TESTAMENT VS.

COVENANT

This portion is a supplementary part of an earlier material and will serve as a rejoinder to
some comments who claims that the Old Testament begins at Exodus 20, simply because they
read the word testament in Hebrews 9:20, failure to observe “right division” (2Timothy 2:15) and
the rule of interpretation (1Corinthians 2:13; John 6:63) will find yourself agreeing with most
bible critics who evidently find their way in most modern versions who cannot understand the
difference between Testament and Covenant, instead of believing the King James Bible, they
opted to correct “The Book” thereby wrest the Scriptures to their ignorance. (2 Peter 3:16)

I. Difference in Several Areas:

1. Number of parties involved to make the transaction possible.
a. Testament requires only one party.
b. Covenant requires at least two parties.
Example: Matthew 26:14,15,16;
Matthew 26:26-28

2. Requirement to put in place what has been desired or agreed.

a. Testament to be in effect needs the death of the testator. (Hebrews 9:17)
b. Covenant requires no death from either party but faithfulness. (Exodus 19:5,6)

3. How the A.V. 1611 (KJB) use the words.

a. Covenant can be called Testament.
• 2 Corinthians 3:14 Exodus 34: 27- 34
• Hebrews 9:20 Exodus 24: 8
• Revelation 11:19 Numbers 10:33

- Becoming a testament due to the shed blood of an animal sacrifice that

served as a testator. (Hebrews 9:16,18,19,20)

b. Testament cannot be called Covenant.

The institution of the New Testament in Matthew 26 and its effectivity in
Matthew 27 marks the coming of the fullness of grace, (John 1:14-17) the end of
the Law, (Romans 10:4; John 19:30) and the institution of the Body of Christ
which is the Church. (Ephesians 2:14-16; Ephesians 1:22,23; Colossians 1:24).
Whereas, the coming of the New Covenant in Hebrews 8:8-11 marks the
restoration of God’s dealing with Israel as a nation, the bringing in of the law
(Galatians 3:17) not written in tables of Stones in Deut. 4:13, but law written in
the hearts and mind of every Jew. (Hebrews 8:10).
If you will call Testament as Covenant you will be ignoring and surely
miss the Church Age because New Covenant bring in the kingdom, (Jeremiah
31:27-40) and exclusively Jewish.
4. Covenants are within Testaments.
a) Edenic - Genesis 2
b) Adamic – Genesis 3
c) Noahic – Genesis 9
d) Abrahamic – Genesis 12
e) Mosaic – Exodus 19
f) Davidic – 2 Samuel 7
g) New Covenant – Hebrews 8

5. Doctrinal Application
Genesis chapter three will stand out to be the starting point of the Old Testament
applying the rule in Hebrews 9:15,17 that will connect you to Revelation 13:8 “of the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” “The foundation of the world” will settle its
difference from the “foundation of the earth” in (Job 38:4), in Genesis 3,4 according to
Luke 11:50,51; 1 Samuel 2:8; Jeremiah 25:26; 31:37; Psalms 77:18; Isaiah 23:17.

1 Peter 1:19,20 = will apply to “the Lamb slain” in the Revelation 13:8 noticing the
word “as” which is a similitude of the very image. (Hebrews 10). The very first bloodshed
upon earth is of “a lamb” (Genesis 3:21) how do we know? Isaiah 34:6 tells it and the
skin used for Clothing is not of any animal but of a lamb. (Proverbs 27:26).

The shedding of a lamb’s blood in Genesis 3 marks the start of the Old
Testament because in it, sin must be dealt with, (Hebrews 9:22) and within that period of
the Testament several covenants were given and one of them is the first covenant ever
given to Israel as a nation which is the Law (Galatians 3:17, Exodus 19:5,6, Hebrews
8:7-9) but Israel hath broken the Covenant (Hebrews 8:9, Jeremiah 31:32) culminating in
the losing of the kingdom and turning them to Captivity, “but when the fullness of time
comes God sent forth his Son” (Galatians 4:4) bringing with him the kingdom and the
New Covenant (Luke 1:30-33; Jeremiah 31) but they, the Jews rejected him five times
and crucified him thus, the New Testament came making Jesus Christ “a mediator of the
New Testament for the redemption of the transgression that was under the first
testament,” Hebrews 9:15, and at the same time “a mediator of a better covenant” for the
Jewish people (Hebrews 8:6) which is being offered to them until Acts 7. That’s why
Peter preached Acts 2:16,17 quoting, applying Joel 2:28 – 32 which agrees with
Jeremiah 31:31-34; Acts 15:16,17; Hosea 3:4,5.
 • Joel 2:28 = “afterwards” verse 1 – 11 = Tribulation
• Jeremiah 31:33 = “after those days” verse 15 – 28 = Tribulation
• Acts 15: 16,17 = “After this” verse 17 = Tribulation left over (Revelation 4-19)
• Hosea 3:4,5 = “Afterward” Tribulation = Matthew 24:29,30

But Nation Israel rejected the offer so the Kingdom and the New Covenant were
postponed for undetermined number of years in this Church Age which served as a gap
between 69th week and 70th which of Daniel. After this gap the Lord will come again the
second time bringing with him the postponed kingdom and New Covenant. (Hebrews
8:8-13).