Our word for today is first used in the Bible as we get to Genesis chapter nine. בְּרִית agreement, covenant, contract. It is used 284 times in the Old Testament, 7 times in Genesis chapter nine. Genesis 9:8-17 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “Behold, I establish my בְּרִית covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my בְּרִית covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” ... God is really drawing our attention to this idea of agreement, covenant, contract. This is the first covenant God made.
The next major one is in Genesis 15:18 and 17:3-6 On that day the Lord made a בְּרִית covenant with Abram, saying ... “Behold, my בְּרִית covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. God will repeat this covenant to Abraham with his son Isaac and grandson Jacob. The next big covenant God makes we find in Exodus 34:10 And he said, “Behold, I am making a בְּרִית covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or 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.” After this covenant with Moses and the people we see God making another big covenant in Psalm 89:3-4 You said, “I have made a בְּרִית covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, ‘I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.’” (also 1 Samuel chapter 7). God has made five major covenants with people in the Bible: Noah was to establish the times of seasons and protect them from any future worldwide flood. Abraham was to create a great nation. Moses was to free the people from slavery in Egypt and bring them into the land where they would become a great nation. David was to establish the everlasting Kingdom with Jesus as the true king. The fifth one is the New Covenant that we see in the New Testament that Jesus talked a lot about.
Two important things that give me confidence to trust in God’s covenants. They come from his heart as an expression of who he is, his character. We see this at his very first covenant with Noah. Genesis 8:21 The Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man.” And secondly, it is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18). Matthew in his genealogy starts with this summary statement about two people who both were given promises by God, David and Abraham. The point of the genealogy is that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises the fulfillment of his New agreement, covenant or testament (which is where we get the name New Testament). Matthew 1:1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Jesus clarifies this when he sets up the Lord’s Supper or Communion. Luke 22:19-20 ... And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. I like how God used the prophet Isaiah to explain what a covenant or agreement is and why we need a new one with God. Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” The reason we need a new agreement is that we could not keep the first one that just points out that we have fallen short of our part of the agreement, we have sinned. The good news is that Jesus offers us a new agreement or covenant that is based on his death in our place. The forgiveness of our sins.
