God’s covenants with man is a very special and important line in the Bible. Ever since man was created, God has stood on the ground of a covenant in His dealings with man; these covenants with man are written in the Bible. The Bible which has sixty-six books is a record of God’s covenants with man. Therefore, the Bible is also referred to as the Old and New Testaments, or the old and new covenants, which shows the importance of God’s covenants in the Bible.
It is quite extraordinary that other religious writings are not called a covenant; only the Christian Bible is called a covenant. Other religious writings talk about religious teachings, religious rules, and religious regulations, but only the Bible is a covenant made by God with man. Unlike common religious writings which center on teachings, rules, and regulations, the Holy Bible is centered on covenants, covering all the covenants that God has made with man.
The words which we normally speak are not considered a covenant, but once words are formalized on a legal basis and bound by law, the words are called a contract or a covenant. For example, when we discuss some matters with others in a casual way, our words are merely words that cannot be regarded as a covenant. However, if we are engaging in important business, we must put our words, the terms and conditions, and all the details into formal writing based on law and restricted by law. Then these words become a contract, a covenant, between us and the other party. A covenant is a set of words that are more than just ordinary words; they are formal words with a legal basis and which are bound by law.
We make contracts because we want to strengthen our credibility. Ordinary words may be unreliable and questionable, but when they are turned into a contract or a covenant, they are more trustworthy. The Chinese word for contract or covenant also means “binding”; in other words, a contract is something that binds people. Once we put our words into a contract, we are bound by the words, and we must fulfill the terms of the contract.
In the Bible all of God’s covenants with man reveal His desire toward man. Every covenant fully discloses what man’s position is in relation to God’s desire, what God is doing in man, what God expects of man, and even the things that God has done for man. God’s desire toward man becomes a covenant because He swears by a solemn oath and explains His desire to man in very formal words. This may be likened to the negotiation between two persons. When two parties negotiate about a certain matter, they do not speak to one another in a common, casual, and light manner. Rather, they speak formally and solemnly in relation to their legal standing so that there is a legal basis and the binding of law. Consequently, they have a responsibility to fulfill what they have spoken. Likewise, God expresses His desire toward man in a covenant as a way to provide a guarantee to man and to establish His credibility so that man would trust in Him and be at peace.
Please remember that the Bible is a book of the revelation of God’s desire toward man; it is full of God’s words, and these words fully explain God’s desire toward man. When God spoke, however, He did not speak with ordinary words but with covenanting words. He spoke with His own immovable faithfulness as the guarantee. These words became covenants under the binding of law, being bound by His faithfulness.
Since the Bible is a book of God’s covenants with man, these covenants are a great and central line in the Bible. In order to understand the Bible, we must find the line of these covenants. In this overview, there are nine obvious covenants in the Bible, and among these there are two especially great ones, commonly known as the old covenant and the new covenant. Of course, these do not refer to the Old Testament and the New Testament of the Bible, but to the two great covenants shown in the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is so named because it contains a great covenant, which was a previous covenant that became old and has been abolished. Likewise, the New Testament is so named because it particularly speaks of a new covenant. Although one covenant has passed away, another covenant still exists. The former covenant is considered an old covenant, and the current covenant is considered a new covenant. This is a great subject, but we can only touch upon it briefly.
Of these nine covenants, some are clearly pointed out in the Bible as covenants, but some are not pointed out so clearly. For example, God made a covenant with Noah twice, and the Bible plainly states that God made a covenant with Noah in both instances. But there are other instances where the covenants are not plainly identified, even though they are God’s covenants with man in every aspect. For example, in 2 Samuel 7 the covenant God made with David is not spoken of as a covenant. It was not until long afterward, during the captivity of the children of Israel, when someone wrote Psalm 89, recalling the incident of God’s speaking to David in 2 Samuel 7, that it is referred to as a covenant with David. Although it was not plainly called a covenant at the time, it later was recognized as a covenant. The words to David were very formal, based on law and bound by law, so they also were a covenant with man. Now that we have clearly defined this principle, we can find nine instances in the Bible where God spoke to man in such a formal way; in other words, God made nine covenants with man.