Interesting question. lately I have been reading some of the posts on here regarding the 7th day Sabbath of The Lord God.
One of the main arguments that I see given is that it si part of the Old Covenant. well lets take a look at the Covenants.
Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Notice that the first promise to save man was given to Adam and eve. remember that covenant means promise. God promised that he would make a way of escape for humanity.
Hi, gotime,
Thanks for all of the work you have done here for us.
And if I may, there are a few things I would like to clarify for the sake of accuracy.
The first would be that a covenant is actually a contract.
And then secondly, when you look at it, there was really no covenant nor promise made to Adam and Eve in Ge 3:15.
There was only a judgment pronounced on the serpent, that the seed of the woman would crush his head, and the serpent would strike his heel.
So there was really no covenant established or instituted with Adam and Eve in Ge 3:15.
Gen 9:8 And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
Gen 9:9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
Noah was then given the promise/Covenant. notice the word establish here, it means to confirm, continue to affirm. In other words it is not new with Noah it is a re-establishment of the old promise.
Well, actually, "establish" means to found, institute.
This is the first covenant instituted or established by God, and it is with all living things, not just mankind.
And when you look at it, you find that God's covenant never again to destroy the world by water, made with Noah and all living things on earth,
is not related to the judgment pronounced on the serpent in Ge 3:15 that the seed of the woman would crush him.
So there would be no continuation between them.
So God is saying that Noah will be the next person that God will continue the covenant through to all flesh. notice also that both to Adam and Eve the promise was concerning their "seed".
For the sake of accuracy, let's keep in mind this is not a continuation of a former covenant.
This is the first covenant that God had made, and it is with all living things, not just mankind.
Gen 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
Here again we find Abraham and here the promise is yet again made. and again it is concerning Abraham's seed. This covenant/promise is the same one given from the beginning.
Well, actually, this is the first covenant God made with a particular man and his seed.
It is not a continuation of the covenant with Noah and all living things, for its subject matter is not the same.
Nor is it a covenant with all mankind, as was Noah's, but only with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jacob's seed.
Gen 17:4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
Gen 17:5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
Gen 17:6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
Gen 17:7 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.
I would like to notice some things here.
1: In verse 7 God says it shall be an everlasting covenant. Everlasting means perpetual, without end, does not stop. it is eternal.
This is God's
second covenant with Abraham, and a continuation of the first covenant in Ge 15.
His first was an unconditional promise of land.
This was a
conditional covenant to be Abraham's God and the God of his descendants.
The condition was total consecration to the Lord (As for me, v.4; As for you, v.9), as symbolized by circumcision.
2: who was the eternal Promise/covenant with? Answer: verse 7 again, with thee and Thy seed. so the covenant was with Abraham and his seed not just Abraham. who is His seed? Answer: verse 6 I will make Nations of thee. verse 5: for a Father of Many nations.
clearly here the covenant to Abraham was not just to Abraham but to his seed which was not just Israel but many nations. Some may say well there was Ishmael also who was a nation. but what does the bible tell us the seed of Abraham is?
Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
If we are in Christ then we are the seed of Abraham. thus the covenant given to Abraham is also the covenant given to us through Jesus Christ. we are the seed of Abraham because we are in Jesus and Jesus is the true seed.
by the was notice why the covenant was made with Abraham.
Gen 26:3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
Gen 26:4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
Gen 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
notice the promise to Isaac is the same "oath" that God gave Abraham. why because Abraham obeyed Gods voice, charge, commandments, statutes and laws.
so far the covenant to Adam and Eve has passed down through humanity to Isaac.
Okay, again for the sake of accuracy, let's keep in mind there was no covenant made to Adam and Eve,
Noah's covenant was made with all living things, not just mankind, and
God's two covenants with Abraham are the first covenants made with a particular man and his seed, and were not made with all mankind.
Important distinctions to keep in mind for correct understanding of God's covenants.
Now lets go down to Moses and Israel.
Exo 2:21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.
Exo 2:22 And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
Exo 2:23 And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
Exo 2:24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
Exo 2:25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.
notice here that God has pity on his people in slavery to Egypt and verse 24 tells us that God remembered his covenant/promise with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. so now Gods actions in saving Israel has to do with the Same covenant with Abraham.
Listen to what God says to Moses at the burning bush:
Exo 6:4 And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.
Exo 6:5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.
God recalls to them the covenant he made witih Abraham and his descendants to be their God in Ge 17.
God will Establish, confirm the same covenant/promise with them that he did Abraham. read verse 3.
In v.4 we find, "I established (past tense) my covenant with them."
God is referring to the covenant with Abraham of Ge 17 to be their God.
Let's keep in mind that "establish" is "to found, institute," it is not "to continue."
God established/founded/instituted an unconditional covenant with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jacob's descendants to give them a land in Ge 15,
and then continued that covenant in Ge 17 with a second and conditional covenant to be their God, based on total consecration.
Exo 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
Exo 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
Exo 19:7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.
now God makes the covenant clear that it is based on obedience to God. same reason we read that Abraham received the Covenant.
Yes, the Mosaic covenant was conditioned (if, then) on obedience, just as the Abrahamic covenant to be their God was conditioned on obedience in Ge 17.
The Mosaic (Sinaitic) covenant was a temporary
addition (Ro 5:20; Gal 3:19) to the Abrahamic covenant, whose purpose was simply to reveal sin, and to reveal in shadows (Heb 10:1) the remedy for sin, whose reality would come in Christ in the New Testament (NT).
The Mosiac covenant was founded on the law. The law was the covenant, and the covenant was the law.
But the Mosaic covenant did not abrogate the Abrahamic covenant based on faith, to which it was added (Gal 3:17).
However, the people broke the Mosaic covenant in breaking the law, and God promised a "new" covenant in its stead (Jer 31:31).
Jesus instituted, establsihed, founded that "new" covenant in his blood (Lk 22:20; Mt 26;28),
and we learn in Heb 8:13 that therefore the "old" (Sinaitic) covenant has been made obsolete and replaced.
We also learn in Heb 7:18-19 that the law on which it was based has likewise been set aside, and replaced with the law of Christ (1Co 9:21), which is love (Gal 5:6, 14; Jas 2:8) and which fulfills (performs) the law (Ro 13: 8, 9, 10).
The "old" covenant has been made obsolete in favor of the New Covenant made in the blood of Chirst,
and the Mosaic Law on which the "old" covenant was founded has been set aside (Heb 7:18-19) in favor of the law of Christ (1Co 9:21; Gal 6:2), which is love and which fulfills (performs) the law (Ro 13:8, 9, 10).
The people of God are now under the New Covenant made in the blood of Christ,
