Inter-Varsity Press

CONTENTS

1 Biblical theology and the covenant concept

Biblical theology, covenant and the unity of Scripture
The place of covenant in biblical scholarship
The role of the covenant concept in Scripture
The meaning of covenant terminology used in Scripture

2 Covenant and God’s universal purpose

Covenant in its biblical-theological context
Creation and the divine purpose
The question of a covenant with Adam

3 God’s universal covenant with Noah

Introduction of the covenant idea
Covenant and (re-)creation
Ratification of the universal covenant
Human obligations of the universal covenant
Divine obligations and sign of the universal covenant
God’s universal covenant elsewhere in the Old Testament
Theological significance of the universal covenant
A creation covenant?

4 God’s programmatic covenants with the patriarchs

The patriarchal covenants in their biblical-theological framework
The programmatic agenda
The patriarchal covenants
The covenant heirs

5 God’s national covenant with Israel

The national covenant in biblical-theological context
The revelatory purpose of the national covenant
The ratification of the covenant at Sinai
The sign of the Mosaic covenant: sabbath
The covenantal significance of the tabernacle
The covenantal status of the Levitical priesthood
The breaking of the covenant and its re-establishment
The covenant and Israel’s cult
Covenantal renewal at Moab
Subsequent renewals of the national covenant

6 God’s royal covenant with David

The literary and historical context of the dynastic oracle
The promissory focus of the dynastic oracle
David’s response to the dynastic oracle
Subsequent reflection on the royal covenant
The royal covenant in the latter prophets
The royal covenant in the purpose of God

7 God’s new covenant anticipated by the prophets

Introduction
Jeremiah’s ‘new covenant’ text
Other anticipations of a future covenant
Other possible allusions to the anticipated ‘new covenant’
Drawing the various strands together

8 God’s new covenant inaugurated through Jesus

Introduction
The new covenant in the Gospels
The new covenant in Acts
The new covenant in Paul
The new covenant in Hebrews
The ultimate consummation

Extract from Author’s preface

... The aim of the present study is to highlight the significance of covenant for biblical theology, and explore the role of this concept within God’s unfolding purpose. The first chapter reviews some of the important issues that must be addressed in any biblical-theological investigation of covenant, not least, the meaning of this biblical idea. The conclusion reached is that covenant is essentially ‘a solemn commitment, guaranteeing promises or obligations undertaken by one or both parties, sealed with an oath’. The primary function of this ancient theological motif, first introduced in the context of the flood, is understood as follows: to advance God’s creative purpose of universal blessing.

The second chapter, therefore, sets the covenant idea into its biblical-theological context, namely, God’s purpose to extend his rule and blessing throughout theworld – a divine plan jeopardized but not eradicated by human rebellion. The suggestion that humanity’s prelapsarian relationship with God should also be described as some form of covenant is explored but rejected.

The following five chapters examine each of the major divine-human covenants attested to in the Old Testament. The universal covenant with Noah is all-encompassing, serving mainly to guarantee the future survival of God’s creation despite human rebellion. Rather than seeing this as a renewal of an earlier covenant established at creation, this Noahic covenant is understood as the covenant with creation subsequently alluded to in other OT texts (Jer. 33:19–26), which guarantees the ultimate fulfilment of God’s creative purpose.

This purpose is further unpacked in the next major development in the history of the covenant idea: God’s promises to Abraham. ...

... Chapter 7 explores how this new covenant is anticipated in the Old Testament’s prophetic literature, and chapter 8 surveys how the New Testament portrays its fulfilment – along with all previous divine-human covenants – in the person of Jesus Christ and the kingdom he inaugurated.

Thus, by tracing the covenant trajectory from its conception in the primeval period to its consummation in the new heavens and the new earth, this study highlights that covenant is not only one of Scripture’s more significant theological motifs, but that it is also a most important bonding agent in the cement that unites Scripture as a whole. ...