Prophets Essay Research Paper The Prophets and

Prophets Essay, Research Paper

The Prophets and the Covenants

Throughout the Old Testament, God has made several agreements or covenants with the people he loved. He gives commands and makes promises. Even thought these covenants are made with the descendants of one same nation, their deep nature and effects are similar in some points but extremely different in others. A study of all the covenants would be enormous, that is why we will concentrate on some of these different covenants made in the Old Testament between the people of Israel and God through some of the prophets that we studied in class. This analysis will bring some light into the ultimate goal of the Lord.

We find the first Covenant in the book of Genesis, it is maybe the greatest today because it is respected by three major religions around the world: Judaism, Christianism and Islam. This first Covenant is a covenant to Abraham (called Abram in the beginning): God called him and promised to give his offspring the land of Canaan (Gen. 12:1-7) and that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars (15:5). This was a phenomenal promise, but “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness” (15:6).

The reason why we find renewal of the covenant to the people of Israel is that God promised to renew the covenant with Abram’s descendants; not only that they would be numerous, but also that he would be their God (17:7). This is more than the original covenant promised.

The second great covenant and probably the most popular was made with Moses. God remembered the covenant he had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and he brought their descendants out of slavery in Egypt. While they were on their way to the land of Canaan, God made a covenant with them at Mt. Sinai. As their ruler, he gave laws, and they agreed to keep them. “If you obey me fully and keep my covenant,” he told them through Moses, “then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession…. You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex 19:5-6).

The people said they would do everything the Lord had said (19:8). After God spoke the Ten Commandments, the people asked Moses to be their mediator for the remainder of the covenant (20:1-19). Through Moses, God then gave regulations about altars (20:22-26), servants and slaves (21:1-11), murder and sins against others (21:12-32), sins against personal property (21:33-22:15) and other laws of social responsibility (22:16-27; 23:1-9). There were rules about blasphemy, cursing, offerings, firstlings (22:28-30), Sabbath years and days, Holy Days and offerings (23:10-19). God spoke all these laws, and then promised to give the people the land of Canaan (23:20-31).

The difference between these two covenants is that the Abrahamic covenant, although it included obligations, stressed God’s promise. The Sinaitic covenant, although it included mercy and promises, stressed human responsibilities. Moses told the people the laws, and the people said, “Everything the Lord has said we will do” (24:3). And Moses wrote it all down.

The next day, they had sacrifices, Moses read the book of the covenant and the people again agreed to obey (24:4-7). So Moses sprinkled blood on the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words” (24:8).

The Ten Commandments formed the core of this covenant. “The words of the covenant — the Ten Commandments” — were written on tablets of stone (Ex 34:28). Although the covenant was equated with the Ten Commandments (Ex 34:28; Deut 4:13), the covenant included all of Ex 20-23. The Lord wrote “the law and commands I have written for their instruction” (Ex 24:12).

The tablets of stone were called the “tablets of the covenant” (Deut 9:9, 11, 15). They were placed in the Ark of the Covenant (Ex 25:16, 21; 31:18), thus giving a name to the ark, and the covenant was said to be inside the ark (1 Kings 8:21; 2 Chron. 6:11).

In this covenant, the people agreed to be servants of God, and he agreed to protect them. The covenant was made not only with Israel as a nation, but also with Moses as its leader (Ex 34:10, 27). Many of the laws in Ex 34 are quoted from Ex 23. It was a covenant renewal or restatement with some variations. Although the Sabbath was part of the Ten Commandments (20:8-11), and part of the larger covenant (23:12), it was made its own covenant in Ex 31:16. Just as circumcision was an everlasting covenant and a sign of Abraham’s covenant (Gen. 17:10-11), the Sabbath was also called a sign and an everlasting covenant (31:12, 16-17). Just as circumcision was a covenant in conjunction with the Abrahamic covenant, the Sabbath was a covenant in conjunction with the Sinaitic covenant.

Also in conjunction with the Sinaitic covenant was the weekly showbread, which was also called an everlasting covenant (Lev 24:8). An everlasting covenant was made with the priesthood, too (Num. 18:19; 25:13). Grain offerings were covenantized, too, since God commanded, “Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings” (Lev 2:13).

When the Israelites were ready to enter the Promised Land, Moses repeated to them the laws of God (Deut 1:1-5). He rehearsed some history, reminded the Israelites to obey God and worship him only, and he repeated the Ten Commandments. Although the