THE EVERLASTING COVENANT OF GRACE,
BETWEEN THE FATHER,
AND THE SON,
AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.
…
This Eternal Council
BETWEEN THE FATHER,
AND THE SON,
AND THE HOLY SPIRIT
is the Basis and Foundation
of the Covenant of Grace,
and both
The COUNCIL
and
The COVENANT
Relate to the Same ETERNAL Things,
in which the Same Persons
of THE TRIUNE GODHEAD
are Concerned.
…
In the
ETERNAL COUNCIL
BETWEEN THE FATHER,
AND THE SON,
AND THE HOLY SPIRIT,
Eternal things were Contrived,
Planned, and Advised;
…
While in
The COVENANT
BETWEEN THE FATHER,
AND THE SON,
AND THE HOLY SPIRIT,
THEIR ETERNAL PLANS
were Fixed and Settled.
…
The Covenant of Grace is a Compact
or Agreement
Made from all Eternity Past
Among the Divine Persons,
more especially
Shown in The Words of GOD,
between the Father and the Son,
concerning the Salvation of the Elect
and
is Proper to Consider
for the better understanding
of these Federal Transactions
between them,
before the World was,
when there were no creatures,
neither angels nor men in Being;
and
which Lay the Foundation
of all the Grace and Glory,
Comfort and Happiness,
of
the Saints in Time and to Eternity.
…
1.7 AWARE of The GODHEAD
…
THE EVERLASTING COVENANT OF GRACE,
BETWEEN THE FATHER, AND
THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.
…
1.7.1. We will first observe and study briefly
the origin of a word “Covenant”
and
the historical development of its meaning
( in the science of etymology )
and
the significance of the words
used for “Covenant”,
in the writings of the Old
and New Testament.
…
We are observing and studying
the origin of a word “Covenant”,
in order to see
The Propriety by which these
Eternal Transactions
of
The EVERLASTING
COVENANT OF GRACE,
BETWEEN THE FATHER,
AND THE SON,
AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.
may be called a “covenant”.
…
The books of the Old Testament
were written in Hebrew,
and the Hebrew word for
“Covenant”,
throughout those writings is
“ בריתBerith”;
…
ברית “Berith”, by different persons,
is derived from different roots.
…
There are a set of men,
who derive the word from
ברר “Barar”,
which signifies, to “purify”;
and because the word we translate “make”,
which usually goes along with “Covenant”,
signifies, to “cut off”, they warmly contend,
that wherever we meet with this phrase,
it should be rendered,
“cut off the Purifier”
by Whom they understand to be
The Lord Jesus Christ.
…
Now, though it will be allowed,
that Jesus Christ is sometimes called
a Refiner and Purifier,
as in Mal. 3:3;
“And He Will Sit as a Refiner
and
Purifier of silver:
and
He Will Purify the sons of Levi,
and
Purge them as gold and silver,
that they may Offer to the LORD
an Offering in Righteousness.”
yet not by any word
or name derived from this root;
…
nor is it likely, that a “Purifier”,
or
“he that purifies”,
should be expressed by a noun feminine,
as “Berith” is;
…
and
not by a noun masculine,
or a participle belonging to this root;
…
and
though such a version of the phrase
may happen to suit tolerably well
with a passage or two;
…
yet there are many places in which,
were it so rendered,
no sense could be made of them.
…
If the word has the signification of purity,
as a word of the same letters,
though differently pointed has,
being twice translated “soap”,
(Jeremiah 2:22; Malachi 3:2)
…
“For though you
wash yourself with nitre,
and
you take much soap,
yet your iniquity is
Marked before Me,
Says the Lord GOD.”
Jeremiah 2:22
…
“But who may abide
the Day of His Coming?
and
who will stand
when He Appears?
…
“for He is like a Refiner’s Fire,
and
like Fullers’ Soap:”
Malachi 3:2,
which is of a cleansing,
and purifying nature.
…
Rather as this word
that is elsewhere rendered, as “soap”,
is used for Covenant,
it may denote the purity of intention,
and sincerity of heart,
that ought to be in all persons
that enter into covenant with each other;
…
and which is most Eminently True
of the Pure and Holy Divine Persons,
in their Covenant Engagements.
…
But the word “Berith”, “Covenant”,
may rather be derived,
as it more commonly is,
either from “ בראBara”;
which, in the first sense of the word,
signifies to “create”;
…
as when we see
a Covenant being Made, by God with man,
as soon almost as he was Created,
which Covenant he transgressed,
in Hosea 6:7;
“But they like men
have transgressed the Covenant:
there have they
dealt treacherously against Me.”
…
But The Covenant of Grace
was Made before the Creation of man;
…
though
The Covenant of Grace
was First SHOWN to MAN
and
Made Manifest Quickly
after Adam’s fall,
which was not long after his Creation;
…
the sum and substance of
which lies in those words,
“The seed of the woman
shall bruise the serpent’s head”
(Gen. 3:15).
…
The word, in a secondary sense, may signify,
to order or dispose of things;
…
as in Creation Things were Disposed
and Put in an Orderly Manner,
and with this may agree,
the words διατιθεμαι, and διαθηκη,
used of a Covenant in the New Testament,
which signify,
a Disposing of Things in a Covenant
or Testamentary Way,
…
AS IN
THE “NEW TESTAMENT”
BEING
“THE NEW COVENANT”.
…
It is further observed by some,
that the same Hebrew word,
in another conjugation,
signifies to “cut” in pieces and divide,
and think that a covenant has its name
from that word, because it was usual
at making covenants,
to slay creatures for sacrifice,
and
cut them in pieces,
and
lay them by each other,
and
the covenanters to pass between them;
…
of which rite
(see Genesis 15:9, 10, 17;
Jeremiah 34:18 )
…
“And he said unto him,
Take me an heifer
of three years old,
and
a she goat of three years old,
and
a ram of three years old,
and
a turtledove,
and
a young pigeon.
…
“And he took to him all these,
and
divided them in the midst,
and
laid each piece one against another:
but the birds divided he not…
…
…”And it came to pass, that,
when the sun went down,
and it was dark,
behold a smoking furnace,
and
a burning lamp
that passed between those pieces.”
Genesis 15:9, 10, 17
…
“And I will give the men
that have transgressed my covenant,
which have not performed
the words of the covenant
which they had made before me,
when they cut the calf in twain,
and
passed between the parts thereof, “
Jeremiah 34:18,
to which way of
making a covenant by sacrifice,
the allusion may be in Psalm 50:5;
“Gather My Saints
Together to Me;
those that have
Made a Covenant with me
by Sacrifice.”
…
Or else the word may be derived
from “ ברהBarah”; which, among other things,
signifies to “eat” food;
…
it being usual, when covenants were made
and confirmed,
for the parties covenanting,
to eat and feast together;
…
as did Abimelech and Isaac,
Laban and Jacob,
(Gen. 26:30, 31:46)
and it may be observed, that
The Lord’s Supper, which is a feast,
is a Commemoration of the Ratification
of The Covenant of Grace,
by the Blood of Jesus Christ,
and
wherein and whereby
the Faith of God’s people
is Strengthened and Confirmed,
as to their interest in
The Eternal Covenant of Grace,
by the Blood of Jesus Christ.
…
But after all, “Covenant”
may be best to derive the word
from this root,
as it signifies to select and choose,
and the rather,
since all those roots,
ברה ברא ,ברר
have this signification;
…
and which well agrees with a covenant,
into which persons,
of their own will and choice, enter;
…
as they:
choose the persons to be concerned with them,
the terms and conditions on which
they covenant with each other,
and the things and persons
they covenant about;
…
all which entirely agrees
with this Federal Transaction,
or Covenant of Grace
we are about to consider.
…
The word used in the New Testament
for “Covenant”, is διαθηκη,
by which word the Septuagint interpreters
almost always translate
the Hebrew word “berith”
in the Old Testament,
and comes from a word
which signifies to “dispose”,
and that in a covenant way,
as in Luke 22:29, where
the Father is said to Appoint,
or Dispose, by Covenant,
a Kingdom to His Son,
as God The Father also
is Said to Appoint,
or Dispose by Covenant,
a Kingdom to His People;
…
and the word from it,
is used for a covenant in (Acts 3:25)
and in other places;
…
and sometimes for a testament,
or a man’s last will,
(Heb. 9:16, 17)
“For where a testament is,
there must also of necessity be
the death of the testator.
…
“For a testament is of force
after men are dead:
otherwise it is of no strength at all
while the testator lives.”
and
we will see the use of the word
in this sense hereafter,
as it may be applicable
to
The Covenant of Grace;
…
the word signifies
both covenant and testament,
and
some have called it a covenant testament,
or
a testamentary covenant;
…
therefore the different
Administrations of
the Covenant of Grace in Time,
are
called the First and Second,
or,
the Old and New Testament;
…
and even the Books of Scripture,
written under those two different
Administrations of
the Covenant of Grace in Time,
called the First and Second,
or, the Old and New Testament
are so distinguished
( seen in Hebrews 8:1-13 &
2 Corinthians 3:6, 14).
“Now of the things
which we have spoken
this is the sum:
…
“We have such an High Priest,
Who is Set on
The Right Hand
of the Throne of the Majesty
in the Heavens;
…
“A Minister of the Sanctuary,
and
of the True Tabernacle,
which the Lord Pitched,
and not man.
…
“For every High Priest
is Ordained
to Offer Gifts and Sacrifices:
…
“wherefore it is of necessity
that this Man
have somewhat also to Offer.
…
“Because if He were on Earth,
He should not be a Priest,
seeing that there are Priests
that offer gifts
according to the Law:
…
“Who serve to the example
and
shadow of Heavenly Things,
as Moses
was Admonished of God
when he
was about to make
The Tabernacle:
…
“for, See, Says He,
that you
( Moses )
make all things
according to the pattern
showed to you in the Mount.
…
“But now has He
( Jesus )
Obtained
a More Excellent Ministry,
by how much also
He
( Jesus )
is the Mediator
of a Better Covenant,
which was Established
on Better Promises.
…
“The New Covenant
…
“Because if that First Covenant
had been faultless,
then should
no place have been sought
for the Second.
…
“For finding fault with them,
He Said,
Behold, the Days Come,
Says the Lord,
when
I Will Make
a New Covenant
with the house of Israel
and
with the house of Judah:
…
“Not according to the Covenant
that I Made with their fathers
in the day
when I Took them by the hand
to Lead them
Out of the land of Egypt;
…
“because they continued not
in My Covenant,
and
I Regarded them Not,
Says the Lord.
…
“For this is the Covenant
that I Will Make
with the house of Israel
after those days,
Says the Lord;
…
“I Will Put My Laws
into their mind,
and
Write them in their hearts:
and
I Will Be to them a God,
and
they shall be to Me
a People:
…
“And they will not teach
every man his neighbor,
and
every man his brother,
saying,
Know the Lord:
for all Will Know Me,
from the least to the greatest.
…
“For I Will be Merciful
to their unrighteousness,
and
their sins and their iniquities
Will I Remember no more.
…
“In that He Says,
A New Covenant,
He Has Made
the First Old.
…
“Now that which decays
and waxes old
is ready to vanish away.”
…
Adapted from
A Body of Doctrinal Divinity
Book 2—Chapter 7
The Everlasting Covenant Of Grace,
Between The Father, And The Son,
And The Holy Spirit. ( con’t. at point 2.)
Aware of The Godhead 