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With Rev. Fr. Andrew Manickam OFM Cap

With Rev. Fr. Andrew Manickam OFM Cap. “Covenant”. Definition of “Covenant”: a formal agreement, contract, testament, or treaty between two parties with specific obligations on each side: Ancient terminology : Hebrew berith, Greek diatheke, Latin testamentum

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With Rev. Fr. Andrew Manickam OFM Cap

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  1. With Rev. Fr. Andrew Manickam OFM Cap

  2. “Covenant” • Definition of “Covenant”: a formal agreement, contract, testament, or treaty between two parties with specific obligations on each side: • Ancient terminology : Hebrew berith, Greek diatheke, Latin testamentum • Used 285 times in the Hebrew Bible (first use at Gen 6:18) and 33 times in the New Testament • The entire Bible is the story of the covenant.

  3. Main Covenants in the Hebrew Bible: • Adam and Eve (Gen 1-2, although the word “covenant” is not used, some divine promises are made) • Noah and his Family (Gen 6-9) • Abraham and his descendents (Gen 12, 15,17) • Moses and the Israelites (Exod 20-34, Deut 5-11) • David and the Kingdom (2 Sam 7)

  4. The “New” or “Renewed” Covenant: • Jeremiah • Jesus

  5. The Adamitic covenantThe Covenant with AdamGen 1:28 -30, Gen 3:15 • It is bilateral ie. With obligations on both sides – on the part of God promises of paradise and immortality; on the part of man the obligation to obey God’s precept. • It is a conditional, not an absolute covenant • It carries with it a sanction – the penalty of death • It is characterized by familiarity between God and Adam

  6. Two Creation Accounts • Genesis 1 and 2 record two accounts of Creation. These are not two conflicting accounts, they are complementary accounts with different emphases. • In Genesis 1, God the Creator makes a cosmic home or temple for himself. His final creation –man and women- he makes in his image, and he calls them to imitate him (verse 28) • In Genesis 2 God works as Father. He lovingly fashions man from the dirt of the earth, breathes life into him, creates a garden paradise for him and creates a spouse for him from his very side. God commands man to “till…and keep” the garden (Genesis 2:15) a call to priestly sacrifice in the garden sanctuary. • Adam is God’s royal firstborn son, the high priest of humanity.

  7. Genesis speaks of 3 important lessons and why salvation is needed. something must have gone wrong with God’s creation to the extent that the whole human race needs to be redeemed. • To understand this salvation history we need to go back to the last 3 chapters of Genesis. • Conclusion : We see a God who is closely linked with His creation. God is one with creation.

  8. Temptation and Fall : Making Sense of the Story • Man fall into sin is a very puzzling thing. The Catechism gives us three important things to remember when examining man’s temptation and fall (1) “The account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, (2) but (the account) affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man (Cf. GS 13&1) • (3) “revelation gives us the certainty of faith that the whole of human history is marked by the original fault freely committed by lour first parents (Cf. Council of Trent). • Through the account in Genesis 3 is written more like poetry than journalism, it affirms an actual event – the “original fault” of Adam and Eve – that forever marks human history

  9. The Test • God’s Harmony Is Broken By Human Choice • We’ve all seen Bible story images of a long, thin snake slithering • around a tree. It is important to note however, that the Hebrew word for serpent is nahash , which is a much more dangerous animal than the garden-variety snake. Nahash refers to an extremely deadly and dangerous creature ( Numbers 21:6-9, Isaiah 27:1) Revelation 12:3,9) Once we see the nature of the serpent that confronts Adam and Eve, we see the serious challenge and grave threat Adam faces in guarding the garden and his wife (CCC395).

  10. Reaching Out • God shows mercy to Adam and Eve. He covers their nakedness by making them garments out of animal skins, thus making the first sacrifice of animals to cover the shame of his children. • God does not give up on his fallen son and daughter, however. He promises a Redeemer who will save His children, who will set right the wrong of Adam and Eve. The early Church fathers understood this promise as the “first gospel” (Protoevangelium) (CCC,410)

  11. What are they? • As a son will Adam trust God as Father enough to obey? • As king will Adam exercise dominion over the beasts and drive the Serpent out of the garden? • As husband, will Adam protect his bride? • As priest will Adam – if need be- offer his life in a sacrifice of love and obedience?

  12. Questions For Reflection • What are some practical ways I can draw strength from God to resist temptation and avoid sin? • How can I grow in an attitude of repentance when I commit sins? • Have I tried to “hide”from God? Have I refused to acknowledge my need for his mercy?

  13. The New Adam in the Garden • The work of salvation is not complete with Jesus’ death for our sins. We are saved by the cross and the Resurrection. “Jesus our Lord…was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification (Romans 4:24-25). Without the Resurrection we could not be saved. • On Easter Sunday Jesus rises from the dead and appears in the garden (John 20:15) • Because of their sin man and woman were banished from the garden. On Easter Sunday Jesus restores humanity, announcing the new creation in a garden.

  14. The Covenant with Noah

  15. The Covenant with Noah • Noah and a renewed Creation • Adam’s Family Divided • Cain and the Wicked Line • Seth and the Righteous Line • Saved through Water • Genesis 6:5 • Genesis 6:11,12 • Genesis 6:9

  16. A New Creation, The Hebrew word for covenant, berith (beh-reet) is first used in Genesis 6:18; “I will establish my covenant with you and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you” • He is promising to renew the covenant of Creation. He wants to renew his covenant with Noah’s household. • There are several significant parallels between the flood narrative (Genesis 6-8) and the Creation account (Genesis 1-2).

  17. In both narratives a new world emerges from the waters of “the deep” (Gen 1:2;7:11). The number seven recurs in both accounts. • Gen 7:10 • Gen 8:4 • Gen 8:10-12 • Gen 7:2

  18. Noah’s name means “rest” or “relief” (Gen 5:29) • The Sabbath is the sign of God’s covenant with creation, the rainbow becomes the sign of God’s renewed covenant with creation.

  19. The Tower of Babel Though sin shatters the human race into separate peoples. God extends his providential care to the nations. He extends his covenant with Noah to “all flesh that is upon the earth” (Gen 9:17). “The covenant with Noah remains in force during the times of the Gentiles, until the universal proclamation of the Gospel (Gen 9:13, Luke 21:24 (CCC, 58)

  20. A Flood of Comparison The covenant with Noah points us to the Sacrament of Baptism ( 1 peter 3:20-21) The flood is a type of baptism

  21. Summary The author of Genesis linked Adam and Eve to Noah, Abraham and the rest of Salvation History.

  22. The Abrahamitic covenant • It is bilateral: on the part of God, promises of a great posterity (Gen 12:2, 15:5), possession of Palestine (Gen 12:7, 15:7, 18) extraordinary blessings on the patriarchs and through them on all mankind (Gen 12:3, 15: 5-6) on the part of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob : the obligation of serving God (Gen 17:7), moral integrity (Gen 17:1), 1819, 265) and faith in God’s promises (Gen 15:6, Rom 4:1-25) • It is a absolute, not conditional • Circumcision – external sign of those who enter the covenant • There is , as in the Adamitic covenant, familiarity between man and God (Gen18:17) • To be noted that in this pact, made first with a single family, is extended to a nation at Sinai Exod 19-24) and finally to all mankind through Christ and the New Testament.

  23. Abraham : Our Father in Faith • God’s covenant with Abraham and the connection between covenant blessing and trials for God’s faithful people in the example of Abraham. • And God Blessed Them… • Gen 1; 22, 28, 2:3 • Genesis shows how the blessing passes from father to son. • God extends his family even further. • Noah was the father of the household • Abraham is the head of an extended family • Adam triggered the covenant curses through his disobedience; Abraham secures God’s blessings through his righteousness.

  24. In Genesis 12: 1-3 God promises Abram three things: • 1) land and nationhood (12:1-2), • 2) a dynastic kingdom (12:2) • 3) worldwide family (12:3)

  25. Abraham Responds in Faith • Abraham’s life reveals that the road to blessing is paved with trials and temptations. • Gen 12:10 • Gen12:10-20; 20 • Genesis 15,16,17,18:16-19:29 • Gen 22:1-19

  26. Three Promises Strengthened by Three Oaths • The First Covenant Oath – Gen 15 Abram is still childless • God swears that Abram will be a father to innumerable descendents, who will be delivered from bondage and receive the Promised Land (Gen 15:13-16).

  27. The Second covenant Oath • At this point God renames Abram “Abraham”, meaning “father of a multitude” (Gen 17:15) He also renames Sarai “Sarah” meaning “great mother” (Gen 17:15) • God swears another covenant oath to Abraham to give him a son through his wife Sarah, Ishmael is not the chosen heir. • This prefigures the covenant God will make with David to establish his kingdom in 2 Samuel 7:9.

  28. The Third Covenant Oath • Abraham to sacrifice his son on a mount called Moriah (Gen 22:1-2) • For the third and final time, God renews His covenant with Abraham and He swears to bless all of the nations through the seed of Abraham (Gen 22:11-18)

  29. Three Oaths • These three covenant oaths will be fulfilled by the Exodus and the Mosaic covenant, the kingdom and the Dravidic covenant, and Jesus Christ and the new covenant.

  30. The Obedience of Abraham and Isaac • Mount Moriah the place where Abraham offers Isaac, is part of a chain of mountains outside Jerusalem. • 2 Chronicles 3:1 • There the people of Israel offer their sacrifices – in effect reminding God of his covenantal promise to Abraham – until the need for these sacrifices ends when Christ comes as the true Lamb of God. Indeed, Calvary-the place where Jesus is crucified – is one of the peaks of Moriah.

  31. The Sinaitic covenant (Moses and the Israelites) • In Egypt the descendents of the patriarchs increase to such an extent that for political reasons they are enslaved by the Paraohs. When in God’s providential design they have been oppressed and enslaved to the point where they typify as a people a sinfully enslaved condition of all mankind, God raises up Moses and commands him to bring His people out of bondage and lead them to Sinai. • On Sinai God fulfills His promise to Abraham ( Gen 12:3) extending His covenant to the Israelite people, amplifying laws and obligations, taking the Israelites to Himself as His covenanted nation (Exod 19-24) greatest promise them His blessing, protection, prosperity and peace. His greatest promise is one of intimate familiarity.

  32. The call of Moses • Exodus 2:1-10 • Exodus 2:11-25 • Exodus 3:2,6-8 • Exodus 3:18-20 • Deliverance From Egypt • Exo 8:25-27 • Exo 7:14-25 • Exo 9:1-7 • Exo 10:21-23 • Exo 11:4-9 • Exo 12:1-27 • Exo 12:5-11 • Exo 12:13 • The death of his firstborn son is the event that finally breaks Pharaoh (Ex 12:30-32)

  33. The First Covenant With Israel • The Lord brings his people to Mount Sinai. Here he declares they are a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exo19:6) • Ten Commandments (Exo 20:1-17,32:16) • He gives them civil laws telling them how to deal with certain criminal actions (Ex 21-23)

  34. God’s Second Covenant With Israel • Exo 32:1-6 • In worshipping the golden calf, Israel succumbs to three major temptations: ,money, sex and power. • When Israel breaks the covenant, the nation deserves the covenant curse of death (Exo 32:7, 3:10,5:1,6:7) • Exo 32:10 • Moses comes down from the mountain and upon seeing the idolatry of Israel, smashes the tablets of the ten Commandments (Exo 32:15-19) • Exo 32:26-28

  35. Jesus as the New Moses

  36. The Covenant with David

  37. David’s Rise to Power • 1 Samuel 13:14 • Samuel 16:11-13 • David can’t build a house for the Lord. • Three levels of meaning of house (bayith) • family: God gives David • dynasty: God promises David that a royal heir will reign on the throne of the kingdom forever • temple: God will allow David’s son Solomon to build the temple, the house of God (2 Samuel 7:13)

  38. David as liturgical Leader • God’s family has expanded from a marriage (Adam), to a household (Noah), to a tribe (Abraham), to a nation (Moses) and finally now to a kingdom (David)

  39. Jesus as the New David Compare the key Davidic covenant text with the angel Gabriel’s description of Jesus to Mary at the Annunciation. 2 Samuel 7:8-17 Luke 1:32-33 ‘a great name” (9) “He will be great” “he shall be my son (14) Will be called son of the Most High” “your throne shall be established” “God will give to him the throne of His Father David” “forever” (16) “reign…forever”

  40. Primary Features of the Davidic Covenant • The Davidic kingdom is international • 1 Chronicles 11;1-12 • 1 Kings 5:1-12 • The Davidic kingdom is located in Jerusalem

  41. The ‘new covenant’ • Jeremiah 31:31-34 • v. 31 ‘Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. • v.32a Specifically, I will not make it like the covenant which I made with their fathers… • v. 32b since they broke this covenant of mine • v.32c even though I was a husband to them, declares the Lord

  42. v.33a The reason the new covenant will be different in this regard is that this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord, ‘I will put my Law within them, and I will write it on their heart. • v.33b the result of this new covenant will be that I will be their God, and they shall be my people. • v.34a the ultimate consequence of this new covenant relationship in which I am their God and they are my people is that they shall not teach again each man his neighbor and each man his brother saying, “Know the Lord,”

  43. v.34b because they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the Lord. • v. 34c The basis for all of this is that I will forgive their iniquity an I will remember their sin no more.

  44. Moses demonstrated that the Sinai covenant had been broken from the beginning (Exo 32:19) • She remained ‘stiff-necked’ (exo 32:9, 33:3,5,34:9, deut 29:4) • An ‘uncircumcised heart’ (Deut 10:6, Jer 4:4, 9:25-26, Acts 7:51, Eze 20) • The history of Israel as a people under the Sinai covenant was consequently marked by faithlessness.

  45. For, as Jeremiah declares, • From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to thus day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers (Jer 7:25-26)

  46. Jeremiah 31:31-34 thus looks to a future in which Israel’s present state of rebellion and ‘stubbornness’ will no longer undermine her covenantal relationship with God.

  47. Jesus : Fulfillment of the Promises 1)The New Adam in the garden 2)The Son of Abraham 3)The Son of David

  48. Paul: an apostle of the new covenant • …he understands himself to be ‘a ,minister of a new covenant’ (2 Cor 3:6. 1 Cor 11:23-26) • If Moses is the ‘law-giver’ who mediates the Sinai covenant as a result of the exodus, Paul is the “Spirit-giver’ who mediates the new covenant as a result of the ‘second exodus’ that has come about through Christ. Like Moses, Paul is called to be a mediator between God and his people.

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