Covenant Signs

The children of Israel shall keep the sabbath … throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel.
—Exodus 31:16,17

The sabbath day observance was a mark of God’s covenant relationship with Israel. The observance was not given as a commandment to Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. It was given later, to the Israelites, following their Exodus from Egypt. It was referred to in Exodus 16:23 when God gave them manna from heaven. They were to gather it daily for six days, but rest on the sabbath. Later the sabbath day was incorporated into the body of the Law as shown in the text heading this article. Thereafter it was a sign of God’s covenant relationship with Israel.

The Israelites also practiced circumcision, but this obligation began with father Abraham. It was also a sign of God’s covenant, but in this case it was the Abrahamic Covenant rather than the Law Covenant. Since the Israelites were descendants of Abraham, and thus inheritors of the covenant arrangements, they observed this sign as well: “This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; every man child among you shall be circumcised … it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you” (Genesis 17:10,11).

The Law Covenant was added 430 years after the Abrahamic Covenant. Paul mentions this in Galatians 3:17 to distinguish between the two covenants. Later, in Galatians chapter four, Paul explains that Sarah represented the original covenant, and Hagar, who was added to the family, represented the Law which was added to the original covenant.

Paul makes the point that Christ and his church are developed from that original covenant, to show that we are not obliged to keep the ceremonial commands of the Law. Thus Sarah represents the spiritual part of the Abrahamic Covenant. We can extend the lesson a little further by observing that after the passing of Sarah, Abraham took another wife, Keturah, who would reasonably picture the earthly part of the Abrahamic Covenant. This will operate toward mankind in the kingdom.

Other Covenant Signs

Noting that a special sign accompanied these two famous covenants suggests the possibility that other Old Testament covenants might have signs associated with them as well. Certainly this was true of God’s covenant to Noah that he would never permit such a deluge again as had recently occurred. God gave Noah a token of this pledge in the rainbow: “This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth” (Genesis 9:12,13).

Evidently this was a new sign, indicating the phenomenon was not observable in pre-flood circumstances. Perhaps this was because of a canopy of vapors before the flood, which descended in the flood, making atmospheric conditions different enough to permit the lovely formation of the rainbow to which we are now accustomed.

God’s covenant with Adam, to give him everlasting life, was broken by Adam’s disobedience. But while the covenant endured, perhaps the sign of that covenant was the lovely paradise home of Eden, which was a tangible emblem of God’s promise.

God also made a covenant with David that the kingly line of Judah would always be occupied by one of his descendants (Psalms 89:1-4; 2 Samuel 7:11-16). Thus we have the expression, “The Sure Mercies of David” (Isaiah 55:3; Acts 13:34). The tangible emblem of this promise was the continuing Throne of David, preserved against usurpation and conspiracy through eighteen successors before the kingdom was suspended. Its regal authority was then reserved for Christ, who also descended from David.