What are the covenants?

04/12/2012 20:28

 

Covenants

 

As we know, God made multiple and very important covenants (binding agreements) with His chosen people from the beginning of man.  Covenants made between God and the prophets were typically established through blood sacrifices.  Here are a few of the main prophets that God made various covenants with.

  • Prophet Noah
  • Prophet Abraham
  • Prophet Moses
  • The new covenant Jesus himself established

But what are the details of these covenants?  If God established a binding agreement with us, we should know what it is.  In order to find out we need to seek out the details in both the Bible and Quran and make sure they match up.  

 

Prophet Biblical Covenant/Promise Quranic Covenant/Promise
Noah

Genesis 8-9

  • God blesses Noah and his sons, that they should be fruitful and multiply.
  • God says that every creature that is alive is theirs to eat but forbids eating meat with its lifeblood still in it.
  • God forbids murder.
  • God says that violent men will be repaid by violence.
  • God creates a sign (a rainbow) as an everlasting covenant that he will never destroy all life on earth again by a flood.
 Allah mentions a covenant but does not mention any covenant details.
Abraham

Genesis 12-17

  • God promised to make Abraham a father of many nations.
  • God said that he will bless those who bless Abraham and curse those who curse him.  
  • God promised Abraham land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates river.
  • God commanded circumcision to be a permanent sign of the covenant with Abraham and all his male descendants, including all slaves and workers.
  • God commands newborn boys to be circumcised after 8 days of their birth.

Surah 29:27

  • "And We gave to him Isaac and Jacob and placed in his descendants prophethood and scripture.  And We gave him his reward in this world, and indeed, he is in the Hearafter among the righteous."
  • There is a blessing of land.

Allah does not mention the covenant requirement of circumcision.
Moses

Exodus 19-24, Deuteronomy 27-28

  • God makes the children of Israel His special possession among all people if they obey God and keep his covenant. This covenant was ratified by a sacrifice and the springkling of blood.
  • God made the children of Israel a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
  • God gave the children of Israel the Sabbath as a permanent sign of his covenant.
  • God gives Moses the 10 commandments.
 Allah mentions a covenant but does not mention any covenant details.
Jesus

Matthew 26:26

  • Jesus establishes a new covenant, of his blood that will be poured out on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins
 Allah does not mention this new covanant that Jesus established.

 

Allah mentions numerous covenants throughout many verses but offers almost no description or detail of what the covenants actually are or who He made the covenants with.  Therefore, one must unfortunately seek these details outside of the Quran itself.  Here are some examples of Allah speaking about covenants.

"Allah made a covenant of old with the Children of Israel and We raised among them twelve Chieftains, and Allah said: Lo! I am with you. If ye establish worship and pay the poor-due, and believe in My messengers and support them, and lend unto Allah a kindly loan, surely I shall remit your sins, and surely I shall bring you into gardens underneath which rivers flow. Whoso among you disbelieveth after this will go astray from a plain road.  And because of their breaking their covenant, We have cursed them and made hard their hearts. They change words from their context and forget a part of that whereof they were admonished. Thou wilt not cease to discover treachery from all save a few of them. But bear with them and pardon them. Lo! Allah loveth the kindly.  And with those who say: "Lo! we are Christians," We made a covenant, but they forgot a part of that whereof they were admonished. Therefor We have stirred up enmity and hatred among them till the Day of Resurrection, when Allah will inform them of their handiwork."  [Surah 5:12-14]

  • What covenant of old?  There are many, and they are all unique.
  • Is the covenant "establishing worship, paying the poor, believing in Allah's messengers" etc. because that is not the type of covenant that God spoke about in the Torah.
  • What words did the children of Israel change out of context?
  • What covenant did the Christians make that they forgot?
  • Why would Allah stir up enmity (hatred) between them until the day of Resurrection?
  • What is Allah's handiwork?
  • If Allah stirs up hatred among Christians, isn't it possible that he does that to anyone whom He wills?  Does that explain the horiffic violence we have today because Allah stirs up hatred between us?

"And (remember) when We made a covenant with the Children of Israel, (saying): Worship none save Allah (only), and be good to parents and to kindred and to orphans and the needy, and speak kindly to mankind; and establish worship and pay the poor-due. Then, after that, ye slid back, save a few of you, being averse." [Surah 2:83]

The question to ask is what are theses covenants Allah is speaking about?  Have they somehow lost their importance?  It's true, one only needs to look to the Torah and Gospels to read about them but the fact that Allah doesn't offer any explanation is concerning because the Quran itself says that its message is clear and complete:

"Shall I seek a judge other than Allah while it is He Who has sent down unto you the Book (The Qur'an), explained in detail" [S. 6:114]

"And We have sent down on thee the Book making clear everything, and as a guidance and a mercy, and as good tidings to those who surrender" [S. 16:89]

What do you think, is the Quran clear in explaining to us what the covenants are and to what specific prophets they were made with?  

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