Throughout our lives, we repeatedly enter into covenants, even when we do not call them by that name. We choose a partner, form friendships, start families, and enter into partnerships, hoping that a relationship will bring us love, security, belonging, or a better future. Nations and states, too, form alliances out of shared interests and in the hope that mutual obligations will enable them to achieve what they could not accomplish alone.
Behind every covenant lie wishes and interests. There is nothing wrong with that. Yet life changes, and with it the needs and circumstances that originally led us to make a commitment. This raises an important question: Does our promise still hold when it no longer serves our interests?
The word “covenant” in the Bible refers to a binding relationship between people, nations, and kings, as well as between God and humanity. The biblical phrase “to make a covenant” is connected to an ancient custom: when a covenant was made, animals were cut in two, as described in the covenant between the pieces (Genesis 15). The ritual made clear...
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