The Unquenchable Lamp of the Covenant. Abraham Park

succession, and the ultimate fulfillment of the covenant through the coming of Jesus Christ. Thus, we can correctly understand God’s administration in the history of redemption when we examine the close relationship between the covenants found in the Bible and Jesus Christ.

      When Adam and Eve broke the covenant of works in the beautiful Garden of Eden, an actual place in history, they were expelled (Gen 3:24). All who were born after Adam became children of death and wrath, deserving only to die because of sin (Rom 5:12; Eph 2:3). Founded upon the promise of the “seed of the woman,” which God gave to mankind after the fall (Gen 3:15), the various covenants that have since followed have progressively built up toward the coming of Jesus Christ.

      1. The Noahic Covenant and Jesus Christ

      God established the covenant of the bow with Noah, his descendants, and every living creature. The essence of this covenant is that God would no longer judge the world with water so that the sons of promise would not be cut off (Gen 9:11, 15).

      The sign given for this covenant is the bow in the cloud (Gen 9:11–17). While the world was in ruins and despair because of the flood, God gave Noah hope and promise by setting His rainbow in the cloud.

      The people during the days of Noah must have trembled in fear of another judgment in the form of a flood every time it rained since the time of the great flood. However, they probably found a sense of security and peace in their hearts when they saw the rainbow. A rainbow stretches across the sky over the land in harmonious order of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo/navy, and violet/purple, and fills us with a deep impression of wonder, joy and peace. This rainbow of eternal hope is Jesus Christ (Col 1:27). Today’s Christians should have no fear as well, as long as they have this rainbow of hope. Even when the powers of tribulation encroach upon us, we will find comfort and hope as long as we have the rainbow.

      Just as the people in the days of Noah found comfort by beholding the rainbow, and the people during the wilderness journey found life by beholding the bronze serpent, we need to find eternal life by wholeheartedly fixing our eyes upon Jesus Christ (Heb 12:2). The covenant of the bow is our living hope, foreshadowing Jesus Christ, our eternal comforter (2 Cor 1:3–7; 1 Pet 1:3).

      2. The Abrahamic Covenant and Jesus Christ

      Matthew 1:1 states, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” To say that Jesus Christ is the son of Abraham first means that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the Jews who are “sons” of Abraham. However, all who have faith in Christ, regardless of their lineage, whether Jews or Gentiles, are sons of Abraham (Gal 3:7–9, 29). Thus, Jesus is the Savior of all who believe.

      God made several covenants with Abraham, wherein only Jesus Christ was promised (Gal 3:16). First, God promised Abraham, “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” in Genesis 12:3. The expression in you is (beka) in Hebrew and does not simply mean that all the families of the earth will be blessed because of the man Abraham, but that all the families of the earth will be blessed through Jesus Christ who will come as a descendant of Abraham.

      Second, God promised Abraham in Genesis 15:5, “‘Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’” The Hebrew word for “descendants” is in the singular form, initially referring to Isaac, but ultimately to Jesus Christ who was to come in the future (Gal 3:16). Jesus Christ was the true heir of the covenant, who would fulfill the covenant of God given to Abraham (Gen 15:2–4). Therefore, this covenant prophesies that there will be as many saints as there are stars in the heavens who will inherit the kingdom of heaven through Jesus Christ.

      Third, God promised Abraham in Genesis 18:18, “…Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” It means that all the nations of the earth will be blessed through Abraham, but even more so through Jesus Christ who was coming “in him” as his descendant.

      Fourth, God promised Abraham in Genesis 22:17–18, “Indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

      God promised three things about “your seed” in this covenant. In all three of the promises is used in the singular form, signifying Jesus Christ who is coming. The first promise was “I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore” (Gen 22:17). Again, “your seed” refers to Jesus Christ, who would come as the son of Abraham, and thus a countless number of people would be born again in faith through Him.

      The next promise was “your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies” (Gen 22:17). Initially, this means that his seed will possess the enemy’s city, but ultimately it is a promise that Jesus Christ will destroy all of Satan’s authority and gain victory.

      Lastly, God promised, “and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen 22:18). Here again, the expression in your seed describes Jesus Christ, who will come as the son of Abraham and bring blessings to all the nations of the earth.

      3. The Sinaitic Covenant and Jesus Christ

      Four hundred and thirty years after the “promises” that God had given to Abraham and his descendants (Gal 3:15, 17), God gave the Ten Commandments and the Law to the Israelites through Moses in the Sinaitic covenant (Exod 20–23). Here, God gave the Law to Moses and Moses recounted to the people all of the Lord’s words, and all the people answered that they would do all that God had spoken to them (Exod 24:3, 7). The promise of the coming of Jesus Christ is foreshadowed even in the Sinaitic covenant.

      First, the “blood of the covenant” foreshadows that of Jesus Christ’s.When the people promised that they would follow the covenant, Moses sacrificed young bulls and sprinkled their blood. In doing so, he confirmed the covenant and declared, “Behold the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words” (Exod 24:8).

      The blood of the covenant that Moses established was a foreshadow of the perfect and eternal blood of the covenant that Jesus Christ would establish on the cross. With the time of the crucifixion drawing near, Jesus said at the Last Supper, “...this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness” (Matt 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25). The blood of beasts forgave the sins of man only once when it was shed, but the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed on the cross completely removes all sins once for all (Rom 6:10; Heb 7:27; 9:12, 26; 10:2, 10; 1 Pet 3:18).

      Second, this “first covenant” foreshadows the “new covenant” through Jesus Christ. The “first covenant” in Hebrews 8:7 is the Sinaitic covenant that God established with the people of Israel through Moses (Heb 8:7; 9:1, 15, 18). Although the people of Israel had vowed to keep this covenant, they could not completely keep it because of the sinfulness and weakness that resulted from the total depravity and fall of mankind. The first covenant caused the people to yearn for the new covenant that would be established through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the mediator of the new covenant (Heb 9:15; 12:24). Therefore, it is not that Christians abide by the covenant with their own strength, but rather through God’s power and the work of the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ (Rom 8:2–4).

      4. The Davidic Covenant and Jesus Christ

      The New Testament begins with (huiou David huiou Abraam)” (Matt 1:1).