A Biblical Theology of the Ordinance of Covenanting:

Its Use in the Old Testament Economy

Shawn Anderson

Biblical Theology of the Old Testament

Dr. G. Bilkes

4/16/10
There may not be a more helpful summary statement on God's covenant with man than found in the opening article

in the Westminster Confession's chapter on “of God's Covenant with Man” which says, “The distance between God

and the creature is so great, that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto Him as their Creator, yet

they could never have any fruition of Him as their blessedness and reward, but by some voluntary condescension

on God's part, which He has been pleased to express by way of covenant. 1

When humanity rebelled against God and went their own way in Eden they tried to widen the gap by hiding from

the face of God. In their folly, they did not understand that this distance was now expressed in terms of war and

curse. Whereas before man were distant from God, now man became his mortal enemy!

However our Fall from innocence was not outside of God's plan, for he permitted it, "having purposed to order it to

His own glory."2 As soon as he confronts the fallen, he demonstrated that he had ordained and had always planned

to rescue a people through the Seed of the woman (Gen 3:15). Here is the first Gospel proclamation and the rest of

Scripture is the unfolding or unraveling of the mission of Jesus Christ to redeem his people through the crushing of

that serpent, the devil.

Again, the Confession explains how Christ saves sinners through God's covenant of grace, stating, Man, by his fall,

having made himself incapable of life by that covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called

the covenant of grace; wherein He freely offers unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ; requiring of them

faith in Him, that they may be saved, and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life His

Holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe.3 4

1 Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) 8:1

2 WCF 6:1
3 WCF 8:3
4 Due to the limitations of this paper, I do not intend to defend the covenant of works, nor the covenant of grace in the Old Testament. I will be
working within the theological presuppositions of the Westminster Standards. See O. Palmer Robertson, “The Christ of the Covenant,” David
P. Murray, “God's Shadow: A Manual on Preaching Christ from the Old Testament.” (forth-coming), and my bibliography for more resources
on a Covenant Theology of the whole Bible.

2
The context of Genesis 3:15 is God's covenant of grace with man through the person and work of Jesus Christ. God

has purposed to restore the relationship between him and his people through means of a covenant. This restoration

is articulated throughout the pages of Scripture with the phrase, “I am their God, and they are my people.” My

people. God wants his people to see their identity within his saving work of redemption. To be “the Lord's people”

means there is no longer the status of enemy and is synonymous with being redeemed from a fallen state.

We also find in the Bible that God calls his people to intentionally respond by declaring “You are our God and we

are your people.” This response to God has been known as “covenanting.” In this paper I want to explore

covenanting in a biblical theological paradigm. My thesis is two-fold. First, God's condescension by way of

covenant with humanity, through the person, work and teaching of Jesus Christ, required a covenanting response

from individuals, as well as the church and the nations. Second, that the expectation of the people of God in the

former dispensation was that God will use this ordinance to restore his people to Jesus, according to his covenant

promises, and draw the nations into Christ's covenant of grace.

I will ask two questions: (1) What is religious covenanting and how does it relate to the Covenant of Grace? (2)

What did these Old Testament saints commit to in their covenanting? These will be answered in a survey of the

main covenantal dispensations or divisions: 5 (a) Adamic (b) Noahic, (c) Abrahamic, (d) Mosaic, (e) Joshuaic, (f)

Davidic, and (g) Restoration period . I will take up the expectation of the new covenant specifically in a third

question: (3) What is the expectation in the Old Testament of the place and use of the ordinance of covenanting in

the dispensation of the Gospel?

5 When I say “dispensation” I mean it in the spirit of the Westminster Confession which states, “There are not therefore two covenants of
grace, differing in substance, but one and the same, under various dispensations.” WCF 7:6. See Eph 2:12 where Paul notes that there are
plural 'covenants' bound by one 'promise'.

3
 1. What is religious covenanting and how does it relate to the Covenant of Grace?

Religious covenanting is an ordinance of God whereby sinners, resting in the love and finished work of Christ,

respond to God's covenant of grace in faith; promising to believe and do what God has revealed and requires of his

creation, which is found in the Scriptures, and swearing by his name to do it by his grace and the help of the Holy

Spirit. All of this is implied in the proclamation, “You are our God and we are your people.”

Before looking at how covenanting unfolds in the Old Testament, consider some definitions and distinctions

between covenanting and other acts of worship in Scripture, namely vowing and swearing:6

• A person who swears an oath, "solemnly calls God to witness what he asserts, or promises, and to judge

him according to the truth or falsehood of what he swears." 7 Therefore "the name of God only is that by

which men ought to swear."8

• A person who vows a vow, commits to God do something, or to more strictly bind themselves to a

necessary duty by way of promise. A vow "is not to be made to any creature, but to God alone." 9

• A person who covenants to God, promises to him to do something they are obligated to do, and calls upon

him to be a witness to the truthfulness and sincerity of their promise and intention. 10

• Notice then that in an oath one swears by God. In a vow one promises to God. In a covenant one engages

with God, using both vows and oaths.

Many works on covenanting will explain that the Scriptures use these terms “covenant,” “vow” and “oath”

interchangeably to describe the same transaction, though a covenant supposes the promise of a reward which is not

necessarily involved in any of the others. 11 This is important to understand because there are times when the

Scripture commands, “Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God:” (Ps 76:11) and here should be understood the

6 Cunningham, John. The ordinance of covenanting. Glasgow: William Marshall, 1843. 15-38. Cunningham spends a great deal of ink to
explain the particulars of the relationship between Covenanting and vows, oaths, and confession; see also Roberts, William L. The
Reformed Presbyterian Catechism. New York: Printed by R. Craighead, 1853. 134-35.
7 WCF 22:1
8 WCF 22:2
9 WCF 22:6
10 Roberts, William L. The Reformed Presbyterian Catechism. New York: Printed by R. Craighead, 1853. 135.
11 Roberts, Ibid.

4
obligation to covenant with the Lord. How can one make a promise to God without being reconciled with him

through faith in Christ and in response to the covenant of grace? How can he perform what he has promised without

God's grace and the power of the Spirit?

Now we turn to the covenantal divisions of the Old Testament to examine our definition: Religious covenanting is

an ordinance of God whereby sinners, resting in the love and finished work of Christ, respond to God's covenant of

grace in faith; promising to believe and do what God has revealed and requires of his creation, which is found in the

Scriptures, and swearing by his name to do it by his grace and the help of the Holy Spirit. This is the meaning of,

“You are our God and we are your people.”

(a) The Adamic Covenant

In Genesis 4 we read that Abel “brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had

respect unto Abel and to his offering:” Able approached God in faith, offering covenant worship by and altar

sacrifice. Abel's 'altar' represents Christ's work of substitutionary atonement, therefore an altar when used with faith

is a symbol of covenanting. It is not surprising that when Abel was killed he called out to his Redeemer. God said to

Cain, “What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground” (Gen. 4:4,10).

Further, we read in vs. 26 that Seth had a son, calling his name 'Enos,' meaning 'mortal man'. Seth confessed man's

frailty and inability to save himself in his son's name. In connection with this confession we read, “ then began men

to call upon the name of the LORD.” The marginal note gives further explanation, “to call...: or, to call themselves

by the name of the LORD.” This is the first time we read of explicit covenant-response by man after the Fall. Note

the perpetual nature of the Sethites' covenanting where multiple generations identify themselves as belonging to

God, hence the title in Gen. 6:2, “the sons of God.” In this title is echoed, “You are our God and we are your sons.”

Moses contrasts the prideful rebellion of Lamach to the humility of Enoch, who “walked with God: and he was

not; for God took him” (Gen 5:24). Just as Adam walked in covenant fellowship with God before the fall, so Enoch

5
walked in renewed covenantal relationship with God. Note that walking 'with or before the the Lord' and 'in his

law' will hereafter become synonymous with maintaining covenant obligations.

(b) The Noahic Covenant

Further, we read of God's condescension to Noah. Noah, like Enoch, “walked with God” (Gen 6:9). In Gen. 6:18 we

are introduced, for the first time, to the term “covenant” or ‫ית‬H‫ר‬J‫ ב‬. “But with thee will I establish my covenant; and

thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. ” We don't have to look

far to note Noah's response 12 to God's promise and grace. “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded

him, so did he” (Gen. 6:22). We read of Noah's altar and God's response in Gen. 8:20-22. Note again the perpetual

nature of this covenant seen in two designations. First, God says, “behold, I establish my covenant with you, and

with your seed after you; And with every living creature that is with you...” (Gen. 9:9-10) signifying that the

obligation of this covenant fell upon the seed after Noah. Second, God signified his promise by a covenant sign, a

rainbow. By this he said that, “neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there

any more be a flood to destroy the earth” (Gen 9:11). As long as there is a rainbow in the sky, or God changed his

covenant sign, his covenant perpetual.Therefore so is humanity's obligation.

(c) The Abrahamic Covenant

The term “covenant” in regards to God's covenant with Abraham is found once in Gen. 15, and ten times in Gen.

17. “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an

everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed

after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be

their God. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in

their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every

man child among you shall be circumcised” (Gen. 17:7-10). Here the covenant is called 'everlasting' which could

only apply to God's covenant of grace; and which 'no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto' 13 being promised by God,
12 It is interesting to note that Noah does not respond, “God, what is a covenant?” One speculates on the understanding of the Sethites of this
concept.
13 Gal 3:15. This is a paper on Old Testament Biblical Theology, but one would benefit by visiting Paul's argument in Gal. 3, showing that if the
covenants between men are binding, then God's covenant Is also binding by his promised word to Christ and therefore to his own.

6
Further, this covenant is to be kept by Abraham and his seed after him, therefore it perpetually binds future

generations. Theologically, it is said that covenanting is of “descending obligation.”

We read of Abram's response of faith. He “believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness” (Gen

15:6). Abram's faith was rooted in God's covenant of grace in which he received and rested in the salvation of the

Lord. We see Abraham living by his faith, for example, when he did not accept anything from the hand of the king

of Sodom, or when he bargained for God's mercy for Sodom and Gomorrah, 14 or when he sought a wife for his son

in order to be a blessing to the nations.

As God promised Abraham that he would give him a seed to bless the nations, so Isaac too was brought into this

covenant. God gave circumcision (Gen. 17:10-27; 21:4) as another covenant sign and seal, representing Christ and

his benefits. And since it was to be applied to the infant, again we see the perpetual nature intended by God in

Abraham's covenanting. The LORD appeared to Isaac in Gerar 15 and Beersheba and said, “I am the God of

Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant

Abraham's sake.” Isaac responds to God's covenant mercy by building an altar there and he “called upon the

name of the LORD.”16 We can safely say that Isaac responded to God based on that which his circumcision

signified, namely a circumcised heart, a softened heart of faith secured by the grace of this covenant-keeping God.

If this was not the purpose of circumcision, then what did God mean when he said, “ my covenant shall be in your

flesh for an everlasting covenant” (Gen. 17:13).

Jacob too covenanted in response to God extending his grace to the sons of Abraham. We read of Jacob fleeing

from his brother Esau in Gen. 28, and when he takes rest in Haran the LORD visits him in his sleep and extends his

covenant grace to Jacob. Jacob foolishly tries to bargain with God with a vow, thinking that his vowing was the

14 It's curious why Abraham stops short of asking if God would spare the city for one righteous man. Some have suggested that he didn't know
a righteous one apart from God, but based on his bargaining with God he displayed faith in the unity of God's mercy and justice.
15 Gen 26:2-5 “And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: Sojourn in this
land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath
which I sware unto Abraham thy father; And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these
countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my
commandments, my statutes, and my laws. “
16 Gen. 26:23-25. There is an interesting account of Isaac entering into a covenant with another man, Abimelech after sees the way that Isaac
has been blessed by the LORD. We are not dealing with covenanting between men, but between God and men in this paper.

7
means to securing God's favor and blessing. Jacob had to be confronted by his own sin through interactions of

another 'heel-grabber', his uncle Laban. Twenty years later Jacob recalled the promises of God (Gen. 32:9-12, 24-

32), and when he wrestled with God, he confessed that he lived up to his name as a “supplanter.” Here he became a

sincere covenanter, 'leaning' by faith upon God's grace. Altars were also prominent with Jacob, but what is more

noteworthy are the names assigned to these altars: “El-elohe-Israel,” i.e. "God, the God of Israel"17 (Gen 33:20)

and “El-beth-el,” i.e. “The God of Beth-el” (Gen 35:7).

Before moving onto Moses, note Joseph's faith in God and his response to God's covenant. Joseph showed time and

again that he was a covenanter, responding in faith to God's grace and promise. He refused to lie with Potipher's

wife for he said, “how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Gen. 39:9). He declared God's

name, crediting the Lord with the future famine to Pharaoh saying, “The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath

shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do” (Gen. 41:25). He testified to his brothers that God had made him lord of

all Egypt (Gen. 45:9), and though they intended evil against him, "God meant it unto good,...to save much people

alive" (Gen 50:20). God intended to bless the nations by Joseph, the seed of Abraham. This is covenant fulfillment!

(d) The Mosaic Covenant

Though the Israelites found themselves removed from the fame and rule of Joseph and enslaved by the Egyptians,

they remained hopeful in God's covenant promises to Abraham. God also remembered his covenant promises to

Abraham which is why he heard their cries and knew them (Ex 2:23-25). Moses too believed in a covenant

deliverance of God's people. This is why he defends the Hebrew by killing the Egyptian task-master, though it

would seem that it was not his time to deliver them.

We soon read of God's condescension upon Moses in the wilderness and offers to the Israelites his redemption and,

with it, the ordinance of covenanting, “And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye

shall know that I [am] the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians” (Ex

6:7). The plagues were a sure sign of God's covenant faithfulness. And in the midst of God's conquering the false
17 Jacob is declaring that God is his covenant God.

8
gods of Egypt he sends another covenant sign, the Passover (Ex. 12). Here is a gospel picture of sacrificial

atonement, redemption, judgment and covenanting. This meal was intended to be a perpetual remembrance of the

deliverance of Yahveh. It marked the new year, symbolic of starting again; and it included an exercise for

catechizing the covenant children, calling them to take hold of God by faith in his grace and covenant mercy.

Time and again, God confirms this with his people, and they respond with promises of faith and obedience. “ Now

therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me

above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation...And

Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD

commanded him.” and all of the people covenanted, saying, “All that the LORD hath spoken we will do” (Ex 19:5-

8). So valuable was God's covenant that it was put in a book, and when read, the people covenanted with God

again, saying, “All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient” (Ex 24:7).

God continued to confirm his vow and oath, “I [am] the LORD your God, which have separated you from [other]

people” (Lev 20:24) and “I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people” (Lev 26:12).

This was to remind them that he was in their midst helping them in their vow and oath, calling them to walk in faith

and repentance with him by their side. In regards to covenantal worship, the prescribed tabernacle (God visiting

man), furniture and priesthood (a mediatorial office) were added to the altar.

In Moses' lifetime we see a covenant renewal as well. Those who covenanted with God in Horeb died in the

wilderness due to their rebellion to God. They maintained a covenant-breaking bringing the covenant curses upon

themselves, so God renewed his covenant with their children saying, “The LORD our God made a covenant with us

in Horeb. The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this

day” (Dt 5:2-3). This is the essence of the book of Deuteronomy, or “Second Law;” God renewing his covenant of

grace with the next generation who were about to enter the land promised to Abraham. In this book we have some

amazing covenanting statements. I mention two briefly. Note what is in bold. This marks the traits we have seen in

9
former covenanting. Abraham's covenanting is a seed which stems in the covenanting at Horeb and here blossoms

in the plains of Moab. Here is a covenant-response, resting in God's grace and faithfulness, where promises are

made to believe and do what God reveals and requires by his Word, calling on his name for their help.

Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his

commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice:18

Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your

officers, with all the men of Israel, Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer

of thy wood to the drawer of thy water: That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the LORD thy God, and into

his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day: That he may establish thee to day for a people unto

himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to

Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath; But with him that

standeth here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day:19

(e) The Joshuaic Covenant

In those forty years of wandering, the people were without the covenantal means of grace. So in Josh 5 we find that

the Israelites covenanted both in circumcision and in the celebration of the passover. They did this in remembrance

of God's covenant grace and promise. God responded, saying to Joshua, “This day have I rolled away the reproach

of Egypt from off you” (Josh 5:9).

Essentially, the book is God fulfilling his covenant obligations by conquering and dividing the promised land. At

the end of it all Joshua calls the people to covenant-response to God's faithfulness to what he has promised and his

grace, as opposed to the powerless gods of Egypt and Canaan. “If it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose

18 Dt 26:17, amazing that we see all of these themes of former covenanting joined in one statement.
19 Dt 29:10-15. Note vss18-19 addresses the problem of the heart, going after false gods like the other nations and then deceiving self by
claiming the promises of the covenant of the LORD, so He promises to circumcise the heart, showing what God does to bring his people into
covenant with him—the thing signified by circumcision–Deut 30:6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy
seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

10
you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the

flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”20

They recall God's works In their covenanting, “the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake

the LORD, to serve other gods; For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land

of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way

wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed: And the LORD drave out from before us all

the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.”

Joshua challenges the people. They were tempted to take covenanting lightly. Though they may not vow—which

would be wrong—it would have been worse to vow and not pay. Joshua is trying to stir them up to sincere

covenanting, “Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your

transgressions nor your sins. If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt,

and consume you, after that he hath done you good.” And the people said, “Nay; but we will serve the LORD.”

And Joshua said unto the people, “Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve

him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” “Now therefore put away,” said he, “the strange gods which are among

you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.” And the people said unto Joshua, “The LORD our God

will we serve, and his voice will we obey.” So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a

statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great

stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.

(f) The Davidic Covenant

When David becomes king it says, “Therefore came all the elders of Israel to the king to Hebron; and David made

a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word

of the LORD by Samuel” (1Chr 11:3). He did it “before the Lord,” because he called on God to be witness to the
20 The whole account is found in Josh. 24:15-26.

11
truth and sincerity of his covenant as Judge.

David was known in his early years as a great warrior, and in his prime as the most celebrated king of Israel, yet

David had an unmatched zeal for the worship and glory of the Lord. Not only did he revive the tabernacle worship

of Israel, but petitioned the Lord to build a house of prayer and adoration for him. We read of God's response in 2

Sam 7, where God tells David that he does not intend for David to build his house. Instead, David's seed, God's

own son, would establish the house of the Lord.

In response to this word of God's gracious covenant David prays and blesses God for his condescension, recounting

how the Lord has redeemed them in former days and has given them a name, the people of Yahveh. “For thou hast

confirmed to thyself thy people Israel [to be] a people unto thee for ever: and thou, LORD, art become their God”

(v24). And now God was establishing David by the servant of the Lord, the seed of David, by Jesus Christ. David is

noting that this is a further extension of God's covenant of grace, already promised to Noah, Abraham, Moses, and

Israel. God was revealing that his promise to Abraham would continue in promise through David.

We see the “sons of David,” following in David's footsteps, using the ordinance of covenanting according to their

office, to call the people to faith, repentance and renewal to covenantal engagements. For example:

• Asa (2 Chron 15:12-15) Note their understanding of their descending obligation to seek “the LORD God of

their fathers. Here they also destroy false worship.

• Jehoiada (2 Chron 23:16-21) Notice that Jehoiada, being a priest, is careful not to usurp the authority of the

king. And after covenanting, false worship was removed from the Temple.

• Hezekiah, concerned for the purity of the Law and the Temple, speaks of his intention for the people to

covenant with the Lord (2 Chron 29:10). The verb return occurs 4 times in 30:6-9. Even zeal for the

passover was restored and God healed their impurities.

• Josiah (2 Chron 34:29-33; 2 Kings 23:3-5) When the Law was recovered and read before the people that

they responded by covenanting with God, “to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this

12
 book.” Further, they responded to God's covenant of grace in celebration of the Passover. This speaks

explicitly of the perpetual, descending obligation of covenanting, learned not from the last generation, but

from the Word of God!

Before looking at the last Old Testament period of restoration, note what the Psalter 21 says not only about God

condescending to man in covenant, but also concerning man's covenanting response:

• Ps 25:10,14 All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his

testimonies...The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.

• Ps 44:17 All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither...dealt falsely in thy covenant.

• Psalm 50 addresses two kinds of people. In vs5 he calls his saints unto him, "those that have made a

covenant with me by sacrifice." He tells them what he really wants from them is not sacrifice but faith,

"Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of

trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." (vs14-15) Then God addresses these wicked who

have falsely covenanted. “But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or

that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words

behind thee.” (vs16) He concludes, But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon

them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; To such as keep his covenant, and to

those that remember his commandments to do them. (vs17-18)

• Ps 76:11 Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God:

• We see the pattern of God's faithfulness proceeding throughout generations in Ps. 105:8-10, “He hath

remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which

covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law,

and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:”

21 All of the Wisdom literature has much to contribute to this study, but due to constraints and limitations the Psalter will be sufficient.

13
 (g) The Restoration Period

God's people are taken in captivity for breaking their covenant obligations; And the king of Assyria did carry away

Israel unto Assyria,...Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant,

and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them. (2 Kg 18:11-12)22

However, their restoration is also foretold in, for example, Jer 29-34. And the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Malachi,

Haggai, and Zechariah tell this history of restoration. Essentially their restoration is renewed faith in the covenant

of the grace of God. We see this clearly in Ezra and Nehemiah. Consider:

Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them,

according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done

according to the law. Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and

do it. Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according

to this word. And they sware. (Ezra 10:3-5)

And Nehemiah, which [is] the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said

unto all the people, This day [is] holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept,

when they heard the words of the law...And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our

princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it...They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and

into an oath, to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the

commandments of the LORD our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes; (Neh 8:9ff; 9:38; 10:29).

The key to understanding these passages is to understand that God's the one who changes their hearts to turn to the

Lord in faith, to be covenanters who respond to his gracious covenant (Ezek 36:25-29; Jer 31:31-34; 32:37-41).

22 See also Ezekiel 1-35; 2 Kings 17, Jer 11, Lamentations 1-5, Hos 10

14
 2 What did these saints commit to do in their covenanting?

Having spent the majority of this paper establishing the definition of religious covenanting, its relationship to the

covenant of grace, its perpetual nature, and descending obligation, we now want to briefly look at the engagements

these covenanters committed to in their covenanting response to God.

Here I would like to quote a summary statement of the Reformed Presbyterian minister, David Scott,

The requirements of the divine law form the matter of scriptural covenanting. By divine law, I mean not
only the summary of moral duty contained in the Decalogue; but, all that by which God makes known to
us the obligations which we owe to Him: and expressed in scripture by a variety of names; such, as the
law, testimonies, statutes, precepts and commandments. These are the matter of covenanting; of that to
which Christians bind themselves when they enter into covenant with God. An individual, a church, or a
nation may not bind themselves to do any thing which is at variance with the revealed will of God: indeed
no moral obligation can be constituted, to do that which is inconsistent with the divine will...The matter
of a covenant should not include any thing impossible...To this charge the covenanters do not stand
exposed by making the law of God the matter of covenant engagement. True, 'SC 82' 23 But, Christians in
perfect consistency with this may bind themselves by covenant to take the law of God as the rule of life:
and to aim at conformity with its requisitions, in every part of their conduct. While Christians feel their
own weakness, and incompetency, they rely on the promised aid of Christ to enable them to discharge all
required duties. "My grace shall be sufficient for thee." And, in the experience of this promise being
fulfilled, they can say with Paul, "Phil 4:13."24 25

In summary, when the Old Testament covenanters identified their commitments they looked to the moral law of

God for its binding duties. Here are examples of this explicit commitment by the covenanter in each covenant age.

(b) The Noahic Covenant

• Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. (Gen 6:22; 7:5)

23 Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q. 82. Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God? Answ. No mere man, since the fall, is
able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but doth daily break them in thought, word, and deed.
24 Phil 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
25 Scott, David. Distinctive Principles of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. Albany: Printed by J. Munsell, 1841. 19-21.

15
 (c) The Abrahamic Covenant

• For I [the LORD] know him [Abraham], that he will command his children and his household after him,

and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon

Abraham that which he hath spoken of him...Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge,

my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. (Gen 18:19; 26:5)

(d) The Mosaic Covenant

This is the covenant in which the Decalogue was given, essentially to show their inability to keep it, and their need

for an alien righteousness. However the law could also be done in love and faith.

• And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the

LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the

mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have

written; that thou mayest teach them. (Ex 24:7,12)

• This day the LORD thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore

keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be

thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and

to hearken unto his voice: (Dt 26:16-17)

• Gather the people together, men,...women, and children, and thy stranger that [is] within thy gates, that they

may hear, and...learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: (Dt 31:12)

(e) The Joshuaic Covenant

• And the people said...The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey. (Josh 24:24)

16
 (f) Davidic Covenant

• And [Asa] commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the

commandment. (2 Chr 14:4)

• And like unto him [Josiah] was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and

with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any

like him. (2 Kg 23:25)

(g) The Restoration Period

• They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God's law,

which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD

our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes; (Neh 10:29)

Someone may ask, “What about the circumstantial particulars in a covenant that don't apply to a later context?” We

see the covenant in Nehemiah speaking to this. Presbyterian minister, Alexander Allan writes,

Numerous as the duties incumbent upon us are, no one of them must be excluded from our covenant
engagements. People may no doubt have a special respect on some occasions to particular duties, to the
neglect of which they are under more than ordinary temptations; but a voluntary and intentional
overlooking of any duty, in bringing themselves under these engagements, were a sad indication of a
heart not right with God. "I shall not be ashamed," says David, "when I have a respect to all thy
commandments." The covenanters in the days of Nehemiah were in peculiar hazard of neglecting the
duties of sanctifying the sabbath, of showing mercy to the poor, of contributing of their substance to
religious purposes, and of preserving proper separation betwixt themselves and their heathen neighbors;
they accordingly paid a most special attention to these in that work, and even made a specification of
them by name in their covenant-bond. This, however, they did not in a way of overlooking other things;
but by a general clause, they likewise pledged themselves to study the conscientious discharge of every
duty which they owed either to God or man.26

26 Allan, Alexander. A View of Religious Covenanting. Schenectady: I. Riggs, Union St., 1820. 28.

17
And Scott adds,

The people of God, under the ancient economy, whether considered as a church or a civil commonwealth,
were bound by divine authority to perform duties which were peculiar to that state of things. And these, of
course, were included in their ecclesiastical and national covenants; because such were a part of the
revealed will of God. But, while with the abrogation of the Jewish economy these peculiarities were also
abrogated, those duties which were not peculiar, but common to the present as well as the past
dispensation of the church remain with unabated force. These duties, however, which are common to
every dispensation, and of universal obligation, form the prominent matter of social covenanting. These
are specified and enumerated, and brought before the view of the covenanters, directly, as the matter
covenanted to be performed. On the other hand, such duties as were peculiar to the Jewish dispensation
are not directly brought forward as the matter of covenant engagement--they are only inferentially
included. Such peculiarities were contingent to a particular dispensation; but not essential to social
covenanting. The proper matter of covenanting, common to every dispensation, are moral duties, and
these are of universal obligation.27

We see the same circumstantial particulars based on the application of the moral law in Ezra's covenant, “ And
Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against
our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this
thing. Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of
them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it
be done according to the law” (Ezra 10:2-3). The moral law and it's social, ecclesiastical, and familial application
is only what we bind ourselves to do.

27 Scott, David. Distinctive Principles of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. Albany: Printed by J. Munsell, 1841. 36-37.

18
3 What's the expectation in the Old Testament of the use of the ordinance of covenanting in the Gospel age?

In conclusion, I want to simply add the Scriptures which identify the Old Testament expectation that covenanting

would have a restoring and renewing place in the Church under the Gospel and that it would be used by the nations

who in the latter day would come to Christ and respond to his covenant of grace.

• Ps 2:10-12 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with

fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath

is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

• Ps 68:31 Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.

• Isa 2:1-4 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to

pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the

mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall

go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and

he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the

word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people:

and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up

sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

• Isa 19:18-25 In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to

the LORD of hosts...he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them. And the

LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do

sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it....In that day shall

Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria...LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my

people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

19
 • Isa 42:1-25 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my

spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles...He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he

have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. Thus saith God the LORD...I will give

thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the

prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house...The LORD is well pleased

for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable.

• Isa 44:1-5 Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen...For I will pour my spirit

upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring...One shall say, I am the LORD'S; and another shall

call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD, and

surname himself by the name of Israel.

• Isa 45:22-23 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto

me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. 28

• Isa 65:1-25...And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen 29: for the Lord GOD shall slay

thee, and call his servants by another name: That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in

the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former

troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes. For, behold, I create new heavens and a

new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind...30

• Jer 4:1-3 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine

abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove. And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in

truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall

they glory. For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and

sow not among thorns.

28 Rom 14:11, Rev 11:15

29 Gal 3:6-13
30 What follows is the Millennium cross reference from Rev. 20-21

20
 • Hos 1:11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint

themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel. 31

• Mic 4:1-13 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be

established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.

And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the

house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law

shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem...nation shall not lift up a sword against

nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig

tree...For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the

LORD our God for ever and ever...

I think that I have sufficiently showed: First, God's condescension by way of covenant with humanity, through the

person, work and teaching of Jesus Christ, required a covenanting response from individuals, as well as the church

and the nations. Second, that the expectation of the people of God in the former dispensation was that God will use

this ordinance to restore his people to Jesus, according to his covenant promises, and draw the nations into Christ's

covenant of grace.

31 Rom 9:24-26

21
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Allan, Alexander. A View of Religious Covenanting: In Which the Nature Warrantableness, Seasons, Manner, and
Ends, of That Important Duty, Are Stated and Illustrated. Being a Course of Sermons, Preached in 1807 .
Schenectady: I. Riggs, Union St., 1820.
Anderson, John. A Catechism Setting Forth the Principles of Public Covenanting. Rimersburgh: Associate
Presbyterian Board Of Publication, 1889.
Ashe, Simeon. Religious covenanting directed, and covenant-keeping perswaded. London: Printed by G.M. for
Tho. Underhill, 1646.
Associate Synod of North America, Ed. Joseph T. Cooper. "THE TESTIMONY PREPARED BY A COMMITTEE
APPOINTED BY THE ASSOCIATE SYNOD AT THEIR MEETING IN XENIA , MAY, 1855." The
Evangelical Repository; Devoted to the Principles of the Reformation, as set forth in the Formularies of the
Westminster Divines, and witnessed for by the Associate Synod of North America 14, no. No. 8 (1855): 471-73.
http://books.google.com/books?id=Sc0nAAAAYAAJ&printsec=titlepage&source=
gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false%20 (accessed April 9, 2010).
Cunningham, John. The Ordinance of Covenanting. Glasgow: William Marshall, 1843.
Erskine, Ralph. "Sermon CXXXIV: Covenanted Grace for Covenanting Work." In The Sermons, and other
Practical Works of the Reverend and Learned Ralph Erskine, A.M.; Volume 8, 294-321. 1743. Reprint,
London: R. Baynes, 1821.
George, R. J. The Covenanter Vision (His Lectures in pastoral theology ; 3rd series). New York: Christian Nation
Pub. Co, 1904.
Houston, Thomas. A Memorial of Covenanting. Paisley: Alex. Gardner, 1857.
Kerr, James. The Covenants and the Covenanters; covenants, sermons and documents of the Covenanted
Reformation. Edinburgh: R W Hunter, 1895.
Leahy, Frederick S.. The Theological Basis for Covenanting. Pittsburgh: The Reformed Presbyterian Theological
Seminary, 1979.
Manton, Thomas. "Vol 8, Several Sermons upon the CXIX. Psalm - Sermon CXIV, verse 106." In Manton, Thomas.
The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, D.D., 80-94. London: J. Nisbet & Co, 1872.
Mason, Archibald. Observations on the Public Covenants betwixt God and the Church: A discourse. Glasgow: E.
Miller, 1799.
Puritan Reformed Church of Edmonton, Compiled by the Session. The Duty and Perpetual Obligation of Social
Covenanting. Edmonton: Still Waters Revival Books, 1996.
Reformed Presbyterian Church-North America, General Synod. "Testimony for Public Covenanting."
TRUECOVENANTER: The Covenanted Reformed Presbyterian Church. 1839. Web. 9 Apr. 2010.
<http://www.truecovenanter.com/reformedpresbyterian/rpcna_testimony_for_public_covenanting.html>

22
Roberts, William L.. The Duty of Covenanting, and the Permanent Obligation of Religious Covenants. 1853.
Reprint, Edmonton: Still Waters Revival Books, 1996.
Ross, William. Glimpses of Pastoral Work in the Covenanting Times; A Record of the Labours of Andrew
Donaldson, Minister at Dalgety, Fifeshire, 1644-1662. London: J. Nisbet & Co, 1877.
Scott, David. Distinctive Principles of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. Albany: Printed By J. Munsell, 1841.
Shaw, James William. Hephzibah Beulah: Our Covenants, the National and Solemn League, and Covenanting by
the Reformed Presbyterian Synod in America. Newburgh: Jas. J. Mcnally, 1872.
Sproull, Thomas. The Duty of Social Covenanting Illustrated and Enforced: A sermon preached March 14th, 1841,
in the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Allegheny. Pittsburgh: William Allinder, 1841.
Steele, David. "The Nature and Duty of Covenanting with God." The Original Covenanter and Contending Witness,
October 13, 1995, 443-53, 474-82, 491-97, 518-26.
Symington, William. The Nature and Obligation of Public Vows: With an explanation and defence of the British
covenants (A course of lectures on the Second Reformation). Paisley: Alex. Gardner, 1841.
Trumbull, Benjamin, and Charles Backus. A Treatise on Covenanting with God. New York: Published By Williams
And Whiting, At Their Theological And Classical Bookstore, No. 118, Pearl-Street. J. Seymour, Print,
1810.
Willson, James R.. "PUBLIC COVENANTING. Introductory lecture at the opening of the Session of the Reformed
Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Nov. 7, 1848." Reformed Presbyterian Church (Covenanted). Printed
by Smith and Chipman, 1849. Web. 9 Apr. 2010.
<http://www.covenanter.org/JRWillson/publiccovenanting.htm>.
Willson, James M. Social Religious Covenanting. Philadelphia: Willam S. Young, 1856.
Wylie, Samuel B. The Two Sons of Oil; or, The Faithful Witness for Magistracy & Ministry Upon a Scriptural
Basis. Also, A Sermon on Covenanting. Being the Substance of Two Discourses.. Greensburg [Pa.]:
GreeSnowden & M'Corkle, 1803.

23