November, 2002

n.6

The Covenants with God

(Part 1)

What is a Covenant? An agreement or testament between men or between God and His people. In the Old Testament, God chose the people of Israel, ending with John the Baptist, to prepare the way for the coming of His Only Begotten Son. Through Christ, the covenant was perfected, and the promises of God to Abraham and the Jews are fulfilled through the Church, the New Israel, the New Covenant people of God. See Gen.13:14-16; Gal. 3:6-9; 1 Pet. 2:9, 10.

The Former Covenant, "The Decalogue"

God is concerned with man, whom He has created in His image and likeness, despite man's sin and fall. He established a covenant with man in the most ancient times. The Bible speaks of this in the first chapters of Genesis by borrowing a cosmic image to symbolize the covenant: the rainbow in the cloud. This refers to the covenant which God made with Noah after the flood (Gen. 9:12-15), a covenant based on Noah's faith. "By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, took heed and constructed an ark for the saving of his household" (Heb 11:7).

Noah and his descendants are that part of humanity which was set apart and saved from the waters of the flood. His first act after leaving the ark is to build an altar and offer a sacrifice to God. This act of gratitude and love merited God's blessing. God renews the command given to man (Adam) at the time of creation: be fruitful, multiply, rule over the fish, the birds and all the animals. But there is something new in Noah's case: man is now authorized to kill animals to feed himself: "Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you" (Gen 9:3).

Then God visited Abraham and promised him a multitude of descendants. This promise was renewed to Isaac and Jacob. Nevertheless, many centuries passed before the Former Covenant was concluded in the form of a true agreement between God and the people of Israel, in which Moses acted as a mediator. This agreement like all convenental pacts, imposed obligations on both parties: God takes upon Himself the responsibility to defend Israel and lead them into a Promised Land of milk and honey, the land of Canaan or Judea. In return, the peop

le agree to obey God's law which Moses receives on Mount Sinai - that is the Decalogue or Ten Commandments.
When Moses ascended the summit of Sinai, the whole mountain was set ablaze and the sky obscured. God descended in a cloud. Moses could not see Him, he could only hear His voice announcing the Ten Words (Ex 20:1-17 & Deut. 5:6-21). Take note of the analogy of this story and that of the action in the Divine Liturgy. We stand outside the Holy Mount, that is, in the nave of the church, while the priest (Moses) ascends for our sake to the summit (sanctuary) and then God speaks His "words" to us through the New Commandments (Holy Gospel).

Moses left the summit of the Mount and came down to the people. He told them the Words that God had spoken and also added: "You shall be careful to do therefore as the Lord your God has commanded you" (Deut. 5:32). "Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one God; and you shall love Him with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart". (Deut. 6:4-6)

Then the people answered: "All the words which the Lord has spoken, we will do" (Ex.24:1-11). Thus the people solemnly agreed to abide by the covenant.

Here is a summary of this text which the Bible gives to us in two versions (Ex 20:1-17 & Deut 5:6-21):

1. It is I the Lord your God who led you out of Egypt. You
shall have no other God but me.
2. You shall not bow down before any images or serve
them. (You shall not make idols.)
3. You shall not use the name of God in vain.
4. Observe the day of the Sabbath to sanctify it. You
shall work six days, but the seventh day you shall con-
secrate to God.
5. Honor your father and mother and you shall have a long
life.
6. You shall not kill.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
(You shall not lie.)
10. You shall not covet your neighbor's goods.

The Ten Commandments of the Law were arranged on two tablets because they legislate two aspects of love: Love for God and love for neighbor.

To love God is our first and most important obligation, because He is our Creator, Provider, and Saviour. For in Him we live, and move, and have our being (Acts 17:28).

Then follows the obligation to love our neighbor, which serves as an expression of our love for God. The Apostle John the Theologian explains, If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? (1 John 4:20)

By loving God and neighbor we discover true love for ourself, because true love for ourself consists in fulfilling our obligations towards God and neighbor. If a man first of all loves God, then naturally he cannot fail to love father and mother and children and all his neighbors; and this love is sanctified by Divine Grace. If a man loves anyone of these without loving God, then such love may even be criminal, as, for example, when a man for the happiness of a beloved friend might deprive others of their happiness, treat them unjustly, cruelly, etc.

Thus, although all the commandments and the Law of God are contained in the two commandments of love, in order to more clearly show us our obligations to God and neighbor, they are further broken down into the Ten Commandments. Our obligations to God are described in the first four commandments, and our obligations to our neighbor in the last six commandments.

These commandments were made more profound and lofty in the Saviour's Sermon on the Mount, in His nine points known as the Beatitudes. But the Lord also confirmed that the Old Testament Ten Commandments were to be known and fulfilled. The Lord suggests that believers should not only shun transgression of the Law, but should not even think about it or desire it, thus requiring from them a more clean heart.

Moses (Heb. `to draw out') 13 century BC. The great Hebrew leader and lawgiver. Moses is the most majestic figure in the Old Testament. His role was so central that the Pentateuch (first 5 books of the Bible) and the code of religious laws are attributed to him. To the Jews he is Moshe Rabbenu - Moses our Teacher.

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