There are actually several covenants between God and man that are described in the Bible. How many depends on which Bible scholar you refer to. Some begin with the Adamic Covenant, though, as we will see, it is more of a prophetic promise than an actual covenant, but we will look at it anyway because it does lead into the others. Most often, scholars list five or six covenants. The most common are the Noahic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, the Priestly Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, the Davidic Covenant and the New Covenant.

Classic theology says that there is really only one covenant and that each of the others listed is a revealing of another aspect of what God has in mind. Regardless of which way you approach it, there are things to learn from each covenant about how God interacts with humanity and what he expects from us. Each covenant does build on the one that precedes it, so it is correct to say that they are all part of the same covenant. We will address each one separately, however, for the sake of clarity. But I do believe that they are all related.

The word itself, in Hebrew, is b^erit. It means an agreement, an alliance, a treaty or a covenant. There are a couple of different types of covenants described in the Old Testament. One is an agreement between two people or two nations that are equal. The covenant between David and Jonathan is an example of that (1 Samuel 18:3-4). In these cases, both parties voluntarily enter into the agreement.

The other type is a covenant imposed by the stronger person or nation on the weaker, such as the covenant given to the Gibeonites by Joshua (Joshua 9:22-27). Either way, a covenant involves legally binding obligations for both parties.

The covenants that God made with mankind would be of the second type. God the stronger party, offers an alliance to man, the weaker party, and man decides whether or not to accept it. There is still an aspect of the first type of covenant here, however, in that man does not have to accept the agreement. It requires that he voluntarily accept it.

As to the content of the covenants, each side agrees to do something. On God’s side, there are promises of blessing that he keeps regardless of man’s response. On man’s side, he agrees to live by the requirements of the covenant in order to experience the promises. This will become more clear as we examine the covenants in detail.

Each covenant has details that are unique but there are some general principles that run through all of them. The earlier covenants were made with specific people and nations. When we get to the New Covenant, however, we will see that aspects of the early agreements are carried forward to all humanity. God has promised certain things. Mankind is obligated to certain things. As we look into covenants, those are the elements that we will try to identify so that we really know what to expect from God and what he really expects from us.

At this point, I will state those things in simple terms, so that you know where I am heading, and then we will look at the scriptural foundation.

God has committed himself to bringing life. This means that wherever he is allowed to, he will cause mankind (and the whole earth for that matter) to develop and grow toward peace, freedom, joy, fulfillment and happiness. He is not committed to bring a bunch of rules that are impossible to follow. He desires life.

Man, in order to benefit from God’s promises, has to do things God’s way. This means first of all accepting the forgiveness and redemption provided by God. Then it means learning things like loving instead of hating, giving instead of hording, forgiving instead of resenting. In short, man has to start thinking the same way God does.

I am not talking about a lot of rules to follow. It is rather an attitude of behavior.

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
(Micah 6:8)

In its simplest form, covenant is all about god giving life to man and man receiving it. This is important for us, not only because we need life but because understanding this will help us to keep from getting caught up in the bondage of religious ritual. How can you tell when any ritual is bondage? It no longer brings life and growth. Instead it becomes a burden that you have to follow to please God.

It is usually not the ritual that is the problem but rather the motive behind it. Understanding covenant gives us a solid basis for judging our own actions. Are we producing life or are we crating restrictions that choke out life? Jesus said that you can tell a tree by its fruit. If it produces good fruit, it is a good tree. In his covenant with man, God is determined to produce good fruit. The covenants give us some idea of how he does that.