Eternal Covenants

When most people pick up the Bible, they often do not realize that they are holding an ancient text that was given to a particular people (the Jewish people), in a particular ancient context (ancient Israel), with particular promises (the biblical covenants). You cannot get through the first book of the Bible without mentioning Israel or the promises of God. God’s promises in the Bible are often bound up closely with covenantal promises that are made with His people. 

The word for covenant in Hebrew is berît, which means an ‘agreement,’ ‘covenant,’ or ‘contract.’ In ancient times, there would be two or more parties that would have an agreement and would fulfill the obligations of that based on each other’s reputations. The whole of Scripture’s themes can be traced through the theme and topic of covenant. Each of the covenants in Scripture is interrelated and interdependent upon the others. The covenants in Scripture are tied to God’s name and His reputation. To say that God has done away with parts of His covenants is to attack God’s reputation and His word. 

Now there is a redemptive arch throughout the whole Bible. The narrative of Scripture moves from Creation to New Creation from the Old Testament (Tanakh) to the New Testament. The promise of a new creation is found in the prophets, and hints of the Messianic Age are tied with the Davidic covenant. God’s creation is good, and He is in a process of redeeming creation. God has commanded mankind to be fruitful and multiply, subdue the earth, and rule over it (Gen. 1:26-28). God’s desire is for man to flourish according to His blueprint. As part of this plan God has given certain people roles to bring about this redemptive process. He chose the patriarchs and their descendants. It is no accident that God has chosen to name Himself the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Ex. 3:15). It is no accident that the most controversial piece of land is the land promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (cf. Gen. 17:7-8).

The book of Jeremiah has one of the most solid passages that explains God’s unchanging nature towards the Jewish people, even though Jeremiah lived during one of the most difficult times.

He saw his country decline because the people were not obeying the Lord. They worshipped other gods and thought that there would be no consequences for their actions. Jeremiah pleaded with the Jewish people to repent and turn back to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but the people would not listen. 

Jeremiah also lived during the dark days of the destruction of the Temple, which is mourned to this day during the 9^th of Av on the Jewish calendar. 

Yet in the midst of the judgment and destruction of Jeremiah’s time, some of the most hopeful promises in the Bible are made to the Jewish people. 

“Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The Lord of hosts is His name: “If this fixed order departs from before Me,” declares the Lord, “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before Me forever.”” (Jeremiah 31:35–36 NASB95)

Additionally, Jeremiah 31 speaks of the new covenant that will be made with “…the house of Israel and the house of Judah…” (Jer. 31:31). 

Wrapped in this covenant is God’s promise that He will never forsake the physical seed of Israel (the Jewish people). It is a miracle that the same decadents Jeremiah spoke to are still around today. It proves that God keeps His word to His people. Christians often speak of the new covenant promises but can easily forget the context in which they were given. 

A huge piece of these promises is tied to God’s faithfulness to the Jewish people. The author of Hebrews writes of the significance of the Abrahamic covenant and God’s promises: “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.”” (Hebrews 6:13–14 NASB95). 

God’s name is attached with the continuity of the Jewish people, and an honest reading of the Bible will tell you that. Further in the text, Hebrews shows how God stays consistent and does not change or alter the plans He has. “…so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us” (Hebrews 6:18 ESV, emphasis mine). 

God does not lie like human beings and is unchanging (cf. Num. 23:19). 

In the book of Ezekiel, God tells Israel that He will regather them again for His name’s sake. ““I will vindicate the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,” declares the Lord God, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight.” (Ezekiel 36:23 NASB95). 

The miracle of Israel today is done by God for His own name’s sake. God is sanctifying His name through the regathering of the Jewish people. He is showing the world that He still cares about His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Jewish people coming back to the physical land is a huge sign that lets the nations know that God has not forgotten Israel. Christian Zionists do not support Israel for convenience but rather from the conviction that the God of the Bible is a God who keeps His word. 

The greatest treatment of Israel and the Jewish people in the New Testament is in the book of Romans, chapters 9-11.

“And so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.” “This is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.” From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” (Romans 11:26–29 NASB95).

In these verses, Paul lays out the election of the Jewish people as well as the role of the nations (Gentiles). In God’s economy, everyone plays a role. The quicker we humble ourselves and get on board with God’s plan, the quicker God can use us more effectively. God has a special place in His heart for the Jewish people because of His promises to the patriarchs. God also has a special place in His heart for the nations. The Jewish people aren’t better than those in the nations but simply play a different role (Deut. 7:6-8). God has called the Jewish people to be holy (set-apart and dedicated to God). 

I often get pushback from people when I defend the ‘chosen-ness’ of the Jewish people. There is a modern push to make sure everyone is “equal” and that everyone has the same status. In the passage above, Paul quotes Isaiah 59:20-21, demonstrating how the Messiah comes from Zion and the Jewish people to turn them away from their sins. This was a Jewish message that was given in a Jewish context, to the Jewish people. Paul had an issue in his day because the Jewish people were not as receptive to the message of Jesus as the Gentiles were. 

Many Gentiles began believing that God had abandoned the Jewish people so that they could replace them (the origin of replacement theology, cf. Rom. 11:19). However, Paul is emphatic that God’s gifts and calling are “irrevocable,” meaning that they cannot be undone. Paul even goes a step further in saying that the reason Gentiles have received mercy is that the Jewish people have been blinded. There should be deep gratitude from Christians towards the Jewish people and not animosity. 

When the Bible is read with a proper reverence, it is easy to see that God does not abandon His people nor forsake His covenants.