Covenant: The Backbone of the Bible

This course is a biblical study on covenant. The covenant theme is central to the message of the Bible. When we say that the Bible consists of two parts, the Old and New Testaments, the word “testament” is another term for “covenant.” The covenant concept occurs at important junctures throughout the Bible. It defines God’s relationship with humanity, Noah, the patriarchs, Israel, and the Davidic dynasty; it is also at the heart of God’s relationship with the rebuilt “Israel” and the whole world. Jesus Christ is called “the mediator of a new covenant” (Heb 9:15). In fact, Christian theology recognizes that the biblical covenants form the backbone of the Bible. The uniqueness of the biblical covenant is that God took the initiative on our behalf. He sovereignly enters a covenant with creation out of his grace. God reveals himself in history and persistently works out his redemptive work by making covenants that are grounded and fulfilled in Christ.

In this course, we will study major covenants in the Bible: The creation Covenant, the Noahic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, The Mosaic Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, and the New Covenant. We will deal with the following questions: What is a covenant? What is the uniqueness of each covenant? How do different covenants in the Bible relate to each other? How do they relate to Christ?