How can we read the Old Testament as God’s relentless covenant love in action? How can we see Ḥesed as the golden thread from Genesis to the doorstep of your heart?
If you’ve ever felt that the Old Testament is a hard book, a mix of wars, commandments, and strange rituals, you’re not alone. Many people approach it with hesitation. But I want to start our journey together with a surprising truth:
The Old Testament is a love story!
Not a sentimental one, but a story of divine Ḥesed, a Hebrew word so rich that no single English word can capture it.
Ḥesed means steadfast love, covenant loyalty, mercy, and faithfulness all wrapped together. It describes love that doesn’t quit. It is the heartbeat of God’s relationship with His children, pulsing beneath every page of the Old Testament.
God’s Ḥesed Is Older Than Creation
In Genesis, before there were commandments or covenants, there was Ḥesed.
God’s creative act was an act of love. The world was not born out of conflict, as many Ancient Near Eastern creation myths suggest, but out of divine generosity. Where Babylonian stories spoke of gods making humans to serve them, the Bible tells of a God who made humans to walk with Him in the garden.
That first scene is not about domination; it’s about delight. It shows a God who bends low to breathe life into clay.
From the very beginning, the Bible invites us to see love, not wrath, as God’s motive for creation and redemption.
The Word “Mormon” and the Word “Love”
Many of you have spent years studying the Book of Mormon with me. Remember the meaning and significance of the ancient Egyptian word Mormon? It means “love endures forever.”
The Book of Mormon’s very title proclaims its purpose, to testify that God’s love is eternal.
The Book of Mormon’s authors knew the Old Testament deeply. When they wrote of covenant, mercy, and deliverance, they were writing in the same spiritual language of Ḥesed.
Both books witness of the same God, the One whose love spans generations, who keeps promises even when His people forget theirs.
So when you open the Old Testament next year, think of it as the older sibling of the Book of Mormon: both testaments of the same everlasting love.
Covenant Love, Not Contractual Law
In the ancient world, covenants were often political contracts between kings and subjects. But the God of Israel transformed that idea into something relational. His covenant wasn’t a cold legal document. Rather it was a family bond.
“I will be your God, and you shall be my people.” That’s familiar and familial (like wedding language), not legal language.
When Israel broke covenant, God did not walk away.
Through prophets like Hosea, He described Himself as a husband still pursuing His unfaithful bride. That’s Ḥesed.
When David sinned grievously, he pleaded, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness [Ḥesed]: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.” (Psalm 51:1).
Even in our failures, God’s Ḥesed makes forgiveness possible.
Ḥesed is the permeating force of God’s creation.
Ḥesed is the atmosphere within which God, and we, act.
Ḥesed only exists in relationship.
God is the originator of both Ḥesed and the relationship with us where Ḥesed is expressed.
Seeing the Old Testament Through New Eyes
When you read the Old Testament with the lens of Ḥesed, you begin to notice something: God never stops showing up. Even in stories of judgment, He is still calling His children back into relationship. Every commandment, every prophet’s warning, every act of deliverance is rooted in enduring love.
If you’ve ever felt God’s love go quiet in your life, you are in good company. Israel felt that too. But the story always circles back to grace. God’s love endures. His Ḥesed is not conditional, it’s covenantal. It doesn’t depend on us being perfect; it depends on Him being faithful, amen (the Hebrew word amen = faithful).
From Genesis to Revelation, and from the Bible to the Book of Mormon, one message endures forever: God’s love never ends.
This week, take a few minutes to reflect on this truth: God’s Ḥesed has never given up on humanity, and He will not give up on you, nor turn His love away from you.
—Taylor Halverson, Ph.D.
Learn Deeply. Live Meaningfully. Spread Light and Goodness!
[Note that I’ve created audio narration using experimental AI enhancement of my voice. I think the narration is functional…but not quite authentic!]
Core claim. The Old Testament is a love story centered on Ḥesed; God’s steadfast, covenantal love, mercy, and faithfulness that does not quit. Creation itself flows from Ḥesed, not conflict.
Covenant lens. God’s covenant is relational and familial; “I will be your God, and you shall be my people.” Even after failure, God pursues, forgives, and restores. Psalm 51 grounds repentance in Ḥesed.
Continuity with the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon echoes the same theology of covenant love and deliverance; its witness aligns with the Old Testament’s Ḥesed theme and proclaims that God’s love endures.
Reading strategy. When you read with the Ḥesed lens, commands, prophetic warnings, and deliverances become acts of enduring love that call people back into relationship.
Practical takeaway. God’s love is covenantal, not conditional. It depends on His faithfulness. From Eden to today, He keeps showing up. Reflect this week on where His Ḥesed has been present in your life.