I saw beautiful rainbow one time. The pictures definitely didn’t do it justice. It made me think about all the symbols for God‘s covenants in our lives. The rainbow was the first sign of the first covenant that God gave us (via Noah). I tried to take a crack at the other covenants in the Old Testament and the sign that accompanied them? Or the sign that accompanies the everlasting covenant that Jesus instituted?…That is the covenant that encompasses and fulfills them all and that we live under today.
Here’s what I wrote down. I’m sure there’s a theologian somewhere who could have just sent this to me by pdf and corrected all my gaps. But, it helps me to learn when I just process through things live.
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Covenant of our Creator to Noah (Hope): sign of the rainbow (a combination of water and light…ironic from the creation story)
Covenant of our Father to Abraham (Blessing, Birthright, Land ): sign of circumcision (Jesus was circumcised on the 8th day after birth)
Covenant of our Savior to Moses (Freedom from slavery): the blood of the Passover Lamb (Jesus shed His blood to atone for our sins and set us free)
Covenant our King to David (Peace, Justice, Victory): this one is tough but I think it is the Temple and the glory that filled it (When Jesus arrived at the Temple the presence of God had not been there for almost 1,000 years).
So there they are from the Old Testament: water/light, flesh, blood, and the glory of God present among us.
Now…the gospels make things super interesting. I thought… “could I could map the Old Testament covenants and signs to the gospel story?”
Jesus’ Birth: a light in the sky is the sign of hope and light in the darkness. God will not condemn the world but send His Son to save it.
Jesus’ Ministry: Abraham had 12 grea grandsons who were circumcised and became the 12 tribes of Israel. Jesus consecrated 12 Jewish men as his disciples.
Jesus’ Mission: Moses went to Pharoah to set the people free and the final sign was the blood of the Lamb across the beam of a doorway that would mean the salvation of all firstborn for those who followed or the death of those who rejected. Jesus the only begotten Son of God “set His face like flint” towards Jerusalem to set His people free from the tyranny of a counterfeit king and offered his blood across the beam of the cross.
Jesus’ Kingdom: David, the first true King of the one, united Israel sets up his son Solomon to be crowned King and build the Temple. God the Father anoints His only Son who is called the “Son of David” and announces the coming “Kingdom of God.” He institutes the final “everlasting covenant” at the Last Supper where it says, “…He took bread, and when he had 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’. And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’”
So…there you have it…4 covenants in the Law and Prophets that all foreshadow one, big, new, everlasting covenant in Christ. And all the signs culminate in something that we do until He returns “in remembrance of Him”.
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Postscript:
Another possible sign of the covenant to David: His anointing by Samuel? Jesus was anointed by the Mary in Bethany after His triumphal entry and before His Passion. And in some ways I’ve seen the baptism by John as His anointing as well. It’s seems to call back to Samuel’s announcing of David? I could be off but just processing.
Then…as we celebrate this Sunday of Pentecost…the Holy Spirit came to annoint first church with breath and fire. Another sign.