THE COVENANT BETWEEN GOD AND ISRAEL AT MOUNT SINAI

THE COVENANT BETWEEN GOD AND ISRAEL

AT MOUNT SINAI (Exodus 19 - 24)

I.          Introduction

      The Old Testament Books revolve around the constant idea of choice, deliverance, assurance between Yahweh and the Jewish people. It is thus said that from among the different books of the Old Testament, Exodus stands out as the very center, for it is in this book that the Sinaitic Covenant is found. The Sinaitic Covenant is nothing more than the fundamental choice of the Jewish people for Yahweh as their God, "I will be your God and you will be my people". This fundamental option for God brings with it through strict compliance the blessings and protection for the people; and for Yahweh, sole worship arid due recognition as 'the God' of Israel.

 

II.        Nature

      The concept of covenant is understood as either 1) an agreement, or 2) as a contract. While there is implied the existence of two parties in both terms, the second, contract, brings with it the important concept of strict compliance.

      There are three types of covenant: 1) between two parties of equal status, i.e., between two tribes; 2) between a superior and his vassal, i.e., a sovereign and his subjects, and 3) by superior to himself for the benefit of the inferior, i.e., a self imposed obligation on the part of the sovereign for the benefit of the subjects. The Sinaitic covenant falls under the second category, because it concerns a sovereign: Yahweh and His vassal, the Jewish people.

 

III.       Historicity

      The text of Exodus 19-24 is proven by redaction criticism to have been written long after the occurrence of the event and by an author who could not have been present during the giving of the tablets, for only Moses was allowed on the mountain. There then exists a problem in the historicity of the text. G.E. Mendelhall poses a solution to the problem, which most biblical scholars accept nowadays. His solution is based on two aspects.                                                                                                              

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1.  The discovery of a Hittite sovereign treaty dated contemporary to the probable time of occurrence of the Sinaitic covenant, gives the same basic structure and proves that such treaty existed and was prevalent during that time.

2.   The existence of an annual liturgical celebration which is the 're-enactment' of that basic choice of the Jewish people for Yahweh as their God. This implies that this celebration is merely the repetition of a historical event which this celebration takes as its source.

      From these two points, we can conclude that the full history of the Sinaitic event cannot be deduced from the Exodus, but only the historical aspect of it. By the historical, we mean that the text from Exodus is the theological interpretation of the hagiographer on the historical event in Sinai - the real confrontation between Yahweh and His people, Israel. This does not, however, insinuate that the event is not true.

 

IV.       Covenants

      In general, a covenant is a pact, a treaty or a treatment made by men as a sign of agreement among men or among nations, for the purpose of ensuring that rights are recognized and or obligations of both parties are established in a public or ceremonial manner. Even before the biblical revelation era, such pacts or alliances existed already so much so that in the second millennium B.C. the 'suzerainty treaty', referred to by Mendelhall (Law and Covenant in Israel and the Ancient Near East, 1955) just like the Hittite alliances was generally employed in international relations of the period. This means to say that long before God made or entered into a covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai, men of the time were very familiar with the idea of pacts or alliances or covenants taken in the most general sense.

      However, the biblical usage of the term 'covenant' not only connotes a relationship among men, but a covenant which binds the divinity to man. The pagans of the ancient East knew nothing of such kind of 'divine covenant' though they knew that there are relations between man and his god. Nevertheless, such religious paganism as found in Babylon, Egypt, Syria, culminates in an ill-defined kinship where the god, brother, father, or mother, penetrates human life but does not really raise it to the level of divinity. Thus for Paganism, the union of god and man does not go beyond sharing in dominion over the earth and the divinized power of nature. In other words, since these ancient people identify the deity, any covenant, for that matter, would remain in the natural plane. This consideration of the conception of covenant is necessary for a proper conception of the same term in its biblical context.

   

    A. Divine Covenant

      In the Old Testament, we find Yahweh making repeated promises: to Abraham (Gen 21,27.32), to Isaac (Gen 26,28), and so on to David (2 Sam 5,3) - and at the same time laying down stipulations and directives. These, in fact, are treaties between men, with Yahweh as witness. For in those times, a covenant between men was originally a verbal agreement in a culture that did not keep written records. Mutual agreements and obligations were solemnly professed in the presence of witnesses and with imprecatory oaths and sacrificial rites. The fidelity of those who pledged the covenant was insured less by memory of witnesses (that substituted for the written document) than by the threat of vengeance by the deity invoked as a witness and by a belief in the power of the spoken word. Similarly, God took man's way of dealing with man and adapted it to the supernatural. Thus Yahweh entered into a supernatural covenant with Israel as a means to communicate His will—from being the God of one man to become the God of a clan, a nation, a Church.

      This covenant is unequal contract, conceived on the lines of a treaty of vassalage, where the people bind itself by oath to carry the stipulations of Yahweh, its God. Such covenant goes beyond the association between Yahweh and the patriarchs; it reached Mount Sinai with the role of Moses as the intermediary, without such details, we see that the covenant of Sinai is presented above all as a sacred mean in the presence of God (Ex 24,1 ff. 9f), and that it is sanctioned by a decree of the Lord (Ex 34,10-28) in which like the kinds of the time, Yahweh regulated the worship, the sacrifices, and the annual fests at which the people came into His presence, to the 'house of Yahweh'.

      It is Moses who writes down the order of God which is the condition for the blessing given to His people. The covenant with Israel is not simply an alliance based on the bonds of blood as between kindred’s; it is a conditional alliance in which the people is bound to respect the demands made upon it in the moral and religious order. Moreover, although the covenant undoubtedly remains a pact in the nature of treaty or alliance, with stipulations, undertakings, blessings, and curses, and above all, it is a free act of Yahweh (Dt.7,7ff) founded on the promises made to the patriarchs.

   

    B. Characteristics of the Covenant

      1. Covenants are usually bilateral, i.e., with obligations on both parties. It is to be noted, however, that Israel and Yahweh by means of these covenants do not in any real sense meet on equal terms. God is 'bound' by His promise only because he makes it. He is bound to Himself because he cannot be false to His promises. It is in this sense that we speak of bilateral covenant between Yahweh and Israel.

      2. Sometimes, a penalty is laid down for breaking the covenant, i.e., death as a result of the sin of Adam. It is because, instead of letting the people perish by its sins, God is so faithful to the covenant that he takes responsibility for their misery and makes of it a chastisement to lead the people to repentance and penance.

      3. Covenants are always initiated by God. It is less a pact than a gracious act of God, the result of a positive action of Yahweh, which is often called 'election'.

      4. Covenants are initiated by God for the good of man, i.e., a share in the life of God. It is also for the guarantee of Yahweh's blessings, to sustain life, peace, God's saving acts, and to be constituted as God's people.

    C. The Suzerainty Treaty and the Sinai Covenant

      Mendelhall has shown that the Israelite covenant follows the form of the suzerainty treaty, which widely employed in the 'international relations' during the second millennium B.C., the argument for dating the origin of Sinai covenant. The suzerainty treaty is imposed upon a vassal by an overlord and is not bilateral. The vassal is obliged by the treaty; the overlord is not strictly obliged by the promises he makes.

 

Elements in the suzerainty treaty:

1.   Preamble - identifies the overlord and gives his genealogy and titulary.

2.  Historical Prologue - a recital of the benefits conferred upon the vassal by the overlord; here, the 'I-Thou' form of address is used.

3.  Stipulations imposed upon the vassal - prohibitions, observance of the law, fulfillment of obligations, full confidence in the overlord, no asylum to fugitives from the overlord, annual appearance before the overlord.

                  4.   Provision for the deposit of the treaty in the temple and for periodic public reading.

5.   Witness -list of gods who witnessed the treaty

6.   Curses and blessings for violation of the treaty

7.   Vassal's oath of obedience

8.   Solemn ceremony of oath

9.   Procedures against rebellious vassals

     

The elements of the treaty formula, however, are not to be found in a single specific account of the covenant in the Pentateuch. Rather, the elements are scattered through the covenant narratives of the Pentateuch.

            1.    Preamble - the enumeration of Yahweh's titles is illustrated in Exodus 34,6

2.  Historical Prologue - the recital of the saving deeds of Yahweh is common (Ex 19,14; 20,2; Jos.24,2-13). The entire composition of the Pentateuch sets the laws of Israel in a narrative framework that relates Yahweh's deliverance of Israel.

3. Stipulations are the laws themselves. They include the prohibition of the worship of other gods, and even of the cult of images.

4. Provision for the deposit - tradition speaks that the tablets of stones on which the Decalogue had been written were preserved in the Ark of the Covenant (I K 8,9).

5. Witness - it is Yahweh.

6. The relations between the vassals are parallel to the relations of the Israelite tribes with each other, and the exhortations to trust Yahweh correspond to the obligation of trust in the overlord.

7. The provision for regular reading of the covenant is not found explicitly but is assumed by most modern scholars even without reference to the treaty formula (cf Dt 27)

8. Blessings and curses appear in Lv 26 and Dt 27-28.

 

V.        Covenant Theology

The Sinai covenant between God and the Israelites was not only a landmark in the history of Israel but also a landmark in the history of religion. For the covenant became the principle of Israel's unity as a people. Initiated by Yahweh through an act of 'election', Israel became God's chosen people. By the saving acts of Yahweh, Israel was established as a people, with the identity and stability that the word 'people' denotes. But such an election made by Yahweh is an act of love of Yahweh, not because of the greatness of merits of Israel. And on account of this election that it imposes upon Israel the responsibility of recognizing Yahweh alone as God and of keeping his commandments.

From these considerations, we can see that the relationship of Yahweh and Israel is unique in the religions of the world. Such a unique relationship is found it the analogy of the covenant. But we can only appreciate it by considering a number of analogies found in the Old Testament that describe Israel's relationship with Yahweh.

Father and son analogy - Yahweh is never called the physical progenitor of Israel: he 'begets' Israel by forming a people for himself. What constitute this relationship are the paternal and filial attitudes of love, devotion and obedience, and not the relations of carnal kinship. Therefore, the sonship of Israel is that of being adopted, the natural.

Marriage - this analogy highlights the aspect of Yahweh's initiative, just as in ancient marriages it was always the man who chose his wife. We see in Hosea and Jeremiah that this analogy on matrimony puts the emphasis on the relation of love: the fidelity of Israel is a work of love and her infidelity is a personal offense against God.

Shepherd and Flock - A shepherd is bound to his flock by a devotion to which corresponds the confidence of the sheep. The analogy is that Yahweh is the protector of Israel.

Kinsman - Yahweh is called the 'avenger' of Israel. In this analogy, Yahweh acts not as a proctor and the security of Israel but also a kinsman, albeit, the obligation of the avenger is freely assumed by the deliberate will of Yahweh.

King and Subject - more implied in the analogy of the covenant rather than being explicit. Where the title of king is given to Yahweh, it stresses His power and His will to save.

    A. A Covenant Theology

      During the period of the Judges and the monarchs, Israel as a people included a number of groups of diverse origins, most of which have not shared the experience of the Exodus and the settlement. These were joined to the original group of Israel by accepting the covenant of Yahweh with Israel. The traditions of Yahweh's saving acts became the traditions of the entire group; and the obligations of worshipping Yahweh alone, became the normative. Thus, Israel was primarily religious and not an ethnic unity.

      This point was described by M. Noth interpreting the covenant account as some kind of amphictyony. That is, a league of cities or tribes organized around a central shrine, they constitute an amphictyony. That was the situation at the time of Moses' successor Joshua who established Shechem as the meeting place of the tribes of Israel - where they renew their covenant every year, and where each tribe provides for the upkeep of the central shrine for one month.

      In the theology of the covenant, the establishment of the monarchy is of central importance. During the period of the Judges, the life of Israel was marked by infidelities to the covenant, chastisements, appeals to the mercy of Yahweh, and the regrouping of the people around the Ark of the Covenant. It was during the time of the Book of Samuel, that transition was made from amphictyony to the monarchy. With the change, a note of perpetuity, permanence, or rather stability into the covenant is manifested by the dynastic national sanctuary (of David). Thus even when the northern kingdom abandoned the dynasty after the death of Solomon, the Ark of the Covenant, along with the tablets of the law, made it possible for the faithful to find the true God (Is 8,14-18) the priestly group of Zadok and his sons were able to preserve the national tradition.

      At the decline of the monarchy, it fell on the prophets (Amos, Hosea, Elijah, Isaiah, Micah) the task of reminding Israel about the covenant. These propjets rarely used the term covenant; yet, the basic themes of the covenant theology pervaded their prophetic life (the sovereignty of Yahweh, their unique obligation to Him). At this stage in the history of Israel's covenanted people, a new dimension arises: The covenant has been broken but God will remember it and 'raise up' an eternal covenant in which 'Sodom and Samaria will share' (Ez.16,59-62). This eternal covenant is founded in God's 'steadfast love for David' (Is 54,3) in which the nations will share, the only condition being that men turn towards Yahweh, the God of Israel and abandon their evil ways (Is 54,3-7).' Consequently, fidelity becomes essentially a personal question for each man before God rather than a collective loyalty to the covenant on the part of the nation.

    B. Covenant: Old and New

      Saint Paul speaks of covenant in the Old Testament, each of which comprises a gift, a demand, and a sign (Rom 9, 4).

    OLD Testament­

1. Covenant between God and Noah - it is a covenant for all humanity. God continues to sustain life in spite of cosmic catastrophes, but only for those who do not shed blood. Sign: Rainbow

2. Covenant with Abraham - an eternal covenant under which God grants progeny. It calls for integrity of conduct before God. Sign: Circumcision

3. Covenant with Moses at Mt. Sinai - it makes of Israel a kingdom of priests and a holy nation by reason of the calling of Aaron and the institution of the priesthood and the sanctuary.

      By the covenant of Noah, the covenant was broadened to take in all nations; by that of Aaron, the covenant was given a greater depth of holiness and consecration. This divine covenant is a testamentary disposition of one's goods in favor of an heir, or the disposition of the written document in a shrine appears as a word which covers the whole will of God for man - the eternal covenant, the law of life, the divine commandment.

    NEW Testament ­

      In the New Testament, it is the Letter to the Hebrews with its interest in the liturgy, which frequently speaks of the covenant. Jesus of Nazareth is the mediator of the new covenant (Heb 9,15); 'By the blood of the eternal covenant' (Heb 13,20). By his death which has redeemed the transgressions of the first covenant, he has given the promise of eternal inheritance to those who are called (Heb 9,15-16). This covenant has been promised by God and the Letter to the Hebrews quotes Jeremiah 31,31 (Heb 8,8), while at the same time, recalls the blood of the covenant at Sinai (9,20). Finally, the great instrument of the establishment of the new covenant was the Lord's Supper: 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this in memory of me.' (1 Cor 11,25).

VI.       The Sinaitic Covenant

In Sinai God fulfills His promise to Abraham (Gen 12,13), extending His covenant to the Israelites, amplifying laws and obligations, taking the Israelites to Himself as His covenanted nation (Ex 19,24), and promising them His blessing, protection, prosperity and peace. His greatest promise is one of intimate familiarity: "I will make my dwelling among you; I will not reject you. But I will walk among you as surely as I am your God: I will be your God and you will be my people" (cf. Lv. 23,3-13)

The Sinaitic covenant may be summarized as follows:

1. It is bilateral. On the part of God, the promises made to Abraham are extended to the whole nation of Israel; on the part of Israel, what was required of Abraham is not required of Israel plus obedience to the Mosaic Law (Ex 20,23).
2. It is conditional. De facto, it is broken by the Israelites and repudiated by God.
3. Circumcision is continued as the external sign of those who enter the covenant.
4. There is extraordinary familiarity. God Himself dwells in the midst of the nation in the Tabernacle above the Ark of the Covenant.

      Other notable circumstances of the Sinaitic covenant are:

1.      the providential preparation and vocation of Moses as mediator and prophet (Ex 2,6)

2.      the miraculous liberation of the Israelites from the Egyptian slavery

3.      the inauguration of the covenant with a great and memorable theophany

4.      the ratification of the covenant by the people as a group

5.      and lastly, a special book of laws known as the 'The Book of the Covenant'

    A. The Covenant and the Kingdom of God

      As a result of the Sinai covenant, the Israelites became immediate subjects and constitute a unique theocratic nation. In the theocratic kingdom of Israel, God Himself becomes both religious and civil ruler of His people. He makes Himself king, lawgiver and judge of Israel. He gives her a political constitution not like that of other nations and exercises judgment either directly of indirectly, i.e., through His appointed vicars (Moses at first, later the charismatic judges and the Davidic kings). He remains King of Israel until the moment when the scepter passes from the human vicar-kings to the hands of Him to whom it belongs pre-eminently - Christ the King - King not only by the Israelites but of all men and all nations. (cf 1 Cor 15,22-28; Ep 5,24-33; Heb 12,18ff; Gal 3-4)

      In God's providential design, the Church - nation instituted at Mt. Sinai was meant to grow and find true spiritual fulfillment. Eventually, therefore, the alliance between Church and nation will have to be dissolved. The dissolution will take place during the Apostolic Age. In the years between 50 and 75 A.D., due principally to the persistence of St. Paul in dissociating the true Israel of God from the outmoded form and laws of the dispossessed Sinaitic covenant, the Old Testament Church-nation will break its nationalistic bonds and become universal in the Church founded by Christ Jesus.