Understanding God’s Covenants: A Biblical Perspective

The Hebrew word for Covenant is B’riyt meaning pact or treaty.  This word appears 270 times in the Bible and is one of Scripture’s most important’ concepts. Ancient Covenants were often made by animal sacrifice, which is where the phrase “cut a Covenant” originated.  The idea is that both parties involved in an agreement were to demonstrate their earnestness.  An animal would be sacrificed, and its body cut in half, and the parties involved would “walk between the pieces”.  This may sound disgusting to our 21st century Western thinking, but this was a normal part of the process for “cutting Covenant” in ancient times.  What is implied by the animal sacrifice is that whatever happened to those animals, may it happen to either party should they break the Covenant.  The word B’riyt implies the shedding of blood in the process of ratifying an agreement. 

In the bible, the Covenant is very serious business because it is MORE than a contract. Covenants are the key🗝️ to God’s redemptive plan to restore humanity to its divine calling. God makes Covenants with people to partner with us for the purpose of achieving a common goal. These divine-human partnerships drive the Biblical Narrative forward until it reaches its climax in Jesus. To tell the story of God redeeming humanity through Jesus is to tell the whole story of God’s covenantal relationship with humans.

One thing to understand is that when God enters into a Covenant with people, He will always remain faithful to that Covenant.  God never forgets His Covenants with mankind, and He will always remain faithful to His Word.  This is something we can “take to the bank’! At the same time, mankind has ALWAYS been UNFAITHFUL in our Covenant relationships. This is why Jesus Christ, the son of man and the son of God, IS the FINAL fulfillment of God’s Divine Covenants.

God made several Covenants with people in the Bible.

• The Edenic /Adamic Covenant – God’s Covenant with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Edenic) and His Punishment for mankind for breaking the Covenant (Adamic), which also contains the promise of Redemption (Rescue/promised “Seed”)
• The Noahic Covenant – God’s Covenant with Noah and All Flesh
• The Abrahamic Covenant– God’s Covenant with Abraham and his descendants (Isaac, Jacob/Israel)
• The Mosaic Covenant – God’s Covenant with Moses and Israel
• The Davidic Covenant – God’s Covenant with the house of David
• The New Covenant – God’s Covenant of Redemption for Mankind

Edenic Covenant (Innocence)

The Edenic Covenant refers to the initial agreement between God and man found in the garden of Eden. This Covenant outlines God’s promises to man and mankind’s responsibilities. Man was made in the image of God and thus was afforded the blessing of eating from the Tree of Life (eternal). God had only one rule for man in the Garden of Eden – “Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”.

• Mankind (male and female) created in God’s image.
• Mankind’s dominion (rule) over the animal kingdom.
• Divine directive for mankind to reproduce and inhabit the entire Earth.
• Mankind to be vegetarian (eating of meat established in the Noahic covenant: Genesis 9:3).
• Eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil forbidden (with death as the stated penalty)

Adamic Covenant (Consequences/Grace)

The Adamic Covenant lists the PAINFUL consequences for Adam and Eve’s sin (eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil). These consequences (curses) apply to EVERY PERSON who has EVER EXISTED ON EARTH (EXCEPT ONE) because we are ALL born with original sin due of the fall of Adam and Eve. There is only ONE PERSON IN ALL OF HUMAN HISTORY who was not born with original sin (JESUS CHRIST). Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, was NOT born with original sin because JESUS IS GOD wrapped in human flesh. We call this the INCARNATION.

These are the consequences for BREAKING the ADAMIC COVENANT and eating from the CURSED TREE – ORIGINAL SIN.

• Painful childbirth for women.
• Marital strife.
• The soil cursed.
• Introduction of thorns and thistles.
• Survival to be a struggle.
• Death introduced. 💀
• Death will be the inescapable fate of all living things.💀

Thankfully, woven into these consequences is God’s PROMISE for GRACE – THE PROMISED SEED. 💕

Speaking to Satan🐍, God says, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, / And between your seed and her seed; / He shall bruise you on the head, / And you shall bruise him on the heel.” ✝️

This is known as the FIRST GOSPEL and points to a future descendant of Adam and Eve who would SAVE HUMANITY FROM OUR OWN REBELLION – JESUS CHRIST. ✝️

Noahic Covenant

The Noahic Covenant is an unconditional covenant because Noah and his descendants are not required to do anything to fulfill the covenant. This Covenant is between GOD and ALL FLESH. This promise is based upon God’s faithfulness alone. God set HIS RAINBOW IN THE SKY 🌈 as a sign of His Noahic Covenant, remembering that He has promised to never again DESTROY THE EARTH through a global flood.

Genesis 9:8: Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, ⁹ “Now behold, I Myself am establishing My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; ¹⁰ and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, every animal of the earth. 

¹¹ I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be eliminated by the waters of a flood, nor shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.”

Abrahamic Covenant

The Abrahamic Covenant is an EVERLASTING COVENANT made between God and Abraham. This Covenant is passed down to Abraham’s descendants through his son Isaac, grandson Jacob (Jacob is renamed Israel), and the twelve sons of Jacob (The twelve tribes of Israel). This is an UNCONDITIONAL COVENANT in that there is nothing really required of Abraham to fulfill the covenant except for FAITH. The Abrahamic Covenant encompasses three main promises made by God to Abraham:

Blessing: God pledges to bless Abraham and his descendants, ensuring that they will be a source of blessing to all nations.

Land: God promises Abraham and his descendants the land of Canaan, which is considered a vital aspect of their identity and heritage.

Descendants: This covenant assures Abraham that he will become the father of a great nation, even many nations. These promises establish a unique relationship between God and Abraham, signifying a commitment that extends through generations. The covenant is marked by the act of circumcision, which serves as a physical sign of the covenant between God and Abraham’s descendants.

Mosaic Covenant

The Mosaic Covenant is a conditional covenant made between God and the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19-24). This covenant is significantly different than the Abrahamic Covenant in that the Mosaic Covenant IS conditional. The Mosaic Covenant is also NOT an everlasting Covenant. We discover in the New Testament that since the time of Jesus, the Mosaic Covenant is “obsolete and is passing away” (Hebrews 8:13).

The Mosiac Covenant is a covenant of LAW. It centers around the blessings promised to Israel if they OBEY the LAW and CURSES if they DISOBEY. The Mosaic Covenant includes the Ten Commandments written on tablets of Stone, and 613 laws and ordinances that detail aspects of daily life, including social justice, religious observance, and community relations. They are designed to set Israel apart as a holy nation. The Mosaic Covenant also includes the sacrificial system, rules for the priesthood, and God’s appointments with mankind (appointed feasts).

The Mosaic Covenant (COVENANT OF LAW) was never intended to be an instrument of righteousness. THE COVENANT OF LAW shows God’s Righteous standards, yet this covenant cannot make us righteous. The Mosaic Covenant is similar to a mirror 🪞in that it shows us our sinful condition and need for a Savior. ✝️

Romans 3:20: For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.🪞

The Davidic Covenant

This is an unconditional covenant made between God and David through which God promises David and Israel that the Messiah (Jesus Christ) would come from the lineage of David and the tribe of Judah and would establish a kingdom that would endure forever. 

The Davidic Covenant centers on several key promises that are made to David.

• God promises that David’s son will succeed him as king of Israel and that this son (Solomon) would build the temple.
• The promise continues and expands: “I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” and “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever”. (2 Samuel 7:11-16)

What began as a promise that David’s son Solomon would be blessed and build the temple turns into something MUCH MORE—the promise of an everlasting kingdom. 👑 The Davidic Covenant is an everlasting Covenant.

Another Son (descendant) of David would rule forever and build a lasting House. This is a reference to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, called the Son of David in Matthew 21:9. In this promise, the word “house” serves as a metaphor for KINGDOM. Jesus Christ, the son (descendant) of David, would build a KINGDOM that will last FOREVER.

New Covenant

All of these Covenants paint a picture of a very Faithful, Righteous and merciful God and a very unfaithful humanity. Mankind has NEVER been FAITHFUL to God’s Covenants. God is always faithful, but mankind is not.

Israel BROKE the MOSAIC COVENANT and was therefore JUDGED BY GOD and EXILED from the land. However, the Old Testament Prophets spoke of a FUTURE NEW COVENANT that God would use to bring Israel back to her land and back into relationship with Him.

Through the Death and Resurrection of the Messiah Jesus, who, with HIS OWN BLOOD, granted every believer the COMPLETE FORGIVENESS for ALL SIN—PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE—all believers are blessed with the miraculous GIFT 🎁of the INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 🕊️The Holy Spirit, GOD’S DIVINE PRESENCE, dwells within each believer, igniting their spirit and powerfully raising them from spiritual death to life. The indwelling of the HOLY SPIRIT 🕊️embodies the FULFILLMENT of God WRITING HIS LAWS upon our hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-34)…

Jeremiah 31:31:  “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, ³² not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 

³³ “For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put My law within them and write it on their heart🕊️; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. ³⁴ They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember.”

• MERCY is when mankind DOES NOT RECEIVE God’s judgement that WE DO DESERVE
• GRACE is when mankind DOES RECEIVE God’s favor and blessings, that we DO NOT deserve.

Mankind has been UNFAITHFUL to all of God’s Covenants, so God, Himself, wrapped in the likeness of human flesh (son of man) came to earth and fulfilled each of the above Covenants.

Jesus Christ (the Son of God) is…

The Promised Seed of the Adamic Covenant. (Son of God)

1 Corinthians 15:45: So also it is written: “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” The last Adam (tfj: Jesus Christ) was a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man (tfj: Adam) is from the earth, earthy; the second Man (tfj: Jesus Christ) is from heaven. ⁴⁸ As is the earthy one, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly One, so also are those who are heavenly. ⁴⁹ Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.

The Promised Seed of the Abrahamic Covenant

Galatians 3:16: Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as one would in referring to many, but rather as in referring to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.

The fulfillment of the Mosaic Covenant (Son of man)

Matthew 5:17: “Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill

Hebrews 9:15: Therefore He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant

Rev. 3:7: “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David🗝️, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:

Acts 13:34: As for the fact that He raised Him from the dead, never again to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I will give you the holy and faithful blessings of David.’

The fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant (Son of David)

The Noahic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, the Davidic Covenant and the New Covenant are all pretty much unconditional Covenants, meaning that God made promises; however, nothing is really required in-return for the receipt of those promises, except BELIEF and FAITH (this is GRACE).  The Edenic/Adamic Covenant and the Mosaic Covenant were conditional Covenants that detail blessings if obeyed and curses if disobeyed. 

However, even within both of the Conditional Covenants, we see a thread woven in of Grace and mercy, God’s plan of REDEMPTION (RESCUE) for mankind. The Thread of the PROMISED SEED who would BLESS the ENTIRE WORLD finds its FULFILLMENT in the NEW COVENANT – JESUS CHRIST. ✝️

At calvary…

Years I spent in vanity and pride
Caring not my Lord was crucified
Knowing not it was for me He died
On Calvary 

Mercy there was great, and grace was free
Pardon there was multiplied to me
There my burdened soul found liberty
At Calvary 

By God’s Word at last my sin I learned;
Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned
Till my guilty soul imploring turned
To Calvary 

Now I’ve given to Jesus everything
Now I gladly own Him as my King
Now my raptured soul can only sing
Of Calvary! 

Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!
Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!
Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span
At Calvary!