Though we rarely use the term “covenant” today, the concept is as familiar to us as it was to the ancients. When parties enter into a contractual arrangement, they know that each enjoys benefits from the pact as well as coming under mutual obligation. The Bible uses the familiar covenant structure as its chief way of revealing to mankind the staggering benefits God has committed Himself to give, when the time is right, to those willing to enter into covenant with Him. It also uses the same basic concept of mutual bonded arrangements to express and organise a number of special interactions between God and men.

Cover design is subject to change

The bottom line of biblical covenants is this — even when forged in unhappy circumstances, they are always a great bargain for human participants invited into the contract by the grace of God.

Most of us can readily grasp such concepts. However, biblical covenants get quite complex and difficult to fathom in full. Scripture doesn’t give a textbook explanation of their meaning. As a result, readers have widely-varying views as to their true significance, particularly over the matter of how the three main covenants — patriarchal, old and new — go together. Do the later covenants progress naturally out of the earlier by a growth process, or do they reflect changes in God’s methods of dealing with man over time in response to the deeds of men? Do all the covenants contain conditions; are they all eternal? Was the law given at Sinai only relevant for the people and time of the old covenant? Let’s be frank. How one interprets the covenants impacts heavily on how one understands Scripture itself!

Dawn to Dusk author, Rod McQueen, examines these and many other questions, taking Galatians 3:19 as the key to understanding, and presents a coherent, readable account of this critical subject. Shechem to Calvary uncovers the divine recipe followed in making covenants such a vital tool in salvation history. You’ll be amazed at some of the ingredients used.

Shechem to Calvary has a Scripture index for putting the passages mentioned in the book right at your fingertips. In addition, a glossary explains words that some readers may have difficulty with — no struggling with unknown terms.