The Catechism for Young Children defines a covenant as "an agreement between two or more persons" (Q #22). This definition may serve the needs of very young children, but more mature minds will demand a more complete explanation. For without an understanding of the covenant concept, even the most astute student of Scripture will lack the key to a full and accurate view of the Bible. (This is not to say that knowing the covenant is necessary to his salvation, but that it will benefit him greatly in his personal growth and application of Scripture.)

Here I want to give you the most concise explanation of the covenant concept that I have yet run across: A covenant is a sacred pact. A covenant is a pact in that it formally binds the participants to a relationship with mutual obligations. Marriage serves as a prime example here, because the bride and groom establish a covenant relationship when they get married (see Malachi 2:14).

The reason that the marriage pact binds a couple is the sacredness of that pact. The bride and groom appear before a minister -- God’s representative -- to take their wedding vows (a form of covenantal oath). The minister pronounces them married in the name of God; thus God is witness against either party who does not keep the vow, and that party is answerable to Him for breaking the sacred covenant. This gives us insight into the covenant relationship between God and His people.

We find in Scripture that God uses the language of marriage to describe His covenant relationship to His people. Consider the following passages:

We can furthermore see that the covenant relationship between God and His people is no less personal and intimate than that between a bride and groom.

Scripture also shows us that like the marriage covenant, our covenant with God requires strict faithfulness. God uses the term adultery to describe Old Covenant Israel’s unfaithfulness.

As with Old Covenant Israel, so the Bible depicts the New Covenant in Christ as a marriage. John the Baptist referred to Christ as the Bridegroom, a role in which Jesus cast Himself on more than one occasion (Matthew 9:15,ff; 25:1,ff.). Let us also not forget that strikingly beautiful passage penned by the Apostle John in the book of the Revelation:

So far we have seen that a covenant is a sacred pact so much like a marriage that God uses that picure frequently in referring to His covenant relationship with His people. We become bound to the Lord so that He is our God and we are His people. Like marriage this covenant is exclusive. Covenant unfaithfulness is the same as adultery between husband and wife (see James 4:4).

Throughout history nations have made treaties with one another. In the ancient Middle East these treaties tyjpically took the form of sacred pacts. The suzerainty treaty was a particular kind of pact. The ruler of a stronger nation (the "great king" or suzerain) imposed this covenant on another state to bring it into his sphere of influence.

Suzerainty treaties followed a set form which included:

Within the last generation the discovery and understanding of suzerainty treaties helped scholars bring a critical portion of Scripture into focus. This came about when one of them recognized that the book of Deuteronomy followed the structure of the ancient suzerainty treaties. Deuteronomy, in other words, provides us with the form and content of a national pact or covenant that establishes Yahweh (Jehovah) as the Great King over Israel.

In the Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Moody Press, 1962) Meredith Kline laid out the five-point covenant outline of Deuteronomy as it corresponds to the suzerainty treaty. He divided the book up as follows:

Here we find the Great King formally taking Israel under His protection, and in return they must keep His Law.

By reading Deuteronomy as a covenant renewal document in the form of a national treaty, we see that the Israelites were self consciously entering into a sacred pact as vassals in service to the King who is over all kings.

The New Covenant as well establishes a kingdom relationship between the Lord and His people. John the Baptist came proclaiming the kingdom of God; Jesus sent out the twelve and the seventy to proclaim His kingdom; both Peter and Paul preached the good tidings of Christ’s kingdom. In Ephesians two and three we find that the Gentiles who had been foreigners to the covenanted national kingdom were now made fellowcitizens with believing Israelites of one nation under the New Covenant, just as Jesus had warned the Pharisees (Matthew 21:43).

Just as the Lord’s covenant explicitly constituted Israel a holy nation (Exodus 19:6; Deuteronomy 7:6), so the New covenant used the exact same language to constitute Christ’s Assembly a holy nation (I Peter 2:9). If you are a Christian, whether you are conscious of it or not, you are part of an unseen kingdom with outposts (congregations) all over this world. You owe allegiance to Jesus as your King as well as your Savior. You owe it to Him by right of the sacred bond of the covenant which was laid upon you at baptism. This allegiance is much higher, more demanding and more binding than that of any other national ties you may have on this earth. Citizenship in Christ’s kingdom is the only citizenship which will accompany youbeyond this life into eternity. You and I must take it very seriously.

Now we have seen not only that God’s covenant establishes a relationship with His people that is very like a marriage. We have also seen that His covenant constitures His people a holy nation which owes him loyalty and obedience as subjects of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. These are two distinct aspects of the same covenant, and both are sacred -- they demand faithful compliance on our part for the safety and well being of our souls.

We have seen that Meredith Kline’s treatment of the covenant structure of Deuteronomy has given us great insight into the nature of God’s covenant with His people. In light of further developments, I might venture to quibble over the exact places that Kline makes the divisions in Deuteronomy and how he labels them. In the final analysis, however, his perceptiveness regarding its covenantal structure laid the groundwork for the next step in understanding Biblical covenants.

That next step came when Ray Sutton published his book, That You May Prosper: Dominion by Covenant (Institute for Christian Economics, 1987). Sutton refined the understanding of covenants by showing the theological significance of each of the covenant points. He later formed them into an acronym, THEOS (the Greek word for God).