I am not saying God's Laws were made for Him. God's Laws were made for man. For God cannot murder. He is the giver and taker of life. God cannot steal. He owns all of creation. What I am saying is that any Laws He makes for man is:
(a) An expression of His holy and righteous character.
(b) Cannot change or be altered unless there is a New Covenant by blood that sets a New standard of rules.
Yes and if you read carefully in the OT testament, you will see that God made more than one covenant.
Some go and just look at the OT as an overall covenant, but if you look at every time God chose some one, He said and this
is the covenant I make with you.
.
1. The Noahic Covenant – Genesis 9
<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-1011" alt="Noahic Covenant" src="http://reasonabletheology.org/wp-content/uploads/Noahic-Covenant.jpg" width="275" height="275" />
After having sent a global flood to destroy the wickedness that had become so prevalent on earth after the Fall, God promised Noah (and by extension all humanity) to never again destroy the world with a flood.
Genesis 9:11 | “I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth”
This is an example of a Royal Grant covenant; there is nothing that Noah or his descendants must do to ensure that this promise is fulfilled. Instead it finds its validity purely in God’s faithfulness.
2. The Abrahamic Covenant – Genesis 12
Genesis 12:1-3 | “Now the Lord had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’”
Years after the Flood, pride leads the people to rebel against God by constructing the tower of Babel. After having dispersed them by confusing their languages, God would eventually choose one man and one nation as the instrument of His blessing to the entire world. In this covenant God promised Abraham three specific things:
1. He will be made into a great nation (
12:2).
2. This nation will be led into the Promised Land (
12:1).
3. Through him (Abraham) all people of the earth will be blessed (
12:3).
The Abrahamic Covenant is in part a Suzerain-Vassal covenant, as God required first that Abraham get up, leave his home and his family, and follow God to the land He would show him (
Gen. 12:1). However, some aspects of the Abrahamic covenant are also in line with an unconditional Royal Grant. For example, God’s promise to make Abraham’s descendants into a great nation and bless all of the nations through his lineage is an unconditional promise from God (
22:15-18).
3. The Mosaic Covenant – Exodus 19
This passage is key to understanding both redemptive history and the history of Israel as a nation. A conditional promise, the Mosaic Covenant is dependent on the peoples’ response to the law He gives through His servant Moses.
“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” –
Exodus 19:5-6
God tells Moses that if Israel obeys, they will be His chosen people, His treasured possession. Ultimately, these blessings will be extended to all people. This conditional promise is a Suzerain-Vassal covenant and brings Israel closer to realizing the promises made by God in the Abrahamic Covenant.
4. The Davidic Covenant – 2 Samuel 7
After the people disobeyed the commands made in the previous covenant, God made the Davidic covenant as a means to bring them back into relationship with Himself. The key passage for this unconditional promise is
2 Samuel 7:12-17. Here God makes a Royal Grant covenant to David and his descendants that his house will rule over Israel forever.
The promise of an eternal kingdom is ultimately fulfilled in Christ, who is of David’s kingly lineage. In the New Testament,
Luke 1:30-33 tells us:
“Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.’”
Although this is an unconditional covenant, there is a part of it which has a contingency: if the ruler of Israel is obedient, he will be blessed. If not, he will be cursed. As the books of 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles show us, Israel had many examples of both disobedient and obedient kings, which eventually lead to the nation’s exile.