Today’s Post-Acts Gentile church of “the body of Christ” has no covenants with God our Father.

      Ephesians 2:12 (KJV) That at that time ye [you Gentiles] were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

Israel was first called as a nation while in the wilderness after they were delivered from Egypt… to be “set above all people.”

“Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:” Exodus 19:5 (KJV)

It is clear that ‘the Nation of Israel’ had and has “covenants of promise,” but what are they?

• Are the “covenants of promise” a particular sort of covenant?
• What is the significance of “covenants of promise” in Ephesians 2:12?

These “promises,” in this context, are almost always the promises associated with Israel’s New Covenant.

The promises associated with Israel’s ‘New Covenant’ included the following:

• Promise of the Holy Spirit, Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4, 2:33, Gal 3:14, Eph 1:13
• Promise of Jesus (as the righteous Messiah and King) would reign and fulfill the Davidic/Royal Covenant and OT prophecies, Acts 2:29, 13:32, 34, 26:6, Rom 15:8, 1 Cor 1:20, Eph 3:6
• Salvation by grace with the forgiveness of sins (often as exemplified by Abraham), Acts 2:39, 13:23, Rom 4:13, 14, 16, 20, 9:8, 9, Gal 3:14-29, Heb 6:12-17
• God promises to be the personal God of the saved, to be with them, 2 Cor 6:18 & 7:1, Eph 2:12
• Promise of eternal life with Jesus Christ, 2 Tim 1:1
• Promise of ‘rest’ in Christ by the benefits of salvation, Heb 4:1

Thus, Eph 2:12 contains all these divine promises and benefits to be obtained “in Christ.”

• Jesus is the promised Messiah of salvation
• Jesus is the promised king of heaven
• Jesus is the One who would grant the righteous the promised land with eternal life
• Jesus is the promised fulfilment of all the OT prophecies

Little wonder that we have Paul saying on several occasions things like this during the Acts period when He was going to “the Jew first.”

• Gal 3:29 - And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.
• Rom 9:8 - So it is not the children of the flesh who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as offspring.
• Rom 4:16 - Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are ‘of the faith of Abraham’ is the father of all who are of faith.

Three Covenants With Promises:

All the divine covenants involved promised benefits for those abiding by the terms of the covenant wherein God promises to deliver great benefits. Here are some examples:

Noahic Covenant: Gen 8:20 – 9:17.

The Noahic Covenant is an eternal covenant (Gen 9:16), and is actually a covenant with all living creatures and all mankind. It consisted of:

• This covenant was initiated in order to ensure continuity of seasons without interruption, Gen 8:21, 22.
• God promises never to curse the ground again, Gen 8:21.
• God promises never to destroy humans and animals by flood again, Gen 8:21, 9:11.
• God promises that seasons would never be stopped again, Gen 8:22.

Abrahamic Covenant: Gen 13:14-17, 15:1-17, 17:1-27, 18:9-15, 22:15-18

The Abrahamic Covenant is stated in three places, Gen 15 & 17, 13 years apart (and repeated in Gen 12:1-3, 13:14-17, 18:9-15, 22:15-18 without using the word “covenant” nor formal sacrifices) and it was an eternal covenant, Gen 13:15, 17:9, 13, 19. The covenant consisted of the following from Genesis 15.

• God promises Abram a biological son
• God promises Abram uncountable descendants
• God promises Abram’s descendants the land of Canaan, “from the wadi of Egypt to the great river Euphrates”.
• God promises to return Abram’s descendants to Canaan after Egyptian slavery of 400 years
• God promises to punish the Egyptians
• God promises great possessions to Abram’s descendants when they leave Egypt

Israelite Covenant: Exodus 19-24, and expanded in parts of Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy – often called, “The Old Covenant”, or, “Moral Covenant”, or, sometimes incorrectly called, “The Mosaic Covenant”

• God promises to “save” Israel from Egyptian slavery and deliver them to the Promised Land as stated in the preamble to the 10 commandments, Ex 20:1-2, 23:23, Deut 5:6. This was to fulfil God’s earlier promise to Abraham and others to give the Promised Land to Abraham’s descendants, Ex 2:24, 6:4-5, forever, 1 Chron 16:15, Ps 105:8, 111:9.
• God promises to protect His people Israel by sending a protecting angel, Ex 23:19, 20, and establish their borders, Ex 23:31.
• The benefits/promises of the covenant are also clearly set out in Lev 26:1-13, Deut 28:1-14 (blessings for obedience), and, Lev 26:14-39, Deut 28:15-68 (curses for disobedience).

[Note that the curses for disobedience are specifically listed in Lev 26 as plague (V14-17), famine (V18-20), wild animals (V21-22), sword/war (V23-26). Subsequently, these curses for disobedience are simply listed as “sword, famine, and plague” in many places such as 1 Chron 21:12, 2 Chron 20:9, Jer 21:9, 24:10, 27:13, 29:18, 42:22, Eze 5:12, 17, 7:15, 12:16, etc, etc.]