This is an excerpt of Scripture and Prophesy – Understanding, Error, and Its Effect on the Church
As our approach to interpreting Scripture is foundational (see Basics of Biblical Interpretation), so too is how we understand God’s Dispensations and Covenants. As with the consequences of a literal vs allegorical approach to prophetic Scripture arrives at very different conclusions, so too are Dispensations and Covenants a great rudder to the eschatological ship.
The word Dispensation is used in the New Testament (Luke 16:1–4; 1 Cor. 9:17; Eph. 1:10; 3:2, 9; Col. 1:25; 1 Tim. 1:4) and coveys the picture of responsibilities delegated to a steward by the owner (God), with positive and negative consequences following the execution of the owner’s expectations. Ryrie explains a Dispensation is “a distinguishable economy in the outworking of God’s purpose.” Charles C. Ryrie, Dispensationalism (Chicago: Moody, 1995), 28
Dispensations
Dispensations stand individually yet are continuations of the prior stated purposes of God, the Salvation of Mankind and all Creation. They can have features overlapping prior Dispensations because the Word of God always stands in continuity and He will not rescind or change. Some examples of earlier Dispensational statements continuing on would include not to again destroy the Earth by flood, the continuation of His expectations related through Mosaic Law to the Church (though Christians will not be condemned by the Law, we would still be expected to live as that Law is written on soft hearts), and the blessings and curses for those relating to treatment of Israel. Not one jot or tittle will pass away from the Law until all is accomplished. (Matt 5:17-18)
As with Prophetic Scripture, a framework to interpret Dispensations are necessary. Efforts to interpret and understand God’s Words to us is a sincere work, yet not a science. God has offered insight and understanding to those who will seek Him, and He encourages it. We are to seek Him (Psa 34:8); To obey in repentance through understanding (Rom 8:29); To be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2); To avoid foolishness (Psa 92:4-6); And to receive the Word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things (are) so (Acts 17:10-11).
Three foundational objectives are employed in any understanding of Dispensations from God:
- God’s Glory in history is His primary goal
- A literal reading of the text as with all Scripture
- A clear distinction and preservation of the separate entities of Israel and the Church.
The 3rd point is the hill on which Literalists and Spiritualizers choose to die. This is explained later below (See Origins of Amillennialism, Postmillennialism, and Replacement (of Israel) Theology). For the Covenants to read naturally and in the order God gave them, it is impossible to exclude or replace Israel as a central aspect in Jesus’ Revelation to John without spiritualizing and changing the clear and literal meanings. The ramifications to the rest of our understanding are significant.
Dispensations are summary names or categories given by theologians to the resultant changes following a Covenant. For example, following God’s Covenant with Noah after the Ark landed when the waters of the flood receded (The Noahic Covenant, Gen 9:11-16) the Dispensation including Human government is commonly called Post-Diluvian. While a Covenant was spoken by God at a particular time, Dispensations are periods of time that follow. They are continuations following but not negating prior Dispensations, and they can also carry specific aspects of the priors. They are alluded to but not named in Scripture, and are a tool for understanding the Works of God. Theologians generally agree on the number but the names and level of detail can vary. The illustration below divides the Dispensations between the Covenants.
Summary of the Major Dispensations
- Edenic (Gen 1:28-30) (From Man’s creation to the Fall)
1 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that creeps on the earth.” 29 Then God said, “Behold, I have given to you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has the fruit of the tree yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that creeps on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so.
The Dispensation of “Innocence”: God initially instructed Adam and Eve of their dominion and its use
- Ante-Diluvian (Gen 6:11-22) (From Ejection from Eden to the Flood)
6 11 Now the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
13 Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.
14 Make for yourself an Ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and you shall cover it inside and out with pitch.
15 Now this is how you shall make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits.
16 You shall make a window for the ark, and complete it to one cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.
17 As for Me, behold I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall breathe its last.
18 But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.
19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.
20 Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.
21 As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.”
22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.
The Dispensation of “Conscience”: Following the Fall and consciousness of good and evil, God gave the Adamic Covenant (Gen 3:15), and Adam’s descendants multiplied both in number and of the evil of their hearts. Even fallen angels laid with the sons of Men (Gen 4:1-6) producing the giant Nephilim. God decided to destroy them all except 8, and instructed Noah to build the Ark
- Post-Diluvian (Gen 11:1-9) (From Post-Flood to the Calling of Abram)
11 1 Now the whole earth had the same language and the same words.
2 And it happened as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and they had tar for mortar.
4 And they said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 Then Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
6 And Yahweh said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they have begun to do. So now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.
7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s language.”
8 So Yahweh scattered them from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.
9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of the whole earth; and from there Yahweh scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
The Dispensation of “Human Government”: Following the Flood, God gave The Noahic Covenant, (Gen 9:11-16). The dispersion at Babel would soon follow, sending government and language across the world
- Patriarchal (From the calling of Abram to the Exodus)
15 13 Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your seed will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
14 But I will also judge the nation to whom they are enslaved, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.
15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.
The Dispensation of “The Family”: Following the dispersion at Babel God gave The Abrahamic Covenant, (Gen 12:1-3, Gen 15:4-7, 12-16, 17-21). God called out Abram and over 430 years eventually swelled the host of Israel while in captivity in Egypt, then delivered them through Moses in the Exodus.
- Legal (Gen 19:3-6) (From the Exodus to the Tearing of the Temple Veil, resuming at Christ’s Millennial Reign)
19 3 Now Moses went up to God, and Yahweh called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel:
4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I lifted you up on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.
5 So now then, if you will indeed listen to My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;
6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”
The Dispensation of “The Law”: After Moses led Israel in the Exodus from captivity in Egypt, God gave the Law in The Mosaic Covenant, (Exod 19:5-6, 24:1-8, 30:1-10). Following Mankind’s demonstrated failure to self-govern, God would next would introduce Israel to life under Him and His Theocratic rule through Moses, including the Ten Commandments, the Tabernacle and its accessories, Priests and Sacrifices. This was active through the coming of Christ until the tearing of the curtain in the Temple (Matt 27:50-51) and will resume at Christ’s Millennial Reign (Deut 30-1-10)
- Ecclesiastical (2 Sam 7:16-17, Luke 1:30-33) (From Christ’s Birth to His Second Coming)
7 16 And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”’”
17 According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.
1 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,
33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end of His kingdom.”
The Dispensation of “Grace”: The Conception of Christ enacted The Davidic Covenant (2 Sam 7:8-17) with the arrival of the promised One to sit on David’s Throne. In the hours before His Sacrifice, Jesus announced The New Covenant (Luke 22:20). This marks the beginning of His Church for Jew and Gentile prior to the Jewish Dispersion after the destruction of the Temple in AD 70, through the current regathering to National Israel, until the Church is taken in the Rapture. His New Covenant of Grace will continue to be available through the Tribulation to all until death or His Return (Zech 14:1-4)
- Messianic (Psalms 2:9-12, Isa 2:2-4, Jer 30:7; Dan 9:24; Zech 8:3-8, Zech 14:16-17, Micah 4:1-7, Hag 2:8-9, Matt 24:45-47, Rev 20:1-3, Rev 20:4-5) (Prophesized, 1000 years + unknown months)
Dan 9 24 “Seventy weeks have been determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Holy of Holies.
Part of the Prophesy to Daniel 9 of the ‘Seventy Weeks’, the 70th is still to come. The subject of Jesus’ Revelation to John, Daniel was told all prophesies will be concluded with the finish of His Work in history. This time is also known as the Tribulation and the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7)
Rev 20 4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their witness of Jesus and because of the word of God, and who also had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were finished.
The Dispensation of “The Millennium”: With Christ’s Return and the binding of Satan, The Everlasting Covenant the 1000-year Reign begins, concluding Revelation with the loosing of Satan, Armageddon (Rev 20:7-10), and the Great White Throne Judgement unto the Lake of Fire (Isa 66:23-24, Dan 12:2, Dan 7:9-14, Mal 3:5-6, Matt 13:41, Matt 13:42, Matt 24:48-51, Matt 25:31-46, Rom 14:10, 1 Cor 6:3, Rev 20:11-15).
- Fullness of Times (2 Pet 3:11-13) (The New Heavens and the New Earth)
3 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens burning will be destroyed, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
13 But according to His promise we are looking for NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH, in which righteousness dwells.
The Dispensation of “The Fullness of Times”: With the full host of all of Christ’s enemies dispatched eternally to the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:11-15), The Davidic Covenant and The New Covenant begin the march to completion with the Creation’s destruction by fire. With Earth’s and the Heavens renovation complete, God brings down the New Jerusalem, the Holy City (Rev 21:10-14), where God Himself will reside with the Saints. (Isa 65:17-25)
Covenants
Covenants concerning God are of first-order importance because a covenants rests in the character of the participant as long as they live. Covenants are an enduring commitment that participants commit to do or not do. They are eternal so as to be absolutely binding, unalterable, and are non-transferrable. Only a new or additional addendum covenant can add to the former.
15 Brothers, I speak in human terms: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it.
16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And TO YOUR SEED,” that is, Christ.
17 And what I am saying is this: the Law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to abolish the promise.
18 For if the inheritance is by law, it is no longer by promise, but God has granted it to Abraham through promise. (Gal 3:15-18)
A covenant is superior to a contract as the latter can be broken, and even the terms of an agreed or forced exit might be outlined in the contract. Contracts are agreements between participating entities with specific terms of performance but tend to be inflexible to terms relating to intent or ‘spirit’ of the agreement because these are not easily measurable. They are not designed to operate on ambiguity but are instead rigid, seeking to quantify narrowly specific actions and outcomes.
Covenants contain much of the same performance expectations but also employ the character and intent of the participants – they are intentionally more flexible to deal with deviations or infractions while still expecting the stated outcome. A marriage covenant is a good example. Any married person knows the failures they’ve experienced, but recovery and realignment are still possible. Even in the event of infidelity, forgiveness of a repentant partner can right the course without shattering the covenant. We see proof of this in God through Moses granting a certificate of divorce as a mercy for the offended spouse. Jesus specifies that it is “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives”. (Matt 19:8)
Covenants between two parties are most common, yet obligation of the second party is not necessary if the covenantor is willing to assume all of the performance responsibilities for both parties involved. In most cases this would be ill advised because of the exhaustive responsibilities of the covenantor despite any positive or negative response from the covenantee. The single covenantor would need considerable patience and resource to see the agreement not fail. This is exactly what God chose to do in His unilateral covenants towards Mankind through Israel.
Because a covenant expects performance relying on character, any covenant relying on Man’s fidelity would fail. Of the seven major covenants – the Adamic (Gen 3:15), Noahic (Gen 9:11-16), Abrahamic (Gen 12:1-3, Gen 15:4-7, 12-16, 17-21), Mosaic (Exod 19:5-6, 30:1-10), Davidic (2 Sam 7:8-17), New (Luke 22:20) and Everlasting (Gen 17:7-8) – only the Mosaic is a bilateral covenant requiring Israel’s obedience (resulting in blessing) else disobedience (resulting in punishment). The rest of the major covenants are cumulative advancements upon the prior, ultimately bringing about the redemption of Mankind through Christ from the otherwise irreconcilable result of sin. These same covenants, because fallen Mankind is unable to perfectly and perpetually fulfill the necessary terms thus keeping the covenant in place, were intentionally unilateral and wholly reliant upon God to uphold.
Illustration of the Covenants and Dispensations
Summary of the Major Covenants
- Adamic (Gen 3:15)
3 15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.”
God indicates Eve’s offspring Jesus will come to defeat Satan
- Noahic (Gen 9:11-16)
9 11 Indeed I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, and there shall never again be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12 Then God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am giving to be between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations;
13 I put My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
14 And it will be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud,
15 and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16 So the bow shall be in the cloud, and I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
After giving instructions concerning procreation, meat for food, and capital punishment, God covenants with Noah and all the Earth’s inhabitants never to destroy it again by flood
- Abrahamic (Gen 12:1-3, Gen 15:4-7, 12-16, 17-21)
12 1 And Yahweh said to Abram, “Go forth from your land, and from your kin and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you;
2 And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
God initially pronounces His intent to bless and protect a Nation through Abram
15 4 Then behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, “This one will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.”
5 And He brought him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your seed be.”
6 Then he believed in Yahweh; and He counted it to him as righteousness.
7 And He said to him, “I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.”
God pronounces the vastness of the Nation and announces the Land promise
15 12 Now it happened that when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.
13 Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your seed will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
14 But I will also judge the nation to whom they are enslaved, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.
15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. 16 Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
God foretells the Egyptian captivity during a pause as the Amorites accrue the sin in preparation for the taking of the land
15 17 Now it happened that the sun had set, and it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.
18 On that day Yahweh cut a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your seed I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:
19 the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite
20 and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim
21 and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.”
Abram arranged the birds and animal pieces as instructed (vs 8-10), and God alone consecrated to covenant as Abram slept (v12)
- Mosaic (Exod 19:5-6, 24:1-8, 30:1-10)
19 5 So now then, if you will indeed listen to My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;
6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”
7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words which Yahweh had commanded him.
8 And all the people answered together and said, “All that Yahweh has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to Yahweh.
9 Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to Yahweh.
Following their liberation from Egypt, God declares His covenant with Israel who would be required to comply by Works of obedience. The Ten Commandments would next be delivered, followed by the Mosaic Law
24 1 Then He said to Moses, “Come up to Yahweh, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel, and you all shall worship at a distance.
2 Moses alone, however, shall come near to Yahweh, but they shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”
3 Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of Yahweh and all the judgments; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which Yahweh has spoken we will do!”
4 And Moses wrote down all the words of Yahweh. Then he arose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.
5 And he sent young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to Yahweh.
6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
7 Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that Yahweh has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!”
8 So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has cut with you in accordance with all these words.”
30 1 “So it will be, when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you cause these things to return to your heart in all the nations where Yahweh your God has banished you,
2 and you return to Yahweh your God and listen to His voice with all your heart and soul according to all that I am commanding you today, you and your sons,
3 then Yahweh your God will return you from captivity and return His compassion on you, and He will gather you again from all the peoples where Yahweh your God has scattered you.
4 If those of you who are banished are at the ends of the sky, from there Yahweh your God will gather you, and from there He will take you back.
5 And Yahweh your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.
An addition to the beginning stated in Exod 19:5-6, God vows to regather the diaspora back to their land, now known as national Israel
30 6 “Moreover Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
7 And Yahweh your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you.
8 And you shall return and listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you shall do all His commandments which I am commanding you today.
God continues, referring to the Salvation of Israel during the course of Daniel’s 70th week (Rev 7:4-8)
9 Then Yahweh your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for Yahweh will return to rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers,
10 when you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, when you return to Yahweh your God with all your heart and soul.
God says He will conclude with the prospering of Israel under the Stone Kingdom (Dan 2:44-45), the 1000-year Millennial Kingdom of Christ (Rev 20:1-6)
- Davidic (2 Sam 7:8-17)
7 8 So now, thus you shall say to My servant David, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “I Myself took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people Israel.
9 And I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth.
10 And I will appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place and not be disturbed again; and the unrighteous will not afflict them any more as formerly,
11 even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Yahweh also declares to you that Yahweh will make a house for you.
12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up one of your seed after you, who will come forth from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.
13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
14 I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will reprove him with the rod of men and the strikes from the sons of men,
15 but My lovingkindness shall not be removed from him, as I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
16 And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”’” 17 According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.
God promises peace in David’s kingdom for the rest of his life and that his son Solomon would build the Temple desired by David. God also covenants to establish David’s throne by bringing the Messiah through David’s line, establishing His Throne for perpetuity. Also see Psa 110:1-7
- New (Luke 22:20)
22 17 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves.
18 For I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”
20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”
Jesus announces the New Covenant we enjoy today, the essential advancement of God’s promises to Save Mankind, as well as the precursor to the fulfillment of His promise of the woman’s seed Who will defeat Satan
- Everlasting (Gen 17:7-8)
17 7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your seed after you.
8 And I will give to you and to your seed after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
A capstone covenant to Israel through Abram assuring the perpetual possession of the land under the everlasting possession of God
The unilateral covenants of God are the means made necessary by God to rescue the people He would choose (the predestined saints) for Jesus, through the people He would choose (Israel) to bring forth His Messiah. Per Jesus: “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.” (John 4:22)
One’s understanding of covenants with God has far-reaching ramifications. A view that His redemptive covenants are bilateral places performance responsibilities upon fallen Man who cannot possibly deliver and who will have the authority to fall out of the agreement. Instead, a recognition of God’s redemptive covenants as His sole work necessary to rescue otherwise irredeemable sinners must acknowledge these are His unilateral responsibility alone. Sinners cannot be a failing party to the requirements of the covenants and still be beneficiaries of His Grace. God is not asking; He is Sovereignly saving rebellious sinners who have no means to save themselves. A bilateral covenant with sinners would not be able to result in Salvation. Only a unilateral covenant upheld by God to the benefit of sinners could succeed. And all of this is part of His larger intent in addressing the Church, Gentiles, Creation, and obedient as well as disobedient angels.
Therefore, if God’s Salvific covenants are unilateral, and if God can and will hold true to the stated terms and goals of the covenants, we must agree that the covenants will succeed per His intentions. This then dismisses the false doctrine that with Israel’s failure to embrace the Messiah but instead murder Him nullified the unilateral covenants, and that God would sever the covenants and reassign the Church as the recipients of the promises intended for Israel. Not only does this doctrine attempt to invalidate God’s salvation of Mankind through the Jewish Messiah, but it would conveniently benefit the increasingly Gentile Church. And most egregiously, this doctrine seeks to displace the Jews as the people central to God’s Kingdom, replacing them with the “New Israel”, the Church.
