In fact, the Old Testament and the New Testament are named this way because they detail two major covenants between God and His people.

The Book of Jeremiah, verses 31:30–33 says that YHWH will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Like the treaties, the Ten Commandments begins with Yahweh's identification and what he had done for Israel ("who brought you out of the land of Egypt"; Ex 20:2) as well as the stipulations commanding absolute loyalty ("You shall not have other gods apart from me"). The acceptance of Holy Scripture in the letter, the reception of it in the human understanding, is seen to be as fruitless as was Israel's at Sinai. Part of the Mosaic Covenant was the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) and the rest of the Law, which contained over 600 commands—roughly 300 positive and 300 negative. According to Weinfeld, the Abrahamic covenant represents a covenant of grant, which binds the suzerain.Two examples include the placing of mothers on the same level as fathers in Exodus 21:15, 17, and providing for special care of members of lesser social classes, including converts, widows and orphans ( Exodus 22:21–22).

Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, in the presence of six elders, at Fayette, New York, September 1830. For example, David made a covenant with his friend Jonathan, but after Jonathan died, he still cared for Jonathan’s relative, Mephibosheth (2 Sa 9:7). Some of the commandments in the Covenant Code overlap noticeably with the commandments in the Ritual Decalogue. Joseph Smith’s history states that some of the elders did not understand the manifestations of different spirits abroad in the earth and that this revelation was given in response to his special inquiry on the matter. They know little or nothing of what the death means through which the Covenant is established, or what the life from the dead is through which alone a man can walk in covenant with the God of heaven.

Others believe that the covenants are for Israel and for Israel alone, and that the church has no part in these covenants. Joseph Smith had just arrived in Kirtland from New York, and Leman Copley, a Church member in nearby Thompson, Ohio, “requested Brother Joseph and Sidney [Rigdon] … live with him and he would furnish them houses and provisions. Of those four, three are unconditional in nature; that is, regardless of Israel’s obedience or disobedience, God still will fulfill these covenants with Israel.

The Doctrine and Covenants is a collection of divine revelations and inspired declarations given for the establishment and regulation of the kingdom of God on the earth in the last days. The Adamic Covenant included the curses pronounced against mankind for the sin of Adam and Eve, as well as God’s provision for that sin (Genesis 3:15). This revelation and the two following (sections 15 and 16) were given in answer to an inquiry through the Urim and Thummim. Both codes allow for working off debts through servitude and both provide redemption rights and various kinds of protection against permanent slavery for citizens ( Exod 21:2-11; Deut 15:12-18 and Hammurabi’s Code nos. They tie families together, they make new families, and they define relationships between entire people groups.This revelation expresses the will of the Lord relative to governing and conducting meetings and His direction on seeking and discerning the gifts of the Spirit. For example, Exodus 21:26, “When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free for the eye’s sake. But covenant is a weighty theme that dominates Scripture: it’s good to get an idea of what it means in the Bible.