The red thread
The Covenant
From the rainbow after the flood to the cup of the new covenant: a God who binds Himself to people.
God makes promises, and He always keeps His word. After the great flood He put a rainbow in the sky, as a sign. That is how faithful God is, to you too.
My bow in the clouds
I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be a sign of a covenant between me and the earth.
What happens here
After the flood God promises never again to destroy the earth like that. He makes this covenant not only with Noah but with every living thing, and gives a sign with it: the rainbow.
How it points ahead
This is how a covenant works in the Bible: God takes the first step, binds Himself with a promise and gives a sign. This promise asks nothing in return; it carries everything still to come.
Between the pieces
In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:
What happens here
Abram is promised a land and more descendants than the stars. By an old custom animals were cut in two; whoever walked between the halves swore: may the same happen to me if I break my word. But only God passes between them, as a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch (15:17).
How it points ahead
God takes the whole risk on Himself. Already in Genesis 12:3 the promise includes that in Abraham all nations will be blessed; Paul reads this as the gospel announced in advance (Galatians 3:8).
The blood of the covenant
Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has made with you concerning all these words.”
What happens here
At the foot of Sinai Moses reads out the book of the covenant. The people answer: 'All that the LORD has spoken we will do.' Moses sprinkles them with blood: 'Behold the blood of the covenant.'
How it points ahead
The law comes after the liberation, not before it: 'I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt' (20:2). At the Last Supper Jesus takes up these very words: 'This is my blood of the covenant' (Mark 14:24).
A house for David
Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.”’”
What happens here
David wants to build a house for God, a temple. God turns it around: I will build a house for you, a royal house, and your throne will be established for ever.
How it points ahead
After the fall of Jerusalem that promise seemed broken. That is why Israel looked out for a son of David. The angel says to Mary about Jesus: God will give Him the throne of His father David (Luke 1:32).
A new covenant, in the heart
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:
What happens here
In the darkest time, around the fall of Jerusalem, God promises a new covenant through Jeremiah. No longer written on tablets of stone but on the heart, and He will forgive their sins.
How it points ahead
Ezekiel promises the same in other words: a new heart and God's own Spirit (Ezekiel 36:26–27). It is the longest Old Testament quotation in the New: Hebrews 8 quotes it in full.
And then Jesus comes.
The cup of the new covenant
Likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
What happens here
On the evening before His death, after the meal, Jesus takes the cup: 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.'
How it comes together
Here the threads come together: the blood of Sinai and the promise of Jeremiah. Every time Christians celebrate the Lord's Supper or the Eucharist, these words sound again (1 Corinthians 11:25).
God does not go back on His word
For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
What happens here
Paul wrestles with the question of why many of his fellow Jews do not accept Jesus as the Messiah. Has God rejected His people, then? 'By no means!' (11:1).
How it comes together
The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Christians explain differently how the covenant with Israel and the new covenant fit together, but Paul holds on to what the whole thread shows: God is faithful.
God lives with people
I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
What happens here
In the vision of the new heaven and the new earth a voice from the throne cries out: God's dwelling is with people, He will live with them and they will be His people.
How it comes together
That short sentence is the heart of every covenant, from Exodus to Jeremiah: 'I will be their God, and they shall be my people' (Jeremiah 31:33). At the end it is no longer a promise but home.