by Lois Ryan

Created on: February 06, 2011   Last Updated: February 09, 2011

Sharing the word - Noah - Types of Biblical covenants 

A covenant is an agreement made by two or more individuals.  In Biblical times, the two types of covenants that were most popular were the parity and the suzerainty covenants.

The parity covenant is an agreement between individuals who are equal to one another.  The following verses are examples of a parity covenant:

Genesis 21:22-23:  “And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou does:  Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son:  but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned” (KJV).

The other covenant is the suzerainty covenant.  This agreement is made between two individuals who are not equal to each other.  Take a look at the following verse:

Genesis 15:18:  In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying, unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates (KJV).

Even when God, who is superior to all living creatures, makes a covenant to us who are inferior, we must take his word for it.  He is all honest and truthful.  When God makes a promise, he is bound by his word; he is not a liar.

As in Genesis 6:17, God told Noah “And behold, I even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven-and everything that is in the earth shall die” (KJV).

Noah knew better to laugh at God and shake his head in disbelief.  He got to work on building the ark because he knew that God meant what he said.

Today we do not have to worry about a massive worldwide flood because of his covenant of Genesis 9:11 “And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a  flood to destroy the earth” (KJV).  While we still see devastating floods today, along with other natural disasters, they are nothing compared to the flood of Noah’s time.

Since we know that God is bound by what he says, open up the Bible and start reading it.  Since this book is the Word of God, it is the book of truth.

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