By: Brian G. Chilton, Ph.D., M.Div. | October 12, 2023
S7E6 Divine Covenants: Revelation of God Through History on YouTube

 
Over the past few weeks, we have discussed the revelation of God. We spoke about how God has revealed himself through theophanies, Christophanies, the Holy Spirit, his Word, impressions, and various other means. Tonight, we want to discuss divine covenants.
The revelation of God is progressive, meaning that God revealed more to his people over the course of time. Future revelations were built upon previous ones. There are many examples of God’s progressive revelation. For instance, the previous physical temple structures symbolize the spiritual and eternal temple of Almighty God in heaven. The inner sanctum represents the throne room of God.
The same is true when we speak of divine covenants. A covenant is an agreement between two parties, especially when one of the parties is God. The Hebrew word for covenant is berit. The Bible gives several examples of covenants, or promises, that God made with people over the course of space and time. Ultimately, these covenants progressively increase to the point that we reach the new covenant found in Christ. Several covenants are mentioned in the Bible, but among them, five stand out as the most crucial and the most important. They include the Noahic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, and the New Covenant. Let’s take a look at these major covenants and what God reveals about himself in the process.
 
The Noahic Covenant
First, the Bible mentions the Noahic Covenant in the book of Genesis. As previously mentioned, the word berit is used for covenant. The word is first used in connection with the flood in Genesis 6:18 and 9:8–17. In case you are not familiar with the story, the world had become extremely wicked. God decided to destroy all that was evil. However, he wanted to spare a handful of righteous people to repopulate the earth. Therefore, he calls Noah and his family to build an ark large enough to house them and a large array of animals.
God made a covenant with them, saying, “But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives” (Gen. 6:18, CSB). This covenant formulated an agreement between Noah and God. Noah built the ark and entered it with his family. And God kept his end of the bargain, as he saved them amid a global catastrophe.
After the flood, God directs the ark to land on Mount Ararat. Noah and his family, along with the animals, departed the ark. God made a pact with Noah, humanity, and the entire earth that he would never again destroy the world by water (Gen. 9:8–17). The sign of this covenant is the rainbow. The rainbow is not only a reminder of God’s covenant with humanity, but it also stands to remind the entire world of God’s promise.
Lessons from the Noahic Covenant
The Noahic Covenant reveals several things about God and his interactions with the world. First, the Noahic covenant speaks to God’s holiness and justice. Sinfulness impacts not only the person committing the sin, but it also damages others and God’s creation. God holds people accountable for their actions. While God is love, he is also holy and just.
Second, the Noahic covenant speaks to the loving grace and salvific nature of God. Even though God would have been completely justified in destroying humanity and creation for good and all, God saved a remnant. Even when all is lost, God has a way of saving a remnant. There is much more that could be said. But let us leave this here for now.
The Abrahamic Covenant
Second, the Abrahamic covenant further reveals the grace of God. The apostle Paul even argued that “the Scripture saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and proclaimed the gospel ahead of time to Abraham, saying,