1 Covenants Of Love Workbook 1
2 Covenants Of Love is based on notes and messages on Covenants and The Making Of A Blood Covenant by the Rev. LeRoy Davis Copyright 2003 by Rev. LeRoy Davis
3 Covenants Of Love Workbook 1 The Workbook is designed to help you come to a solid understanding of the exciting and essential subject of God s Covenants of love. To successfully complete this workbook you will need to: 1. Complete all the questions in a Section. 2. Score all questions before taking the related Review. Underline the answers in the text for any questions you got wrong. 3. Take the Review. 4. Score the Review. Underline the answers in the text for any questions you got wrong. 5. Go on to the next section and repeat. 6. Memorize selected Scriptures. 7. Before taking the Pre-Test make sure all questions in the Sections and Reviews are correctly answered. 8. Take the Pre-Test. 9. Score the Pre-Test. Underline the answers in the text for any questions you got wrong. 10. Take the Final Test. Note 1: Not all questions on reviews or tests will be taken directly from previous questions. However, reviews and pre-tests will show how well you understand the material. If you do well on them you should have no difficulty with the Final Test. Note 2: All Final Tests except the first one will include some random questions from previous workbooks to test how well the student is remembering the material. Note 3: This workbook is copyrighted and may be copied and used only by active Joshua Club members. The conditions and restrictions are listed on the Joshua Club website: www.joshua-club.com
Introduction The study of Covenants is of vital importance. Covenants is how God relates with His creation, especially mankind. Covenants reveal the structure of Life and of the Word of God. If we do not properly understand this subject we are in danger of misunderstand many things in the Bible. The study of Covenants will bring new meaning to the Old Testament. You ll see the wonderful Plan of Redemption unfolding before your eyes. You will watch God at work. You will gain a deeper knowledge of what God has done, is doing, and will do. God Himself considers the subject of Covenants important. One of the ways we know how important something is to God is by how many times He talks about it. The word Covenant/s is used at least 26 times in the Book of Genesis [where 4 out of the 7 major Covenants are found]. The rest of the Old Testament uses the word 227 times and the New Testament uses it 33 times. If a subject is this important to God, then it should be important to us as well. 1. Covenants is how God relates with His. 4 2. How many of the major Covenants are found in Genesis? 3. About how many times is the word Covenant/s found in the Bible? God is perfect and holy. He cannot allow sin into His presence. Sin is a hateful and destroying cancer which is eating away at God s universe. Any sin, no matter how small, is a part of that cancer which God must cut away. When Adam sinned all of creation was infected with sin [we will see why later]. All of creation was then seperated from God and came under His judgment. Nothing takes God by surprise. Before He even created the world He knew about Adam s sin and had a plan prepared to save the world from sin. Covenants show us this plan of God one step at a time. We watch as God, through history, works to rebuild what Adam destroyed. We see how God is going to destroy the cancer of sin and still save His creation. This one plan is revealed in God s Covenants of love. There is one over all plan which God made in eternity before creating the world. This
5 plan is call The Eternal Covenant. It was a Covenant that God made with Himself. It is extremely important that we realize that there is only One plan. God does not have different plans or ways of dealing with mankind. He does not have different plans for different times in history or different people. It is only one plan for all people of all time. The Covenants that God made with man each show us a part of the Eternal Covenant. There are seven major Covenants of love that God has made with human beings. Each of these Covenants builds on the one that went before. Each Covenant reveals a new stage and shows a new and basic aspect of the Truth in the Eternal Covenant of God. This progression through Covenants is like starting in school with addition and advancing over time to algebra. No first grade student starts with algebra! Even so God reveals His plan step by step. If we jump to the New Covenant without understanding the foundation on which it was built we will fail to understand [or will misapply] all that it encompasses. So we need to start in Grade One with the first Covenant and then work our way through each Covenant in turn. Then we will build a proper and solid understanding of Scripture. 4. is like a cancer. 5. Did God know about Adam s sin in advance? 6. The plan God made within Himself is call the Covenant. 7. How many plans does God have? 8. There is only plan for all people of all time. 9. Each Covenant on the one that went before. Write Acts 2:23 God s eternal plan centers around Jesus Christ. He is the One Who had to come in order to bring salvation to mankind. It was His work, as given in the Eternal Covenant, that is the reason for all that has happened
or will happen. 6 The term determinate counsel in the above verses teaches us that God planned, before He made the world, that Jesus would come to suffer and die for us. It was part of the Eternal Covenant all the time. When the Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah and crucified Him, they did not take God by surprise. It was all part of the eternal plan. God has told us in the Scriptures, like the one above, that He has a plan. We also know that God has a plan because we know that He is an intelligent Being. No Being with the intelligence and power to create this mighty universe would be without a plan on how to operate it or how to control it. No intelligent Being would lose or surrender control of such a universe; therefore, God must have a plan in operation. In addition, we know that God is eternal and immutable [unchangeable]. If God is eternal and immutable then His plan must also be eternal and immutable. No person or event could ever force God to change His plan. Stop to think for a moment as to why we change our plans. We change our plans because: 1. We come up with a better idea, 2. Something unexpected happens and we have to be flexible, 3. Someone or something opposes us and we have to change, or 4. We don t have the resources to carry it out. Do any of these reasons apply to God? 1. God is perfect and has all knowledge; therefore, He can never come up with a better plan. His first plan is perfect. 2. God knows everything in advance; therefore, nothing unexpected can ever happen to God. 3. Satan and his forces oppose God but God has all power; therefore, they can never force God to change His plan. 4. God has all power and owns everything; therefore, He will always have the resources to carry out His plan. God does not change, His plan does not change. 10. God s eternal plan centers around. 11. God planned that Jesus would come to and
7 for us. 12. God is an Being. 13. God is and. 14. Can anything force God to change His plans? So we see that God has one comprehensive and unchangable plan [the Eternal Covenant] but He has chosen to reveal it in various stages or parts [the Love Covenants]. We must always remember that every dealing of God with mankind is on the basis of what He agreed with Himself in the Eternal Covenant. The other Covenants are pictures or partial revelations of what is in the Eternal Covenant. This is important because sometimes people become confused between the Old and New Testaments. They can think that people in the Old Testament were saved by Law while people in the New Testament are saved by Grace. They then have two [or more] different plans from God and different ways of salvation. This is a serious mistake. God only has one plan for all of time which He has worked out in the Eternal Covenant. That plan is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only way to God for people of BOTH the Old and New Testaments. The only difference is the Old Testament believers looked forward in faith to what Jesus would do on the cross and we, in the New Testament, look back in faith to what Jesus did do on the cross. Either way it is faith in the work of Christ on the cross. The Scriptures are plain: there is no other way. One purpose, one plan, one redemption. And for this cause He is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of a testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. Heb. 9:15-18 Write out and memorize John 14:6
8 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts 4:12 15. All God s dealings with mankind are on the basis of the Covenant. 16. Jesus is the way of salvation. 17. Old Testament believers looked to the cross. 18. New Testament belivers look to the cross. 19. One purpose, one plan, one. Many times in the Bible we read of God remembering His Covenant. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His Covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. Ex. 2:24 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, who the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my Covenant. Ex. 6:5 Nevertheless I will remember my Covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting Covenant. Ez. 16:60 Write out Luke 1:72: _ What does thing mean? Does God have a bad memory? Does He get so busy running the universe that He forgets to pay attention to His people? Of course not! God never forgets anything. He is everywhere at once and knows everything. When the Bible talks about God remembering His Covenant it
9 means that God is faithful to keep His Covenant. There are many Covenant promises. When the time comes for them to be fulfilled, God remembers His Covenant and is faithful to do what He has promised. 20. God His Covenant means He is faithful to keep His Covenant. And the Lord was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them because of His Covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast He them from His presence as yet. 2 Kings 13:23 Many times did He deliver them; and they provoked Him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity. Nevertheless He regarded their affliction when He heard their cry; And He remembered for them His Covenant, and repented according to the multitude of His mercies. Ps. 106:43-46 Because of the Covenant love relationship that exists between God and His people, God acts toward His people with grace and compassion. God does not love us or bless us because we deserve it. He looks on us with love because of His Covenant. All God s actions are because of Who He is, not because of who we are. We deserve nothing good. All of us are rebels against God and deserve Hell. None of us have any claim on God or His goodness. It only because of His grace through the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that He draws us to Himself. God is the One Who offers the Covenant of love to a sinful and rebellious humanity. 21. It is because of the that God acts toward His people with love and grace. 22. Do we deserve God s love and blessing? REVIEW 1 [Complete without looking back.] 1. is how God relates with His people. 2. How many major Covenants are there? 3. The plan God made within Himself is call the Covenant.
4. There is only plan for all people of all time. 5. God is an Being. 6. Write from memory John 14:6 7. Old Testament believers looked to the cross. 8. One purpose, one, one redemption. 9. God remembering His Covenant means He is to keep His Covenant. 10. It is because of the Covenant that God acts toward His people with love and. Score 10 What Is A Covenant? The making of Covenants is an ancient custom. The Hittities, who lived around 1600-1300 BC, and the Assyrians, who lived around 800-700 BC, as well as others had what is called a Suzerain Covenant. Suzerians were ancient kings who conqueored and then forced their treaties on the conqueored kings who were called vassels. The word suzerain actually comes from the Middle Ages, but it is used to describe this earlier type of Covenant. Understanding the suzerain syle of Covenant used in the ancient world will help us understand the ideas behind the Biblical Covenants. Of course, some of the Biblical Covenants we are about to study go back even further than the most ancient records we have in other cultures. In fact, it is likely that the Covenants God made with Adam and Noah provided the basic structure of Covenants that were used in ancient cultures. In a suzerain Covenant, the vassal or subject entered into an oath of loyalty to the king. The vassel would then owe certain duties, defined in
11 the Covenant, to the king or lord. These were the terms of peace. He promised his loyalty and service. In his oath to the Covenant, the vassel recognized that he would die if he violated the Covenant. The king or lord would also be responsible to provide certain things for him. This was not a Covenant between equals, but a Covenant that was given from a king to a vassel. The vassel did not have any choice in accepting it. For that reason, the king would sometimes fail to clearly define what his own duties would be. The vassal s oath of loyalty was not only to the king or lord but also to his dynastic successors. The Covenant would then apply to the next king. 1. The making of Covenants is an custom. 2. Ancient Covenant were called Covenants. 3. The suzerian Covenant detailed the terms of. 4. The vassel s oath of loyalty would also apply to the king s dynastic. With the suzerain background in mind, lets look specifically at Biblical Covenants. The Hebrew word which is translated Covenant is B rith. We don t know for sure the origin of this word but many believe it comes from the root word, baraya. Baraya means to eat bread with, and to keep community of a meal with. In its basic meaning then, B rith would be the sharing of a meal. It could also refer to a relationship that is brought into affect by the sharing of a meal. [As we will see later, eating a meal is one of the steps of making a Covenant.] B rith then refers to an alliance, a mutual obligation, or an arrangement. The generally accepted definition is that Covenant is a legally binding contract. Strong s Concordance defines B rith as a compact, a confederacy, a Covenant, or a league. The oath is a vital part of the Covenant. Both parties are swearing on their life to keep the Covenant. Write out Deut. 29:12
12 Be ye mindful always of his Covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations; even of the Covenant which he made with Abraham and of his oath unto Isaac. 1 Chron. 16:15-16 And they entered into a Covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart, and with all their soul...and they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with trumpets, and all Judah rejoiced at the oath for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire, and he was found of them: and the Lord gave them rest round about. 2 Chron. 15:12, 14-15 5. The Hebrew word which is translated Covenant is. 6. In its basic meaning then, B rith would be the sharing of a. 7. The generally accepted definition is that Covenant is a. There are two kinds of Covenants. The first kind is the type that is agreed upon by two people or groups of people who are basically equal. They work together to establish the terms and conditions of the Covenant. We see examples of this in 1 Sam. 18:3-4, 20:16, 42, 2 Sam. 3:12, 5:3, Joshua 9:15, 2 Chron. 23:1, 1 Kings 20:34. Look up and read these verses. A marriage contract is also an example of a covenent [b rith] voluntarily made between two equal people of the opposite sex. Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dwelt treacherously; yet she is thy companion, and wife of thy Covenant. Mal. 2:14 This is the kind of Covenant that God made within Himself in the Eternal Covenant. Obviously God cannot enter into this kind of Covenant
13 with man. God and man are not equal. They cannot enter into a Covenant of equals. 8. The first type of Covenant is one that is entered into be people who are basically. 9. Can God enter into this kind of Covenant? The second kind of Covenant is one that is imposed by someone in a superior position to someone[s] in an inferior position. A Covenant of this type could involve a peace treaty offered by a victorious nation to the defeated nation. The defeated nation has no choice but to sign and live up to the terms. This is the type of Covenant that God makes with mankind. The Covenants we are about to study were imposed by God on mankind in general [called universal Covenants] or on a certain part of mankind [called restricted Covenants]. God does not negotiate. He does not change His mind. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep My Covenant therefore thou and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is My Covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and the seed after thee: every man child among you shall be circumcised. Gen. 17:9-10 Notice, God did not ask Abraham what he thought about the Covenant. God did not try to negotiate with him. God laid out the terms of the Covenant and demanded obedience. Behold, the days are come saith the Lord, that I will make a new Covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the Covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my Covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord. Jer. 31:31-32 Nevertheless I will remember my Covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting Covenant. Ez. 16:60 When God declares, I will make, I will remember, and I will establish, He is stating that He is imposing a Covenant. It is a Covenant that He establishes and places His people under. We do not have a
14 choice in the design of the Covenant. It is entirely of God s making. Write out and memorize Dan. 4:35 _ God imposes His Covenant on man. But He doesn t stop there. He also voluntarily commits Himself of save the sinner. He requires holiness as a condition of the Covenant, but then He provided the Blood of the Lord Jesus so that we could become holy. Every demand that God makes in the Covenant, He also provides the way that it can be met. God s Love Covenants are revelations of His love and grace not judgments. In this sense, God s Love Covenant s can be considered as a testament or will. They declare what God will do and what we must do. They came into full effect with the death of Jesus. Jesus then rose from the dead to guarantee that the terms of the Covenant or testament would be carried out. 10. The second kind of Covenant is one that is imposed by someone in a position to someone[s] in an position. 11. God His Covenants on mankind. 12. Do we have a choice in the design of the Covenant? 13. Does God provide the means by which we can meet His terms? This concept, of course, carries on into the New Testament [Covenant]. The Greek word for testament is diatheke. It means a thing put through the disposition of property by will. It is used of a compact, request, appoint, make a testament. It has the secondary meaning of a
15 convention or arrangement between two parties, a Covenant. In the Septuagint, the pre-christian translators of the Old Testament into Greek did not use the Greek word suntheke for the Hebrew b rith. Suntheke means put together and it suggests that both parties are equal. They saw this was wrong in referring to God s Covenants of love. So they used the work diatheke for both human and divine Covenants. Diatheke can be translated into English as either Covenant or testament. The context is the determining factor as to how it is translated. Constantly throughout the New Testament diatheke is used to refer to the Old Testament. For example, 1:72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember His holy Covenant. Luke Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the Covenants which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Acts 3:25 And gave him the Covenant of circumcision (Abraham). Acts 7:8 Also see: Rom. 11:27; Gal. 3:15-17; 4:24; Eph. 2:12; 2 Cor. 3:14; Rev. 11:19; Heb. 8:9-10; 10:16-29. The New Testament Scriptures also constantly refer to diatheke as the New Testament in Christ. Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting Covenant. Heb. 13:20 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament, not of the letter but of the Spirit: for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. 2 Cor. 3:6 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. Heb. 7:22 Also see: Matt. 26:28; Heb. 12:24; 9:15-20 The New Testament Diatheke is a translation of B'rith in the Old Testament and refers to a testament. Both words are talking about God s
Covenants of love with mankind. 16 14. The Hebrew word b rith is translated into Greek as. Because God is perfect and just, He must do everything in a proper and right way. The Covenant is the legal method God chose to impose His sovereign, gracious, and divine will. All Covenants have conditions. If we break the convenant conditions we give up the right to the Covenant blessings and we get the consequences of breaking a Covenant. There are people today who teach that some of God s Covenants were unconditional. This is a serious misunderstanding of what a Covenant is. Conditions are part of what make a Covenant. Without conditions you do not have a Covenant. For example, a car without an engine may look like a car but it is not a real car with such an important part missing. Sometimes the conditions may not be clearly stated, but Faith and Obedience are always conditions of every Covenant God makes, 15. The Covenant is the method God chose to impose His sovereign, gracious, and divine will. 16. All of God s Covenants have. 17. and obedience are conditions of every Covenant God makes. In the Covenants of love, God in grace - and of His own free will - obligates Himself to deliver the sinner and bring about reconciliation [peace between God and man]. The Covenant is the instrument of His elective love. It is the sovereign administration of grace and promise. We must be clear that this kind of Covenant is not an agreement or contract between equals. It is God declaring what He will do for man and what man must do in return. Write out Gen. 12:1-3
Notice the terms like: I will show, I will make, I will bless. This shows us that it is a work the God chooses to do. God makes the promise and He brings it to pass. Abraham did not negotiate the terms. They were Divinely given - no arguing allowed. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God had chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: but because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondsmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. [Deut. 7:6-8] Again notice that God was not doing something because someone deserved it. God loved because He chose to love. God acts because of Who He is and the Covenant that His has given, not because of any reason found in man. I have made a Covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah [Ps. 89:3-4] Once again we see that God of His own will establishes His Covenant. God is always the One Who gives and maintains the Covenants of love. 18. The Covenant is the instrument of God s elective. 19. Are God s Covenants Covenants between equals? 20. God acts because of. 21. is always the One Who gives and maintains the Covenants of love. 17
18 We do not get the blessings of the Covenant automattically. Remember, there is no such thing as an unconditional Covenant. The Covenant is the work of God alone, not God and man, but there are still conditions that have to be met in order to get the Covenant blessings. The most basic requirement is that the holiness of God demands that sin be taken away. A holy God cannot have anything to do with sin. Each Covenant must have a way for the atonement to be effective. Man can never provide the atonement [the wiping out of sin]. So God Himself had to prove the way to cover sin [animal sacrifices in the Old Testament] until the Perfect Sacrfice [Jesus Christ in the New Testament] came. Blood represents life. The blood of an innocent animal would be required to cover sin in each Covenant of love until Jesus came and shed His own blood to take away sin forever in the New Covenant. Write out and memorize Lev. 17:11: _ The lamb in the Old Testament [Covenant] was a type or sympol of Christ in the New Testament [Covenant]. In making the kind of blood Covenant of love with mankind, God is committing to keep the Covenant even if it costs Him His life - which it did on the cross of Calvary. The blood of the lamb looked forward to the blood of Jesus on the cross. It was a necessary part of bringing us to Himself. Sin had to be dwelt with. We will look at other requirements as we study the individual Covenants. 22. Do we get the blessings of the Covenant automattically? 23. The of God demands that sin be taken away. 24. Did animal sacrifices take away sin? 25. Blood represents. 26. What animal was the Old Testament type of Christ?
27. Did the blood of Jesus take away sin forever? What Are The Parts Of A Covenant? A Covenant is made of of five parts: 1. The Testator 2. The Heirs 3. The Legacy 4. The Terms 5. The Seal The Testator is the one who is giving the Covenant. He is the one who decides who the heirs will be, what will be given to them, what terms will be required, and what will be used as the seal. In other words, he is the person in charge. The Heirs are the people to whom the Covenant is given. It applies not only to the people who first received it, but to everyone who would benefit from it. The Legacy is the blessing of the Covenant. It is the benefit that the heirs will receive from the Covenant. In other words, it is what they get by being in the Covenant. The Terms are the conditions which the Heirs must meet in order to get the legacy. Every Covenant has terms. It also details what will happen if the Covenant is broken. The Seal is a outward, visable sign that the Covenant is in force. It is something that both the testator and the heirs can look to in order to remind them of the Covenant. 28. How many parts are there in a Covenant? 29. Name the parts of a Covenant: 30. The is the one who is giving the Covenant. 31. The are the people to whom the Covenant is given. 19
32. The Legacy is the of the Covenant. 33. The are the conditions which the Heirs must met in order to get the legacy. 34. Does every Covenant have terms? 35. The Seal is a outward, visable that the Covenant is in force. REVIEW 2 [Complete without looking back.] 1. Write out from memory Dan. 4:35 _ 2. The making of is an ancient custom. 3. God imposes His Covenants on. 4. All of God s Covenants have. 20 5. Write from memory Lev. 17:11: _ 6. The Covenant is the instrument of God s elective. 7. The holiness of God demands that be taken away.
8. represents life. 9. What animal was the Old Testament type of Christ? Name the five parts of a Covenant in order: 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. The is the one who is giving the Covenant. 16. The are the people to whom the Covenant is given. 17. The is the blessing of the Covenant. 18. The are the conditions which the Heirs must met in order to get the legacy. 19. Does every Covenant have terms? 21 is 20. The is a outward, visable sign that the Covenant in force. Score PRE-TEST 1. Write from memory John 14:6
22 2. Write from memory Dan. 4:35 _ 3. Write from memory Lev. 17:11: _ 4. How many major Covenants are there? 5. The plan God made within Himself is call the Covenant. 6. There is only plan for all people of all time. 7. Old Testament believers looked to the cross. 8. Did the blood of Jesus take away sin forever? 9. All of God s have conditions. 10. The of God demands that sin be taken away. 11. represents life. Name the five parts of a Covenant in order: 12. 13. 14.
23 15. 16. 17. Does every Covenant have terms? 18. The are the people to whom the Covenant is given. 19. The is the blessing of the Covenant. 20. The are the conditions which the Heirs must met in order to get the legacy. Score In Workbook 2 we will study the Eternal Covenant that God made within Himself before the creation of the world. It is from this Covenant that all other Covenants come. Reference Works That You May Prosper, Ray Sutton, Institute for Christian Economies, 1987