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  • Essay / The Subject of the Covenant in the Old Testament

    Table of ContentsIntroductionDiscussionBibliography IntroductionFor my research, I have chosen to focus on the covenant which is an important subject seen throughout the Old Testament. The covenant is discussed in the Old Testament specifically in Exodus 34:1-28, Jeremiah 31:31-40, and the covenant is also discussed in the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayDiscussionIn Exodus 34:1-28, God tells Moses, “I make a covenant with you. Before all your people, I will perform wonders never before done in any nation in the entire world. Obey what I command you today. Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God” (Ex 34:10-14 NIV). This passage shows me that the covenant is very important and should be taken seriously because God is willing to do everything for his people, but if they do not obey him, they are going against the covenant that he concluded with them and trust between them. they become broken. In Jeremiah 31:31-40, God declares: “When I make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, although I was their husband to them. This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after this time. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people” (Jer 31:31-33 NIV). This passage shows me that God does not punish his people for what their ancestors did to them. Even though their ancestors broke the covenant, God does not pass judgment and gives His people Israel a chance to make a new covenant and restore the relationship. Finally, in 1 Corinthians 2:17-34, “This cup is the new covenant. in my blood; do it every time you drink it, in remembrance of me. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Cor 11:25-27 NIV). This passage shows me that He gave His body and blood to His people to remember Him and because of that sacrifice, His people should be worthy and respect His offering. He emphasizes that if people do not receive his body and blood in a worthy manner, they will be guilty of sin. This shows how important the body and blood is because he gives his people an offering of himself and his doing that and his people eating that offering in an unworthy manner is considered going against him when he watched over them. The first thoughts of the text were that I knew that the covenant was a very important theme in the Bible because it was the main element in uniting God and His people. Without covenants, there would not be such a strong relationship between God and His people. I first understood these passages to mean that if God's people trust in him, he will help them along the way, but if his people choose to turn away from him, then there will be punishments for having contravened the covenant. Caravalho's text is a great resource to use as this workbook breaks down parts of Old Testament passages. Involving Jeremiah 31, Caravalho discusses the restoration between God and his people. Caravalho explains that the book of Jeremiah focuses solely on destruction, but more specifically in later passages, Jeremiah focuses on the restoration of the destruction that was made between God and his people (Caravalho, 2010, p. 314). She concentratesalso on a specific verse. from Jeremiah 31 stating, “the parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge” (Jer 31:29 NIV). Caravalho explains that this verse provides evidence that God could punish people for the sins committed by their ancestors (Caravalho, 2010, p.314).Two Bible commentaries that I focused on for my passages were the Oxford Bible Commentary and the HarperCollins Bible Commentary. Exodus 34:1-28 in Harpercollins Bible Commentary explains how the renewal of relationships is not related to past issues involving Egypt, but yet to the future conquest of Canaan (Harpercollins, 2000, p. 143). Harpercollins and Oxford both agree that there is controversy over whether Moses actually wrote on the tablets. However, Harpercollins suggests that the tablets are identical to the broken ones and Oxford suggests that Yahweh said that he would be the one to write on the tablets. Exodus 34:1-28 in the Oxford Bible Commentary explains that even if the relationship is restored, this does not mean that there will be no punishments due to the possibility that Israel's sin will cause the tests the restored relationship (Oxford, 2014, p. 89-90). Jeremiah 31:31-40 in Harpercollins Bible Commentary explains how their forgiveness brought a new covenant between Yahweh and the people of Israel and will continue as long as they will obey him (Harpercollins, 2000, p. 567-568). Jeremiah 31:31-40 in the Oxford Bible Commentary explains how this new covenant will not diminish the covenant with Judaism in favor of Christianity (Oxford, 2014, p. 514-515). The new covenant will restore broken marriages, heal families, and begin a new narrative with Israel (Oxford, 2014, p. 514-515). Both commentaries agree that Yahweh promises a new covenant with Israel and that what happened to Judah will not be reflected on Israel. However, the Oxford Bible Commentary gives more detail on what exactly is restored between Yahweh and his people. 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 gives a different view of the covenant as it is found in the New Testament of the Bible. Harpercollins brings up a specific verse, “have you no houses?” ", to which Harpercollins refers, eating and drinking during this period is supposed to be done in the privacy of their home, and not as a ritual meal with many other individuals ( Harpercollins, 2000, p. 1087-1088 ). Corinthians 11:17-34 in the Oxford Bible Commentary focuses this question on wealthier individuals because they would bring their own items to prepare this meal and would even start the meal and keep most of them. themselves before others come (Oxford, 2014, p. 1126-1127). The Oxford Bible Commentary points out that when discussing the covenant in this chapter, the term remembrance placed more emphasis on the relationship between God and his people rather than the body and blood itself (Oxford, 2014, pp. 1126-1127). Both commentaries have broadly the same concept regarding the Last Supper. The comments definitely had an effect on my thoughts on each passage I read. Both brought up excellent points, some similar to my thoughts and others bringing new ideas that I hadn't thought of while reading the passages. The Oxford comment raised a new thought regarding 1 Corinthians 11 that I had not thought of before. He suggested that this primarily focused on wealthier individuals at this time, as they had more items to prepare a meal with and would be greedy and keep most for themselves (Oxford, 2014, 1126-1127). Keep in mind: This is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our editors now.