THE BIBLICAL THEME OF COVENANTS

LESSON TWENTY-FIVE

THE BIBLICAL THEME OF COVENANTS

Lesson Overview:

The backbone of the biblical storyline centers on covenants. Understanding the significance of covenants is essential to understanding the Hebrew Scriptures. The lesson gives students an extensive study about the major covenants in the Hebrew Scriptures that unite the individual narratives into one grand story. Students will learn (1) the meaning of covenants, (2) how biblical characters made covenants, (3) types of covenants, and (4) how religious scholars propose that the covenants were fulfilled in the New Testament in Christian Bibles.

Key Concepts: covenants, The Adamic covenant, the Noahic covenant, protoevangelium, foreshadow, prophesy, symbolism, metanarrative, Old/New Testament, redemption

Lesson Objectives:

Students will:  use online Bible study tools to access, read, interpret, and explain information.  decide the meaning of words and phrases based on the context of the passages.  interpret the Hebrew Bible while allowing for use of figurative language.  distinguish between distinct types of covenants in Hebrew Scriptures.  draw conclusions and make inferences from primary and secondary sources.  share information about assigned biblical themes logically and accurately.

Expected Learning Objectives

At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:  explain the meaning of words and phrases, such as covenants, based on the context of the passage.  interpret the Bible normally while allowing for normal use of figurative language.  distinguish between various biblical literary genres, including patriarchal narratives.  explain how the literary theme of covenants in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament foreshadows the covenant relationship between Jesus and the church in the New Testament.

Duration: 3-4 hours

Materials:

 Internet access/ a computer with editing capability  Paper/pen  Video: If You Understand These 8 Bible Covenants then You Understand the ENTIRE Story of the Bible! by Allen Parr (THE BEAT by Allen Parr) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tESRUiC3CFA  Article: “What is Protoevangelium?” By Mark Slick (https://carm.org/about-theology/what-is-the-protoevangelium/)  Video: Covenants by the Bible Project https://d1bsmz3sdihplr.cloudfront.net/media/Script%20References/TheCovenants_Script-References.pdf  Video: How Is Jesus Shown in the Book of Genesis? By Josh Moody ttps://www.christianity.com/jesus/is-jesus-god/old-testament-prophecies/how-is-jesusshown-in-the-book-of-genesis.html

Procedure:

 Read the article “What is Protoevangelium?” by Mark Slick (https://carm.org/about-theology/what-is-the-protoevangelium/)

Respond to the study questions.  View the video(s).  Respond to the study questions that follow.  Write key points in your notebook and study the notes for future discussions and assessments.  Respond to the reflection(s).  Use your computer’s editing capability to correct writing errors.  Post your reflection on the discussion board.

Note: If you have questions about the assignment(s), post them on the discussion board, and wait for clarification.

Study Questions

(Video: If You Understand These 8 Bible Covenants then You Understand the ENTIRE Story of the Bible! by Allen Parr (THE BEAT by Allen Parr) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tESRUiC3CFA)

Based on the video, are the following statements (A) CORRECT or (B) INCORRECT? 1. A covenant is a binding agreement between two or more parties.

2. In Genesis, Chapter 2, God makes the first covenant with Adam in the Garden of Eden. 3. This first covenant is the Edenic covenant. 4. The Edenic covenant refers to the covenant made between God and Adam in the Garden of Eden. 5. Covenants can be conditional or unconditional. 6. A bilateral covenant is conditional covenant in which both parties must uphold the stipulations in the agreement or compact. 7. A unilateral covenant requires that only one party meets the requirements of an agreement. 8. The unilateral covenants in the Bible usually originate from God. 9. In each of the biblical covenants, humans barter or negotiate with God. 10. The biblical covenants were replaceable. 11. God makes a covenant to be faithful to human beings even when they are unfaithful. 12. The term covenant is associated with cutting. 13. During biblical times, a covenant involved killing animals. 14. Cutting an innocent animal was indicative of the seriousness of a covenant. 15. After cutting the animal in half, parties in the agreement would walk pass the bloody pieces to symbolize the value of the oath(s). 16. The key word in the Edenic covenant is rulership or dominion. 17. In Genesis, Chapter 2, God gives Adamic dominion or rulership over the Garden of Eden. 18. God’s instruction to Adam about eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and

Evil has a stipulation. 19. A stipulation is a condition or requirement as part of an agreement. 20. God’s covenant with Adam is that if he does not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of

Good and Evil, then he will live forever. 21. If Adam had obeyed God, he would have had eternal rulership and access to God’s presence. 22. Because Adam breaks the agreement, the covenant becomes invalid. 23. If an agreement becomes null and avoid, it has no legal effect. 24. The Edenic covenant is conditional in that two parties meet the requirements of the contract. 25. The key word in discussing the Adamic covenant is redemption. 26. Redemption is the act of saving or restoring. 27. God promises to redeem humans by crushing the head of the serpent, their enemy. 28. Enmity means intense hostility and means the state of being an enemy.

29. Symbolically, the serpent is the Devil or Satan. 30. Prophetically, in Christian tradition, Jesus will fulfill the covenant by crushing the head of the serpent’s offspring. 31. In Christian tradition, the expression “bruise his heel” refers to the crucifixion of Jesus that was excruciatingly painful. 32. “Crushing the head” of the serpent symbolizes Jesus’ ultimate victory over death and sin. 33. The Adamic covenant in unilateral. 34. In the Adamic covenant, God stays committed to redeeming humanity. 35. In the Noahic covenant, the key word is restraint. 36. God retrains Himself from destroying humankind entirely because of their wickedness. 37. God spares Noah’s family of eight. 38. After the flood, God makes a unilateral covenant with Noah. 39. In the Noahic covenant, promises never to flood the entire earth again. 40. God stipulates the conditions of the Noahic covenant, and He is the only one that needs to fulfill the requirements. 41. In the Abrahamic covenant, the key word is “restore.” 42. The Abrahamic covenant connects to the Adamic covenant in which the key word is redemption. 43. Redemption involves the action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment or clearing a debt. 44. Restoration relates to the act of returning something or someone to a former position. 45. In the Adamic covenant, God wants to redeem humans. 46. In the Abrahamic covenant, God starts the process of restoring the broken relationship between humans and himself. 47. In Genesis 12:1-3, God promises Abram (Abraham land, descendants, and blessings. 48. God promises to bless those who exalt Abraham and bring misfortunes upon people who curse him. 49. The Abrahamic covenant is an example of how butchered animals stand for the solemnity of biblical covenants. 50. God, in the semblance of fire and light, walks through the divided pieces of dead animals. 51. In biblical text, Abraham walks pass the dead animals in the covenant between him and

God. 52. The Abrahamic covenant involves God and Abraham, but only God has an obligation to fulfill the pact. 53. The narrator proposes that Jesus in the Christian Bibles is the ultimate fulfillment of the

Abrahamic covenant.

54. In Christian Bibles, both the Old and New Testaments reflect covenants. 55. In Christian tradition, the Bible is one book, composed of two testaments. 56. Comprised of thirty-nine books, the Old Testament in Jewish and Christian traditions, is God’s unfolding promise to his covenant people, Israel. 57. With twenty-seven books in Christian Bibles, the New Testament fulfills all the promises of the Old Testament through Jesus for Jews and Gentiles alike. 58. A Gentile in biblical language usually means "someone who is not a Jew." 59. In Christian Bibles, the two testaments are a literary unity, progressively revealed. 60. To understand the Christian Bible, modern readers realize that this one book has two major divisions.

For Reflection:

Study the chart that follows. How does act of circumcision relate to God’s promises to Abraham? (Write five to eight sentences.)

Title of the

Narrative “The Covenant of Circumcision” -Gen. 17:1-27

A Closing Thought:

Literary Themes Summary Study Questions

 Covenants  Namechanging  Unbelief  Human Rituals  Divine

Promises

God affirms that he will be the God of both Abram and his descendants. As a token of this new relationship, Abram’s name becomes Abraham (17:5), and Sarai becomes Sarah (17:15). God promises that despite their advanced age, the two will have a son together. God promises that Abraham’s successors will be through Isaac, not Ishmael. This covenant is conditional. The central requirement is circumcision of males. According to Hebrew tradition, this act is evidence of being a member of the covenant people of God. 1.What does the expression, “a covenant people of God” mean in reference to the Jews?

2. What is the significance of namechanging in biblical text?

3. What is a conditional covenant?

“I marvel at the resilience of the Jewish people. Their best characteristic is their desire to remember. No other people has such an obsession with memory.” –Elie Wiesel