Chapter Five

God is a Covenant God

Did you know that Jehovah is a covenant God?  Most people don’t even know what a covenant is.  The word covenant in the Webster’s Dictionary is described as:  a binding and solemn agreement made by two or more individuals or parties to do or keep from doing specified things.  In the New Testament the Greek word for covenant in the Strongs Concordance is reference #1242 (diatheke) pronounced dee-ath-ay’-kay.  This is the same word translated to testament, but this is very confusing to the modern reader, especially when the translators use both words in the same thought.  Now the definition in the Webster’s Dictionary for testament is:  to testify, make a will, a witness.  You see, the New Testament is the testimony, witness, or the last will and testament of Jesus the Christ, the Lamb of God!  And the Old Testament is the testimony of Jehovah, before He lived in man, and the prophecy of Him to come and live in Jesus Christ the man.  While they, the Old and New Testaments are even more than the Testaments of Jesus and Jehovah, together they make up the entire Word of God. They are not covenants of themselves.

All the covenants of the Bible are in the Old Testament.  Let’s go back to Genesis 2:7 and take a moment to set the stage for the first covenant in the Bible.

7)                             “And Jehovah Elohiym formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

8)                             And Jehovah Elohiym planted a garden eastward in E’den; and there He put the man whom He had formed.”

 Notice here that Jehovah formed man first, and then the garden.  In the past, I had assumed that man was created in the garden.  It is important to see man was not created in paradise, but in the world and of the world.

9)                             “And out of the ground Jehovah Elohiym made grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” 

Did you notice in verse 9 that the tree of life is in the midst of the garden?  The Garden of E’den is a shadow of heaven on earth as it shall be at Jesus’ return.  You see the tree of life and the Garden of E’den are a shadow of Jesus’ reigning with us here on earth at His return.  Also, this tree was the only way to physical eternal life, just as Jesus is the only way to Spiritual eternal life.  Did you  know Satan was banished from paradise?  That leads me to believe that he was also not allowed in the garden.  Now, if this is true, then it is probable that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was just at the edge of the garden.  You see Satan is the ruler of this world, not of paradise.  The word ‘midst’ doesn’t always mean middle, it can mean inside or between.  For example:  Tommy stood in the midst of a crowd.  This means in the crowd, not the center.  Verses 10 through 14 are describing the location of the garden.  In verses 15-18 we find the covenant.  Remember, a covenant is a solemn or serious binding agreement between two or more individuals or parties, to do or keep from doing specified things. 

15)                                “And Jehovah Elohiym took the man and put him into the garden to dress and to keep it.”  (Adam’s job is to till and keep the garden)

16)                                And Jehovah Elohiym commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree in the garden you may freely eat”

17)                                But of the tree of the knowledge of good an evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die. (This is the first covenant Jehovah made with man)

The next covenant is the Noahatic covenant.  Let’s turn to Genesis 8:15

15)        And Elohiym spoke to Noah, saying,

16)        “Go forth out of the ark, you, and your wife, and your sons, and your son’s wives with you.

17)        Bring forth with you every living thing that is with you, of all flesh, both of the fowl, and of the cattle, and of everything that creeps upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the world, and be fruitful, upon the earth.”

The way we understand words is of utmost importance in how we understand God’s Word, For example, the words earth and world.  Most people understand the word earth to mean planet, and the word world to mean life as a whole on the planet.  For example, we must live on the earth, but we are not to be part of the world.

18)        And No’ah went out, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him.

19)        Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creeps upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.

20)        And No’ah builded an alter to El; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the alter.

21)        And El smelled a sweet savor and El said in His heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite (destroy) any more every thing living, as I have done.

22)        While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, and summer and winter, day and night shall not cease.” 

Verse 15 is the beginning of the Noahatic covenant.  Remember that a covenant is a solemn and binding agreement between two or more individuals or parties, to do, or keep from doing, specified things.  First Jehovah tells them to leave the protection of the ark, as a direct shadow of when He told Adam and Eve to leave the protection of the Garden of Eden.  Also notice that this covenant is not just to No’ah, but every living thing on the earth, or the world!  Now, Noah builds an alter to El (El is a singular form of Elohiym).  And No’ah offers sacrifices of every clean animal.

 Let’s turn back to Genesis 7:2, “of every clean beast you shall take to you by sevens, the male and his female: and of the beasts that are not clean by two the male and his female.  Some say that they took more of the clean animals for food while they were on the ark, that they always ate meat.  That is not true!  Let’s turn back to Genesis 1:29-30

29)                                “And Elohiym said Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of the earth, and every tree in which the fruit of the tree yields its seed; to you it shall be for food.

30)                                And to every beast of the earth and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creeps upon the earth, that has the breath of life, I have given every green herb for food; and it was so. 

This clearly says not only that man did not eat meat, but that the animals didn’t either!  The reason they brought 7 of the clean, was for sacrifices, not for food.  You see this covenant is to the world.  In Genesis 8:21, the sacrifices pleased El and He promised that He wouldn’t destroy everything on the earth, because of man.  As long as the earth remains, this is part of Elohiyms’ promise or covenant. 

Genesis 9:1-17:

1)              “And Elohiym blessed No’ah and his sons, and said to them, be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

2)              And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and every fowl of the air, upon all that moves upon the earth, and upon all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered.”

Notice here Elohiym (the Father and Jehovah) blessed No’ah and his sons.  This doesn’t mean they were both present; this just means Jehovah gave the Fathers’ and His blessing to them.  Also notice that Jehovah had to put fear into the animals.  You see, before we ate animals they had no need to fear us.

3)              “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; even as the green herb, I have given you all things.”

Now, if they were already eating meat, Jehovah would not have said, “As I have given you the green herb, I give you all things.”

4)              “But flesh with the life in it, which is the blood, you shall not eat.

5)              And surely the blood of your lives will I require (demand) at the hand of every beast will I demand it, and at the hand of man; by the hand of every man’s brother will I demand the life of man.

6)              Who ever sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed:  for in the image of Elohiym I made man.”

What is said here is that since Jehovah made man in Elohiyms image, that if man or beast took a man’s life, Elohiym would require the life of the man or beast that took the life of man.  And also, the slain man’s people should take it!

7)              “And you, be fruitful, and multiply on the earth.

8)              And God spoke to No’ah, and his son’s with him, saying,

9)              And I, behold, I establish My covenant with you and your seed after you;

10)        And with every living creature that is with you.  Of the fowl, of the cattle, and every living thing of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.” Or to the world.

11)        And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the world.”  (You can plainly see that this covenant is not just to No’ah, but also to everyone and every living thing in the world).

12)        And Elohiym said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I will make between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for endless generations.

13)        I do set my rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of this covenant between the world and Me.

14)        And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud:

15)        And I will remember My Covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

16)        And the rainbow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between Elohiym and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

17)        And Elohiym, said to No’ah, “this is the sign of the Covenant, which I have established between Me and all flesh that is upon the earth.”

Now, there are many covenants in the Old Testament.  There is the Abrahamic Covenant, also the Davidic Covenant and more than we can cover, or need to, in this message. The point is that Jehovah will not deal with man without a covenant. Did you realize that there are only two covenants to the world: (1) the covenant with Adam and every living creature and (2) the covenant with No’ah and every living creature.  This is also true about the Covenants Jehovah made with the people of God:  The covenant at mount Si’nai and the Covenant at Moab.  Two Covenants to the world, two Covenants to the people of God.  You see God is not the author of confusion.  He always gives us a shadow.  The two covenants to the world are a shadow of the two covenants to the elect of God.


 

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