People make promises every day and forget half of them by Friday. A covenant is different. It is a promise that has been tied down, witnessed and sealed.
When God wanted people to know He meant what He said, He often made a covenant. He used signs they could see, like a rainbow in the cloud. He used ceremonies they would never forget, like blood sprinkled on a crowd at the foot of a mountain. Hebrews says He even took an oath in His own name, since no name stands higher.
This guide explains covenant promises in plain words. You will see the main covenants of God in the Bible, who each one was made with, the sign that went with it, and the verse to read. Then we look at the question many people ask first: how many covenants are there?
Covenant and promise: what is the difference?
A promise
A promise is a word about the future. God says He will do something, and He does it. Sometimes a promise is spoken to one person in one moment, like the word to Sarah that she would have a son. It may be short. It may come with no ceremony at all.
Most promises in the Bible stand on their own like this. They are true because the One who spoke them cannot lie.
A covenant
A covenant is a binding agreement between two parties, with terms, often sealed by a sign or a sacrifice. In the Bible, God starts the covenant and sets its terms. It usually carries a bundle of promises inside it, and it is meant to last, sometimes for ever.
Some covenants ask nothing of the people who receive them. Others come with commands the people agree to keep.
Paul puts the two words side by side when he reminds the believers in Ephesus that before they knew Christ they were strangers from the covenants of promise. The covenants were the agreements. The promises were the gifts inside them. To be outside the covenants was to be cut off from the promises, and the good news is that in Christ those doors were opened.
The main covenants of God at a glance
This table lists the five covenants many Bible teachers name as the main ones. The last column shows where each first appears in the Every Promise of God series, which goes through the Bible in order.
| Covenant | Made with | Sign or seal | Key verses | In the series |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noah | Noah, his family and every living creature | The rainbow | Genesis 9:9 to 17 | Book One |
| Abraham | Abram and his seed | The cut sacrifice (Genesis 15), then circumcision (Genesis 17) | Genesis 15:18; 17:7 | Book One |
| Sinai (Moses) | The nation of Israel | The blood of the covenant; the sabbath | Exodus 19:5; 24:8; 31:16 to 17 | Book One |
| David | David and his house | No outward sign; God's sworn word | 2 Samuel 7:12 to 16; Psalm 89:3 to 4 | Book Two (2 Samuel), Book Three (Psalm 89) |
| The new covenant | The house of Israel and Judah, opened to all who believe | The cup of the Lord's Supper | Jeremiah 31:31 to 34; Luke 22:20; Hebrews 8 | Later books, coming soon |
The five covenants, one at a time
With Noah: never again a flood
When Noah came out of the ark, God made a covenant not only with him but with every bird and beast that came out with him. It asked nothing in return. God simply bound Himself never again to destroy the earth with a flood, and He hung a bow in the cloud as the sign.
And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
Genesis 9:11 (KJV)
There is a tender detail here. God says that when He sees the bow, He will remember. The sign was for Him as much as for us. Our page on God's promise and the rainbow tells the whole story.
With Abraham: a land, a seed and a blessing
God first gave Abram promises in Genesis 12. In Genesis 15 He sealed them. Abram cut animals in two, and after dark a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between the pieces. A deep sleep had fallen on Abram as the sun went down. He did nothing. God alone passed between the pieces and sealed the promise.
In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
Genesis 15:18 (KJV)
In Genesis 17 God renewed the covenant, changed Abram's name to Abraham, and gave circumcision as its token. He called it an everlasting covenant. Read more on God's promises to Abraham.
At Sinai: a treasured people
In the third month after leaving Egypt, Israel camped at the foot of Mount Sinai. This covenant had terms on both sides, and God said so plainly:
Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
Exodus 19:5 (KJV)
The people answered that they would do all the LORD had spoken. Moses later sprinkled blood on them and called it the blood of the covenant. The sabbath became its lasting sign. This is the covenant Israel broke again and again, and it is the one the prophets would later compare with something new.
With David: a house and a throne for ever
Once he had peace from his enemies, David longed to build a temple for the LORD. God turned the idea around and said He would build David a house instead: a line of kings, and a throne that would last.
And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
2 Samuel 7:16 (KJV)
The word covenant does not appear in that chapter, but David called it an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure near the end of his life, and Psalm 89 says the same. The New Testament sees this promise reach its goal in Jesus, the Son of David. See God's promises to David.
The new covenant: written on the heart
In the years when Judah fell to Babylon, God spoke through Jeremiah about a covenant unlike the one at Sinai.
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jeremiah 31:33 (KJV)
The Sinai covenant was written on stone. This one would be written inside people. Jeremiah adds that God would forgive and remember sin no more. On the night before the cross, Jesus took the cup and said it was the new testament in His blood. In the King James Version, testament and covenant translate the same idea: Hebrews 9:15 calls Jesus the mediator of the new testament, and Hebrews 12:24 calls Him the mediator of the new covenant. Hebrews 8 then quotes Jeremiah's promise at length and says this covenant rests on better promises.
So how many covenants are in the Bible?
The honest answer is that it depends on how you count, and good Bible teachers count differently.
If you count the five big covenants God made with Noah, Abraham, Israel at Sinai, David and the new covenant, you get five. Some teachers add a covenant with Adam in the garden, even though Genesis never uses the word there. Some add the covenant in the land of Moab in Deuteronomy 29, which the text says was beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. Others add the covenant of peace God gave Phinehas the priest in Numbers 25. That is how you end up with lists of seven or eight.
The Bible also uses the word for agreements between people, like the covenant between David and Jonathan. Those are real covenants, but they are not God's covenant promises, so most lists leave them out.
The count matters less than the pattern. Each time, God took the first step, named what He would do, and tied Himself to it.
What covenant promises mean for you
You were not standing at Sinai, and you are not a son of David. So how do these covenant promises of God reach you? The New Testament gives a clear line. Through faith in Jesus, a person is joined to the promise God made to Abraham.
And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Galatians 3:29 (KJV)
That does not mean every term of every covenant lands on you the same way. The land promise was for Abraham's family. The laws of Sinai were for Israel. But the heart of the covenants, God choosing a people and binding Himself to bless them, comes to you in Christ through the new covenant.
It also tells you something about God. He did not have to make covenants. A word from Him is enough. He made them anyway, because He knew people need something solid to hold. Hebrews says God confirmed His promise with an oath so that we might have a strong consolation. The covenants are God going out of His way to help you believe Him.
For a closer look at which promises have conditions and which do not, read our guide on whether God's promises are conditional.
Read them one at a time
Three of the five great covenants begin in Book One: the bow in the cloud for Noah, the covenant with Abraham, and the covenant at Sinai. Book One covers Promises 1 through 295 in Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus, each on its own page with the King James verse, who it was made to, any condition, and a prayer.