Sacred Scripture is written by men, but it does not present itself as a human answer to religious questions — rather, as the true revelation of God and His plan. Its pages show how God creates man, speaks to him as a friend, and renews His Covenant with mankind again and again until the coming of Jesus Christ, the new and eternal Covenant.
God’s Covenant with Mankind refers precisely to this journey: it is not a single episode, but the thread that unites the whole history of salvation. From Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses to the coming of Jesus, God takes the initiative, promises, accompanies, and remains faithful to His word.
In the previous article, we explored the Canons of the Bible. Now we move on to God’s covenant with humanity. This journey follows the structure of The Bible Portico, Saxum’s reference work, which combines timelines, maps, and infographics to help readers better understand Sacred Scripture.
Creation
Man appears in a paradise created for his joy and delight. God, the Creator, reveals Himself to man, speaks with him as a friend, and entrusts him with a task in that world: to govern and care for it.
From the beginning, Scripture presents man within a relationship with God. The world does not appear as a meaningless reality, but as a gift received and entrusted to man’s care.
The Entrance of Evil
Man, tempted by the devil, thinks he can be happy without his Creator. By rejecting God’s plan, man brings evil, division, and death into the world.
Yet God does not abandon him. He promises a descendant of the woman who will be the Savior.
The Covenant with Noah
Evil grows to such an extent that God regrets having created mankind. Before destroying it, He finds a righteous man: Noah.
After the Flood, God makes a Covenant with Noah and his sons. But after Noah, generations pass and men grow proud once more. They build a great tower, believing themselves independent of their Creator. God confuses their languages, and mankind is scattered.
Abraham
To gather mankind together again, God chooses a man descended from Noah: Abraham. God promises Abraham a land to possess, a new world to govern and care for. He also promises that from his descendants a people as numerous as the stars of heaven will be formed.
God renews His Covenant with mankind through Abraham: He will be their God, and Abraham’s descendants will be His people.
The Patriarchs
God renews His Covenant with Abraham’s son Isaac, and with Isaac’s son Jacob. From Jacob’s twelve sons and their descendants a people is formed: Israel.
The tribes of Israel descend from Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph — through his sons Manasseh and Ephraim — and Benjamin.
The Exodus from Egypt
After several generations, the people of Israel have multiplied, but live enslaved in Egypt. God intervenes once again: He calls a man, Moses.
God commands him to lead the people to the land He had promised to Abraham. In the desert, God establishes His Covenant with Israel. The people pledge their fidelity, yet turn away from God time and again.
Israel wanders forty years in the desert, until the death of Moses.
The Conquest of Canaan
The settlement of the tribes of Israel in Canaan is far from peaceful and takes a long time. First the people are led by Joshua; later by judges such as Deborah, Gideon, and Samson; and afterward by kings such as Saul, David, and Solomon.
God sends prophets such as Elijah, Isaiah, and Jeremiah to recall His promises to the people, so that they might not fall into idolatry.
The Temple of Jerusalem and the Division of the Kingdom
Solomon builds a Temple in Jerusalem, a sign of God’s presence among His people and the place where Israel offers Him sacrifice.
When Solomon dies, the Kingdom is divided in two:
Kingdom of Israel
In the north, with its capital successively in Shechem, Tirzah, and Samaria. Its kings are unfaithful to the Covenant. The kingdom is conquered by the Assyrian Empire, and its inhabitants are exiled.
Kingdom of Judah
In the south, with its capital in Jerusalem. Its kings, some faithful and some unfaithful to the Covenant with God, are always descendants of David. The kingdom is conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and its inhabitants are exiled for a time.
God sends prophets such as Elijah, Isaiah, and Jeremiah to recall His promises to the people, so that they might not fall into idolatry.
The New Covenant
Israel, after returning from the Babylonian exile, comes to understand that God remains patient, compassionate, and merciful, faithful to His word. And God fulfills His promises: from the line of Abraham, the tribe of Judah, and the House of David, Jesus is born — the eternal Son of the Father, God made man.
Jesus Christ, through His Passion, death, and Resurrection, seals a new and eternal Covenant that restores man’s friendship with God. This Covenant endures, from Pentecost onward, in the age of the Church, the new people of God, called to bring salvation to the whole world, until history reaches its fullness in the return of Jesus Christ.
Understanding God’s Covenant with Mankind to Read Sacred Scripture More Fully
God’s Covenant with Mankind allows us to grasp the profound unity of the Bible. From Creation to the Church, Sacred Scripture reveals how God calls man, remains faithful to His promises, and prepares the definitive salvation accomplished in Jesus Christ.
For the Catholic tradition, this history reaches its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, whose life, death, and Resurrection inaugurate a new and eternal Covenant. This is why understanding the unfolding of the Covenant also helps us discover the unity between the Old and New Testaments, and to better interpret the full message of Scripture.
At the Saxum Visitor Center, near Jerusalem, we help visitors enter more deeply into the Holy Land through a visual and formative experience, situating the events of the history of salvation within their historical, geographical, and spiritual context.
