Covenant - what does it mean? History of the Old Testament

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Those who consider themselves a Christian should constantly be enlightened in religious terms, make pilgrimage trips, read spiritual books and study the Bible. This book consists of 2 parts - the Old and New Testament (Gospel). They combined a whole history of events, starting from the creation of the world by the Lord and ending with the spread of the Christian faith throughout the earth by the apostles of the Son of God after His Ascension to heaven.

Two Meanings of the Old Testament

The Old Testament is the part of the Bible that describes the life of the Jewish people. That is why this book is considered common for representatives of Christianity and Judaism. Collected literally from particles and from various sources, the Old Testament is a unique work of its kind, created in the period from the 13th to the 1st century BC

For the first time the word "covenant" was heard from the lips of the prophet Moses, through which the Lord gave people the 10 commandments on the mountain, inscribed on the tablets. Thus, God made a covenant (agreement) with his people, according to which they, observing his command, receive mercy and love from him.

Summarizing the above, we note that the expression "Old Testament" is a term that can be interpreted aspart of the Bible, and as an agreement between the Lord and his people.

What is the difference between the Testaments

Those who are just beginning to be interested in Christianity and begin to study the Bible often have a question about the principle by which it was divided into two parts. First of all, you need to know that the Old Testament is a biography of the Jewish people and the path of their salvation through numerous prophets before the coming of the Son of God to earth.

The events of the first part of the Bible seem rather cruel, and the actions of some of its heroes seem unworthy, contrary to the modern foundations of Christianity. Numerous sacrifices, fratricide, the terrible fall of Sodom and Gomorrah - this is an incomplete list of what we can find on the pages of the Old Testament.

People, having once abandoned the paradise life by disobedience, themselves earned their punishment in the form of death, disease and hardness of heart. But, despite the sins of mankind, God the Father is very merciful and sincerely loves his children. That is why He sends His Son, Jesus Christ, to Earth, who will later atone for human sins and open the gates of Eden.

The Coming of the Lord to Earth is the conclusion of the New Testament between Him and people, according to which those who lead a pious lifestyle that corresponds to Christian morality go to heaven after their death. The laws of Christian life are significantly softened, the main principle is love for one's neighbor.

As the Bible says, Jesus Christ opened the gates of paradise for people. In Old Testament times, even righteous and pious people after their deathended up in hell because of the sin of the forefathers - Adam and Eve. Therefore, we can say that the New Testament is the key to eternal salvation.

Old Testament Structure

The first part, called the Torah, consists of several books written by the prophet Moses. These include Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

In addition to the Torah, the Old Testament includes the Book of the Prophets, which contains plots of a historical and prophetic nature.

There are 13 books in Scripture, among which there are both philosophical reflections (for example, the Book of Job), and poems about love and others.

All of the above components of the Old Testament are called canonical. Orthodoxy considers the rest of the books of the first part of the Bible to be soulful, but not recognized as canon.

Torah. Meaning

As already mentioned, the Torah is the Old Testament, or rather, the Pentateuch from the prophet Moses, which is a handwritten scroll. In addition, in the Bible, the Torah refers to individual laws of God. The information given by the Lord himself to the prophet was not only written on scrolls, but also transmitted orally. Thus, there is not only a written, but also an oral Torah, which influenced the moral foundations of mankind.

First pages of the Old Testament

“In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God”… This is how the history of the Old Testament opens. From the first pages we can learn about the creation by the Lord of the world around us - the sky and the earth, the moon, the sun and stars, oceans and seas, animals, birds andperson in six days.

Having created Adam in his image and likeness, God also creates a woman and names her Eve. “Be fruitful and multiply,” the Lord commands His children. Having provided people with everything they need for eternal bliss, God forbids them to approach the Tree of Knowledge and eat its fruits. Seduction by the forbidden apple cost Adam and Eve their heavenly lives. The first people became subject to sin and death. This is covered in the first three chapters of Genesis.

Life on Earth: Cain and Abel

When Adam and Eve were on earth, they began to have children, the first of which were Cain and Abel. The first brother took care of the land, while the second took care of the flocks. Abel was more meek and faithful, often in prayer and hoping for the mercy of God.

Cain had a hard and cruel heart, having no fear of God. The Lord accepted Abel's sacrifice, but rejected the second brother's lamb. Cain, embittered, harbored a grudge. He called Abel into the field and killed him there. The Lord, seeing not only deeds, but also knowing human thoughts, warned Cain about a possible misfortune, urged him to overcome evil intentions, which were the germ of an indelible blood sin. But the older brother, blinded by envy and hatred, committed the sin of fratricide. For this, the Lord cursed Cain.

New base

After the murder of Abel and the expulsion of Cain, the history of the Old Testament continues. God gave Adam and Eve another son - Seth, from whom good and pious descendants descended. His name translated means"foundation", which can be interpreted as the foundation of a new humanity. After all, it was from this generation that the sons of God descended, as the scripture says, and from the “cursed” generation the sons of men. After the descendants of Cain and Abel began to marry each other, people on earth became more and more corrupt. This went on until there was only one righteous Noah left with his family. The Lord, unable to endure grave human sins, decides to cleanse the earth and sends a flood. God warns Noah of his intention and commands him to build an ark, into which the righteous must take a pair of animals that cannot exist in water.

The Flood lasted a whole hundred and fifty days, after which the water began to gradually enter its course. In the newfound place, Noah offers God a sacrifice for his salvation. In response, the Lord gives him a promise never to cause a Flood again and points to a rainbow, which to this day symbolizes a vow given by God himself.

Noah's family. Babylonian pandemonium

Noah had three sons who, after the flood, along with their wives, stayed with him. Together with their father, they began to cultivate the land and began to build vineyards. Once Noah tasted wine and fell asleep naked, for the first time knowing all the intoxicating power of an intoxicating drink. In this form, his son Ham found him, who told his brothers about what he saw, thereby showing a disrespectful attitude towards his father. Shem and Japheth, on the contrary, hastened to cover the body of the naked parent. When Noah woke up and found out what had happened, he cursed Ham and all his family, dooming them toeternal submission to the descendants of brothers.

So there were three tribes - Simites, Japhites and Hamites. The latter decided at all costs to free themselves from the burden of submission and decided to build a tower as high as the heavens in order to ex alt themselves. The Lord, having learned about this plan, divided the Hamites, endowing them with different languages. Thus, people could not agree among themselves and realize their plan. The site of the unfinished tower was called Babylon.

Type of Christ

Among the many plots of the Old Testament, the story of the sacrifice of Abraham stands out. He was a pious descendant of Shem, a believer in God. At that time, idolatry spread throughout the earth, and people forgot the fear of God. For the righteous life of Abraham and his wife Sarah, who had long despaired of having children, the Holy Trinity visited their tent. At that time, the righteous were at a very advanced age. But since everything is pleasing to the Lord, a year later, the son Isaac was born in the family of Abraham. They loved their child immensely. And God, seeing the attitude of parents towards their son, decided to make sure of the true faith and love of the righteous. The Lord asked Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice to him. The righteous one knew that God always wants only good, so he went to the mountain, taking logs for making a fire and his young son. The Lord, seeing Abraham's devotion, asked him to slaughter a ram entangled in the bushes instead of his only beloved child. So the righteous showed his fear of the Lord, for which he was rewarded with numerous offspring, from which he subsequently emergedthe Savior himself.

This biblical story precedes the story of the great sacrifice of the Son of God for human sins. Like Abraham, the Lord did not spare his son for the redemption of the human race. This story is also described by the Bible (New Testament). This coming of Christ significantly changes the life and consciousness of people, their attitude towards each other.

Moses. Commandments of God

The famous biblical prophet Moses, who saved the Jewish people from Egyptian oppression, became an intermediary between the people of the whole world and the Lord, who gave the 10 commandments. Inscribed on two tablets, they expressed the relationship of man to God and neighbors. These commandments must be observed by those who want to be closer to the Lord.

Before taking these sacred tablets, Moses fasted for 40 days and nights while on Mount Sinai. Having received the commandments, the people of Israel made a covenant with God, according to which people must live in accordance with God's Law.

The Ark of Revelation

To store the stone tablets, God commanded Moses to create the Ark of the Covenant. What it is and how it looks is of interest to many. First of all, it is a symbol of the union of the Lord with the Jews. The casket was made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold. In Old Testament times, it was kept in the tabernacle (portable temple), which God commanded to build his people. The location of the ark is currently unknown. According to one version, the casket disappeared during the reign of the impious king Manasseh. The priests, wishing to protect the great shrine from desecration by the sovereign, took itfrom the tabernacle and sent to one of the Egyptian temples. From that moment on, the Ark of the Covenant wandered more than once, even becoming the subject of Jewish cults. It is believed that the last refuge of the casket was one of the temples of Ethiopia.

New Testament. Change

With the birth of Jesus Christ, new pages of the Bible are opened. The gospel is the New Testament of God. The Lord, having come to earth as a simple poor man, performs unprecedented miracles - heals lepers, resurrects the dead. For all the blessings that Christ gives to people, they cruelly crucify Him on the Cross, mockingly calling Him the King of the Jews. But the Lord came to earth to resurrect and atone for human sins, to give people a new law, the main principles of which are mercy and compassion.

Thus, the Old and New Testaments are united by one main idea: despite all transgressions, the Lord is able to forgive a person if he brings sincere repentance, as did the thief hanged on the cross next to the Son of God.