Covenant of Promise…
Over at Mormon Coffee they are having a discussion about the use of Ezekiel 36:26–28 in a recent Mormon General Conference. One commenter bemoaned another discussion of “faith vs. works” on the site. While “faith vs. works” is a common topic, I think that this passage and its connection to covenant theology is to rich to miss the opportunity to comment on it.
Chapter 7 of the Westminster Confession of Faith explains the Reformed understanding of covenantal theology in about the easiest way you can find. While covenantal theology can get complex the basic understanding does not take a rocket surgeon. The condensed version of the confession is:
1. Man is the creature of God, obedience to the creator is a “reasonable” expectation. God has graciously expressed his requirements in the form of covenants.
2. The first covenant, with Adam and his descendants, was the covenant of law. The covenant of law requires PERFECT obedience.
3. Since Adam’s fall, neither he nor his descendants were/are able to keep the law PERFECTLY. God was “pleased” to make a second covenant, the covenant of grace. By this covenant he “Freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ” requiring faith for salvation. This faith he gives to those “ordained” to eternal life by his Holy Spirit.
4. The covenant of grace is seen in scripture by the name Testament.
5. The covenant of grace was administered differently in the time of the law and the Gospel. Under the law there were promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the paschal lamb, and other types and ordinances all point to the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ who gave salvation.
6. Under the Gospel the means of grave are the Word and Sacraments. By these means grace is administered. This covenant is made with both Jew and Gentile.
While there were many covenants in the Bible there are only 2 types of covenant. The first is the “Covenant of Law” and can be seen in Gen 2:15-17. Under the law covenants perfect obeisance is the requirement for justification (Gal 3:10). The second is the covenant of promise, gospel, or grace; a covenant of promise as seen in Gen 3:15. God promises to crush the head of the Serpent, there is nothing that Man is required to do.
Much recent scholarship has greatly enhanced our understanding of these two types of covenant, more clearly demonstrating the Reformed view on covenant in both history and Scripture. Not only are both types of covenant, law and promise, found in Scripture but they directly correlate to the types of covenant/treaties found in Ancient Near East diplomacy. The first, covenant of law, is of the same kind as was used between a greater and lesser ruler. These suzerain (greater) vassal (lesser) treaties follow a formula found in both ancient Hittite culture and in the Bible; 1 preamble (identifying the suzerain), 2 historical prolog, 3 commands imposed by suzerain, 4 sanctions for violation and blessings for obedience. The direct correlation to Exodus 19-20 and Deuteronomy 5 is unmistakable. Also take a look at Joshua 24.
The second type of covenant/treaty used in the Ancient Near East is the royal grant. The royal grant was an outright gift from the King to his subject. A direct connection to the covenant of grace is plain. While the Sinai covenant of Exodus 19-20 require national Israel to keep Gods commandments or “die” (Lev 18:5; Deut 4:1; 5:33; 6:24-25; 8:1; 30:15-18 etc.) the covenants of promise are royal grants given with no such stipulations. The Abrahamic (Gen 15 and 17) Noahic (Gen 8 ) and the Davidic (II Sam 23:5) covenants are examples of royal grants, covenants of promise or grace. Michael Horton in his book Covenant and Salvation Union with Christ makes the observation that, “the deepest distinction in Scripture is not between the Old and New Testaments but between the covenants of law and covenants of promise that run through both.”
Two things should be remembered; first the covenant of the law is still in effect. Nothing in Scripture tells us that this covenant was repealed in fact there is much testimony to the contrary. A person under the covenant of law will be judged against the law and PERFECT obedience is required. Second there has been no mixing or combining of the law and grace, those who are under the law will be righteously judged on the basis of perfect obedience to the law. This mixing of the suzerain treaty with the royal grant has formed a uniconvental approach that merges the promises of God to the elect with the requirements of the law that goes against the very passage we are looking at.
Ezek. 36:22–38 is tied to other prophesizes in the Old Testament. One of Ezekiel’s fellow prophets from the same time period, Jeremiah wrote much the same thing in Jeremiah 31:31-34. Isaiah has the same thing revealed to him in Isaiah 42:6; 59:21 and elsewhere. In fact Moses talks about this in Deut 30:6 and the Psalmist shows the promise to us in 37:31 and 40:8. This theme runs through Paul, 2 Corinthians 3:3; Romans 8:9; Galatians 5:5, 6 and elsewhere.
This is just the briefest introduction to covenant theology. Michael Horton has a number of books on the subject. I would start with the introduction. Meredith G Kline is one of the most quoted on the subject of suzerain treaties and covenants if anyone is interested.
Let me make a few observations to sum this up. First failure to understand the distinctions between the 2 covenant types make it next to impossible to understand the law and gospel, faith and works distinctions in the writings of the New Testaments. Second a flawed eschatology that is looking forward to the restoration of a physical, political, earthly, national Israel, a physical rebuilding of the Temple, and a reinstitution of the priesthood to perform sacrifices or ordinances, etc is going to make understanding any Old Testament prophesy all that much harder. Finally Ezekiel and all of the Old Testament prophets need to be seen in their own context as pre-messiah prophets. Much of their prophesy was pointing directly to the coming of the messiah Jesus Christ. The best way to understand and to interpret these prophets is to let the New Testament writers show is the way.
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