"When we
ask the question, 'How does the cosmos work?' We seek an answer that discusses
physical laws and structures. In our worldview, function is
a consequence of structure, and a discussion of creation therefore must, of
course, direct itself to the making of things. In contrast, when Israelites
asked, 'How does the cosmos work?' They were on a totally different wavelength,
because in the ancient worldview function
was a consequence of purpose.”1
Therefore, let us not ask, “What is the
structure of a covenant?”, but "What is the purpose of a covenant?".
The function of a covenant is to make a solemn commitment or guarantee of
promises and/or obligations by one member of the covenantal party or both.2 There
is much discussion, but little agreement on a covenant at creation.3 So,
in the beginning, was there a covenant between God and man? Man was already
given life, so there was no need for God to promise life to man. But since a
covenant is a promise, I would say that a covenant existed in the beginning
between God and man. The covenantal
promise was death, "but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely
die."4 The protoevangelium in
Genesis 3:15 alludes to a future hope.5
The Noahic covenant was a promise of life
for Noah, his family, and all the living things that he brought on the ark.6
The covenant with Noah was a ancestral covenant, because it applied to all of
Noah’s descendants as well as the animals on the ark. After the Fall God made
garments of skin for Adam and his wife.7 This also alludes to a
future covenant ratified with the offering of a sacrifice. The postdiluvian
Noahic covenant begins with the offering of animal sacrifices after the flood.8
While the Adamic promise of death spread to
all men and alludes to a future hope (universal), and the Noahic covenant was
to his descendants (ancestral); the Abrahamic covenant brought a new level to
the covenant between God and man (national). It is through a nation (Israel),
and an ancestor of Abraham (Jesus), that God would ultimately establish a new
covenant with His elect that is universal in purpose.9
Notes
1. T. Desmond Alexander and David
W. Baker, “Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Creation (Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 2003), 164.
2. T. Desmond Alexander and David
W. Baker, “Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Covenant (Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 2003), 139.
3. T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, “Dictionary
of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Covenant
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 141.
4. Genesis 3:5 (NASB).
5. T. Desmond
Alexander and David W. Baker, “Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Genesis (Downers
Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 354.
6. Genesis
6:18-20 (NASB).
7. Genesis 3:21
(NASB).
8. T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, “Dictionary
of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Covenant
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 140.
9. T. Desmond
Alexander and David W. Baker, “Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Covenant (Downers
Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 149.
Bibliography
Dictionary of the Old Testament
Pentateuch. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press,
(2003).
The
Holy Bible, Updated New American Standard Bible. The Lockman Foundation, ((1995).
