Folia Theologica et Canonica 10. 32/24 (2021)
Sacra theologia
40 ATTILA THORDAY by the power of his merciful, tender love (hesed), unilaterally commits himself to keep his promise. Man cannot earn it: he can only be a passive accepting party when the bérit is concluded. His activity manifests itself in the way he lives up to the terms of the covenant and consistently observes them. With the conclusion of the covenant a new situation arises: God and man have now entered into a personal relationship. Genesis 15:18 speaks of Abraham’s descendants as the recipients of the covenant, that is, those for whom the covenant, once made, remains a continuing reality. The covenant is a self-in-self relationship in which God now has expectations of man. Although it was established as a free gift of God without prior conditions, its personal nature demands that it should not remain without a response. Once we accept the promise of God’s merciful love, we find ourselves in covenant with God, which requires a proper way of life. In order for the relationship to endure and flourish, we must also live out its mutuality by belonging to the Lord. So, although man is not the author of the covenant - nor does he owe his life to himself but to God - he must enter into it and respond with his life to God’s initiating gift. Since man is a guest in the community of the bérit, it is fitting that he should behave in a manner worthy of his host, otherwise the covenant relationship will be broken. V. The alliance as a commitment We have already examined the nature of promises above, and now we are looking at the conditions under which they unfold in the history of the patriarchs. What kind of commitment is expected of the descendants of Abraham who wish to remain in a covenant relationship? In what follows, we read this exhortation, “Keep the way of the Lord, and do what is right and just, so that the Lord may fulfil for Abraham all that he has said to him.” (Gen 18:19). To ‘keep the way of the Lord’ is to behave ‘according to righteousness and justice’. Having read about God’s covenant-making act in chapter 15, the necessary response of man is then outlined. According to the priestly tradition,7 Abraham’s descendants are required by God to be willing to accept the divine merciful love shown in the making of the covenant, which is made concrete in the fulfilment of justice (sedakah) and righteousness (mispat). The sacred covenant, as the maintenance of the communion of God and man, requires man to faithfully fulfil his duty to God and his fellow human beings, as prescribed been formed between God and man over time. See Thorday, A., A szövetség mint ajándék és elkötelezettség, Szeged 1996. 38-40. 7 Among the sources of the Pentateuch, the so-called Priestly Document can be dated to the 5th century BC, after the Babylonian captivity.
