Covenant vs. Testament

Is there a difference between covenants and testaments? Can they be used interchangeably? Is a new testament the same thing as a new covenant? What do those terms mean?

First, let’s talk testaments.

A testament is a written declaration. Webster would say that a testament is “A solemn authentic instrument in writing, by which a person declares his will as to the disposal of his estate and effects after his death.”

A testament is like a will. It’s a written proclamation, a piece of writing that’s a declaration by someone about something that becomes enforceable after the death of the testator, like a last will & testament. A new testament is a declaration that’s new, perhaps a declaration that replaces an old one.

So when does a new testament come into existence? When that new testament has been written or when the testator dies?

I’d argue when it has been written.

A new testament becomes a new testament when it’s written.

A new testament, like a will, only becomes enforced after the testator dies, not when that new testament was written. However, a new testament comes into existence when it’s written.

A testator makes a new declaration. That new declaration gets written down. That new piece of writing becomes a new testament. That new testament, like a will, becomes enforceable after the testator’s death.

This is, of course, backed-up for us in Scripture. Heb 9:16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. Heb 9:17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.

A testament is like a will. A testament is a piece of writing that is a declaration of something by the testator that becomes enforceable after the testator dies.

It is in this sense that the Bible uses the word testament. A declaration is made by God that is written down and will later become enforced after the testator dies.

Webster also had a horrible second definition for the word testament. He said it’s “The name of each general division of the canonical books of the sacred Scriptures; as the Old Testament; the New testament. The name is equivalent to covenant, and in our use of it, we apply it to the books which contain the old and new dispensations; that of Moses, and that of Jesus Christ.”

Uh, no. No, no, no…

I’d suggest that Webster’s Calvinist biases have tainted his definition of the word testament. We do not have old and new dispensations broken up by Moses and Christ.

Plus, I’d suggest the word testament isn’t even remotely equivalent to the word covenant. We’ll find in Webster’s definition of the word covenant that he would fail to make any connection at all between testament and covenant. They are two very different concepts.

On top of all of this, the division in our Bibles between Old and New Testaments makes no sense in light of the definition of the word testament. I’ve heard people joke that the “New Testament” page in your Bibles that’s before the book of Matthew should be moved to before the book of Acts because that’s after the testator dies.

So… how is that a New Testament? A new testament becomes a new testament when that declaration is written down, not after the testator dies.

To this point, some might say, well, the New Testament was declared in the upper room before His death when, after their supper, He took the cup of wine and said, For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed… for the remission of sins (Matt. 26:28).

When the Lord said “new testament” I think all the disciples knew He was talking about the new covenant of Jeremiah 31.

I know what you’re thinking. “Wait, Joel. Don’t these verses prove that covenant and testament are interchangeable?”

Keep reading.

The Lord was enlarging their understanding about the new covenant, which had already been revealed in the very old book of Jeremiah.

His blood would be the foundation of the new covenant, the new agreement, which had been declared in a new testament, which was the book of Jeremiah.

The covenant is the agreement. The testament is the book.

His blood is the method by which He’s going to fulfill all His testaments to Israel and take away their sin. The Lord wasn’t making any new testaments in the upper room. He was merely enlarging and expanding their understanding of the new covenant that had already been declared back in Jeremiah 31, which was a new testament of God.

So, to recap, a testament is like a will, a declaration of something that has been written down and becomes enforced after the testator dies.

Now, Webster’s definition of the word covenant.

He says it is, “1. A mutual consent or agreement of two or more persons, to do or to forbear some act or thing; a contract; stipulation.” Love that. A covenant is merely an agreement between two parties.

“2.,” he says, it’s “A writing containing the terms of agreement or contract between parties; or the clause of agreement in a deed containing the covenant.” Love that.

But then Webster totally goes off the rails with his Calvinist nonsense and says that in theology, it’s the covenant of works, covenant of redemption, or the covenant of grace, none of which even exists in the Bible. But what he gets right in the first two definitions is as applicable to theology as it is to anything else in life.

A covenant is an agreement between two parties.

Oftentimes, it’s a written agreement between two parties.

Whereas a testament is a declaration made by the testator that is then written down that becomes enforced after the testator’s death, a covenant is just an agreement between two parties.

Dwight Pentecost, in his “Things to Come” book made the point that in Scripture we encounter many different examples of covenants. Always between two parties, like between God and man, between man and man, or between nation and nation. A covenant can be temporary or eternal. There are examples in Scripture of covenants between individuals (Gen. 21:32; 1 Sam. 18:3). We can also find covenants between an individual and a group of individuals (Gen. 26:28; 1 Sam. 11:1-2). And we can find covenants between nations (Ex. 23:32; 34:12, 15; Hos. 12:1).

So a covenant is an agreement between two parties, whereas a testament is a declaration made by the testator that is written down and becomes enforced after the testator’s death.

Thus, testament and covenant are two completely different concepts.

Yet, New Testament and New Covenant are often used interchangeably in Scripture.

Why?

To make matters even more confusing, we find in our King James Bibles, in the so-called New Testament, that the words testament and covenant are both translated from the same Greek word: diatheke (dee-ath-ay-kay). Two completely different concepts translated from the same Greek word! If you try to look up the definition of diatheke, you’ll come across words like “arrangement” or “agreement.” Bullinger would explain that diatheke can be found 33 times in the so-called New Testament. It’s translated as covenant 20 times and testament 13 times. Bullinger would also go on to argue that diatheke should be translated as covenant every single time just as the Hebrew counterpart of ber-eeth is translated as covenant every single time.

So, all of this begs the question, “How can testament and covenant possibly be used interchangeably?”

Read 2 Samuel 7 and consider how God established His covenant with David.

Did you read the whole chapter?

Good.

How did that story play out? David was wanting to build a house for the Ark of the Covenant. God tells Nathan, the prophet, Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD.

Then He basically says, “You’re going to build ME a house? I don’t think so. I’m going to build YOU a house. After you die, I will set up your son and I will establish his kingdom and HE will build ME a house, and I will stablish your throne… forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him… But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee…”

That is the “sure mercies of David,” the guarantee of mercy through the royal line of David. No matter how bad a future king may behave, the royal line of David will never die. His throne and his kingdom shall be preserved forever. No matter what happens, the royal line of David will always be guaranteed forever.

How?

The Messiah will descend from David’s line.

Plus, after His crucifixion, Christ will come back to sit on David’s throne to rule over this Earth, and that throne will last forever.

David’s response was, “Who am I, O Lord GOD?”

But did you notice how God established the covenant? It’s not that God offered David the opportunity to be in a covenant with Him and then David agreed and then they wrote out an agreement together.

God simply made a declaration that became the agreement.

God declared it.

The covenant went into effect.

That was it.

With God, testament and covenant could be used interchangeably, because the testament IS the covenant. What God testifies BECOMES the new covenant with that person.

Here, in 2 Sam. 7, the new testament of God became His new covenant with David. The testament IS the covenant. The new testament, the new declaration God made to David about how He’d bless him, that became their new everlasting covenant. The covenant was God’s declaration. The covenant was His testament about how He would bless David beyond all comprehension.

Covenant and testament are different concepts, but when you consider that God establishes a covenant through a testament, the two different concepts could be used interchangeably when it comes to the new covenant. The new testament of God in Jeremiah established the new covenant, which will be enforced after the death of the testator at His second advent.

Yet, little did anyone realize that the covenants God made in time past would require the death of the testator before His testaments would ever become a reality.

His testament IS the covenant.

God declared it.

The covenant went into effect.

That was it.

It was a done deal.

And yet, what God declared as a testament would not be enforced until after He personally died FOR THEM as a substitutionary atoning work for all their sins.

Not only does He bless these men with overwhelming blessings, but He presents those future blessings to them in a testament guaranteed by His own blood!

How can you not want to drop to your knees to praise God for His overwhelming love? Christ didn’t simply show His love to them through the covenant He created by His testament. They could see His love in the testaments He declared that became covenants, but they had no idea about the depths of love Christ was showing them because they didn’t know His testaments would be fulfilled by HIS OWN DEATH and HIS OWN SHED BLOOD.

With God’s methods, testament and covenant can be used interchangeably about the new covenant. And with God, when He declares a covenant, there’s no need for a signed contract either, because there is no guarantee in this life greater than the Word of God itself and there is nothing more sure of our deliverance than HIS OWN SHED BLOOD.