Greek Word Studies
Advanced Level
Lesson 9
Lesson Title:
Covenant (Diatheke)
Text: Hebrews 8:6 ‘…He is
the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better
promises.’
The old
covenant could never produce holiness.
It could
not change the heart.
The new
covenant removes our guilt;
wipes away all our sin;
makes us completely new;
brings us into a family relationship with
God;
puts a new heart within us;
and gives to us the inheritance of all
the promises of God.
Jesus has
done everything for us.
We can
only receive the benefits He gives;
we can do nothing to earn them.
(Daily
Verse Jan 11)
2 Corinthians 3:6 ‘Who
also hath made us able ministers of the new testament (Greek: diatheke);
not of the letter, but of the spirit: for
the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.’
Introduction: ‘to cut covenant’.
Greek – Diatheke
Hebrew – Berith
From a verb meaning 'to cut'.
To cut
covenant implies 'shedding of blood'.
The
covenant is affirmed through some kind of ritual that involves the shedding of
blood.
Illustration: The practice of making a blood covenant
among tribal people.
Spaniards
and the Filipino made a covenant
When the
Spaniards went to colonize the Philippines in 1565 it was necessary for them to
make a blood covenant with the Filipinos.
A covenant
was made in Bohol.
Legaspi
entered into a covenant with Datu Sikatuna
in March 1565
Filipino's
held the covenant sacred.
'Blood Compact between Sikatuna and Legaspi.
About
the middle of March, 1565, Captain General Miguel Lopez de Legaspi's
fleet anchored along this shore. Shortly thereafter, Legaspi,
manifesting trust and confidence in the islanders, entered into a blood compact
with Datu Sikatuna, for the
purpose of insuring friendly relations between the Spaniards and the natives. A
few drops of blood drawn from a small incision in the arm of each of the two
chiefs were placed in separate cups containing wine, and in the presence of the
followers of both, each chief drank the potion containing the blood of the
other. Thus, during this period of the colonization, a bond was sealed in
accordance with native practice, the first treaty of friendship and alliance
between Spaniards and Filipinos.'
The making of a covenant.
The
separate persons or groups ‘come together’ in covenant relationship.
The
covenant brings benefits and obligations.
Both
parties now have obligations to protect each other.
The
covenant is binding and cannot be annulled.
In the Old Testament God would not allow His
people to break covenant.
The
Israelites entered into this kind of covenant with the Gibeonites
(Joshua
The Gibeonites deceived the Israelites by pretending they had
come from a far country when they were Canaanites, but nonetheless the covenant
could not be revoked.
Many years
later the Lord chastised
1.
Comparison between 'suntheke' and 'diatheke'.
a) Meaning of 'suntheke'
The usual
word for a covenant in ancient Greek was 'suntheke'.
It means
'to cut covenant together'.
It refers
to an agreement between two parties in which both parties are equally involved
with joint obligations.
Marriage is
a covenant (suntheke).
Marriage is
an agreement between two equal parties ‘a man and a woman’.
Marriage is
not entered into privately.
Immoral sex
is done secretly but marriage is entered into publicly because it is a
covenant.
Personal
Testimony
I entered into
a covenant with my wife on
My children
have come from this covenant.
If one
party breaks the covenant through unfaithfulness then the innocent party cannot
be blamed for destroying the covenant.
The guilty
person is a covenant breaker (asuntheke).
The
marriage covenant can only legitimately be broken by death.
A form of
this word is seen in a negative sense in Romans
Paul compares our relationship to the law as a
marriage relationship (Romans 7:1-4).
In a
marriage we are bound until death.
But death
ends the marriage.
As in a
marriage we are bound by the law and condemned by the law until death.
But in
Christ we 'crucified with Christ; buried with Christ; and risen with Christ'.
A new creation.
Now we are
'free from the law and its condemnation' and united with Christ.
b) Meaning of 'diatheke'.
The Greek
word ‘diatheke’ is different from 'suntheke'.
'Diatheke' does not involve the action of two parties.
It is the action of one party on behalf of another.
It involves
two parties in the sense that one is the benefactor the other is the
beneficiary.
God's
covenant with Abram (Genesis 15)
God made a
covenant with Abram (Genesis
When the
covenant was 'cut' Abram slept, and experienced the horror of a great darkness.
Genesis
Genesis
Abram’s
faith not works linked him to God’s covenant.
He believed
God and it was counted to him as righteousness.
2.
The obligations of covenant
Although
God did everything when He initiated the New Covenant, those who enter into it
become obligated by it.
In exactly
the same way as a husband and wife are obliged to keep faithful in marriage.
God's covenant with Abram
Genesis
22:1-3.
God tested
Abraham.
1) His
faith in the covenant that the Lord had made.
2) His
obedience to keep covenant.
What were the obligations of Old Covenant?
Obedience to the law.
If the
Israelites obeyed they were blessed.
If the
Israelites disobeyed they were cursed.
Since it
was impossible to keep all the law then the law condemns.
What are
the obligations of the New Covenant?
1. Faith
2. Love
Obedience
to a new commandment 'to love one another as Christ loved us' – sacrificial
love (agape)
We are
bought with a price – we belong to the Lord (love servants; serving one
another).
3.
Diatheke – testament or will.
It is
natural to think of a covenant as a coming together of two active parties.
Diatheke
is not an agreement between two parties.
Diatheke
is made by one party on behalf of another.
The benefactor
has no involvement in the agreement except a willingness to receive it.
In this
respect the ‘diatheke’ is like:
1)
a testament or a will.
2)
an inheritance.
The
covenant is 'all of God'.
But 'diatheke´is unlike a testament because
A testament
only comes into effect when the testator is dead.
An
inheritance distributes the wealth of a deceased person.
The New
Covenant 'diatheke' only came into being through the
death and resurrection of Christ.
If Christ
had not risen then the New Covenant 'diatheke' would
not exist.
The Old
Covenant of the law is done away through death.
The
crucifixion has abolished the Old Covenant.
I am
crucified with Christ.
The New
Covenant comes into being through the Resurrection of Christ.
It is
Covenant of New Life.
It is a
Covenant of adoption being brought into the family of God.
It is a
Covenant of an eternal inheritance in Christ.
We are
joint heirs with Christ..
Summary:
1) God alone was active in initiating the New
Covenant ‘Diatheke’
2) We enter into the New Covenant by faith in
the finished work of Christ on my behalf.
3) The obligation of the New Covenant is to
live in the ‘love of Christ’. To love
one another as Christ loved us.