The function of the covenant as the promissory relationship that God graciously establishes with people has been the subject of much scholarly study. It has also provided the structure within which the Christian Church has traditionally understood God's activity.10

The covenant formula is frequently discussed in terms of ancient treaty forms, and this has been a productive idea.11 However, we cannot escape the notion of promise as integral to the covenant, that is, a word that God speaks about a future event by which He will fulfill His purpose of restoring His people and, with them, the whole creation. Thus the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 is paradigmatic of salvation history that is to come. It promises a people, a land for them to live in, a blessed relationship with God and, through this elect people, a blessing that will spread to all the peoples of the earth.

The apparent irony of the biblical story is the way in which these promises are so elusive. The end of the Genesis narrative presents a scenario that in almost every way denies the reality of the covenant promises. They remain just that -- promises. A people, few in number, find themselves in a land not promised, and soon there unfolds the horror of the oppression that they will suffer at the hands of the Egyptians.

The covenant word is, however, presented as the authentic word of a gracious God who keeps covenant with His people.12 On the basis of this covenant word God chooses Moses to go to the enslaved Israelites with a word of salvation (Exod. 2:23-25). He is chosen to be both the mediator of God's saving plan for His people and the prophetic mouthpiece who will speak the word of God to the people. He is commanded to go and to speak to Israel and to Pharaoh. He has a word of promise to Israel; a word of salvation that is accompanied by signs and wonders and, above all, by the mighty acts of God that bring about the release of His people from captivity. Then Moses is called upon to establish the covenant existence of the nation by bringing the word of God to the people at Mount Sinai.

God's address to Israel at Sinai is analogous to His address to Adam and Eve in Eden. There the word prescribed the relationship of the people to God, to each other, and to the creation. Now a newly created nation is given a word that prescribes its relationship to God and to the world around it. It details the relationships that are to exist within the nation and between groups and individuals. In each case the word of God establishes the framework within which people will interpret the universe around them. In each case there is a covenantal element and in each case the word of the Lord is the focus: God has spoken and the only appropriate response is, "Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do" (Exod. 19:8). The main difference between the word inside Eden and the word outside Eden is that the former is spoken directly by God to His people and the latter is mediated through a human intermediary who acts as God's mouthpiece.