 31:12-17, God made another covenant with the people.  This is a separate covenant from the one between God and the children of Israel and it is a sign that God is their LORD: “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: “Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the God who sanctifies you. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.”’” It is a perpetual covenant throughout all their generations forever. Again, as noted previously, perpetual and forever are translated from the same Hebrew word. This covenant would never be replaced. It was based on the law of the weekly and annual Sabbaths. As we explain in our free booklet, “And Lawlessness Will Abound”:

“By observing and being mindful of this sign, Israel would understand that it is God who sanctifies them, and Israel as a nation would become a sign to the other nations of this world, as the keeping of God’s Sabbaths does single one out.

“This separate Sabbath covenant between God and His people was never abolished—neither were the laws of God commanding us to keep His weekly and annual Sabbaths holy. And, since Christians are to be spiritual Jews (Romans 2:28–29; Galatians 6:16; Revelation 2:9; 3:9), they have a two-fold obligation to keep God’s Sabbaths—first, because God commands us to do so; and second, because they are under a specific covenant or agreement that God made with both physical and spiritual Israel, for all generations.”

Looking back to the statement of the laws of the covenant in Exodus 23:32-33, God told them that when they went into the land of Canaan, “You shall make no covenant with them”—the people currently living in the land—“nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

This command is repeated in Exodus 34:10-13 when God made another covenant with Israel after they had sinned by building a golden calf: “And He said: ‘Behold, I make [better: “I am making”, so the New International Version; similar the Living Bible and the New American Bible] a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you. Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I am driving out from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images.’”

This was again repeated in Deuteronomy 7:2-4. God here tells the people not to allow their sons to marry the daughters of the people of the land, nor their daughters to marry the sons of the people of the land: “…and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.”

In Deuteronomy 7:9-10, God reminds the people of His faithfulness: “Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face.” This faithfulness for a thousand generations is basically everlasting.

There is a strong warning to those under the covenant in Deuteronomy 17:2-5: “If there is found among you, within any of your gates which the LORD your God gives you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the LORD your God, in transgressing His covenant, who has gone and served other gods and worshipped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded, and it is told you, and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination has been committed in Israel, then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed that wicked thing, and shall stone to death that man or woman with stones.”

When the children of Israel entered the land under Joshua, they were deceived by the Gibeonites. These people had heard how the Israelites under Joshua had defeated fortified cities. They therefore sent ambassadors to Gilgal. Joshua 9:6-9 states: “And they went to Joshua, to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and the men of Israel, ‘We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us.’ Then the men of Israel said to the Hivites, ‘Perhaps you dwell among us; so how can we make a covenant with you?’ But they said to Joshua, ‘We are your servants.’ And Joshua said to them, ‘Who are you, and where do you come from?’ So they said to him: ‘From a very far country your servants have come, because of the name of the LORD your God; for we have heard of His fame, and all that He did in Egypt.’”

The reason Joshua and the men of Israel were deceived is mentioned in Joshua 9:14-15: “Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the LORD. So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them.” They did not ask counsel of the LORD but used their own human reason. However, when they found out that the Gibeonites were close neighbours, they did not attack them because of the covenant they had made, but instead made them slaves for service at the house of God. Joshua 9:27 says: “And that day Joshua made them woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, in the place which He would choose, even to this day.”

Shortly after this, the kings of five neighbouring cities who had heard that the Gibeonites had made peace with Israel decided to attack Gibeon. Joshua 10:3-4 reads: “Therefore Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon, saying, ‘Come up to me and help me, that we may attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.’”

The response by the Gibeonites was to ask for help from Joshua, reminding him that they were the servants of Israel. Joshua 10:6 states: “And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, saying, ‘Do not forsake your servants; come up to us quickly, save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered together against us.’” The result was that Joshua and the men of Israel attacked at the LORD’s direction, not using their own human reason as before, and the LORD assisted Joshua in destroying the Amorites. In fact, this was the time when, at Joshua’s request, God caused the “sun to stand still” for about a whole day so the men of Israel had time to defeat the enemy (compare Joshua 10:12-14). We see here that the children of Israel fought at the LORD’s direction. God was helping the children of Israel to keep the covenant they had made with the Gibeonites, even though they should not have made it in the first place. God even stopped the earth rotating (to the people looking at the sky, it appeared as if the sun stood still) which shows how important He considers it is to keep a covenant.

The next mention of the Gibeonites is in 2 Samuel 21:1. This shows again how seriously God considers the keeping of a covenant, and how God expects His people to be faithful, even when the covenant was made against His directions and without seeking His advice: “Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, ‘It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites.’” So because of Saul’s breaking the covenant with the Gibeonites, God sent a famine on the land of Israel.

It is of interest that the modern day Falashas in Ethiopia are considered by the state of Israel to be descended from the Gibeonites, and in 1975 were accepted by the Chief Rabbinate as Jews and were allowed to migrate to Israel. (See the Q&A “Who are the modern-day Gibeonites?”) 

The whole of Leviticus 26 presents a list of blessings for keeping God’s laws and the covenants which are based on God’s laws, and cursings for breaking God’s laws and covenants. And yet, even if they were to break God’s laws and covenants and would be taken into captivity, Leviticus 26:44-45 informs us that God will not break His covenant because He is a faithful God: “Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.”

In this passage in Leviticus 26, the covenant God is referring to is the one He made at Sinai with the children of Israel. Back in Leviticus 26:42, God brings up the covenants He made with the patriarchs. If the people who have broken their covenant with God confess their iniquity, “Then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land.” The land was specifically mentioned in the covenants God made with the patriarchs.

Another covenant that God made with Aaron and the children of Levi is mentioned in Numbers 18:19: “All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to the LORD, I have given to you and your sons and daughters with you as an ordinance forever; it is a covenant of salt forever before the LORD with you and your descendants with you.” Reference to the covenant of salt was already made in Leviticus 2:13: “And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.” Salt, as well as being a flavouring, is also a preservative. It is also extremely durable symbolizing that God’s covenant with Levi is also durable or everlasting.

Salt is mentioned because it pictures permanence. Because the Levites were given no inheritance in the land, God gave them all the tithes in Israel in return for the work of the tabernacle of meeting.

This particular covenant between God and the Levites is mentioned in Malachi 2:4-8 where God is condemning the priests who were not performing their duty: “‘Then you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, That My covenant with Levi may continue,’ Says the LORD of hosts. ‘My covenant was with him, one of life and peace, And I gave them to him that he might fear Me; So he feared Me And was reverent before My name. The law of truth was in his mouth, And injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and equity, And turned many away from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. But you have departed from the way; You have caused many to stumble at the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,’ Says the LORD of hosts.””

So the obvious question is, why did God make a perpetual covenant with the tribe of Levi, which is also referred to in Jeremiah 33:18–22? Exodus 32 begins to provide part of the answer. This passage describes the time when Moses had gone up to the mountain to receive instructions about the worship of God and the formation of the priesthood. The people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain and they said to Aaron to make them gods to go before them. Aaron fashioned a golden calf and the people worshipped in front of it. We read in Exodus 32:25-29, “Now when Moses saw that the people were unrestrained (for Aaron had not restrained them, to their shame among their enemies), then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, ‘Whoever is on the LORD’s side—come to me!’ And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. And he said to them, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel: “Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.”’ So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day. Then Moses said, ‘Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother.’” They, as a tribe, were willing to stand up for God and His laws.

This was repeated in Deuteronomy 10:8-9 where this separating of the tribe of Levi is again described: “At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister to Him and to bless His name, to this day. Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his inheritance, just as the LORD your God promised him…”

In Numbers 25, the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. They were also joined to Baal of Peor, so God sent a plague on the people. When one of the men “presented” a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, Phinehas took a javelin in his hand and thrust both the man of Israel and the woman through their bodies. So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel (compare verses 6-8).

We read in Numbers 25:10-13 that God made a covenant with Aaron’s grandson Phinehas: “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in My zeal. Therefore say, “Behold, I give to him My covenant of peace; and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.”’”

In Deuteronomy 4:30-31, there is a prophecy that if the people sinned and worshipped false gods and were sent into captivity, God would not forget them if they repented: “When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice (for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.” (Compare Deuteronomy 5:2-3 and Leviticus 26:45.)

(To Be Continued)

Lead Writer: Paul Niehoff (Australia)

Genesis 27 relates the events where Jacob, by deception, and at the urging of his mother, stole the blessings from Esau. While Jacob was afraid of his deception being discovered, he went along with the scheme of his mother.

During this episode, Isaac asks three times who Jacob is because of his uncertainty, but finally blesses him, assuming he is Esau. Genesis 27:27-29 states: “And he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said: ‘Surely the smell of my son is like the smell of a field Which the LORD has blessed. Therefore may God give you Of the dew of heaven, Of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, And blessed be those who bless you.’” Notice that Isaac was calling on God to bless Jacob and that he would be a leading nation. This is all a part of the covenants and their blessings passed down through Isaac from Abraham.

After this Esau came in for his blessing, the one he assumed would be his because he was the one Isaac loved and to him would have belonged the birthright as the firstborn, even though he had sold it to Jacob for a stew of lentils (Genesis 25:34; Hebrews 12:16-17). But in Genesis 27:39-40 we read, “Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: ‘Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, And of the dew of heaven from above. By your sword you shall live, And you shall serve your brother; And it shall come to pass, when you become restless, That you shall break his yoke from off your neck.’”

There are several things to notice about verse 39. First of all, whatever he did receive was not going to be from God, unlike what Jacob received. Also, he would not receive plenty of grain and wine, signifying food and enjoyment. Quite a number of translations state that “of the fatness” should be translated “from the fatness”, i.e. far from the fatness, and indeed the land of Edom was not as fertile as the land of Canaan, not as suitable for growing grain and wine. In fact, the literal translation according to Richard Elliot Friedman’s Commentary on the Torah reads: “And Isaac, his father, answered, and he said to him, ‘Here, away from the fat of the earth will be your home, and from the dew of the skies from above.’” So, in reality, the only good thing about this “blessing” was that the descendants of Esau would break Jacob’s yoke from off their neck after being subservient to him for some time. Verse 40 is explained by the Jewish Soncino commentary in this way: “By your sword you shall live”; that is, by war and campaigns of plunder. The life of marauders dwelling in mountain fastnesses will be his. He will raid his brother’s borders, and cut off the merchants travelling with caravans. This was not a pleasant outlook for Esau. It was more like a curse than a blessing.

When Isaac and Rebekah learned that Esau was about to kill Jacob, they sent him to Jacob’s uncle Laban. Upon his departure, Isaac told Jacob the following, in Genesis 28:3-4, which is quite enlightening: “May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples; And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, Which God gave to Abraham.”

Here Isaac knows it is Jacob he is blessing, so there is no longer any deception about who he is.

Here his blessing includes an assembly of peoples, more than one nation. Even though the term covenant is not used for Jacob until Exodus 2:24, it is inferred because of the blessings and also because the covenants were for Abraham and his descendants. In other words, God’s covenants with Abram or Abraham were also for the benefit of his descendants. But of most significance, the term God Almighty is used for the second time in the Bible. The first time it was used was when God was explaining His covenant with Abraham. As we saw previously, Shaddai (Almighty) includes the meaning of “Dispenser of Benefits,” the One who supplies all the needs of His people. Another thing to note in the blessing is that Isaac passed on the blessing of Abraham, something that was not done in the previous chapter where deception was employed by Jacob. Still, Jacob did not immediately accept the blessings and enter into a covenant relationship with God, as we saw in Part 1 of this series.

In Genesis 31, Jacob with his wives, children and flocks were departing from Laban back to Canaan. Laban accused someone in Jacob’s company of stealing his gods. After the gods were not found, Jacob and Laban made a covenant of peace between them and set up a stone pillar and a heap of rocks as a witness between them as a sign of this covenant, even though it was, in reality, based on a lie, as Jacob’s wife Rachel had in fact stolen her father’s idols.

In Genesis 32, after God has told Jacob to return to the land of Canaan, Jacob hears the news that Esau is approaching with four hundred men. Esau, the one who was prophesied to live by the sword and who had sold his birthright to Jacob who then deceived Isaac to obtain his blessing. Naturally, Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. In Genesis 32:9, he reminds God that He had told him to return home and that He would deal well with him.

That night, before Jacob crossed the ford of the brook Jabbok after his families and livestock had crossed over, he was left alone. Genesis 32:24-29 records the following: “Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, ‘Let Me go, for the day breaks.’ But he said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me!’ So He said to him, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Jacob.’ And He said’ Your name shall no longer be called Jacob [that is, trickster or supplanter], but Israel [that is, Prince with God]; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.’ Then Jacob asked, saying, ‘Tell me Your name, I pray.’ And He said, ‘Why is it that you ask about My name?’ And He blessed him there.”

So, Jacob did not give up seeking a blessing from God. He certainly needed one with the distress he was in. It will be noticed that the Man wrestling with Jacob said that he had struggled with God and with men. In verse 30, we read that he said that he had “seen God face to face.” Since there is no other mention of Jacob struggling with God, and no one has seen God the Father, then this Man mentioned here had to have been Jesus Christ. This is confirmed in Hosea 12:2-4, where we read that Jacob struggled with God, who is then identified as the “Angel” or the “Messenger” of God the Father (compare Malachi 3:1, referring to Christ as the Messenger [of the Father] and of the [New] Covenant).

After this, Esau arrived with his four hundred men. Genesis 33:8-11 states: “Then Esau said, ‘What do you mean by all this company which I met?’ And he said, ‘These are to find favor in the sight of my Lord.’ But Esau said, ‘I have enough, my brother, keep what you have for yourself.’ And Jacob said, ‘No, please, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present from my hand, inasmuch as I have seen your face as though I had seen the face of God, and you were pleased with me. Please, take my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.’ So he urged him, and he took it.”

One commentary states, “In the East the acceptance by a superior is proof of friendship and by an enemy is proof of reconciliation. It was on both accounts that Jacob was so anxious that his brother should receive the cattle, and in Esau’s acceptance he had the strongest proofs of a good feeling being established that Eastern notions admit of.” Another commentary says of Jacob, “I have all things, both physical blessings and spiritual ones. God was his covenant God and Father.” When Jacob struggled with God, prevailed and received his new name, he also accepted the covenant with its blessings which God had offered him.

A further commentary states, “Jacob, in saying ‘I have enough’, is stating, ‘I am complete. The covenant God has made with me is all important.’ In the past Jacob had held onto Esau’s heel, he had striven to get what Esau had. Now he had held onto God and was complete with what God provided.” Again, the covenants and their blessings were passed on through the physically weaker Jacob rather than the obviously stronger Esau. God does not need physical strength but for us to hold onto Him.

In Genesis 35:9-12,  it is stated again that God changed Jacob’s name to Israel and that the blessings God gave to Abraham and Isaac as a part of the covenants were passed onto Israel. This is also the first time the term “a nation and a company of nations” is used. Genesis 35:11 says: “Also God said to him, ‘I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.’” This is also the third time the term God Almighty (El Shaddai) has been used, showing that God would be the provider for Israel. God reminds us of this fact in Exodus 6:3: “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them.” As we explain in our Q&A on Exodus 6:3, the correct translation of Exodus 6:3 should be: ““I revealed Myself to the fathers as El Shaddai, and as to My name YHWH, was I not (also) known by that?” We point out that “Genesis 6:3 contains indeed a self-explanatory rhetorical question (‘Did I not make Myself known to them as YHWH?’), which does not need or deserve an answer: God had revealed His name YHWH to the fathers, as well as others, and now He is revealing it again to Moses.”

Genesis 48:15 describes the event where Israel blessed Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh: “And he blessed Joseph and said: ‘God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day…’”According to Richard Elliot Friedman’s Commentary on the Torah, the expression “before whom my fathers walked”, this is technical covenant terminology known from ancient Near Eastern documents to mean loyalty to one’s partner in a covenant.

When the descendants of Israel were in Egyptian slavery, they prayed to God for delivery. We read in Exodus 2:24-25: “So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.”

There are two things to consider about this passage. Firstly, in Genesis 15:13-14, we read, “Then He said unto Abram: ‘Know certainly that thy descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.’” So, it was prophesied that they would go into slavery for many years. Secondly, the expression “God remembered His covenant” in English implies that for a time God had forgotten it. But in reality, He had seen their suffering and knew it was now time to fulfill His promise to Abram regarding His covenant. The Hebrew word for remember can mean “be mindful of”, “bring to remembrance”, and “think on”. So, God now thought on and knew it was time to end the suffering of His people. Where we read in cases like Jeremiah 31:34, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more,” Barnes’ Notes on the Bible informs us that God will not bring past sins up against us, when we have repented of them and obtained forgiveness. God can even choose to forget those sins completely. When He has forgiven us, He will, in His love, make no mention of, or will not bring to mind our past sins. Because of that, it can be said that God forgets our sins. This is even though some sins are recorded in the Bible for many of the ancients, so from that point of view, they are not forgotten, but God will not act upon them. For a further explanation, please note our Q&A, “What Will We Remember as God Beings?”

When God was about to pour out His plagues on Egypt, we read in Exodus 6:2-7. “And God spoke to Moses and said to him: ‘I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name יהוה (LORD, JHWH) I was not known to them [Note the correct translations above]. I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. [God has brought it to mind or thought on it]. Therefore say to the children of Israel: I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgements. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.’”

So now, God is going to bring the children of Israel out from bondage to inherit the land of Canaan. This is to fulfill His covenant promises that He made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Now after the ten plagues God brought upon Egypt and their travels through the Red Sea and arriving at Mount Sinai, God is preparing to make a covenant with the whole house of Israel.

Exodus 19:3-6 states: “And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.’” God is now setting out the conditions of this covenant and what Israel should do and what God will do.

The next four chapters in Exodus are describing many laws and statutes and judgements that were stated and read to the people of Israel.

Exodus 24:3 states: “So Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the judgements. And all the people answered with one voice and said, ‘All the words which the LORD has said we will do.’” So, they have now agreed to accept and abide by the covenant between them and God. Exodus 24:7-8 says: “Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, ‘All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient.’ And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words.’”

The covenant between God and the children of Israel has now been finalized and symbolized with the blood of a sacrificed animal as a token of the agreement between God and the people. After they all agreed to obey the conditions of the covenant, Moses went up to the mountain to receive the instructions for constructing the tabernacle and furnishing it(,) and making clothes for Aaron and his sons. While he was there for forty days and forty nights, the people assumed he would not return and pressured Aaron to make them idols that they could see and worship. So, in less than forty days, the people had broken the first and second laws that were a part of the covenant or on which the covenant was based, as the Ten Commandments existed long before this covenant was made: “You shall have no other gods before Me”, and “You shall not make for yourself a carved image…to bow down to them or serve them”. When God saw this, He was about to consume them for the breaking of their part of the covenant. Upon Moses pleading with God, He relented from the harm which He had intended to do to the Israelites. This is described in Exodus 32:10-14.

(To Be Continued)

Lead Writer: Paul Niehoff (Australia)

In much of the Scriptures, there is mention of covenants.

For a start, what is the meaning of the Hebrew word for covenant? Every instance in the Old testament is translated from the Hebrew word בְּרִית bĕriyth. A few times the Hebrew word is translated as confederate or league, but in most of those places, covenant could have been used instead. The word bĕriyth is from a root with the sense of “cutting”, because pacts or covenants were made by passing between cut pieces of flesh of an animal sacrifice. So actually, the expression “make a covenant” literally means “cut a covenant.” This becomes very obvious in the covenant of circumcision. Genesis 15:9-11, 17-18 shows the passing between cut pieces of flesh. Genesis 15:9-11 reads: “So He said to him, ‘Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.’ Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.”  Genesis 15:17-18 continues: “And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between the pieces. On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates…’”

Many covenants can be compared with formal and personal contracts when God is involved. They establish relationships, especially between individuals.

The first occurring covenant in the Bible, other than the covenant of day and night (Jeremiah 33:25), is that of marriage, although it is mentioned directly only in a way that it was not being kept correctly. Malachi 2:14-16 answers the question as to why God was not receiving the offerings from their hands (compare verse 13): “Yet you say, ‘For what reason?’” God answers: “Because the LORD has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant. But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce…”

The first time a covenant was mentioned specifically in the book of Genesis is in chapter 6:18. God was about to destroy the earth with a flood because of all the evil upon it. He told Noah because of his righteousness, “…I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.” The contents of this covenant is stated in Genesis 9:11-17: “‘Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’ And God said: ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.’ And God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.’”

We can be very grateful for this covenant knowing that a flood will not destroy all flesh as it states “for perpetual generations” and an “everlasting covenant”. Interestingly, both “perpetual” and “everlasting” are translated from the same Hebrew word that is also translated “continuance, always, without end.” The fact that God uses it twice in the one passage proves its certainty.

The next covenant mentioned was given to one man, Abram, but, as we will see, the blessings of this covenant were also to his descendants. God had described this man as righteous in Genesis 15:6: “And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” The covenant is stated in Genesis 15:18. At this time, Abram had just experienced a disturbing prophetic dream: “On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates…’”

In that Scripture, we see that God had promised Abram descendants. But Sarai was barren up until this time. So, at her suggestion, Abram fathered a son through Hagar, Sarai’s maid. This caused upset between Sarai and Hagar and so Hagar finished up fleeing into the wilderness to escape from Sarai. Here, as related in Genesis 16:10, “…the Angel of the LORD said to her, ‘I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude,’” and that she was to name her son Ishmael (compare verse 11). So now Abram has a son, Ishmael, whom God is going to bless greatly. And the fact that God was going to bless Ishmael is repeated three more times in later passages. However, Ishmael was not Abram’s descendant through whom God would fulfill His promise to Abram to give him the land, as we will see.

In Genesis 17 God made another covenant with Abram, one that was much more comprehensive than the previous covenant. Beginning in Genesis 17:1-9, we read: “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.’ Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: ‘As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be called Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.’ And God said to Abraham: ‘As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.’”

This is the first time in the Bible that God introduces Himself as God Almighty or “El Shaddai” (compare verse 1). According to the Soncino commentary, there are numerous ways to explain the meaning of these Hebrew words, including “being‘sufficient’”; “your God and Protector”; “being victorious and mighty over all”; and other interpretations. Shaddai (Almighty) has also been derived from a root meaning ‘to heap benefits’; and it would then mean ‘Dispenser of Benefits’, the friend who shepherds the patriarchs and preserves them from all harm. God is reassuring Abram that even though his hopes may be dim at times, nothing is impossible to God Almighty.

Then God made a further covenant with Abraham, the covenant of circumcision, also referred to in Acts 7:8. Genesis 17:10-11 reads: “This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.”

So now we also see that this covenant in Genesis 17:1-9 has a sign, that of circumcision, just like the covenant with Noah had a sign, that of the rainbow. The difference is that circumcision was itself a covenant, as well as a sign, while the rainbow was a sign, but not a covenant.

Then God spoke about Sarai, that her name was to be changed to Sarah and that she would be a mother of nations; kings and peoples will be from her at ninety years old. This was such a miraculous thing that God here reveals her age, something He does with no other woman in the Bible.

In Genesis 17:18-21, we read: “And Abraham said to God, ‘Oh, that Ishmael might live before you!’ Then God said: ‘No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.’” So, as mentioned before, Ishmael was to be greatly blessed, but the covenant blessings God promised to Abraham were to pass down through Isaac.

After Isaac was born, and when he was weaned, Abraham had a great feast to celebrate the occasion (compare Genesis 21:8). Ishmael, up until this time had been Abraham’s only son, but now was relegated into second place, as he was not the offspring of Sarah, but of Sarah’s maid. On this occasion, he laughed at or ridiculed Isaac (verse 9). Galatians 4:29 says, he persecuted Isaac: “But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.” Sarah asked Abraham to “cast out” Ishmael and his mother, but the matter was “very displeasing in his sight” (Genesis 21:11).  So God comforted Abraham again showing him that Ishmael would be blessed. Genesis 21:12-13 states: “But God said to Abraham, ‘Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called. Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.”

Again, Ishmael would be blessed but God emphasised the covenant blessings would pass through Isaac. In Genesis 21:18, when Ishmael was dying of thirst, God again reveals that Ishmael would be a great nation when He said to Hagar: “Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.” This is the fourth time God has promised blessings to Ishmael.

Of course, God’s covenants with Abraham were not the only covenants mentioned in the Bible. In the same chapter, there arose a dispute over a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized. Abimelech denied knowledge of this so Abraham and Abimelech made a covenant at Beersheba in which Abraham made a witness of the covenant by giving seven ewe lambs to Abimelech. They were a “witness” or we might say, a sign of this covenant. In this instance, they swore an oath and made a covenant (compare Genesis 21:27-32.)

As an aside, when Abraham died, both Isaac and Ishmael buried Abraham where Sarah had been buried in the field of Heth (compare Genesis 25:9-10). This implies that Ishmael was aware of the happenings in the land of his birth, so even though he was not living with his father, he was living close enough to travel to the burial.

The continuation of the covenants and their blessings occur with Isaac’s sons, Esau the firstborn and Jacob. In Genesis 25:27, we read: “So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents.” He may have been mild, but he was also cunning. After all, his name meant supplanter.

In Genesis 26:3-5, God again reminded Isaac of the oath He had sworn to Abraham after Abraham had shown that he was willing to sacrifice Isaac: “Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and to your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

Galatians 3:16 explains that the promises which God gave to Abraham included the promise of the “Seed”—Jesus Christ—and that through Him, all the nations of the earth would be blessed (compare Genesis 22:18). The covenant which God established with Isaac makes specific mention of the promise of the Seed.  It was a prophecy of the Messiah to come, and it was still because of Abraham’s righteousness, not because of anything Isaac had done. But of course, Isaac had to agree to the covenant which God wanted to make with him, which he obviously did.

In the book of Luke 1:72-73, we read that God would “perform the mercy promised to our fathers And to remember His holy covenant, The oath which He swore to our father Abraham.” The implication of this verse is that the oath God swore and the covenant are closely related and the covenant was established and confirmed by an oath.  In fact, the terms oath and covenant are used together, as we will see.

During this time another covenant was made between Isaac and Abimelech that Isaac would not harm Abimelech or his people since he recognized that God was with Isaac (compare Genesis 26:28-30).

(To Be Continued)

Lead Writer: Paul Niehoff (Australia)

Some Scriptures appear to indicate that God can forget at times.

We read passages like Exodus 2:24-25: “So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.”  At first thought, it looks like God had, for a time, forgotten the children of Israel and finally realised that they needed help, but is this so?

First of all, what was the covenant that God remembered? A covenant with Abraham or Abram was first mentioned in Genesis 15:18, where we read: “On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates.”

A second covenant between God and Abraham (Abram) is mentioned in Genesis 17, beginning in verse 1. “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.’ Then Abram fell on his face; and God talked with him, saying: ‘As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be called Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.’ And God said to Abraham: ‘As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child after you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.’”

(Also, this second covenant included a separate covenant of circumcision; compare Acts 7:8). So, God promised everlasting blessings to Abraham. They would include many descendants, nations and kings, and a land in which to live. Abraham assumed that these covenant blessings would pass down through Ishmael, but God said no, they would be with a son, to be named Isaac, born to Sarah in her old age. Ishmael would be greatly blessed, but the everlasting covenant blessings would pass down through Isaac. This is mentioned in Genesis 17:18-20, which says that God would establish His covenant with Isaac.

In Genesis 26:3-5, God told Isaac not to go to Egypt but to “Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and to your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charges, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

God here is repeating the covenant promise He made with Abraham to Isaac, and He explained that it was because of Abraham’s obedience that God had made that covenant with him. When we come to the next generation, the covenant promise was to pass down through Jacob, rather than the firstborn Esau.

As we explain in our free booklet, “And Lawlessness Will Abound,” on pages 25-29, technically, God made separate covenants with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but they all included the blessing of inheritance of the Promised Land. We state this:

“In Genesis 17:21 God promised Abraham that He would make a covenant with Abraham’s son, Isaac: ‘But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.’ And so He did, and subsequently, God made another covenant with Jacob whose name was later changed to Israel. It is important to recognize that God made these covenants with Isaac and with Israel on an individual basis, just as He had entered into different covenants or agreements with Abraham. This again shows what a covenant is—simply a contract or an agreement, based on law, but not identical with the law.

“Notice the following Scripture that tells us about the covenants that God made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: ‘I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land’ (Leviticus 26:42). Although the subject matter of these three covenants was identical, God still made individual covenants with Abraham, his son, and his grandson, as the parties were different.”

When God says, in Exodus 2:24, that He will remember His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob, He is using the word “covenant” as a summary term, as all these covenants include the same blessing of inheriting the Promised Land.

In Genesis 27, Jacob pretended to be Esau in order to deceive Isaac, and Isaac gave him physical blessings. However, Genesis 28 is quite enlightening. At this time Jacob was about to leave Canaan, both to find a wife in Padan Aram, and also because Esau had threatened to kill him. This time Isaac knew that he was blessing Jacob; there was no deceit involved. Reading Genesis 28:3-4, “May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples; And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, Which God gave to Abraham.”

Thus, the covenant blessing of Abraham was being passed down from Isaac to Jacob. Again, this included a multitude of nations and the land of Canaan. This blessing was repeated in Genesis 35:9-12. “Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, ‘Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.’ So he called his name Israel.  Also God said to him, ‘I am God Almighty, Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.’”

From here the blessings were no longer mentioned until we read that God remembered them when the children of Israel were in slavery in Egypt. So, had God forgotten them? Forgotten something that He had said was everlasting? Actually, no. It was all within God’s plan, part of which He had revealed to Abram and which is recorded in Genesis 15:12-14. “Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. Then He said to Abram: ‘Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in the land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they will serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.’”

So, this was all a part of God’s plan to greatly increase the number of the children of Israel and to provide them with a great abundance. Returning to Exodus 2:24, the expression “God remembered His covenant” to English speakers would appear to mean that for a time God had forgotten His covenant. However, the Hebrew can also mean “To be mindful of” or “think upon”. The Soncino commentary explains it as “Not that He had forgotten it, but that now the opportunity had come for the fulfilment of His merciful purpose.”

Some of the qualities of God are described in Psalm 147:5. “Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.” He knows exactly when is the best time to perform His promises. Also, in Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” God does not have the frailties of man and has the power to do all that He says He will do.

So, when we read in Jeremiah 31:34 (quoted in Hebrews 8:12), “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more,” Barnes’ Notes on the Bible informs us that “It cannot mean literally that God forgets that people are sinners, but it means that he treats them as if this were forgotten. Their sins are not charged upon them, and they are no more punished than if they had passed entirely out of the recollection. God treats them with just as much kindness, and regards them with as sincere affection, as if their sins ceased wholly to be remembered, or which is the same thing, as if they had never sinned.”

We should emphasize that God’s forgiveness and His willingness to “forget” are based on repentance.  But even this does not mean that God will erase certain (repented) sins from His memory. We discuss this entire subject in our Q&A, “What Will We Remember as God Beings?”

We point out that God did not forget the sin of David in the matter of Uriah, even though David deeply repented of it.

“Please realize that God saw to it that certain sins of David were recorded, for everyone to read. In addition to David’s sin in the matter of Uriah, some of his other sins were recorded as well, such as his fighting in war and numbering his army. Furthermore, sins of other righteous men and women were recorded: Moses’s sin of murder and his later outburst before Israel, which prevented him from entering the Promised Land; Aaron and Miriam’s murmuring against Moses; Abraham and Isaac’s lies; Abraham and Sarah’s adultery because of lack of faith; Jacob’s deceit towards his father Isaac; Rachel’s theft of her father’s idol; Peter’s sin of lying and denying Christ three times, and his hypocrisy towards Gentile Christians; and Paul’s persecution of Christians when he was still known as Saul. The list could go on and on. We also believe that Solomon came to repentance at the end of his life, but his prior terrible sins were included in the Bible…

“But in every case, God casts all repented sins behind His back and into the depths of the sea, so that when they are sought for, they shall not be found IN THE SENSE that God will never charge us with them. He does not retain them in His mind in the sense that He will not revisit what has passed…

“German Bibles translate Jeremiah 31:34 as, ‘I will not think of [or: about] their sins anymore.’ The New Jerusalem Bible and the Revised English Bible say that God will never more ‘call’ their sin ‘to mind.’… Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible adds this comment in regard to Isaiah 43:25: ‘God will not remember the sins of his people against them; having forgiven them, he will never punish them for them, which is meant by remembering them…’

“… Under the New Covenant, God will ‘take away’ our sins (Romans 11:27)—He will not hold them against us, if we repent of them. Jeremiah 50:20 tells us that ‘… The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none; And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found; For I will pardon those whom I preserve.’”

So, referring to the original question, “Does God forget?,” we understand that God is not a man with the accompanying frailties of man. God does not forget in the sense of being forgetful as we tend to be, but God is able to deliberately put out of His mind things that He will never bring up against us. When He makes an everlasting covenant, He will perform it at the appropriate time. Likewise, when He says He will remember our sins no more, He will deliberately do so in the sense as explained herein, and of that we can be very grateful.

Lead Writer: Paul Niehoff (Australia)