Q: Archbishop J, why covenant?
At the Mass to bless the new altar last week at St Joseph, a lady told me: “Archbishop, please write on covenant!” I asked her: “what am I to write?” She said, “tell us, why covenant?”
I had my heart set on a different question for today, but that will have to wait. The request seemed so urgent that I decided to delay my question: Why do I believe Anthony Pantin is a saint? But I would like you to think about this question so we can pick it up together.
Covenant
Covenant is essential to understanding the relationship between God and us human beings, His people. There is no understanding of the God-human relationship without understanding that God freely, totally, and faithfully committed Himself to us from the beginning. This commitment is unwavering. Only through understanding the covenant can we understand salvation history.
The glossary of the Catechism of The Catholic Church (CCC) defines a covenant as a solemn agreement between human beings or between God and a human being involving mutual commitments or guarantees.
Today, the closest model of a covenant is a legal contract. The contract binds two people together with certain rights and obligations. A covenant, on the other hand, is not a contract. It is a particular type of relationship initiated by our infinite God with us, who are finite. It is not an agreement of equals. We bring little or nothing to the relationship except the knowledge that God loves us.
Adam and Eve: By looking back to Noah, Abraham and Moses, many theologians see the creation analogously as a covenant. The relationship established at creation—with the institution of the Sabbath—has strong covenantal implications. The Sabbath served as a reminder of the original harmony between God and humanity, inviting them into a relationship of rest, worship, and obedience.
This relationship between God and Adam and Eve is foundational for the later covenants, which furthers the theme of God’s commitment to His creation and the call for humanity to respond faithfully to this God. In the relationship between God and Adam and Eve, we begin to see what God intends and is prepared to do to achieve it.
Noah: The covenant with Noah is characterised by its universal scope, extending not only to Noah and his descendants but also to “every living creature” and the Earth itself. This reflects God’s commitment to creation and His desire to maintain a relationship with all humanity and the natural world. The promise is unconditional, emphasising God’s grace and mercy despite human sinfulness.
As soon as the water subsided and Noah left the ark, he built an altar and sacrificed clean animals. The sign of the covenant is the rainbow, indicating God’s promise: “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done” (Gen 8:21).
The Catechism, commenting on the first official covenant, says: “After the unity of the human race was shattered by sin, God at once sought to save humanity part by part. The covenant with Noah after the flood gives expression to the principle of the divine economy toward the ‘nations,’ in other words, toward men grouped ‘in their lands, each with [its] own language, by their families, in their nations’.” (CCC 56)
Abraham: Next, God made a covenant with Abraham, promising he would be the father of a great nation. This covenant is pivotal as it marks the beginning of God’s special relationship with the people of Israel. Through Israel, salvation would be revealed to the whole world.
Abraham was promised land and descendants (Gen 12:1; 15:7) and offspring, despite his age and the barrenness of his wife Sarah, to become a great nation (Gen 15:5; 17:4-5).
Thirdly, God promised to bless Abraham and make his name great and, through him, to bless all the nations of the earth (Gen 12:2-3; 18:18).
With Abraham, the covenant came with circumcision of his male heirs (Gen 17). Maybe God thought that if the men had to pay a price, they would become more compliant to Him and remember to whom they belonged. Circumcision saw Abraham shedding his blood as his part of the covenant. There was also a blood sacrifice involving animals as the sign of the covenant (Gen 15:9-10). The name change from Abram to Abraham was a further sign of the covenant.
Moses: The covenant with Moses is at the heart of the Old Testament. Here, God took the descendants of Abraham out of the land of slavery and into the desert so they could worship Him on Sinai (Ex 3:12).
Three months after the Exodus, God made a covenant with Moses; He gave him the law, the two tablets with the Ten Commandments. God asked obedience and true worship. He begins a new relationship with the people (Gen 19:5-6), one that has special rites, rituals, vestments, vessels, etc.
These are modelled on the heavenly worship that Moses was allowed to see (Heb 8:5). The blood of the camels was sprinkled on the people and on the altar (Ex 24:3-8). The book of the covenant was read, and the people agreed to observe all the ordinances of God.
David: The covenant with David moves the relationship with God to a new place with the people of Israel. God promised David He would raise up a descendant from his own body, establishing his kingdom and throne forever. This promise signified that David’s lineage would continue and that his descendants would play a key role in God’s plan for salvation (2 Sam 7:12-16).
God promised to establish David’s dynasty forever. He promised that “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son” (2 Sam 7:14). This covenant, unlike the others, is unconditional. Even if David’s successors fail, God will be faithful.
Reflection
With each covenant, more is given, and more is expected. With Adam and Eve, it was a covenant with a couple. With Noah, a family, Abraham with a nation, and David, a kingdom that will endure forever.
Hosea saw the covenant as a marriage relationship and saw Israel as an adulterous wife prostituting herself with other gods. The covenant was not just a casual or a contractual relationship. It was a love relationship that deepened each time and brought the people to a deeper revelation of the intimacy of God, a God who loves His people with an everlasting love.
The New Covenant
Already in the Old Testament, God was promising a new covenant. Jeremiah prophesied: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (Jer 31:31-34).
Key Message:
Each covenant moved Israel to a deeper relationship with God. We can say that with each successive covenant, Israel was moved along the continuum of spiritual development.
Action Step:
Reflect on your relationship with God. How has God moved you along from youth to this stage? What are the ways that God has intervened to help you respond in a deeper way to Him?
Scripture Reading:
Jer 31:31-34