The Promised Land & the Covenant with Abraham (AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062))

What is a Covenant?

What is a covenant?

• A covenant is an agreement between two or more parties that benefits each party

• It can be thought of as a deal where both sides have responsibilities or duties that must be upheld if the covenant is to be considered binding

• A covenant is a commitment of love and creates a relationship that is different from that of a contract

• Covenants in Judaism can only be established and sealed by an oath

  • The oath is so important in a covenant that the word "oath" is sometimes used as a synonym for covenant

• The covenant with God is described as "an everlasting covenant" (brit olam) and describes the view that God will never break his covenant with the Jewish people

• The covenant means that Jews believe they have a special relationship with God and means that Jews have a relationship with each other

  •  The relationship contributes to the Jewish identity and encourages them to examine who they are in relation to God

  • It means that everyone in the community is a member of the covenant and important to God, and therefore, all Jews should be important to each other

  • It also helps Jews to focus on their obligation to live as our tradition teaches, and the way God wants people to live: generously, compassionately and with concern for justice and the welfare of others

Covenant made with Abraham

Covenant Made with Abraham

• For Jews, Abraham is known as the founder or first patriarch of Judaism, and Jewish people strive to follow his example

• He was the first Jewish prophet who received the first covenant from God and took God’s message to the people

• It was through Abraham that the idea of the Promised Land, a homeland for Jewish people, was created

• There are three main parts of the covenant between God and Abraham

  • God called Abraham and his family to the new land of Canaan, often referred to as the Promised Land

  • God promised Abraham he would make a great nation for him

  • God promised to bless Abraham and his family

• The story of God giving Abraham the covenant is important within Judaism 

  • Abraham was born in the city of Ur (located in the country now called Iraq) at a time when worshipping idols was common

  • The Book of Genesis explains how God spoke to Abraham in a vision

• God instructed Abraham to leave his home and travel to Canaan, the Promised Land, which is today known as Israel

• God asked Abraham to follow his rules and be a good example to others

• In return, God promised to give Abraham and his wife Sarah the child they both longed for and to name their descendants as his chosen people

• Abraham agreed that he and his descendants would obey and worship God and lead by example

• As part of the covenant God commanded that the covenant was sealed through Abraham’s circumcision

• Abraham kept this covenant and his wife, Sarah, gave birth to their son, Isaac

• God chose Isaac to inherit the covenant directly from his father, and Isaac handed it on to his own son, Jacob

• Therefore Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are known as Israel’s patriarchs

• As a sign of this continuing covenant, Jewish people perform the rite of circumcision of male babies eight days after they are born, in a ceremony called Brit Milah