Covenant and ScriptureSýnishorn

Scripture in Perspective

The books and stories of the Bible are bound together by a series of covenants. Covenant relationships, established with human beings, are crucial to God’s redemption of his creation.

Appreciating the significance of covenant is essential to a faithful, holistic understanding of Scripture. This may be illustrated by contrasting historical and covenantal perspectives of Scripture.

Scripture in Historical Perspective

Historical perspectives of Scripture review principal events and stories of the Old Testament in chronological order, typically including:

• Creation
• Knowledge of good and evil, death and murder.
• A catastrophic flood and the confusion of languages.
• The promises of land and descendants, to a man named Abraham.
• An exodus from Egypt and formation of a new nation, Israel.
• Israel’s journey into the land promised to Abraham.
• Israel’s experiences as a kingdom, ruled by judges, priests, prophets, and kings.
• Israel and Judah’s eventual exile from and promised return to the land.

The figure below represents these scriptural events as a timeline. These events are typically related to Christian faith in terms of the significance of God’s calling, provision, and protection; human rebellion, judgement, and disaster; return, forgiveness, and deliverance; faithfulness and unfaithfulness.

Scripture in Covenantal Perspective

Another theme is evident within these historical narratives. A profound theme that flows throughout Scripture: a series of divine covenants. Discerning this pattern requires a re-examination of the biblical stories:

• The blessing of creation.
• A curse placed upon the ground.
• A covenant established with Noah.
• A covenant established with Abraham.
• The covenant renewed with Isaac and Jacob.
• A covenant established with Israel, after the exodus from Egypt.
• A covenant made with David.

The figure below incorporates these covenantal events on the timeline, to create a covenantal perspective of Scripture. In the diagram, historical events are shown like trees, going upwards. In contrast, the covenants are displayed almost like roots, going downwards. This metaphorical interpretation emphasises the importance of the covenants: though less visible, they are the real source of biblical history.

You can explore these topics further by looking up and reading these scriptures:

• Genesis 1:27–31; 3:17–19; 9:9–16
• Genesis 12:1–3, 15:18; 17:1–22
• Genesis 22:15; 26:1–5,24, 28:13–15
• Exodus 19:4–6
• 2 Samuel 7:12–16, 23:5
• Psalm 89:3

Reflection

• Why did God choose to make covenants with human beings?
• What do the patriarchal covenants reveal about God’s character?
• How does recognising the biblical covenants alter your perspective of the meaning of scripture and of God’s purposes?