7 Covenants: The Story of the Bible

Most Christians today believe that there have only been two covenants established by God in salvation history. Actually, there were seven. Certainly, there is the major division between the seventh and preceding six, which we call the Old and New Testaments, but what the acclaimed author, John Bergsma points out in his book Bible Basics for Catholics is that there is much more to the Old Testament chronology than is obvious to us at first glance. Accordingly, the only way to properly understand the story of man’s redemption is to first understand how each of the seven covenants is interconnected and how they each in some way foreshadow the seventh, New Covenant in which we are currently living. Even this, however, will paint us an insufficient picture of salvation history if we do not, above all else, understand the nature of covenants themselves.

What then, is a covenant? Most people think it is merely a promise or pact made between God and his people. While this is certainly one aspect of a covenant, there is actually much more to be considered here. According to Bergsma, the way that ancient middle-eastern societies understood the concept of a covenant was in terms of an extended family. In his words, a covenant may be described as “a legal way to make someone part of your family.”[1] Thus, it can be said that the Bible is essentially the story of God trying to establish an extended family for himself by reaching out to humanity time and again. One other, very important aspect of a covenantal relationship is that there are consequences that will be incurred if either party should violate the terms upon which the covenant was established. We will see these consequences realized as we examine the Mosaic Covenant and the Davidic Covenant, among others.

Adamic Covenant

Everyone is familiar with the story of the first covenant between God and man in the person of Adam. Found in the book of Genesis 2:1-24[2], Bergsma describes the creation account in terms of temple imagery. With each successive day of creation, God adds another “brick” to the temple which He is building for Himself and His creatures. The seventh day, which is the day of rest, sits atop the structure of creation as the cap-stone which ties the whole of creation together. Within this temple of creation, there also sits the Garden of Eden, which is like the Holy of Holies in the Davidic Covenant and which also foreshadows the Heavenly Jerusalem to come. This concept of the universe being like one enormous temple in which God’s presence dwells is one which will reappear in the layout of the temple of the Davidic Covenant.

No sooner is Adam created than he is assigned a position of authority in the temple of creation and given certain duties to perform. He is made in God’s image and likeness, he is to “till the ground and keep it,”[3] he is to name all of the animals, and he is to become the father of the human race. While the naming of animals may seem like a trivial job, it actually represents something far greater. Adam is here given a certain authority over God’s creation, thus confirming him in his kingly role. The tilling and keeping of God’s temple indicates that Adam possesses a priestly role as well. He even bears some elements of a prophet since a prophet is essentially a person who speaks for God. In biblical language, therefore, Adam is appointed as “firstborn son, king, priest, prophet, and bridegroom.”[4] Remind you of anyone? Genesis describes Adam as a type of Jesus Christ, Who, as we know, is the true Firstborn Son of God, the true King of Creation, and so on.

Adam, of course, does not reign alone in God’s temple. God has given him Eve to be the queen of creation and who is to become the “mother of all the living.”[5] In the New, Eucharistic Covenant, we see that Eve was a type of the Virgin Mary, who is the true Queen of Creation and who is spiritually “the mother of all the living,” in terms of those who have received sanctifying grace.

Ultimately, what leads Adam to break this first covenant is what theologians have long termed the threefold lust. Seeing that the “fruit” of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was “good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise,”[6] Adam and Eve succumbed to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. It is important to understand that the “knowledge” of good and evil is not so much what is implied here, but rather the definition of good and evil. In its account of the Fall of Man, Genesis is using symbolic language to tell us that Adam and Eve wanted to define good and evil for themselves, apart from God. If that sounds familiar, it is probably because humanity still suffers from this temptation today. As we move forward in salvation history we will see that time and again, each covenant is broken by yet another manifestation of the threefold lust combined with a desire to “be like God”[7] in defining good and evil.

Noahic Covenant

An immense period of time has passed since the Fall of Man took place in the Garden of Eden. Humanity has increased in numbers and has spread throughout the known world. Tainted, however, by the stain of sin inherited from Adam, man has become increasingly perverse. Things get so bad that God decides to wipe out the human race and start over. Noticing the righteousness of Noah, however, God commissions him to build an ark to house himself, his family, and two of every kind of animal. This is quite significant in terms of salvation history as the ark built by Noah is now the symbolic temple in which God’s creation is to be preserved and restored. When the floodwaters subside, Noah sacrifices a lamb (New Testament imagery) in a priestly act. We now have another type of Christ who, like Adam, is a priest, prophet, and king. Pleased with Noah’s sacrifice, God then establishes a “new” covenant with humanity. This covenant is recorded in Genesis 9:8-13, which reads:

“Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ‘Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you … 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 all future generations: I set my bow in the cloud …”[8]

The bow, of course, was commonly used as a weapon in the ancient world. Thus, what we are seeing here is that God is not only establishing a new familial relationship with Noah and his descendants, but is also forewarning of the consequences that will befall either party should the covenant be broken. Sadly, this covenant would be broken shortly after it was established due to the incident of Noah’s drunkenness recorded in Genesis 9:18-28. This would be the second time that man would break a covenant with God due to the threefold lust.

The imagery of the Noah’s ark has long been associated with that of the Catholic Church. One of the names by which the Church is often referred is the Ark of Salvation, clearly indicating that Noah’s ark was not only a symbolic representation of Eden, but also a prefigurement of the Heavenly Jerusalem, which is the Church Triumphant.

Abrahamic Covenant

Following the incident of Babel when God confused the languages in order to humble the human race, God then chose a man named Abram to be the father of a new and great nation. God does this in order to bless all the nations by means of Abram and his descendants. The promises that God makes to Abram are threefold: “a great nation, a great name, and a blessing to everyone.”[9] Abram doubts whether God will accomplish these promises, and thus, as recorded in Genesis 15, God tells Abram to take several kinds of animals and cut them in half. Once Abram has done this, God’s presence, in the form of a “smoking fire pot and a flaming torch,”[10] passes through the carcasses. Abram understood that this was God’s way of establishing a covenant with him. The significance of cutting the animals in half lay in what it symbolizes. By passing through these animal parts, God is basically telling Abram, “If I don’t keep my promises to you, then may I too be cut in half.”

In spite of this stark imagery, however, Abram experiences severe doubts that God will ever give him an heir since both he and his wife Sarah are advanced in age. This leads to the fall of Abram when he chooses to take Hagar as his second wife and has a son with her. Disappointed with Abram’s lack of faith, God reminds Abram that his heir is supposed to come from Sarah and orders him to send Hagar away. God then reestablishes His covenant with Abram, whom He renames Abraham, but under a painful condition. Because Abram broke the initial covenant agreement, which was made over the cutting of animals, Abram will now have to cut himself in order to be brought back into that covenantal relationship with God. Hence, the rite of circumcision. That’s why every descendent of Abraham up to the time of Jesus had to undergo this painful procedure. It was a sign of the once broken but now restored covenant.

In the course of time, God fulfilled Abraham’s desire for an heir, whom he named Isaac. Isaac is an immensely important figure in salvation history because he represents Christ on Calvary. As a test of Abraham’s hitherto weak faith, God orders him to sacrifice the very heir for which he had longed so much. Having learned from his previous mistakes, Abraham obeys this command until God sends an angel to stop him at the last possible moment. Genesis[11] records that this sacrifice was to take place on Mount Moriah.

What is crucial to understand here is not only that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son, but also that Isaac himself appears to have willingly consented to this sacrifice. This is because Abraham was an old, feeble man at this time while Isaac is clearly strong enough to carry the wood for the sacrifice for many miles up a mountain. If Isaac had wanted to escape from his father, he could surely have done so. It seems rather that Isaac truly is a type of Christ in his willingness to die for the love of God, while Abraham is a type of Christ in the same three roles as Adam and Noah: priest, prophet, and king.

Mosaic Covenant

Several generations pass. Abraham’s grandson, Jacob is renamed Israel by God. His descendants will eventually become the twelve tribes of Israel. In the interim, however, one of Israel’s sons, Joseph, is sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers who are jealous of him because of Israel’s favor for him as the son of his second wife, Rachel. Through a complicated series of events recorded in Genesis 37-48, Joseph is appointed as the Pharaoh’s right-hand-man, and saves his brothers and father from seven years of severe famine.

A few hundred years later is where Moses comes in. He will ultimately prove to be a type of Christ in leading the Israelites out of slavery, just as Christ leads His people out of the spiritual slavery of sin. He will also qualify as a priest, prophet, and king, just as the major biblical types of Christ before him.

After the famine was over, the sons of Israel decided to stay in Egypt, against the will of God for them to strive after the land He had promised to Abraham. Over time, the sons of Israel multiplied exponentially and integrated themselves into Egyptian society. How bad could that be? Pretty bad, since the Israelites also adopted the worship of pagan gods and became slaves to the Egyptians.

Recognizing the need to deliver His people from Egypt in order to fulfill His promises to Abraham, God chose Moses as the instrument through which He would lead the Israelites into the promised land. The sequence of events leading up to this can be found in Exodus 1-14.

Once the Israelites have been delivered from slavery, Moses ascends Mount Sinai, where God gives him the Ten Commandments written on two stone tablets. The stone itself is a representation of how hardened were the hearts of the people. This hardness was demonstrated when Moses returned to find that, in his absence, most of the people had returned to the worship of the pagan gods of Egypt. Enraged by the spectacle, Moses shatters the tablets on the ground to symbolize that the covenant has just been broken, and orders those who are faithful to God to slay the idolaters. Because the tribe of Levi were those who carried out this task, Moses declared that henceforth the priesthood should be given to the Levites rather than to the Israelites as a whole. Hence, the Levitical priesthood of the Old Testament in Jesus’ day. It is worth mentioning that John the Baptist, who baptized Jesus in Jordan River, was himself a Levite.

With the idolaters slain, Moses goes back up Mount Sinai and intercedes on behalf of the people, “reminding” God of His promise to Abraham. Thus, the covenant is renewed and a second set of tablets are given to Moses. It is also during this moment, as recorded in Exodus 36-37, that God commissions Moses to construct the Ark of the Covenant, in which will later be housed the manna (Exodus 16), Arron’s staff (Exodus 7:8-13), and the stone tablets themselves. The Ark, of course, is a type of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as the vessel in which the presence of God dwells among his people. Contained within the Ark is the manna, which is itself a figure of the Eucharist. Unfortunately, due to the hardness of the people and Moses’ own lack of trust in God, the Israelites were forced to wander in the desert for 40 years without entering the promised land. Only after the original generation delivered from Egypt had died off, did God bring them into the land that He had promised to Abraham so long ago. The Mosaic Covenant remained essentially unaltered from time of Moses’ successor, Joshua until the arrival of King David.

One significant alteration in the Mosaic Covenant to be noted after it was broken initially was the introduction of animal sacrifices. It seems odd to most people today that God would command the slaughtering of animals as sacrifices. But the reason for this was actually pedagogical. God wanted to teach the Israelites to stop worshiping the pagan gods of the Egyptians. The simplest way to break them of this habit was to order the Israelites to kill the animals that represent these gods. In addition, they were a prefigurement of Christ’s sacrifice.

Davidic Covenant

For several hundred years, the Israelites lived in a perpetual “cycle of sin against God, suffering under their enemies, sorrow for their sin, salvation under a God-sent leader, and then the cycle of sin-suffering-sorrow-salvation”[12] all over again. It was during this time that God sent “judges” to the people of Israel, who acted as guides or leaders to point them back to the will of God. Once the judge died, however, the people would lapse into their old, sinful habits once more until another judge appeared to take his place. Finally, at the time of 1 Samuel 8, we find that the Israelites are sick of judges and persuade the prophet Samuel to appoint a king for them. Ultimately, they do not want a king so that they may thereby live more righteous lives, but only to be like all the other nations.

Conceding to their demands, Samuel anoints Saul as the first literal king of Israel. The act of anointing points us forward to the “the Christ,” which means “anointed one.” Essentially, anointing someone was a symbol of authority and of God’s power being with you. Unfortunately, Saul would become prideful and selfish, thereby forfeiting the right of kingship in God’s eyes. God therefore selects a humble shepherd boy named David to become the next king of Israel. With God’s favor upon him, David quickly conquers much of the surrounding region and takes Jerusalem as his capital. It is here that the Davidic Covenant is established when God promises to David a son who will “build God’s temple, be the Son of God, and rule over Israel forever.”[13] Notice that Jerusalem also sits on a mountain, just like Eden, Moriah, and Sinai. Here, God is promising a son to David in two senses. Literally, David’s son, Solomon, will possess these three characteristics, but prophetically, the Messiah, Who is to come from David’s line, will possess them in a much fuller and truer sense.

Ironically, Solomon is the product of David’s fall into adultery and murder, recorded in 2 Samuel 11. Because David broke the covenant God had made with him, his reign is subject to weakness and turmoil for the remainder of his life, even to the point of being betrayed by Absalom, whom David trusted implicitly. This betrayal, of course, points us forward to Judas’ betrayal of Jesus.

The strength of David’s kingdom would be restored under the reign of his son, Solomon, who was regarded by even the pagan nations as the wisest man on earth, due to his relationship with God. Both David and Solomon fulfill the roles of priest, prophet, and king and are perhaps the starkest prefigurements of Christ in all of the Old Testament.

It is worth mentioning that Solomon, as a type of Christ, reserved the role of queen for his mother, Bathsheba, who, in this respect, is a type of Queen Mother Mary.

Solomon would himself succumb to the threefold lust that has plagued mankind throughout the millennia as it is recorded[14] that he amassed great wealth for himself, possessed a great number of horses (military might), and took over seven hundred wives, against the admonition of God through his prophets.

Thus, even Solomon’s kingdom began to decline after his death, with weak, ineffective leaders taking his place and with the eventual break away of ten Israelite tribes, which then migrated North and intermingled with the pagan cultures. These became known at the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. What is significant to remember here is that God promises to restore the kingdom of Israel when the Messiah comes. Hence, St. Paul and the Apostles preaching to the Gentiles in the north. Since the northern tribes of Israel have intermarried and have been dispersed, the only way to get them back is to evangelize all of the Gentiles. The remaining two tribes of Israel were eventually conquered and enslaved by the Assyrians and Babylonians.

Prophetic Covenant

John Bergsma refers to the time of the great prophets as the “new covenant” which is promised to Israel when the Messiah comes. To avoid some confusion, however, I will refer to this period of time as the “Prophetic Covenant.” It is the span of several hundred years in which the Israelites are scattered, enslaved, and hoping for the coming of the promised Messiah prophesied in Isaiah 11:1, which reads, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.”[15] Here, God promises His people that He will send another from the line of David, and thus, that they will be great once again.

Afterwards, God sends the prophet Jeremiah, who prophesies: “Behold, the days are coming says the Lord, when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to deliver them out of the hand of Egypt … But this covenant … I will write upon their hearts.”[16] By alluding to the Davidic Covenant at various instances, God is implying that this “new covenant” will in some way be the restoration of the Davidic Covenant. As Jesus is the true Son of God and the “Son of David,” this restoration turns out to be true, albeit in a spiritual sense. Through misinterpretation of this prophecy, many Israelites are deceived into expecting a mighty, earthly ruler like David to be the messiah, who would lead them out of slavery. Their hearts were hardened to the possibility that God meant this prophecy in a spiritual rather than material sense.

There is also ample prophecy in Ezekiel for the coming of a new covenant: “I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods … I will send down … showers of blessing.”[17] It is with the writings and admonitions of the major and minor prophets during this “Prophetic Covenant” that the Israelites maintained a sense of hope amid their hardships and abuses. Due to another prophecy outlined in the book of Daniel[18] concerning the number of days that would pass before the coming of the Messiah, by the time Jesus came along, every Jew in Israel was eagerly awaiting the triumphant appearance of a great military leader who would deliver them from the Romans and literally restore the Davidic kingdom. As we know, what they actually received was something quite different. Hence, the rejection and eventual Crucifixion of the Messiah for Whom they had waited so long.

Eucharistic Covenant

With the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ on Calvary, God has at last ushered in the New Covenant which He promised to Israel through Ezekiel so long ago. Each and every covenant that was made up to this point has been merely a foreshadowing of this New, Eternal Covenant, whereby mankind is restored in his relationship to God and is, by means of divine grace, taken into God’s family and endowed with the blessings and privileges of His kingdom. The Church in Heaven is the true promised land, the heavenly Jerusalem of which Eden, the ark, and David’s kingdom were merely types. The new, true temple in which God restores his people to Himself is the Body of Christ. Thus, we see that the temple of Eden, Noah’s ark, and even Solomon’s temple were prefigurements of the true temple of Christ’s Mystical Body. It is thanks to the infinitely meritorious sacrifice of Christ Whose Body is at once a temple and a sacrifice, we are now given a covenant that cannot be broken. This sacrifice, which extends forward for all time by means of the Mass, ensures that no sin, however great, will ever undermine the Covenant which God has established with His own Blood. If as individuals, we suffer the misfortune of breaking our own relationship with God, we may simply repent by confessing our sins to a new covenant priest, through whom God manifests His presence in the world, so that, by means of Christ’s most precious Blood, we may be cleansed of our sins and brought back into that covenantal relationship with God.

Conclusion

The story of the Bible is really quite fascinating when we look at it in the context of human history from the Garden to the Cross to the end of time. When explained in ordinary, comprehensible language, it is essentially the story of God reaching out to humanity time and time again in preparation for the day when He would condescend to assume our own nature in order to redeem us from the fate to which we had consigned ourselves. More to the point, it is a story of God’s love for His creation. A story that is not quite over yet. Even now, we await the prophesied joining of Heaven and Earth at the end of time, as recorded in the final chapters of Revelation.[19] It is at this time that the restoration of man’s relationship to God will be realized in its fullness, as the souls of the righteous are reunited with their bodies and are permitted entrance to the New Jerusalem, which is described as both a city and a garden. God is really quite poetic. As the story of man began in a garden, so shall it end in a garden.

[1] John Bergsma, Bible Basics for Catholics: A New Picture of Salvation History. Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 2012. 4.

[2] The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version. “Genesis” 2:1-24. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1946.

[3] Ibid.

[4] John Bergsma, Bible Basics for Catholics: A New Picture of Salvation History. Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 2012. 25.

[5] The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version. “Genesis” 3:20. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1946.

[6] Ibid, 3:6

[7] Ibid. 3:5

[8] The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version. “Genesis” 9:8-13 San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1946.

[9] John Bergsma, Bible Basics for Catholics: A New Picture of Salvation History. Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 2012. 46.

[10] The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version. “Genesis” 15:17 San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1946.

[11] The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version. “Genesis” 22 San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1946.

[12] John Bergsma, Bible Basics for Catholics: A New Picture of Salvation History. Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 2012. 86.

[13] Ibid, 93

[14] The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version. “1 Kings 11 San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1946.

[15] Ibid, Isaiah 11:1

[16] Ibid, Jeremiah 31:31-34

[17] Ibid, Ezekiel 34:25-26

[18] Ibid, Daniel 9:24-27

[19] Ibid, Revelation 21-22