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WEEK 8 INTRODUCTION TO COVENANTS

“A covenant is a bond of life and death sovereignly administered.” -O. Palmer Robertson 1 “From creation to consummation the covenantal bond has determined the relation of God to his people. The extent of divine covenants reaches from the beginning of the world to the end of the age.” -O. Palmer Robertson 2

I. RESOURCES

o Joshua 9 o 2 Samuel 21 o The Christ of the Covenants by O. Palmer Robertson, chapter 1

II. DAY-BY-DAY READING AND REFLECTION

o Day 1: Read chapter 1 of The Christ of the Covenants by O. Palmer

Robertson o Day 2: Read and meditate on Joshua 9 and 2 Samuel 21 o Days 3 and 4: Work through study and answer questions

III. WARM-UP

The term covenant is rarely used in society today. What comes to your mind when you hear this word?

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IV. INTRODUCTION Over the next 7 weeks, we will be doing an overview of the Bible, in which we will study God’s progressive revelation of himself and redemptive history in and through covenants made with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and Christ. Though there are varying opinions as to the degree in which covenants made in the Old Testament influence our interpretation of New Testament doctrines, the Bible is clear in its presentation of God’s redemptive plan unfolding through covenants made with key Old Testament figures and their fulfillment in Christ. This week, our focus is on the essence of covenants, and perhaps nowhere in scripture is the concept of covenant made clearer than that of the Gibeonite deception (Joshua 9) and God’s response to Israel’s breaking of the covenant made with the Gibeonites over 400 years later (2 Samuel 21). Joshua 9 occurs shortly after the Israelite conquest of Canaan, and their defeat of two prominent Canaanite cities: Jericho and Ai. In this story, we will unpack Robertson’s definition of a covenant, which can be found on page one of this study.

V. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Read Joshua 9. In this chapter, we find the promise makers of this story: Joshua and the Israelites.

v What do you make of God’s insistence for Joshua and the Israelites

to keep the covenant and spare the Gibeonites even though it was made under the pretense of deception?

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2. Read 2 Samuel 21. We are now introduced to the promise breaker: Saul. The Gibeonites had settled in Benjamite territory, which was where Saul called home. In a rash act under the pretense of devotion to God, Saul disregarded this oath and wiped out the Gibeonites. Everyone had forgotten about the Gibeonites, except God. Drought-induced famines in Palestine at this time were very common, as they typically indicated God’s displeasure with his people. 3

v What do you make of how God disrupted the entire nation of Israel

in the form of a famine over the breaking of a covenant made 400 years ago?

3. We’ve already seen Joshua, and therefore all of Israel as the promise makers, Saul as the promise-breaker, and implicitly, in the acceptance of this measure of justice in vv. 6-7, we see the first of two signs of the promise keeper, who is God.

v By accepting the terms of the execution in vv. 6-7, how does this

add to our understanding of God’s view of covenants?

4. After the impalement of the seven grandsons of Saul, we naturally hope that the text would move on to something brighter. But it gets worse. After a gruesome scene describing the execution, we are told of the actions of one of the mothers in v. 10.

v Why do you think the narrator includes the response of Rizpah?

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VI. APPLICATION

1. As is mentioned in the introduction, this is perhaps the clearest depiction of a covenant as a bond of life and death sovereignly administered found in Scripture. How does this story enhance your understanding of:

i. The concept of a biblical covenant?

ii. The cost of atonement?

2. Familiarity with Christ’s crucifixion often leads to complacency. How can this story enable us to appreciate on a deeper level what happened at the cross?

BIBLIOGRAPHY 1 O. Palmer Robertson, The Christ of the Covenants. (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co, 1980), 4. 2 Robertson, The Christ of the Covenants, 25. 3 Gordon, Robert P. I & II Samuel, A Commentary. (United Kingdom, Pasternoster Press, 1986), 299.