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Covenant in the Old Testament Sense

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Submitted By bridget9
Words 1835
Pages 8
Bridget McKenna
Professor Alexander Hwang
Religion 123
22 March 2013
Covenant in the Old Testament Sense A covenant in its simplest form is a promise. The Bible refers to covenants many times throughout, most often in the Old Testament. Different stories contain different covenants that God has made with various people in the Bible; each of these stories has an underlying theme that is consistent. The theme is simple; a covenant with God is a promise between God and the people of God that can never be broken. Three main covenants in the Old Testament are those between God and Noah, God and Abraham, and God and Moses. In each of these covenants, God is making a promise to a single person, for the good of all people who wish to listen and to follow Him. In each of these three covenants, there is also a new relationship formed, granting redemption to God’s people, a key element that is common among the covenants with Noah, Abraham, and Moses. There are a few different elements of a covenant and by understanding the different elements of covenants, we are then able to fully understand and appreciate the covenants that are found in the Old Testament. Covenant derives in the Old Testament from the Hebrew word be’rith. There are two different concepts of the meaning of be’rith. The first concept is that be’rith means to select or chose and the second concept of be’rith is a bond or joining together. (Ludlow) Upon looking at these two different meanings of one word, it puts the concept of creating a covenant into perspective. It is as if God chooses who he wants to make His promise with, and then He joins together this person, with all other followers. “To enter into a covenant implies a voluntary, binding process between the covenant parties, often symbolized by some special act, such as eating bread together” (Ludlow). A covenant is a promise from God to His

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