The Eight Covenants of the Bible-Davidic and New

These are the notes from the last class that we had, (06/13/10):
1) The Davidic Covenant
A. The Scriptural references, (with the emphasis on Solomon), can be found in 2 Samuel 7:11b-16 and (with emphasis on the Messiah) 1 Chronicles 17:10b-14.
B. The Participants-God and David.
C. The Provisions-there are seven provisions:

1. an eternal dynasty-2 Samuel 7:11b, 16, 1 Chronicles 17:10b.
2. Solomon would be established on the throne after David-2 Samuel 7:12.
3. Solomon would build the Temple-2 Samuel 7:13a, (David could not build the Temple because he was considered a man of war by God).
4. The throne of David's kingdom would be established forever-2 Samuel 7:13b, 16.
5. Solomon would be disciplined for disobedience, but God would not remove His lovingkindness- 2 Samuel 7:14-15.
6. The Messiah would come from the seed of David-1 Chronicles 17:11.
7. The Messiah and His throne, house, and kingdom will be established forever-1 Chronicles 17:12-15

D. The Importance of the Davidic Covenant-it amplifies the Seed aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant.
E. The Status of the Covenant-this is an unconditional covenant and is still in effect today.

2) The New Covenant
A. The Scriptural References-Jeremiah 31:31-34.
B. The Participants of the Covenant-God and Israel.
C. The Provisions of the Covenant-there are nine provisions:

1. It is an unconditional covenant made with both houses of Israel. It includes the entire Jewish nation, (the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), and NOT the Church-Jeremiah 31:31.
2. It is clearly distinct from the Mosaic Covenant-Jeremiah 31:32.
3. It promises the regeneration of Israel-Jeremiah 31:33, Isaiah 59:21.
4. This regeneration is to be universal among all Jews-Jeremiah 31:34a, Isaiah 61:9.
5. There is provision for the forgiveness of sin, more than a covering of sin as provided in the Mosaic Covenant-Jeremiah 31:34b.
6. There is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit-Jeremiah 31:33, Ezekiel 36:27.
7. Israel will be showered with material blessings-Isaiah 61:8, Jeremiah 32:41, and Ezekiel 34:25-27.
8. The Sanctuary will be rebuilt-Ezekiel 37:26-28.
9. Just as the Mosaic Covenant contained the Law of Moses, the New Covenant contains the Law of the Messiah-Romans 8:2, Galatians 6:2. Now if someone tries to tell you that we are still under the Law, you can smile and say, "Yes, we're still under the Law.......the Law of Christ!"  :)

D. The Importance of the Covenant-The importance of the New Covenant is that it amplifies the Blessing aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant, especially in relationship to salvation. It finally shows how the spiritual blessings of the Jewish covenants extent to the Gentiles.
E. The Relationship of the Church to the New Covenant-some confusion has arisen because the Covenant is made with Israel, but a number of Scriptures connect the New Covenant with the Church, (Matthew 26:28, Mark 14:24, Luke 22:14-20, 1 Corinthians 11:25, 2 Corinthians 3:6, Hebrews 7:22, 8:6-13, 9:15, 1-:16, 29, 12:24, and 13:20). Most main-line denominations simply say that the Church has replaced Israel, especially since she rejected her Messiah., while others claim that there is one Covenant with two aspects-one for Israel and one for the Church. However, the solution is described in two passages:
Ephesians 2:11-16 and 3:5-6. I'll quote from Dr. Fruchtenbaum: "This could be called the “partaker view.” The point of these passages is that God made four unconditional covenants with Israel: the Abrahamic Covenant, the Land Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, and the New Covenant. All of God’s blessings, both physical and spiritual, are mediated by means of these four covenants. However, there is also a fifth covenant, the conditional Mosaic Covenant. This was the middle wall of partition. Essentially, it kept the Gentiles from enjoying the spiritual blessings of the four unconditional covenants. For a Gentile to begin receiving the blessings of the unconditional covenants, he had to totally submit to the Mosaic Law, undergo circumcision, take upon himself the obligations of the Law, and, for all practical purposes, live as a son of Abraham. Gentiles, as Gentiles, were not able to enjoy the spiritual blessings of the Jewish covenants; hence, they were strangers from the commonwealth of Israel. They did not receive any of the spiritual benefits contained in the covenants. However, when the Messiah died, the Mosaic Law, the middle wall of partition, was broken down. Now by faith Gentiles, as Gentiles, can enjoy the spiritual blessings of the four unconditional covenants. That is why Gentiles today are partakers of Jewish spiritual blessings, not “takers over.”
The concept of partaking is also found in Romans 11:17: But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and did become partaker with them of the root of the fatness of the olive tree;
The Olive Tree represents the place of spiritual blessings of the Jewish Covenants. The types of branches partaking of the blessings: natural branches, which are the Jewish believers; wild olive branches, which are the Gentile believers."
F. The Gentile Obligation-Since the Gentile believers have become partakers of Jewish spiritual blessings, an obligation has been placed upon us according to Romans 15:25-27.
G. The Status of the Covenant-Since the New Covenant is the basis of the Dispensation of Grace for the Church, it is the basis for the Dispensation of the Kingdom for Israel and is therefore eternally in effect.
Once again, to quote from Dr. Fruchtenbaum, "All spiritual blessings are for believers in the Messiah, whether they are Jews of Gentiles. And through His death on the cross for their sins, believers reap spiritual benefits that would never be theirs otherwise. The eight covenants of the Bible are very explicit in their provisions and are valuable for a proper understanding of Scripture."




Fruchtenbaum, A. G. (1983). Vol. 21: The Messianic Bible Study Collection (38–39). Tustin, Calif.: Ariel Ministries.

The Eight Covenants of the Bible-Land

Last Sunday, (06/06/10), we discussed the Land Covenant as follows:
The main Scriptural text can be found in Deuteronomy 29:1-30:10. Deuteronomy 29:1 tells us that this is a different covenant and distinct from the Mosaic Covenant.
A. The Participants: God and Israel.
B. The Provisions: Deuteronomy 30:1-10 of which there are seven:
     1. Moses speaks of Israel's future disobedience and their consequential scattering-Deuteronomy 29:2-30:1
     2. Israel will repent-Deut. 30:2
     3. The Messiah will return-verse 3
     4. Israel will be regathered-verses 3-4
     5. Israel will possess the Promise Land-verse 5
     6. Israel will be regenerated-verse 6
     7. Israel will receive the full blessing, that of the Messianic Age-verses 8-10
As Arnold states: "The special importance of the Land Covenant is that it reaffirms the title deed to the Land as belonging to Israel. Although she would prove unfaithful and disobedient, the right to the Land would never be taken from her. Furthermore, it shows that the conditional Mosaic Covenant did not lay aside the unconditional Abrahamic Covenant. It might be taken by some that the Mosaic Covenant displaced the Abrahamic Covenant, but the Land Covenant shows that this is not true. The Land Covenant is an enlargement of the original Abrahamic Covenant. It amplifies the Land aspect and emphasizes the promise of the Land to God’s earthly Jewish people in spite of their unbelief. The Abrahamic Covenant teaches that ownership for the Land is unconditional while the Land Covenant teaches that the enjoyment of the Land is conditioned on obedience."
C. Confirmation of the Covenant: Confirmation can be seen in Ezekiel 16:1-63, (which is another study by itself).
D. Status: The Land Covenant is still in effect because of its unconditional status.
Hope you have a good weekend and we will NOT have class this Sunday since the choir is not singing.
Be blessed.
Your Chrbrotherist,
George


Fruchtenbaum, A. G. (1983). Vol. 21: The Messianic Bible Study Collection (31). Tustin, Calif.: Ariel Ministries.

Mosaic Covenant

The Eight Covenants of the Bible-Mosaic


This week, (05/30/10), we discussed the following:

1. The Scriptural reference for the Mosaic Covenant is Exodus 20:1-Deuteronomy 28:68.

2. The participants of the Covenant were God and Israel according to Exodus 19:3-8.

3. The key provision was the Law of Moses which contains 613 commandments and there were blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. Jews were no longer allowed to eat animals without restrictions. For example, seafood had to have fins and scales and animals could be eaten if they chewed the cud and were cloven-hoofed. Circumcision became more than a sign of being Jewish. It became an identifier for Jews to keep the entire Law. Also, any Gentiles that wanted to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were required to undergo circumcision and be obligated to keep all 613 commandments.

4. The key element of the Covenant was the blood sacrifice as found in Leviticus 17:11. This was not a removal of sin, but a covering of sin. Only the Messiah can remove sin.

5. The dispensation of the Covenant was the basis for the Dispensation of Law. As Dr. Fruchtenbaum states: "It was the one Jewish covenant that was conditional and ultimately came to an end with the death of the Messiah." We see this from Romans 10:4 and especially from Hebrews 7:11-12 due to a change from the Aaronic Priesthood to the Melchizedekian Priesthood. We discussed how some of the commandments transferred into the New Covenant, (which has caused some confusion for those who would like to believe that the Mosaic Covenant is still in effect), but that it has been rendered inoperative.

Next week we'll look at the Land Covenant.

Have a blessed week.

Your Chrbrotherist,

George

The Eight Covenants of the Bible-Abrahamic-Part 2


This week, (5/23/10), we continued exploring the three areas of the Covenant:

1. To Abraham-we learned through Scripture that he was to be the father of a great nation, Israel and possess all of the Promised Land. Even the Arab states descended, (and have been blessed), from Abraham. In fact, his name was to become great with Jews, Muslims, and Christians.

2. To the Seed- Israel. Besides possessing all of the Promised Land, it was to become innumerable and have victory over its enemies. Obviously this is still yet future.

3. To the Gentiles-There would be blessings for blessing Israel and cursings for cursing Israel. The Gentiles would receive spiritual blessings and would ultimately come through the Messiah, (also Abraham's seed). As Dr. Fruchtenbaum states: "While the physical blessings were limited to the Jews only, the spiritual blessings were to extend to the Gentiles, but only through the Messiah."



Dr. Fruchtenbaum points out that when the Abrahamic Covenant is boiled down, it contains three aspects as the basis for the development of other covenants: The land aspect which yielded the Land Covenant. The seed aspect which yielded the Davidic Covenant and the blessing aspect which yielded the New Covenant.



Next, we discussed the confirmation of the covenant through Isaac, which can be found in Genesis 26:2-5 and 26:24.

It was also confirmed through Jacob in Genesis 28:13-15 and through Jacobs' sons in chapter 49 of Genesis.



We finished up with a quote from Dr. Fruchtenbaum: "The Abrahamic Covenant is a good example of what was stated earlier: that a covenant could be signed and sealed at a specific point of time, but not every provision goes immediately into effect, but rather, three different things happen. Some went into effect right away such as the change of names and circumcision. Some went into effect in the near future, for there was a twenty five year wait for the birth of Isaac and a four hundred year wait before the conquest of the Land. Some provisions go into effect in the prophetic distant future such as the settlement of all of the Promised Land, which has not been fulfilled to this day."

Fruchtenbaum, A. G. (1983). Vol. 21: The Messianic Bible Study Collection (17). Tustin, Calif.: Ariel Ministries.



Have a blessed week and always be a blessing to others.



Your Chrbrotherist

George

Eight Covenants-Abrahamic-Part 1

The next covenant we studied was the Abrahamic on 05/02/10. This is an unconditional covenant made with Israel. In fact, Abraham couldn't nullify it if he tried! God went through the cut pieces of animals while Abraham was watching in a dream-state, therefore, God alone is responsible for its fulfillment. We can add this attribute to Him as we study Scripture and especially the covenants: God is a covenant-keeping God!
The Scriptural references are:
Genesis 12:1-3, 7; 13:14-17; 15:1-21; 17:1-21; and 22:15-18.
The participants were God and Abraham, whereas Abraham stood as the representative head of the Jewish nation, but not for all humanity, (as we saw with Adam and Noah as representative head for all mankind).
There are fourteen provisions concerning this covenant:

1. A great nation would come out of Abraham-Gen. 12:2; 13:16; 15:5.
2. He was promised a Land; the land of Canaan-Gen. 12:1, 7; 13:14-15, 17.
3. Abraham personally would be greatly blessed-Gen. 12:2b.
4. Abraham's name would be great-Gen. 12:2c, (we see this today with the major religions of the world).
5. Abraham would be a blessing to others-Gen. 12:2d.
6. Those who bless Israel would be blessed-Gen. 12:3a.
7. Those who curse Israel would be cursed-Gen. 12:3b.
8. Through Abraham all would be ultimately be blessed-Gen. 12:3c; 22:18.
9. Abraham would receive a son through his wife Sarah-Gen. 15:1-4; 17:16-21.
10. Abraham's descendants would undergo the Egyptian bondage-Gen. 15:13-14.
11. Other nations, (for example the Arab states), besides Israel, would come forth from Abraham-Gen. 17:3-4, 6.
12. His name would be changed from Abram, (exalted father), to Abraham, (father of a multitude)-Gen. 17:5.
13. Sarai's name, (my princess), would changed to Sarah, (the princess)-Gen. 17:15.
14. Circumcision would be a token/sign of the covenant-Gen. 17:9-14. We noted that other ancient cultures also circumcised there males, but the uniqueness of Jewish circumcision was that it was done on the eighth day, (a time when the baby's clotting is properly developed).

So we see that these provisions of the Abrahamic Covenant can be put into three categories:

1. Abraham
2. To the Seed, Israel
3. To the Gentiles

Next time we'll look more closely at these three categories and also their influence for the development of subsequent covenants.
Be blessed,
Your chrbrotherist,
George

The Eight Covenants of the Bible-Noahic

Last week, (04/25/10), we looked at the 3rd of the 8 Covenants: the Noahic Covenant.
The Scriptural text of the Covenant was read and is found in Genesis 9:1-17, with the participants being God and Noah. Noah, here, stood as the representative head for all of the human race, as Adam did.
There were seven provisions of the Covenant:

1. Man, again, was to repopulate the earth, with only 8 survivors after the flood.
2. The fear of man was put into animals, giving them a sense of self-preservation, (see #3 below).
3. Man's diet changed from vegetarian to every moving thing and the green herb.
4. Man was forbidden to eat blood. We see this reiterated in the Book of Acts 15:29 through a different covenant.
5. Capital punishment was introduced, (all murderers were to be executed).
6. God promised never again to destroy the earth by flood.
7. The sign or token of the covenant was the rainbow.

The status of the covenant is that it's still in effect. As  Arnold mentions: "The judgments of the Tribulation against the Gentiles will come because of violations of the Noahic Covenant. According to Isaiah 24:5–6, the judgment comes because humanity has violated the everlasting covenant, a name given to the Noahic Covenant in Genesis 9:16. For that reason, the prophet used the Noahic Flood motif, the windows on high and foundations of the earth in Isaiah 24:18. But next time, God will destroy the masses of humanity by fire."


Fruchtenbaum, A. G. (1983). Vol. 21: The Messianic Bible Study Collection (13). Tustin, Calif.: Ariel Ministries.
We also discussed the different dispensations associated with the previously mentioned covenants.
The Edenic Covenant was the basis for the Dispensation of Innocence.
The Adamic Covenant; the Dispensation of Conscience.
The Noahic Covenant; the Dispensation of Human Government.
Hope you have a great week and give Him the praise in all things.
Be blessed,
Your Chrbrotherist
George

This is the second of 8 covenants of the Bible class that we began last Sunday, (04/17/10).
The main body of Scripture can be found in Genesis 3:14-19.
The participants are God and Adam, where Adam is again representing the entire human race. We see that God addresses the serpent, Satan, Eve, and Adam.

There were three provisions concerning the serpent:

He was cursed above all other creatures.

He was to crawl on his belly, (which implies that he previously moved in an upright position).

He was to eat dust as his food. This was a Hebrew idiom that simply meant that he was especially cursed, (see Micah 7:17 and Isaiah 65:25).

There were four provisions concerning Satan:

Perpetual hatred between Satan and the woman.

The hatred was especially between Satan's seed, the Antichrist, and the woman's seed, the Messiah.

The serpent would bruise the heel of the woman's seed, (at the Crucifixion).

The woman's seed will crush Satan's head, (initially at the Resurrection-Hebrews 2:14-15), but finally with the Lake of fire, (Revelation 20:10).

Quoting from Dr. Fruchtenbaum:

The main point of this prophecy is that the Messiah would be of the Seed of woman. This goes against the biblical norm that teaches that genealogy is traced through the male line, not through the female line. The reason for this exception will not be known for centuries until Isaiah 7:14 revealed that the Messiah will be conceived and born of a virgin. The prophecy of Genesis 3:15 led to the events of Genesis 6:1–4 when Satan tried to corrupt the seed of the woman and will lead to the future supernatural conception of the Antichrist.

Fruchtenbaum, A. G. (1983). Vol. 21: The Messianic Bible Study Collection (10). Tustin, Calif.: Ariel Ministries.

Three provisions were given to the woman:

There would be intensification of menstrual pain and conception.

She would to give birth in pain.

The wife was to in subjection to the husband.

Dr. Fruchtenbaum adds: "This was already true before the Fall, but the new element was that she would now have a desire to rebel against that subjection and choose to try to rule him." See Genesis 4:7 for context.

There were five provisions for the man:

Since Adam was the representative of the human race, these judgments pass on to us all. Therefore, Adam, not Eve, is held responsible for the human condition.

The Earth was cursed, (as anyone who gardens can attest).

The human diet continues to be vegetarian.

Hard labor was implemented.

Physical death was introduced.

The status of the Adamic Covenant is that it is still in effect today.

Have a great weekend!

Your Chrbrotherist
George Haven