The Covenants of the Old Testament, Research Paper Example

The political term “Berit”  within the Hebrew worldview refers to a covenant or accord forged between the all-mighty God and his Jewish disciples who are usually referred to as the “chosen people” within Christian and other religious contexts This so-called contract, a voluntary one, functions in the same way that a business contract does  by stipulating that God will give his chosen people a homeland in Palestine; shower them with bountiful and healthy children; and provide children with love and protection against any person who seeks to oppress them. In return, the chosen people of God,  also believed to be the descendants of the Old Testament patriarch Abraham, must honor the all-mighty God with the utmost respect and obey him by adhering to the dictates of the moral compass he bestowed enforced and implemented vis-a-vis the Hebrew patriarchs. God provided his guidance and written word upon the Jews vis-a-vis the ten commandments, which he presented  to Moses on Mt. Sinai as evident and recorded in the Old Testament. As such, God dictated and governed the fate of the covenant in which God’s chosen people should comply with. This covenant has historically undergirded Jewish comportment and has defined the cultural identity of the Jews, functioning as a social mechanism through which the Jewish community can be preserved even if they were marred by ubiquitous diaspora and thus rendered them obsolete and disconnected from any sense of homeland.

Within the context of Christianity, a covenant as a political term has fomented  a sense of cohesion and Andersonian sense of community among Christians throughout history  despite the quotidian persecution they faced during the nascent stages of their religion’s development.. It directly links to the Christian concept of original sin, thereby maintaining the promise that the Messiah would eventually come to Earth and redeem and restore faith in all ardent Christian believers. The notion of the covenant in the Jewish religions (the progenitor of Christianity), however, has indeed transformed under Christianity. Through biblical Scripture, God promised a new covenant that depicted the Jewish covenant as outmoded, backwards, antiquated, and beautifully imperfect.

According to the bible, God forged seven compacts with his people in the hopes of promoting a peaceful, moral, and sound society. Indeed, these covenants were forged during a protracted period of time during an epoch in which oral history retained currency while the written word was marginalized. In these various covenants–or compacts forged between two parties that mandate that both parties fulfill stipulated obligations–God promised to his adherents that as long as they acquiesced to his every demands and performed the tasks he asked of them, they would benefit from the covenant forged. However, if the people defied the mutual agreement, then they would be severely punished in heinous ways that seem antiquated within the context of modernity. As such, it is clear that breaking any covenant or agreement with god was a grievous sin, and therefore harsh punishment was waged against those who perpetrated such acts. Examining and assessing the various covenants forged between God and the patriarchs provides a nuanced narrative about fundamental values and principles within the Christian faith that continue to govern contemporary religious discourses and epistemologies.

One of the most famous covenants conveyed in the bible is the covenant with Adam, who is considered to be the father of mankind in the Book of Genesis. This covenant discussed the necessity of adherents obeying an omniscient, omnipresent God because Good blessed both Adam and Eve and articulated to them that they would be in the future purveyors of the entire world, subsisting off food and nutrients they ingested with plants (Genesis 1:26-30). Subsequently, God inquired of Adam to remain obedient by not consuming any fruit from the renowned tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:15-17). However, Eve was soon enticed by the language and intimations of a serpent associated with the devil, so Eve broke her covenant with God, resulting in harsh punishment at the hands of an all-mighty God (Genesis 3:15-24). Indeed, both Adam and Eve were disparaged and punished because of their transgressions against the commands of God.

Throughout the Old Testament, God forges a litany of covenants with the patriarchs and progenitors, which calls for cogent analysis and assessment. The covenant between the biblical figure Noah and God is another significant covenant that addressed the act of murder and killing other human beings without merit. God promulgated with conviction they He would bless Noah, and he permitted individuals to consume not only flora but also to consume certain types of fauna as well. In addition, God promised Noah that he would never again wipe out or annihilate the world and the people on earth with a devastating flood. As such, God inquired both Noah and his disciples not to consume meat that contained blood in addition to not murdering or taking the life of another for any purpose. In a different vein, God also forged a covenant with Abraham that focused on  land as the central issue because the people of Israel lacked any land to call their own.  Indeed, the people of Israel need a homeland to call their own. God made a promise to Abraham that his disciples would procure their own land in which they would inhabit (Genesis 15:18-21). Moreover, God mandated Abraham to circumcise any and all men, and from that point forth, all newborn boys were required to be circumcised as young as one week old (Genesis 17:9-14). This particular covenant was subsequently reified by Isaac, Abraham’s son as well as Abraham’s son Jacob. As a result of this covenant, the germination of a Jewish homeland and the positioning of the Jewish people as the chosen people of the all-mighty God on earth, and, until the coming of Jesus would usher in a new covenant for the Jewish people. It is for this reason that adherents refer to Abraham as the father of Israel, and they refer to themselves as the progeny of Abraham (Acts 13:26).  Nonetheless, it is unequivocal that this covenant solely pertains to the people of Israel, often being designated as the covenant of circumcision (Acts 7:9).

This covenant with Abraham was based on a dialogue about what blessings an individual would receive on the basis of his or her faith. Such a covenant was not forged based on helping the people of Israel but also on assisting all individuals throughout the world. Indeed, God blessed all people in the world vis-à-vis the patriarch Abraham and his disciples (Genesis 17: 4-6). God merely requested that Abraham and his followers remain patient and trust him because he was the “father of faith (Luke 19:9). The people of Israel were expected to preserve and maintain the laws in action that date back thousands of year because they germinated centuries before.

Finally, a new covenant was forged amongst all members predicated on the notion of grace, because they viewed the actions of Christ as obsolete. God had promised in the Old Testament that he would spearhead the germination of a new covenant with Christian adherents, and this promise would never be forgotten. This newer version of the covenant between adherents and God enhanced the lives of those who participated, and it fulfills and in many instances replaces the voids so evident in prior covenants documented in the holy bible. Indeed, Jesus purportedly introduced a new covenant between believer and adherent predicated on the very blood of Christ as a means of forgiving one’s sin. The forgiveness of sin was thus crucial within this covenant. However, it is quite difficult to maintain the law of Moses as articulated in Galatians 3:15-18. Rater, laws documented on paper or papyrus were viewed as the will of God that remained at the heart of Christianity and the Holy Spirit.

The efficacy of the covenant, a fundamental institution without the religious arena, continues to be debated, and philosophers, religious official, and policymakers alike continue to argue whether or not the law would work and fulfill the promises it espouses. Nonetheless, maintaining a sense of obligation to carry out a task in order to meet the emotional or epistemological necessities of a religious adherent carries with it both sacrifices and benefits. It is important to remember that covenants must always be honored because it s forged with God, an omniscient, omnipresent, and strong entity who can sway the fate of an army while disparaging the other. Morality–while it is eschewed within the corporate and legal world–undergirds Christian covenants regardless of implication.

Works Cited

Bentley, Jerry H., and Herbert F. Ziegler. Traditions & Encounters: A Global Perspective on `the Past. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2000. Print.

Durkheim, Emile. The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1912. Print.

Hill, Andrew E., and John H. Walton. A Survey of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Pub. House, 1991. Print.

The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments. Trenton: I. Collins, 1791.

Wundt, Wilhelm Max, and Edward Bradford Titchener. Ethics: an Investigation of The Facts And Laws of the Moral Life,. 2. ed. London: Sonnenschein, 191907.