After Adam and Eve disobeyed God, sin entered the world. God promised to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to save people from sin, but it took about 4,000 years before He came. During this time, God made what is called a covenant with Abraham. A covenant is like a promise or an agreement. It brings two people or groups of people into a special relationship. Many covenants involved entire families and descendants for generations to come. 

 

There are many different types of covenants. Some covenants are still used today in different places around the world. A blood covenant is very serious. It is the most permanent agreement or promise that could ever happen. In this type of covenant, the only way to break your promise was to die.

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There are several covenants that we can read about in the Bible. These covenants are unique because God Himself entered into a covenant with people. If He broke His part of the covenant He would have to die. And since it's impossible for God to die, we are guaranteed that God will not break His part of the covenant.

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God not only made a covenant with Abraham, but He made it with all of Abraham’s descendants. And God made this covenant to last until the end of this earth. In this covenant, God promised to give His descendants a special land. He also said they would be His special people and He would bless them (Gen. 12:1-3; Gen. 15:1-21; Gen. 17:1-14). Abraham’s descendants were eventually called the Israelites. Sometimes they are also called the Children of Israel, the Hebrews, or God’s people. However, because Jesus died for all people, those who believe in Jesus also share the blessings given to Abraham and his descendants (Gal. 3:9).

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The Bible is divided into two sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The word testament can also mean covenant. Therefore, the Bible is divided by explaining two major covenants that God made with people.

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The Old Covenant (or the Law) was made through Moses with the Israelites. The covenant involved blessings for His people (Deut. 28:1-14) if they obeyed hundreds of laws (Ex. 20:22-23:33) that were given to them. But if they did not obey the laws, curses would come upon them (Deut. 28:15-68).

 

God never meant for the Old Covenant to save anyone from sin. The Old Covenant was based on people’s works. It was put in place only until the New Covenant would start. Instead, it was God's way to prepare people for Jesus. God used the Old Covenant to show people that it was impossible for them to live up to God's standard. No matter how hard they tried, they could not obey the Law perfectly (Rom. 3:23). The rules and sacrifices required in the covenant could never completely get rid of sin (Heb. 10:4, Gal. 3:11). The Law only reminded the people how much they did sin (Rom. 3:20). It was like the Law made sin more alive. They were constantly reminded of the bad things they did. Therefore, they were able see that they needed someone to save them (Gal. 3:24). They needed a savior.

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The New Covenant replaced the Old. The New Covenant started when Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead. The New Covenant was God's plan from the beginning. This is a much better covenant than the first with better promises (Heb. 8:6). The New Covenant took away all the curses of the Old Covenant. It is not based on what people do. It is based on grace and faith. Unlike the old, the New Covenant provides complete forgiveness of sin (Gal. 2:16). We do not have hundreds of rules that we must follow to be saved from the punishment of sin. We are saved by grace through faith, not by our own actions. It is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8). Today, all people who trust in Jesus as their Savior enter the New Covenant with God (Rom. 3:21-22). If you believe in Jesus, every promise in the Bible applies to you.

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Reading about the Old Covenant can be confusing if you do not understand the difference between the Old and New Covenant. For example, if someone reads that a person was stoned for picking up sticks on the Sabbath according to the Law, they may misunderstand who God is if they don't grasp the purpose of the Old Covenant (Numb. 15:32-36). God knew He needed to show us that we cannot save ourselves. We can never earn our way to Heaven by works or by being good enough. Salvation is only received as a free gift by trusting in Jesus Christ as your Savior.