The notion of a covenant is unfamiliar to many today. But, the practice of a covenantal life was an integral part of the ancient cultures in the Near East. Tens of thousands of documents unearthed in the last decades show a wide range of legal agreements between individuals and between nations. Already in the eighteenth-century B.C., such international covenants attached religious sanctions that involved the slaughter and cutting up of sacrificial beasts for the making of a covenants. The contracting parties took an oath in the name of the gods, who both witnessed their solemn agreement and would act as its guarantors. Such solemn agreements were made between individuals, tribes, states, or nations. The narrative of Moses in Exodus chapters 19-24 has many links with the Near Eastern covenant pattern. This sermon will explore the beginning of the covenant that God made with mankind. The time period covered will be from creation to after the flood.

Scripture: Exodus 24:7-8; Exodus 19:4; Exodus 20:2; Exodus 19:8; 24:3, 4,7, 8; Exodus 20:4-6, 11-12; Exodus 25:21-22; Deuteronomy 31:26; Deuteronomy 29-30; Nehemiah 9; Joshua 23-24; Psalms 78, 105, 106; Isaiah 11; 43:25; Ezekiel 16:60-63; 20:44; Daniel 9:17-19; Isaiah 1; Jeramiah 2; Micah 6; Genesis 1:28-30; 2:15-17; Genesis 3:15; Genesis 12:3; 22:18; Galatians 3:16, 29; Hebrews 3:7-11, 19; 4:1-2; Genesis 3:9; Revelations 12:9; Genesis 3:4-5,14-19; Micah 6:8; Genesis 5: 22, 24; Genesis 6:5; Amos 3:3; Genesis 4:19-24; Genesis 6:6-8, 18; Hebrews 11:7; Genesis 7:1; 8:20-21; Revelations 4:3; Genesis 7:23; 2 Peter 3:7

“The Covenant Beginnings” preached by Elder Steve Ebsen on DATE, 2020 at the Mount Vernon Seventh-day Adventist Church in Mount Vernon, Washington

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