C4E...have you studied hermeneutics yet? Hermeneutics does not replace the place of the Holy Spirit in studying the Scriptures, what it does is confirm to us what the Holy Spirit's intended meaning of a verse says. I have heard people say before that they get their interpretation from the Spirit...yet they were deceived (I am not saying you are, I am simply stating some facts on the subject).
As for ANE covenants, this is a HUGE problem in the grass roots level of the church today. We have known about ANE covenants since the late 1890's and much research has gone into codifying exactly what they are and how they affect our understanding of Scripture. In truth - if a person is actually listening to the Holy Spirit when it comes to their interpretations of Scripture, then we find covenant only ratifies what we already know...but sadly, there are more denominations and churches out there today who not only know nothing of covenant and how it affects our interpretations of Scripture, but most denominations REFUSED to acknowledge what ANE covenants tell and show us - for no other reason than their doctrines were demonstrated to be in complete error.
One thing covenant does, just like a modern day contract, it defines and limits our interpretation of Scripture (which is where we get the "Scripture interprets Scripture" principle from), covenant gives boundaries to what we can say a verse means, and certain groups that came out of the Reformation refuse to align their doctrinal statements with the Scriptures, so they refused to incorporate ANE covenants into their hermeneutic. This is really sad, because many people out there, because of these people in control of these denominations, believe they are saved and on their way to heaven, when they have been deceived.
I can give you theological papers to read on the subject if you are really interested in reading up on them, just let me know...
Covenants are not contracts - they do have a legality to them like contracts do, but they are more than a contract. When two people enter into a covenant, it not only has the legalities that they bind themselves to each other in, but the covenant also brings them into a personal relationship...so much so that most covenant societies consider a covenant relationship to be more binding than blood relationships. But you are right in a way - covenant is based upon love, but "legal love." The love that covenant is based upon is "hesed," which is "covenant love;" and by that hesed intends that you love on the covenant partner by walking in obedience to the obligations in the covenant that you signed up for.
You are absolutely correct...Jesus is the "door" to that relationship, because God has made Christ the living new covenant according to Isaiah 42:6 and 49:8. God the Father made the Messiah His living covenant to come, which today is the New Covenant of God in Christ. When Jesus said that no man can come to the Father except through Him, He was directly implying this because He is the embodiment of the new covenant. God is not in relationship with anyone if that person is not in covenant relationship with Him. It is just like marriage (which is the only covenant we have here in the U.S.) - two people enter into a legal covenant relationship through ceremony (marriage) in order to be able to enter into a more personal and intimate relationship. It is the same with God, who made these things...we enter into covenant relationship with Him so that are qualified to enter into His presence so that we can engage Him in personal, intimate relationship.
Agreed, which is why covenant is not a contract, it is a lot more. Contracts have no personal relationship involved, while - again - covenant brings the covenanting parties into a familial relationship. If you and I covenanted with each other, your family becomes an extension of my family. In ANE covenant societies in the middle east, if your life was saved by Tom (say from drowning) and you two became blood brothers because of it (the most basic covenant rite), if you and Tom are married, then your families become one. The covenant makes the two individuals "one life lived in two beings." Your wife would also now be Tom's wife, and vice versa...because both you and he are now looked upon in that society as one life being lived out in two individuals. Of course, this is not how ANE covenants run in Israel, this was mostly in Bedouin and African societies.
Blessings!
