Covenant with Adam (Covenant Theology question)

how about the analogy of it being....

Do not sin, for if and when you do, you will experience something totally unknown to you now, death!

 

interesting!

 

But not accurate to the scriptures though!

 

Jon,

A covenant in Scripture is anytime God makes a binding agreement with anyone.
To Himself, to His creation...anyone.
Whether or not that promise contains obligations that have to be met by those to whom the covenant is made, it is still a covenant.

A Scriptural covenant is a binding agreement between two entities or groups where a promise is made by the Lord, and a breaking of the covenant is determined by "legal language" that is also setup by the Initiator.
Sometimes the Biblical covenant is in the form of a bilateral agreement ( the Law of Moses ), while other covenants are unilateral ( the "Noahic", "Abrahamic" and "Adamic" covenants ).

In other words, one type of covenant has language that is expressed like this:
"If you do this I will do this",
while the other has language expressed like this:
"I will do this".

Mankind gets our knowledge of a covenant from both the Bible and from the knowledge of Good and Evil passed down to us through Adam and Eve.
We know, in our spirits, what a covenant is...

It's not only an idea, but a fact of Scripture.

"Covenant theologians" ( I'm not one in the strictest sense, as I do not limit God's activities to outward covenants, but I do observe that the Lord makes covenants, both among the Godhead and with men ) observe that there are a handful of "major" agreements made by God towards men, and a significant number of "minor" agreements made towards individual men or groups of men.

"The Adamic Covenant" was with Adam and his offspring when the Lord made this promise:

" 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." ( Genesis 2:16-17 ).


1) The binding promise was initiated by God.
Under the terms of the covenant, Adam had a choice...

Accept God's commandment ( notice it is not in the form of a request, but a command, which God has the authority to make of us since we are His creation and are subservient to Him ),
Or reject it.


2) The terms of the covenant were thus...
Permission was given to eat of every tree in the Garden save one...the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

If the covenant was broken, then the terms of the penalty would take effect:


Death.

 

Was this physical death?

No, because we find later that there was another tree...
The Tree of Life, in which God tells the reader this:

" And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
23 therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." ( Genesis 3:22-24 ).

So unless Adam ate of the Tree of Life, he could not live forever, and would die, physically.

Therefore, the nature of the relationship between him and God was an intimate one:
God came in the cool of the evening to walk with His creation, man, and that is what God was telling Adam would happen if he ever disobeyed and ate of the Tree;
A breaking of that relationship.

Death, which is a breaking of the intimate relationship between man and God.
It is spirit to Spirit, which is what Adam enjoyed before his disobedience.

Where do I get this understanding?
Other passages that give me the details of what "life" is, and what "death" is.
Scripture "interpreting" and further defining other Scriptures.

"The Adamic Covenant"...from promise to terms to penalty included the end result...
Death, or separation from that which was far more important than physical life;
An eternal relationship with the the Lord Himself.

What happened when Adam violated the "covenant"?
The terms which were put into effect by the Lord carried to their promised end, and the penalty became reality.



May God bless you in your studies, sir.

 

The Works covenant would be based upon the scripture truth that Adam already was in a spiritual relationship with God, and had no need of a savior as of yet!

 

You are applying modern western logic to ancient near East writings.

God condescends to those He speaks to so that they may understand. We attempt to understand the context, and therefore what God intended to be understood, based on what the original target audience would have understood.

Peace to you

 

it is drawn from inference, same way that we derive trinity from bible !

 

I don't infer anything as I look closely at what is happening in the "narrative", and to me, it's not a fallacy.

God made a promise to Adam and Eve, and that promise is what I consider a "covenant" from God's perspective.
It is born out in Scripture itself.

To me, you either see it, or you don't.

"Absence of the positive" in the immediate passage ( God calling it a "covenant" or a "testament" in Genesis 2 ) does not mean that the understanding of "covenant" can not be established from other parts of God's word and then brought back in and applied to the agreement made with Adam.

For example,
I can find clear evidence of Scriptural covenants that God has made with men ( and actually calls them "covenants" or "testaments" ) when I examine, say, the epistles and the prophets.
I can list them if you like, and you can then take a look for yourself and decide whether or not you agree with my observations.


Finally,
I'm not here to argue with you, Jon.

I'm here to point out what I see in His word, and hopefully someone will find it edifying to them.
No one is required to agree with me.


Best wishes to you and yours, sir.

 

Pretty much all boils down to either God has one on a Covenant based upon works, as Adam was before he fell, or of grace, post fall!

 

I've edited the previous post with further thoughts, Dave.

Please take another look at it.