A Shallow Analysis of the Covenant Spirit in Bible

王艳 冯育军

【Abstract】In the Bible， the word “contract” is the core concept， which refers to the covenant between God and man to regulate people's behavior， to give people the interests of the world， and to form an interactive relationship. In this paper， the three important contracts concluded by God and man， namely， “Noah's covenant”， “Abraham's covenant”， “David's covenant”， this article explores the spirit of contract in the Bible.

【Key words】Covenant； Bible； God

Covenant of Noah's Ark

And God said unto Noah， The end of all flesh is come before me； for the earth is filled with violence through them； and， behold， I will destroy them with the earth.（Ge6：13）God spares Noah， his family， and a remnant of all the world's animals from the flood.“These are the generations of Noah： Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations， and Noah walked with God.”（Ge6：9） According to Genesis， God gave Noah instructions for building the ark. Seven days before the deluge， God told Noah to enter the ark with his household and the animals. “And God said， this is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you， for perpetual generation， I do set my bow in the cloud， and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.”（Ge 9：12-13）

The Abrahams Covenant

The Abrahams Covenant is an unconditional covenant. God made promises to Abraham that required nothing of Abraham. Genesis 15：18–21 describes a part of the Covenant， specifically dealing with the dimensions of the land God promised to Abraham and his descendants. The actual Abrahamic Covenant is found in Genesis 12：1–3. The ceremony recorded in Genesis 15 indicates the unconditional nature of the covenant. The only time that both parties of a covenant would pass between the pieces of animals was when the fulfillment of the covenant was dependent upon both parties keeping commitments. Concerning the significance of God alone moving between the halves of the animals， it is to be noted that it is a smoking furnace and a flaming torch， representing God， not Abraham， which passed between the pieces. Such an act， it would seem， should be shared by both parties， but in this case Gods solitary action is doubtless to be explained by the fact that the covenant is principally a promise by God. He binds Himself to the covenant. God caused a sleep to fall upon Abraham so that he would not be able to pass between the two halves of the animals. Fulfillment of the covenant fell to God alone.

Later， God gave Abraham the rite of circumcision as the specific sign of the Abrahamic Covenant （Genesis 17：9–14）. All males in Abrahams line were to be circumcised and thus carry with them a lifelong mark in their flesh that they were part of Gods physical blessing in the world. Any descendant of Abraham who refused circumcision was declaring himself to be outside of Gods covenant； this explains why God was angry with Moses when Moses failed to circumcise his son in Exodus 4：24–26.

God's covenant with David

Blessings are promised to the family and posterity of David. These promises relate to Solomon， David's immediate successor， and the royal line of Judah. But they also relate to Christ， who is often called David and the Son of David. To him God gave all power in heaven and earth， with authority to execute judgment. He was to build the gospel temple， a house for God's name； the spiritual temple of true believers， to be a habitation of God through the Spirit. The establishing of his house， his throne， and his kingdom for ever， can be applied to no other than to Christ and his kingdom： David's house and kingdom long since came to an end. The committing iniquity cannot be applied to the Messiah himself， but to his spiritual seed； true believers have infirmities， for which they must expect to be corrected， though they are not cast off. （2Sa 7：18-29）

Conclusion

Hebrew Bible uses the contract form to God and man， so that both sides take the corresponding obligation， so that God can establish a strong connection and communication mechanism between God and people. The Jews do not consider the relationship between man and God as a traditional destiny， but a kind of interactive relationship. By God and man's covenant， God gives people the secular interests， in exchange for the people to obey Him in spirit through obedience and spiritual worship to God.

References：

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[2]Graves，Robert：Patai，Raphael（1986）.Hebrew：The Bandom House.

[3]Wang Zuoliang，1992.European Culture，Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.