I prayed early in my study that God would guide me to the resources that could give me a depth of understanding about the covenants. At the time, I primarily had in mind written resources. But the help God provided primarily came through people. At critical times in my study, He sent people into my life who encouraged me, challenged me, and directed me to further resources at just the time they were needed.
My boss and senior pastor, Dwight K. Nelson, both encouraged me in this study and provided me with the title of this book. Professor Woodrow Whidden heard of my interest in the covenants and asked me to teach a two-hour session on the covenants for one of his religion classes at Andrews University, and later became a reader and constructive critic of an edited copy of the manuscript.
In the spring of 2003, I was asked to make a one-hour presentation on my study of the covenants to an ad hoc group, the "Gospel Study Committee" that, unknown to me, had been studying this subject for two years.[1] Its members subsequently asked me to write the opening chapter of a manuscript they were jointly writing on the covenants. When I submitted my first edition of a proposed chapter, they suggested that I expand it into a book manuscript in its own right. Their detailed critiques of that manuscript and its subsequent editions proved invaluable. Written critiques by Fred Bischoff and Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary professors Jon Paulien, Jerry Moon, and Roy Gane proved especially helpful. Dr. Gane's syllabus on "The Covenants, Law and Sabbath" also gave me great help early in my study. Jerry Finneman helped me with a critical point in appendix B, "'Under Law' vs. 'Under Grace.'"
One member of that committee took me under his wing and gave me invaluable encouragement, guidance, and support throughout the preparation of this manuscript-Richard Davidson, chair of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary Old Testament Department. Without his help, this book would never have gotten published.
George Knight gave me valuable help by critiquing an early edition of this manuscript and then rereading it after I had worked on his suggestions. Bruce Wrenn, professor of marketing at the South Bend, Indiana, campus of Indiana University, and a member of a small group I have been in for several years, gave me stylistic suggestions. Bryan von Dorpowski, another member of that small group and a close friend, endured the ups and downs I experienced during the most intense months of my study into this subject and still treated me as though I was normal.
I gained valuable insights from the questions and feedback I received from various groups to which I have presented seminars on the old and new covenants-members of the Pioneer Memorial Church Community Bible Class who allowed me to teach this subject over a period of several months as I was organizing a couple of years of study material; conference leaders and ministers of the Oregon Conference at their Fall, 2004, Worker's Retreat; members of the Jackson Seventh-day Adventist Church who were wrestling with the issues involved in this subject; and the Southern Adventist University religion professors and students at the Fall, 2005, Robert H. Pierson Lectureship Series.
I thank the Scholarly Publications and Andrews University Press Board for their faith in the manuscript; Ronald Knott, director of Andrews University Press, and Kenneth Wade whose editorial assistance made this a tighter, better manuscript; and Deborah Everhart, in-house editor at Andrews University Press, who guided the project through the editorial process and provided meticulous proofreading.
I'm especially grateful for my wife Lyn's patience, understanding, and loving support during several years in which my latest discoveries from my study of the covenants kept intruding into our conversations on more personal issues.
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