Covenants of the Bible

Every covenant God makes in the Old Testament is still open, except one. The covenant at Sinai, given through Moses on the condition of Israel's obedience, is the only one on this timeline with a closing date — it gives way at the cross to the New Covenant it had anticipated all along. The other five run from the moment they're cut straight through to today.

Unconditional Conditional

2348 BC Today →

The Noahic Covenant

God & every living creature

Unconditional

Sign: The rainbow

The first covenant in the Bible is also the only one made with every living creature, not just humanity — sealed by a sign that still appears after nearly every rain.

2348 BC – present

Genesis 9:8-17

The Abrahamic Covenant

God & Abraham's descendants

Unconditional

Sign: Circumcision

Every later covenant traces back to this one: an unconditional promise of land, descendants, and blessing that Israel's later disobedience never cancels.

1921 BC – present

Genesis 15:18-21 Genesis 17:1-14

The Mosaic Covenant

God & Israel

Conditional

Sign: The Sabbath

The only covenant on this timeline with a closing date: given at Sinai on the condition of obedience, and superseded at the cross by the New Covenant it anticipated.

1491 BC – AD 33

Exodus 24:3-8

The Palestinian Covenant

God & Israel

Unconditional

A closer look at one clause of the Abrahamic promise, given as Israel finally reached the land: exactly which territory they would hold, and the terms for staying in it.

1451 BC – present

Deuteronomy 29:1; 30:1-10

The Davidic Covenant

God & David's line

Unconditional

A promise of an eternal throne, made to a shepherd-turned-king — the line the New Testament traces straight to Jesus.

1000 BC – present

2 Samuel 7:12-16

The New Covenant

God & Israel, sealed in Christ

Unconditional

Sign: The Lord's Supper

The covenant every Old Testament prophet anticipated, cut not with blood on an altar but at a final meal the night before the cross.

AD 33 – present

Jeremiah 31:31-34 Luke 22:20