There are many places in the Scriptures where God through His prophets details to varying degrees the terms and conditions of His covenant with mankind. The very first place He speaks of it is during Moses' summary of the creation story found in Genesis Chapter 1.

Genesis 1:26 KJV
[26] And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle,
and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
God gave man dominion over His creation "over all the earth."

God's covenant with man was first stated in the simplest terms in Genesis Chapter 2

Genesis 2:15-17 KJV
[15] And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it
and to keep it. [16] And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of
the garden thou mayest freely eat: [17] But of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Of course, mankind broke the covenant and was cast out of the garden, unto death.

Next, we see God ratify the covenant with Noah in Genesis 9.

Genesis 9:9-13 KJV
[9] And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; [10] And with
every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth
with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. [11] And I will establish my
covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither
shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. [12] And God said, This is the token of the
covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for
perpetual generations: [13] I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a
covenant between me and the earth.

The Paterfamilias (Latin-Father of the family) A Father of many Nations, covenant with God!

Beginning in Genesis 12 and culminating in Genesis 17, we have a two for one or buy one,
get one free deal.

The buy one deal is sealed by the flesh.

Genesis 17:10 KJV
[10] This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee;
Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

The get one, free deal is sealed by a promise!

Genesis 17:21 KJV
[21] But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time
in the next year.

Hebrews 6:13-18 KJV
[13] For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware
by himself, [14] Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. [15]
And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. [16] For men verily swear by
the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. [17] Wherein God, willing
more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it
by an oath: [18] That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we
might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before
us:

Jehovah–jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. (Genesis 22:14)

Further details or terms, if you will, of God's covenant with Abraham are found in Genesis 22.

Genesis 22:16-18 KJV
[16] And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord , for because thou hast done this thing,
and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son : [17] That in blessing I will bless thee, and in
multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the
sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; [18] And in thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

One Seed

Galatians 3:16 KJV
[16] Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of
many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

In summary, through Abraham God has thus far entered into the same covenant with each generation of mankind. For Adam and Eve, God’s promise was symbolized by a “handshake” if you will. God set them over the works of His “hands” to receive all of God’s blessings. All Adam and Eve had to do was honor God by not eating of the tree of knowledge. In Noah’s generation, God’s seal of the promise was by a token. He put a bow in the cloud to remind mankind that God’s word is true. He will exact the punishment clause of His covenant. Next, to Abraham, the “Father of Faith”, God seals the promise with the shedding of blood! Plus, God lets it be known via Abraham that even though mankind keeps failing that God Himself will make a way for man to satisfy God’s covenant terms through faith.

Genesis 22: 8 “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.”

Please remember that these articles ultimately are always about “Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth”. One way to rightly divide the word is to see what light New Testament writers shed upon the Old Testament stories which is why I often use an Old Testament Scripture and then follow it with a New Testament Scripture or vice versa.

Genesis 17:7-12
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. 8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. 9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. 10This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. 11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.

Hebrews 11:9
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

James 2:23
“And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.”

Let me sum up God’s covenant with mankind in a short one-line sentence:
If, you do what I say, I will bless you, if you don’t, I will curse you.
Next time we will continue to examine God’s covenantal conditions.

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