Election, Promise and Covenant in the Old Testament

Election, Promise and Covenant in the Old Testament

Introduction

The aim and objective of this research paper is to bring out the ideas of election, promise and covenant in the Old Testament. It will try to explain the biblical meaning of election and the purpose of election of Israel by God in the Old Testament. On the other hand this research will also deal the purpose and reason of the promise and covenant made by God to man in the Old Testament, such as covenant with Noah, Abraham and etc. In this research, however the researcher would be limited in some area, because it was a vast topic that hard to bring out all in detail and insert into few sheet of paper. The first part of this paper will deal the election and in the second part the idea of promise and covenant would be come out.

1. Bible Meaning of Election

The main Old Testament word for Election is the Hebrew verb bahar, which expresses the idea of deliberately selecting someone or something. There are various alternatives for this word: (a) divine choice of Abraham (Neh. 9:7; Gen. 11:31-12:7) which implies his descendants becoming a people; (b) divine choice of Israel (Isa. 41:8; 44:1; Deut.7:7; etc.) which implies the choice of men, king and place of sacrifice; (c) divine choice of someone or inheritance (I Sam.2:28; Psa.47:5; etc. The word bahar, implies a decided preference for the object chosen (Isa.l:29). For clarity, the Hebrew as well as the Greek meanings is given, the cognate adjectives are Hebrew bahir, and Greek eklektos, translated 'elect' or 'chosen'. The New Testament also uses the noun ekloge, 'election'. The Hebrew word yada, 'to know' is used to denote God's election in Genesis 18:19, which expresses God's affection and cognizance of person in love (Amos 3:2;13:5).The Greek proginosko 'foreknow' is similarly used in Rom.8:29 to mean 'foreknow”.[1]

2. Election of Israel

Election of Israel as the chosen people of God is one of the central theme in the bible around which other beliefs evolve. The expression “chosen people” as such occurs rarely in the bible, but its verbal form Bahar occurs 164 times in the Old Testament. The self-understanding of Israel as chosen people of God got intertwined with Israel’s unique history, geography and culture. The whole thinking and life of Israel was thereby governed by the notion of election. Biblical texts expressing Israel’s state of election are numerous (Ex. 19:5; Dt. 7:6; 26:18; Ps. 135; 4; Mal. 3:17). “The lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth Dt. 7:6.”

The theme “election,” like any other biblical themes, was not entirely new. Even the theme of God’s universal plan is found in many religions and cultures in the world. What is unique in Israel was the combination of election and universal mission. Israel was no difference from others people of ancient near east, who though themselves as chosen by a deity. Between 21 and 18 B.C Century the Egyptian documents show that their king was considered a chosen and loved by God more than all others were loved by him. However, divine election, among others nations was usually associated their historical origin: foundation of a city, temple or their dynasty. The election of Israel took place at a time of its low existence, while Egypt or Babylonia election took place at a time of prosperity. Yahweh chose Israel in the desert. Israel was not intended by God to stay in the desert permanently; they were chosen to move onward; and the Promised Land was to be held with trust in God. The mobile feature of their life was reflected on the principal religious symbol, the ark of the covenant, which was made up of a box in order to be transported from place to place (Ex. 25:13-14).[2]

2.1.The Election at the Time of the Patriarchs

There are passages in the OT, which represent the divine choice of Israel as made in the time of the Patriarchs and especially of Abraham. There are others which represent it as made in the time of Moses. God chose Abraham and his seed by taking Abraham out of Ur and bringing him to the promised land of Canaan, making there an everlasting covenant with him and his descendants and promising his seed should be a blessing to all the earth (Gen. 11: 31-12:7; 22: 15-17). With Abraham, Yahweh declares the existence of the people, and so he throws the whole weight on the permanence of the race. The verb bahar "elect, choose" is especially frequent in Deuteronomy. There we read, for example "For you are a people holy to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession" (Deut.7:6). It is also emphasized that the election did not take place because of Israel's greatness or other merits of the people, but only because of God's grace and to express the special relationship of Israel with Yahweh (Deut.14:2; 26: 18).However, to the Israelites they are a chosen people. This idea of election is exemplified in the Exodus event.[3]

2.2.The Election at the Time of Exodus

The Biblical tradition has it that God chose Abraham's seed by redeeming them from slavery in Egypt under Moses, renewing the Abrahamic covenant with an amplified form at Sinai and setting them in the promised land as their national home ( Exod.3: 6-10; Deut.6:21-23; etc.). The passage in Deut. 7: 8 brings the deliverance from Egypt through Moses into relation with the election in Abraham, and declares that it was in loyalty to his oath to the patriarchs that he brought them forth. Rowley rightly defines this relationship by saying that the people was elected "in Abraham" and elected "through Moses". Through Moses the people received their consecration as God's people. The person of Moses plays a part of the first importance in the forming of the elected people, and it is the reality which cements the unity and the faith of the people. It is seen that Moses is only the intermediary but it is the people as a whole that is the beneficiary of election. In the same way, the deliverance from Egypt and the subsequent covenant upon Sinai were probably considered God's act of election. Then, it would be difficult to separate the idea of election from the concept of the covenant.[4]

2.3. The Grounds of Election

The basis for God's choice is frequently unmentioned in the OT; however, those grounds of divine election that are revealed fall into two categories: merited and unmerited election. To designate election as merited means that God's choice was based on some good found in the elected person. Examples of merited election are Noah who "found grace" in God's sight (Gen. 6:8), Phinehas, whose righteous deed in killing Zimri and Cosbi was the ground of his election (Num. 25:11-13), and the Levites, whose steadfast loyalty to the covenant during the golden calf incident, appears to be the grounds of God's choice (Deut. 33:8-10). With regard to the place where Yahweh was to set His name, its merit laid in its serviceability, that is, the centrality of its location.

The clearest examples of unmerited election involve Abraham, Jacob, and Israel. God's revelation that Abraham was an idolater highlights the unmerited nature of his election (Jos. 24:2). God's choice of Jacob prior to his birth excludes all possibility of merit (Gen. 25:23).20 The grounds for God's choice of Israel were, negatively, not because of their numbers (Deut. 7:7) or righteousness/uprightness of heart (Deut. 9:5) and in spite of their smallness (7:7), stubbornness (Deut. 9:6), and rebellion (Deut. 9:7). Positively, God chose Israel because of love for them (Deut. 7:8; 13:5), for their fathers (Deut. 4:37), and because of His oath to the fathers (Deut. 9:5).[5]

2.4.Universal Purpose of Election

There was a universal purpose in God's election of Abraham and of the people of Israel. They were called and brought into existence only because of God's missionary purpose for the blessing of the nations. Indeed, God's commitment to Israel is predicated on his commitment to humanity as a whole.[6] Election sets Israel apart from the nations so that she might in a special way serve God and reveal glory and lordship on earth and in the end bring the whole world to God. Election has no goal in itself, but only the Kingdom of God. It is therefore of great significance that the word election and choice in the Old Testament, whenever it refers to Israel, is always used in the active, never in the passive form: Israel is never called bahur, "chosen”.

Israel is not so much the object of divine election as subject in the service asked for by God on the ground of election. Perhaps one could put it this way: that there is not service through election but rather election because of service. Therefore election is not primarily a privilege but a responsibility.[7] If the responsibility is refused, election can even become the motive for divine punishment: "You only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities" (Amos 3: 2). It is therefore a misjudgment of the clear declarations of the Old Testament to derive from the election of the nation Israel any national concept, much less any sanction for a "master race" or nationalism.  The election of Israel is a matter of divine Initiative which has as its goal the recognition of God by all nations over the whole world. The way to this goal is the theocracy of Israel; the means is Israel's separation from the other peoples. While the emphasis is laid during the whole history of Israel on her necessity to be separate, this must never be explained as an expression of Old Testament "particularism", but as the adherence to the conditio sine qua non for the maintenance of theocracy in Israel as the forerunner for the lordship of God over the whole world. [8]

3.      Difference between Promise and Covenant

A covenant in general context can be defined as a formal agreement between two or more parties where they agree to do or not to do something and it is a promised that God made to man in religious or biblical context. A promise is an assurance that one will do something or that something will happen. The main difference between a covenant and a promise is that while, in a covenant, both parties have clear obligations and responsibilities, in a promise, this characteristic cannot be observed. Instead, in a promise, what we can observe is the active role undertaken by one party while the other remains passive.[9] However in the biblical usage of covenant means “the promise made by God to man” thereby, most scholars used promise as well as covenant occasionally.

3.1. Promise of God to Abraham    

We can see three things that characterize the promise God made to Abraham:

1.      He promises to make the descendants of Abraham into a great nation. To be the founder of a tribe was the greatest honor of the ancient world. His impact on world history world continue now far beyond his death and his name world be remembered forever by that people. In making this promise, God showed his plan of rising up a new people who world in a special way be his people. Through this nation God was about to fulfill his plan of redemption.

2.      God promise Abraham a new country. The people would need a land in which to live and provide for their physical needs, a land in which a society could develop so as to fulfill the cultural mandate. It would thus demonstrate the way in which God would have man live.[10]

3.      God promise a blessing “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you. I will make your name great and you will be a blessing (Gen. 12:2)”. Not only are Abraham and his people to be recipient of a blessing but also that blessing will in turn home to all people because of Israel. The promise of God’s blessing provides Israel with the necessary resources to accomplish the purpose of God as his people. This blessing was not given to Israel itself alone, but in order that the blessing of God might reach out all the peoples. In the very heart of God’s selection of this one people the universal concern for all humankind is still central.[11]

3.2.The Biblical Meaning Covenant

The Bible uses just two words for "covenant" that occur 316 times in 295 verses. In the Old Testament (berith) means literally a covenant, alliance, pledge, treaty, league, constitution, and an agreement. In the New Testament (diatheke) means a disposition, arrangement, covenant, testament or will. In fact, the Old and New "Testaments" are really the Old and New "Covenants" - the new covenant being of course that which was established by Christ through His shed blood for the remission of sins Matthew 26:28. The Hebrew word above (berith) derives from a root which means "to cut" and hence a covenant is a "cutting" with reference to the cutting or dividing of animals into two parts and the contracting parties passing between them, in making a covenant Genesis 15. The nature of a biblical covenant is of two types: conditional and unconditional. A conditional covenant is that God makes a promise to man conditioned by “if you will” whereby He then promises to bring about the covenantal promises. An unconditional covenant is a sovereign act of God whereby He fulfills the covenantal promises made with an individual regardless of man’s obedience or disobedience. This type of covenant is characterized by “I will” which declares that God alone will bring about the promises. An unconditional covenant can be defined as a sovereign act of God whereby God unconditionally obligates Himself to bring to pass definite promises, blessings, and conditions for the covenanted people.[12]

3.3. Purpose of Covenant

The purpose of the covenants is to reveal God’s earthly agreements, spiritual promises, earthly redemption, and only hope for mankind. God wants to bind Himself to His people to keep His promises so that He can demonstrate through history His character. All of the biblical covenants contain two types of promises: physical and spiritual. The physical promises are, and will continue to be, fulfilled by and limited to Israel. Nevertheless, some of the spiritual blessings of the covenants will extend to the Gentiles. [13]

4. God Covenant with People in Old Testament

The idea of covenant could be seen from the time of creation in the bible, like God creation of the universe and human being to propagate their race in the earth which we can see in (Gen. 2:18), some scholars call this covenant as edenic covenant. Not only that but also we can found the idea of Adamic covenant in the form of cursed (Gen. 3:17-21). However, whence, we talk about the covenant in the bible, the major issue that are most scholars picking in their writing is started from God covenant with Noah, which called Noahic covenant. Thereby, under the title of God and people covenant, I will be dealing from the Noahic covenant.[14]

4.1.The Noahic Covenant (Genesis 9)

The Noahic Covenant made at Mount Ararat (Gen. 8:4) is a result of God regretting his creation (Gen. 6:6 and 6:13) and sending a flood (Gen. 7:4), and is within the context of His favoring Noah (Gen. 6:8) and relenting of his anger to save Noah and part of his creation through ordering him to build an ark (Gen. 6:14). The flood destroyed many creatures, leaving only the ones saved by Noah. God makes this Covenant between Himself and Noah, and Noah’s offspring (Gen. 9:9) and all the creatures that were saved in the ark (Gen. 9:10). God promises that humans will be master of all the other animals, who shall fear Noah and his descendants, confirming the natural order (Gen. 8:22 and Gen. 9:2). He issues an instruction that no-one should eat food that has life in it (Gen. 9:4) and henceforth allows Man to eat the flesh of every moving thing (Gen. 9:3).[15]

4.2.The Abrahamic Covenant (Gn. 12:2ff)

The Abrahamic Covenant is made between God and Abraham at Mount Moriah (Gen. 22:2). God orders Abram to go to the land that He would show him (Gen. 12:1) and promises that he will make him a great nation (Gen. 12:2). Abraham is also promised to be the father of other nations, for example through Ishmael and Esau (Gen. 17:6 and Gen. 17:20). In addition to these everlasting promises to Israel, God makes specific promises to both Abraham personally, and to the Gentiles. To Abraham is promised that he would be the father to the nations (Gen. 17:16) (fulfilled in the Mosaic Covenant); that he is blessed with righteousness (Gen. 15:6), with land (Gen. 13:14–15, 17; 15:18; 24:34–35) and with wealth, viz. “flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys” (Gen 24:34). God promises that Abraham’s name will be great and that he will personally be blessed (Gen. 12:2) (fulfilled in the Davidic Covenant) and that he shall be the channel for God’s universal blessings to his people (Gen. 12:2) (fulfilled in the New Covenant). Scofield notes that this was fulfilled in “blessings to others through his seed, Israel, who became the instruments of divine revelation; through Abraham as an example of pious faith (Rom. 4:1–22); and pre-eminently through Christ, Abraham’s Seed (Gal. 3:16).”

To the Gentiles it is promised that those who honor Abraham shall be blessed, “I will bless those who bless you” (Gen. 12:3) and those who do not shall be cursed (Gen. 12:3). By affirming that “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3) God is foreshadowing the coming of Christ (a descendant of Abraham) and including all who are spiritually linked to Abraham (by those who honor Abraham) and are thus “justified by faith” (Rom. 4:3; Ga. 3:6–9,16,29; cf. Jn. 8:56–58).[16]

4.3. The Mosaic or Sinaitic Covenant (Exo. 19:5)

The Mosaic Covenant is made with Moses on Mount Sinai (Ex 19:20, 24; 16, 31:18) and it is the occasion of God giving Moses the Law. It is worth noting here that this covenant is conditional, as God says “if you obey my voice and keep my covenant” (Ex 19:5). Scofield notes that there are three types of law within the Mosaic Covenant, that is, “the commandments, expressing the righteous will of God (Ex. 20:1–26); the judgments, governing the social life of Israel (Ex. 21:1—24:11); and the ordinances, governing the religious life of Israel (Ex. 24:12—31:18).” In this covenant the tribe of Israel, recently liberated from slavery in Egypt, becomes a “priestly kingdom and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:6), with Moses as its head. As such, it is the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham in the Abrahamic covenant that Israel will become a great nation (Gn. 12:2). The Mosaic covenant, like the Abrahamic covenant, was confirmed in blood (Ex. 24:5-8). In this covenant, unlike the first two, there is now a sacrifice in the form of a sin offering (Ex. 29:36). The sign of the covenant is in the faithful observance of the Sabbath (Lv. 24:8, Dt. 5:15) according to the law, in return for the land and prosperity of the nation. Famously, this covenant is defined with the words: I will be their God. (Ex. 29:45), which has echoes from Leviticus: “I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people.[17]

4.4. The Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel. 7:1-16)

This covenant was made with King David, the descendant of Abraham and the second of the Kings of Israel. God favored David and promised him: a great name (2 Sam. 7:9); a great house (2 Sam. 7:11); a great throne (2 Sam. 7:13); for a great kingdom (2 Sam. 7:12), and God further promises to David that “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.” (2 Sam. 7:1). In this Covenant, the Covenant is with a Kingdom the Kingdom of David and his offspring not with a Nation, Tribe or Family. If the promise is a Kingdom and a future Messiah (Is. 9:6-7), the sign of the Covenant is surely the throne or the temple (house) that will be built by Solomon. We can easily see how this Covenant will be fulfilled in Christ, a descendant of David, and an heir to the house of Solomon.[18]

4.5. The New Covenant

The new covenant is announced as the new covenant by Jeremiah (31:31). The Messiah would be given as a covenant to the Gentiles, a savior for the world (Isa. 42:1-8). He has been especially chosen and prepared by God to bring salvation to the world and restore the earth (Isa. 49:1-8; 61:8-9). The Messianic promise of God’s blessing on the people of Israel is specifically related to the promise to Noah (Isa. 54:1-10; Jer. 31:35-37). The LORD declared to Jeremiah that the covenant with David is as sure as the covenant with Noah! (Jer. 33:19-26). The new covenant is God’s reaffirmation of the sure mercies of David (Isa. 55:3). It includes the promise of the Holy Spirit to God’s people (Isa. 59:21). Ezekiel, too, declared that the new covenant would be established to fulfill the promises of the original covenants (Ezek. 16:60-63). Though He would discipline Israel for her sins, the Lord would eventually bring them back to His covenant (Ezek. 20:36-38). The blessings of the new covenant would be brought in by the Davidic king (Ezek. 34:20-34). [19]

Conclusion

As we have seen in the above several paragraphs, God has always purpose in electing people and making promise and covenant with people that is to accomplish his mission work among the others. This paper realized us that election of Israel does not mean to rejection of others nation, rather Israel people are elected to be service to others nation, so that whole nations of the earth nations may know Yahweh. However, due to space limitation in this research, it is a bit hard to bring out all in detail about the idea of election, promise and covenant in the Old Testament. Thereby, this research paper may bring unsatisfactory conclusion in some part of the issue, but hopeful that it will also give some benefit for other in term of enriching knowledge on the election and covenant theology in the Old Testament.

Bibliography

Blauw, Johannes. Missionary Nature of the Church. Great Britain: Mc Graw-Hill Book      Company, Inc.1962   

Bosch, David J.  Transforming Mission, Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission. Bangalore:          Centre for Contemporary Christian, 2006.

Burnett, David G. the Healing of Nations. Africa: The Bible Institute of South Africa, 2003         

Raj, Paul Mohan. Mission, Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. Bangalore: Theological Book Trust,        2009.

Pinto, Fr. Prasad. Bible and Mission in India Today. Bombay: St Paul, 1993.

Work Sites:

Brown, A. Philip. Election in the Old Testament,      http://www.apbrown2.net/web/election.htm#Top of Paper, Access on August 26, 2016.

Padfield, David. Bible Covenants. PDF Format, .     http://www.padfield.com/acrobat/sermons/bible-covenants.pdf Access on September 4, 2016.

S Temjen Imchen, The Election of Israel: A Theological Critique, PDF format,

S, J. Matthew Charlesworth, Researc Paper on: The Covenant in the Old Testament, PDF fomat,             https://www.academia.edu/1574012/The_Covenants_in_the_Old_Testament Access on September 2, 2016.

Grisanti, Michael A. the Davidic Covenant, PDF Format https://www.tms.edu/m/tmsj10p.pdf      Access on September 4, 2016.

Smith, Ralph Allan. Adam, Noah, and the Kingdom: The Covenants of Genesis and Consistent      Eschatology. PDF Format, http://www.berith.org/pdf/Adam_Noah.pdf Access on September 4, 2016.

Wright, Chris. The Old Testament and Christian Mission. PDF format

http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-covenant-and-vs-promise/ Access on       September 2, 2016.

http://faithlenders.weebly.com/uploads/5/5/3/7/5537776/difference_between_a_covenant_and_a  promise.pdf, Access on August 29, 2016

http://www.prca.org/sermons/genesis 8.15-9.17.html#III Access on September 2, 2016

---