IndexIntroductionDiscussionBibliography IntroductionFor my research I have chosen to focus on the covenant which is an important topic seen throughout the Old Testament. The covenant is discussed in the Old Testament specifically in Exodus 34:1-28, Jeremiah 31:31-40, and the covenant is also mentioned in the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay Discussion In Exodus 34:1-28 God declares to Moses, “I am making a covenant with you. In front of all your people I will perform wonders never done before in any nation in the world. Obey what I command you today. Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God" (Exodus 34:10-14). This passage to me shows that the covenant is very important and must be taken seriously because God is willing to do anything for his people, but if they don't obey him they have gone against the covenant he made with them and the trust between them . they break. In Jeremiah 31:31-40 God states: “When I make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers, when I took them by the hand to bring them out of Egypt, because they violated my covenant, although I was their husband. This is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel after that time. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people" (Jer 31,31-33). This passage proves to me that God does not punish his people for what their ancestors did to them. Even though their ancestors broke the covenant, God makes no judgments and is giving his people Israel the opportunity to form a new covenant and restore the relationship. Finally, in 1 Corinthians 2:17-34, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, every time you drink it, in memory of me. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty against the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Cor 11,25-27). This passage to me shows that he gave his body and blood to his people for them to remember him and because of this sacrifice his people should be worthy and respect his offering. He points out that if people do not receive his body and blood worthily, they will be guilty of sin. This shows how important the body and blood are because he is giving his people an offering of himself and for him to do so and his people to eat this offering in an unworthy manner is seen as going against him when he is taken care for them. The initial thought of the text was that I knew that the covenant was a very important theme in the Bible because it was the main component of uniting God and his people together. Without covenants there would not be such a strong relationship between God and his people. I first understood that the passages meant that if God's people put faith in him he will help them along the way, but if his people choose to turn away from him then there will be punishments for going against the covenant. Caravalho's text is a great resource to use because this textbook breaks down portions of Old Testament passages. Engaging Jeremiah 31, Caravalho discusses restoration between God and his people. Caravalho explains that the book of Jeremiah focuses exclusively on destruction, but specifically in the following passages Jeremiah focuses on the restoration of the destruction that was made between God and his people (Caravalho, 2010, p. 314). It also focuses on a specific verse from Jeremiah 31 stating, “the parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge” (Jer 31:29 NIV). Caravalho explains that this verse provides the proofthat God could punish people for the sins committed by their ancestors (Caravalho, 2010, p.314). Two Bible commentaries that I focused my passages on were the Oxford Bible Commentary and the Harpercollins Bible Commentary. Exodus 34:1-28 in the Harpercollins Bible Commentary discusses how the renewal of relationships is not tied to past issues involving Egypt, but yet to the future conquest of Canaan (Harpercollins, 2000, p. 143). Harpercollins and Oxford both agree that there is controversy over whether Moses actually wrote on the tablets. However, Harpercollins suggests that the tablets are identical to the broken ones and Oxford suggests that Yahweh had said that he would be the one to write on the tablets. Exodus 34:1-28 in the Oxford Bible Commentary explains that even if the relationship is restored, this does not mean that there will be no punishment due to the possibility that Israel's sinfulness will test the restored relationship (Oxford, 2014, p. 89-90). Jeremiah 31:31-40 in the Harpercollins Bible Commentary discusses how their forgiveness brought a new covenant between Yahweh and the people of Israel and will continue as long as they obey him (Harpercollins, 2000, p. 567-568). Jeremiah 31:31-40 in the Oxford Bible Commentary discusses how this new covenant will not diminish the covenant with Judaism in favor of Christianity (Oxford, 2014, p. 514-515). The new covenant will restore broken marriages, heal families, and begin a new narrative with Israel (Oxford, 2014, p. 514-515). Both commentaries agree that Yahweh promises a new covenant with Israel and that what happened with Judah will not affect Israel. However, the Oxford Bible Commentary goes into more detail about what exactly is being restored between Yahweh and his people. 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 provides a different perspective on the covenant because it is in the New Testament of the Bible. Harpercollins mentions a specific verse, “have you no houses?”, which Harpercollins refers to eating and drinking during this period which should be done in the privacy of their homes, not as a ritual meal with many other individuals (Harpercollins, 2000, p . 1087-1088). Corinthians 11:17-34 in the Oxford Bible Commentary focuses this issue on wealthier individuals because they would bring their own items to prepare this meal and would even start the meal and keep most of it themselves before others arrived (Oxford, 2014, p. 1126-1127). The Oxford Bible Commentary points out that when discussing the covenant in this chapter the term remembrance emphasized more the relationship between God and his people rather than the body and blood itself (Oxford, 2014, p. 1126-1127). Both comments overall have the same concept regarding the Last Supper. The comments have definitely had an effect on my thoughts regarding each passage I have read. Both raised great points, some that were similar to my thoughts and others that brought up new ideas that I hadn't thought of while reading the passages. Oxford's commentary brought out a new thought regarding 1 Corinthians 11 that I had not previously thought about. He suggested that this mainly focused on wealthier individuals in this period because they had more items to prepare a meal and would be greedy and keep most of them for themselves (Oxford, 2014, 1126-1127). Please note: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay While reading this article I didn't put that thought into perspective, but I thought it was about discussing everyone, not just wealthy people. Both commentaries interpret these passages using contextual criticism that focuses on the importance of cultural context in those passages.