Moreover, God renewed His covenant in every generation. These covenants are not mutually exclusive. They are all founded upon and linked to the covenants that were already established. Thus, there is continuity and unity in all the covenants of God.4 He had to renew and reestablish His covenant in every era in order to reaffirm and bring to light His redemptive will to save His chosen people. Also, it was to seal the relationship firmly between God and His people.
Hence, the fact that God made a covenant with mankind shows God’s unchanging grace and infinite love. Because of this covenant, we can look forward to the hope of heaven that will ultimately lead us to salvation. Our hope does not falter, for God’s covenant is steadfast and it is not shaken by any challenge. Even the turning of the ages and the flow of time cannot challenge the perpetuity of the covenant, and the faithfulness of the covenant is never nullified or withdrawn under any circumstance (Deut 4:31; Gal 3:17).
Let us now consider the covenants of God found in the Bible. In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam, “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 shall surely die” (Gen 2:17). According to this promise, Adam’s life and death depended on his act (or work) of obedience. Thus, this promise is called the “covenant of works.” Since the covenant of works is the covenant that God made with the first man Adam who represents all mankind, it is known as the “federal headship.”5
However, Eve listened to the serpent and ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam also ate the fruit that she gave him. As a result, they both fell (Gen 3:1–6). Because of their disobedience, Adam and Eve could not keep their places. Consequently, death came upon all mankind through the sin of one man, Adam, “for as in Adam all die” (1 Cor 15:22).
God made a covenant for the redemption of mankind since the fall of Adam. This covenant began with the promise of the woman’s seed (Gen 3:15) and continued until the time of Noah (Gen 6:18; 9:8–17). It was valid in the time of Abraham (Gen 15; 17) and also in the times of the successive patriarchs (Gen 26:2–5; 28:10–22). The covenant became more concrete through the exodus generation and its succeeding generation in the wilderness (Exod 19:5; 24:1–7; Deut 29; 30). Then it continued into the time of David (2 Sam 7:12–16) and finally was completed through Jesus Christ (Matt 26:26–28; Mark 14:22–25; Luke 22:19–20; 1 Cor 11:23–25; Heb 7:22; 8:13).
1. The First Revelation of the Covenant (Proto-gospel)
To Adam and Eve who had fallen, God promised the seed of the woman. Although this promise is not a formal covenant, it is the first revelation of God’s covenant for it clearly expresses God’s intention of saving mankind from their sins. In this promise God vowed, “…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” (Gen 3:15). Because this is the first promise in the Bible that reveals God’s will for Jesus Christ to destroy the powers of Satan and save us from sin and death (i.e., Satan’s powers), it is called the proto-gospel.
The seed of the woman promised in this covenant refers to the Messiah who is to come and save fallen mankind. The head is the most important member of the body. The promise that he will “bruise…the head” signifies a complete defeat without any possibility of restoration. It prophesies that Jesus Christ, the woman’s offspring, will defeat Satan and his forces to triumph completely (1 Cor 15:22, 25–26; Rev 20:9–10).
God confirmed this covenant with Adam and Eve by making garments of skin and clothing them Himself (Gen 3:21). The garments of skin obtained through the sacrifice of an animal that died in place of the man, who actually deserved death, foreshadow the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross; they were an assurance of the promise of the woman’s seed (John 1:29; 1 Cor 5:7). All of God’s covenants in the Bible are established on this foundation of His administration for redemption—that He will save mankind through the Messiah, the seed of the woman.
2. The Noahic Covenant (Covenant of the Bow)
After commanding Noah to build an ark, God said that He would establish a covenant with him (Gen 6:14). This is the first occurrence of the word “covenant” in the Bible.
Genesis 6:18 But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
God established the covenant with Noah to secure the path through which the seed of the woman could come, even in the midst of the judgment of the world. When the flood covered the world, “all flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind…all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died” (Gen 7:21–22). In the midst of this destruction, “only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark” (Gen 7:23). After the flood, God established a covenant with Noah through a bow (rainbow). He put a bow in a cloud and made it a sign that He would not judge mankind again by a flood, but would preserve them until the completion of the history of redemption (Gen 9:8–17).
The covenant that God made before the flood was given to just one person—Noah (Gen 6:18). However, the covenant of the bow established after the flood was a universal covenant given to Noah, his sons, and “all flesh” that were with Noah (Gen 9:10–12, 15–17). Therefore, the universe and all things in it will be restored on the day when the salvation of mankind is complete (Acts 3:21; Rom 8:18–23).
3. The Abrahamic Covenant
First, God chose Abraham through His sovereign grace to effectuate His promise with Adam. Then, God established a covenant with Abraham with a plan to bless all nations and people of the world through him. In light of this, the Abrahamic covenant can be considered the blueprint of God’s plan of salvation, which would be carried out in history. Hence, the Abrahamic covenant is the basic model and structure of all covenants.
God established covenants with Abraham seven times:6
(1) God called Abraham and made the first promise in Genesis 12:1–3.
(2) God made the first promise of the land of Canaan in Genesis 12:7.
(3) God made another promise of the land of Canaan and about Abraham’s descendants in Genesis 13:15–18.
(4) God reaffirmed His promise of the descendants and the land of Canaan through the covenant of the torch in Genesis 15:12–21.
(5) God established the “covenant of circumcision” in Genesis 17:9–14.
(6) God promised the birth of Isaac once again in Genesis 18:10.
(7) After Abraham had offered up Isaac, God made the final confirmation of all the covenants He had made previously.
The covenants that God made with Abraham were repeatedly confirmed with Isaac (Gen 26:3, 24), and Jacob (Gen 28:13–15; 35:12). Also, the covenants not only applied to Abraham’s descendants, but also applied universally to all nations (Ps 105:8–11; Gal 3:7–9, 29).
4. The Sinaitic Covenant
God established the Sinaitic covenant with the Israelites as He gave the Ten Commandments when they had been camping in the Wilderness of Sinai for about 11 months. The Ten Commandments are the core and essence of the entire Law. They are not merely a set of commandments, but God’s covenant (Exod 19:5; 24:7). In other words, the Ten Commandments are more than just commandments or law (Exod 24:12)—they are God’s covenant of salvation which include His promises. Therefore, the ark that contained the Ten Commandments was called the “Ark of the Covenant” (Deut 31:26; 1 Sam 4:5; Heb 9:4; Rev 11:19), or the “Ark of God” (1 Sam 3:3), and the book where the commandments were recorded was called the “Book of the Covenant” (Exod 24:7; 2 Kgs