Part Four As I have said, at the most rudimentary level covenants are for the purpose of reinforcing plain speech about specific momentous things. They do this formally in the terms of the covenant and its obligations upon specified parties. God holds human beings to the very words of their covenant oaths (Jer. 34:18; Ezek. 17:15c). The Bible also indicates that God “keeps covenant” (Deut. 7:9; Neh. 9:32; Dan. 9:4). We would expect no less from Him who cannot lie …
Category: Covenants
Part Three If it were up to us… If the Lord had relied upon men to fulfill their duties before fulfilling His oaths there would be no reason at all to make covenants in the first place. He was on the safest ground possible, and could have promised the universe without having to concern Himself about fulfilling anything. We all fail. Christians know that unless God is faithful to stand behind His promise in the Gospel, we are all done …
Part Two In the Bible there is always a correspondence between God’s words and His actions. You see it in the Creation narratives – “God said”…”and it was so”. You see it in the Gospel, – “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” You see it in such well known places as the curing of Naaman, or Jesus’ healing of Jairus’s daughter. When God says He is going to do something, you can bank on it. …
PART ONE The subject of this article has to do with how covenants clarify and underline specific terms about certain important (indeed central) theological topics. If we all spoke the truth and we all could hear it unimpeded by sin’s effects there would be no need of covenants. Covenants presuppose subjects (at least one) who have a propensity to diverge from an important truth. (It is for this reason that any pre-fall covenants, which are exegetically weak and empty in …
Why Make a Covenant? In Genesis 21 is an episode where a Philistine leader, Abimelech, comes to Abraham and wants him to “swear… that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity…” (21:23). Abraham consented, but there was strife over a well which had been seized by Abimelech’s servants (21:25-26). To make sure there was understanding on both sides Abraham and Abimelech entered into a covenant (21:27, 32). In particular the point at issue …
This is a repost of an article I wrote in 2010. I shall follow it up with a new post on the subject of ambiguity faith. As some of you know, I am Founder of TELOS INSTITUTE & TELOS MINISTRIES, an online seminary dedicated to educating God’s people in solid dispensational and presuppositional theology at a low cost. This ministry also provides me with an outlet for my ongoing development of what I call “Biblical Covenantalism” (see here, and here): a more …
Part One Part Two Part Three In this last part of our study of the “Priestly Covenant” I will try to answer some of the main objections which might be thrown at what I have already stated. 1. If Christ is the Final Sacrifice for sins, how can there be a temple and sacrifices in the future? This objection is based on a misunderstanding of the Book of Hebrews. Mixed in with this is a subtle prejudice (usually of the …
Part Two After the vision of the enormous temple which ends Ezekiel one is left with some questions. How could such an immense structure fit in Jerusalem as we know it? Why would any cultic priesthood be necessary once Jesus had come and died for our sins? And, doesn’t the Book of Hebrews negate the whole idea of priests and sacrifices? I am going to leave aside the last two questions until I examine some objections in Part Four. But …
Part One Biblical Covenantalism tracks the covenants through Scripture for the sake of putting together a composite picture of God’s plan. The covenants are the backbone of Scripture. If we pay careful attention to these covenants as they arise, we will not be able to bypass the everlasting “covenant of peace” which God made with Phinehas and his descendents in Numbers 25. The fact that a covenant of this kind is casually passed over with barely a mention and not …
Question: Which plainly stated Covenant in the Bible is most often neglected? The answer is the covenant which the LORD made with Phinehas in the Book of Numbers. The circumstances surrounding this covenant centers around the doctrine of Balaam as it was realized at Baal Peor (Cf. Num.31:16; Rev. 2:14). Amid the idolatry and fornication a Simeonite by the name of Zimri openly brought a Midianite woman into the camp of Israel and took her into his tent to have …
