The Biblical Covenants: A Framework for Understanding the Plan & Purpose of God

A Covenant with Adam? “The covenant of works, also called the covenant of life, was made in the Garden of Eden between God and Adam who represented all mankind as a federal head (Romans 5:12-21). It promised life for perfect and perpetual obedience and death for disobedience. Adam, and all mankind in Adam, broke the covenant, thus standing condemned.” “Though it is not explicitly called a covenant in the opening chapters of Genesis, the comparison of the representative headship of Christ and Adam, as well as passages like Hosea 6:7, have been interpreted to support the idea” (From “Covenant Theology” in Wikipedia).

A Reference in Hosea 6? What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud, And like the dew which goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant; There they have dealt treacherously against Me. Gilead is a city of wrongdoers, Tracked with bloody footprints. And as raiders wait for a man, So a band of priests murder on the way to Shechem; Surely they have committed crime (Hosea 6:4-9).

A Reference in Hosea 6? What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud, And like the dew which goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant; There they have dealt treacherously against Me. Gilead is a city of wrongdoers, Tracked with bloody footprints. And as raiders wait for a man, So a band of priests murder on the way to Shechem; Surely they have committed crime (Hosea 6:4-9).

A Reference in Hosea 6? What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud, And like the dew which goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant; There they have dealt treacherously against Me. Gilead is a city of wrongdoers, Tracked with bloody footprints. And as raiders wait for a man, So a band of priests murder on the way to Shechem; Surely they have committed crime (Hosea 6:4-9).

A Reference in Hosea 6? What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud, And like the dew which goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant; There they have dealt treacherously against Me. Gilead is a city of wrongdoers, Tracked with bloody footprints. And as raiders wait for a man, So a band of priests murder on the way to Shechem; Surely they have committed crime (Hosea 6:4-9).

Importance of the Biblical Covenants A proper understanding of the biblical covenants is vital for knowing God and for understanding the plan He is working out through time. The covenants provide a framework for understanding the whole of Scripture, especially God’s older testament.

Two Important Hermeneutical Principles Progress of Revelation – The impact of this principle for us is that we will examine the covenants in the order in which they appear in Scripture and therefore in the flow of history in which they were given by God. Context – Textual (what the text says) and Historical (the time and place in which a covenant is given).

The Noahic Covenant Gen 6 – 9

The Setting of the Noahic Covenant – Gen 6:1-8 The Noahic Covenant comes within the context of the Great Flood. After the fall of man, wickedness grew greatly upon the earth, to the point that God was sorry that He had made man (Gen 6:5-6). As a result, God determined to blot out man, animals, creeping things, and birds from the face of the earth (Gen 6:7). But in contrast to rest of mankind, Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord. God determined to spare Noah and his family, and to use them to preserve birds and animals that would be used to re-populate the earth.

Key Passages of the Noahic Covenant Gen 6:17-22 –This is the first mention of the covenant between God and Noah. It is a prediction of the covenant that will be established with Noah after the flood. God is about to destroy the whole earth by flood, but He assures Noah that he, his family, and two of every kind of animal will be preserved in the ark. Gen 8:20-22 –This passage also precedes the actual covenant, which is detailed in 9:8-17. Noah and his family had been on the ark with the animals for a little more than a year. Now the flood waters had receded and they exited the ark. Noah worshipped God by offering sacrifices of every kind of clean bird and animal. In response, God promised that as long as the earth remained, there would be a regular order of day and night and of seasons. By this regular order man would be able to plant and harvest without fear that another flood would destroy the earth.

Key Passages of the Noahic Covenant Gen 9:8-17 –This is the actual covenant. Three different groups are the recipients of the covenant promise from God: Noah and his descendants, which includes every successive generation after him, or all mankind (Gen 9:9). All the living creatures that were with Noah on the ark (Gen 9:10). The earth itself (Gen 9:13), since the whole earth was destroyed by the flood. –It is an everlasting covenant, a phrase which we will also see used to described other covenants. The covenant remains in force as long as the earth remains.

Essence of the Noahic Covenant Gen 9:11: "And I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth." Up until the flood, there had been no rainfall upon the earth. Instead, “a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground” (Gen 2:6). Noah and his immediate descendants needed assurance that, when clouds formed and rain came forth from them in the future, the entire world would not be destroyed as it had been. God’s role as the initiator and authority for the covenant is reasserted five times in Gen 9:12, 13, 15, 16, 17.

Sign of the Noahic Covenant And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. And it shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth” (Gen 9:12-16).

Sign of the Noahic Covenant As a sign of this covenant, the rainbow is a visible, repeatable phenomena that serves to remind God of the covenant that He has made with all the earth, never to destroy the earth again by flood. The rainbow should also serve to remind us of what God did in destroying the whole earth because of its wickedness, and of His mercy towards us through His promise not to do it again.

Relationship of the Noahic Covenant to Later Covenants The certainty of later covenants between God and His people is rooted in the order of nature promised in the Noahic Covenant (Gen 8:22). –Jeremiah 33:20-21: “Thus says the LORD, 'If you can break My covenant for the day, and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers.” –Isaiah 54:9-10 “For this is like the days of Noah to Me; when I swore that the waters of Noah should not flood the earth again, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor will I rebuke you. For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, and My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” says the LORD who has compassion on you.

Next Week: The Abrahamic Covenant Part I Gen 12:1-3; 15:1-21; 17:1-21