INTRODUCTION: So with all the needful preliminaries established, we can now focus on these covenants found in Holy Scripture. We will find some similarities among them as well as some significant contrasts. Some require man’s obedience, others are based solely on the sovereignty of GOD, apart from any requirements from men.
The pattern of all the covenants of the Bible is that (1) GOD establishes His promises of blessings (2) man sins by breaking the covenant (3) GOD judges the sin (4) GOD then provides redemption based not on man’s performance but upon His own mercy and grace.
Throughout Scripture we understand that sin always bears bad fruit and destructive consequences from which man is helpless to redeem himself, so GOD in His grace steps in and makes provision!
All of these covenants were initiated by GOD, never by man; they are all binding, in the sense that none can be abrogated and nullified by the will or intent of man – he can certainly disobey a covenant, and thereby in a sense ‘break’ it (ISA 24:5), but not destroy it. And as with the case of the Mosaic Covenant, even disobedience didn’t destroy it; the disobedience simply resulted in the people of Israel being escorted off the land by the courtesy of Assyrian or Babylonian soldiers and their chains!
I think we may find that after examining all of these covenants, we’ll be able to realize that their ultimate fulfillment is found not in any tribes or people of men, but in the Son of man, the LORD Jesus Christ Himself.
~ SECTION ONE
By way of review from the introductory article:
In the general sense, a covenant is simply a binding agreement or compact between two or more parties; in legal terms, it is a formal sealed agreement or contract.
There’s such a thing as a shoe covenant (DEUT 25:9-10; RUTH 4:8), as well as a covenant by salt (LEV 2:13; NUM 18:19; 2 CHRON 15:5) which was more binding than the shoe type.
The most binding of covenants were those made by sacrifice and the shedding of blood. Yet the greatest of all covenants were given by the authority of GOD’s Word and declaration of truth and the shed blood of The Word made flesh, Christ Jesus Who is Truth!
This is where the GOD of the Bible differs from the God of the Quran; YHWH makes and keeps promises; Allah does not or is free to abrogate any promise made because he is sovereign and may at any time change his mind as he sees fit.
This is why we as saints have great cause to rejoice; the Word of our GOD is strong, steadfast, dependable, and wholly trustworthy – He will never go back on His Word.
MATTHEW 24:35
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. (See PSALM 100:5)
1 KINGS 8:56
Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses.
DEUTERONOMY 32:3-4
3 For I proclaim the name of the LORD: Ascribe greatness to our God. 4 He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He (See also: 2 SAMUEL 7:28; JOHN 14:6).
So we shall begin with the first two covenants.
The Adamic Covenant can be thought of in two parts: firstly, the EDENIC Covenant (innocence) and secondly, the ADAMIC Covenant (grace) (GEN 3:16-19):
1.a The Edenic Covenant is found in GEN 1:26-30; 2:16-17. The Edenic Covenant outlined man’s responsibility toward creation and God’s directive regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This covenant was conditional: so long as man was obedient, he remained innocent and blessed in paradise. Failure to be faithful meant forlorn banishment and burdensome existence.
GENESIS 1:26-30
26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." 29 And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 30 "Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so.
Some preliminary thoughts before we delve into the significance of these covenants:
We have no conception of what Adam experienced when he first roused to consciousness, when as a result of GOD breathing into him, “he became a living soul” (GEN 2:7). Imagine opening your eyes for the first time, fully cognizant, fully aware, and able to comprehend your surroundings instantly (unlike the rest of humanity who were born as babies and who slowly, gradually develop these human aspects and experiences in the world). Think of what he must have thought when he saw His Creator, no doubt hovering over him as He raised the Man to his newly created feet!
I’m fully persuaded that the fall of man into sin wrought far, far more damage to us as a race than we could ever conceive of. It’s my opinion that Adam’s abilities were closer to what we would think of as a “superman” than to what’s common to us today as a species.
I believe the ability to record, process and utilize information for Adam was infinitely superior to our most advanced computer systems, exhibiting extraordinary intelligence. His physical prowess, far greater than the strongest power lifter, more agile than the most gifted of gymnasts, more handsome than any GQ model we could possibly come up with – and yet, having the innocence, humility, and gleefulness of a child.
And our mother Eve, no less in her qualities. Someone once posed the question, “Prove to me that Adam only lived in four dimensions”, which only serves to make the point that we know very little of reality as GOD created it prior to the fall. I believe the dimensionality of our universe was greatly diminished (to just four) from its original construct due to sin entering in.
GOD created Adam in “Our own image” – note the plural form here. In the first verse of GENESIS the word for “GOD” is Eloheim, a plural noun; but the verb for “created” (barah) is in the singular form: a grammatical error certainly, but which points to the truth of the Trinity of GOD.
And man was created in GOD’s likeness; that is, something that strongly resembles the original, but is not the exact replica of the original. As awesome as Adam was, he was not GOD nor comparable to GOD in all of His powers and attributes.
This same idea carries over to Christ Jesus in His incarnation:
“…GOD … sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh…” ROMANS 8:3.
Similar to our sinful flesh, but without a sin nature, not comparable to fallen man in all of his powers and attributes that demonstrated sinful behavior.
Adam was similar to GOD in that he was self-aware, intelligent, granted profound cognitive abilities, emotions, desires, imagination, free will, etc., just as GOD has these qualities, but not having GOD’s divine nature or supernatural abilities.
Adam was innocent in that he didn’t know evil, and he wasn’t corrupted, while also being corruptible (able to be corrupted). He and Eve were perfect, without flaw in any way – but given a free will, this left the door open so that if they had chosen to do so, they could step through that door, becoming then corrupted and damned.
Love that is not volitional is not love at all – so GOD gave us a choice: either to obey GOD, showing our love and allegiance to Him and therefore be the continual recipients of the Creator’s blessing and fellowship, or rebel and be cut off from the only Life source available, reap the consequences of sin, and incur GOD’s judgment.
This brings us to the Edenic Covenant:
Man was given authority by GOD to having rule over all of the Earth (which belongs to GOD (PS. 24:1-2) but was placed into man’s charge as the LORD’s steward over the world; which he lost when he fell into sin, and stewardship was transferred to Satan who became the ruler of this world; 2 COR 4:4; JOHN 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; EPH 2:2) – over the fish of the sea, birds of the air, over cattle and all land dwelling animals and the edict by GOD to go forward into the world, take dominion over it and be fruitful and multiply; in fact, “fill the Earth”.
He was told by the Creator that all herbs of the fields (vegetables) and fruit of all the trees, was his for the enjoyment. The same for the animals – there were no carnivorous predators at this point; everyone ate from the fruits born of the earth.
The Earth in those days didn’t know rain; it was irrigated by a heavy mist that rose up from the ground (GEN 2:5-6). GOD created a garden east of Eden; a river flowed through Eden and branched off into four riverheads (The Pishon, the Gihon, Hiddekel and the Euphrates; GEN 2:10-14); and the LORD placed Adam there (GEN 2:8). GOD created all vegetation and among the trees there were various kinds of fruit “pleasant to the sight and good for food” (GEN 2:9) – note that the fruit from the tree of knowledge between good and evil is described exactly the same way, they were all identical in their properties.
It’s interesting to note that in vs. 9 we read the following:
“…The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
Both trees were there in the garden, in the very center of it; I picture them being side by side, making the choice abundantly clear:
DEUTERONOMY 30:19
I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;
These were all the blessings of GOD given to Adam and Eve – they would continue to receive these if they were faithful to this covenant, which means that this covenant was conditional:
GENESIS 2:16
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat [including the tree of life]; 17 "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
This was in a sense, a One Rule Religion: just don’t eat of this fruit and all is well. GOD explained it to Adam, and presumably it was Adam that explained it to Eve because she wasn’t created until later (GENESIS 2:21).
In between this edict declaring this one rule religion and the creation of Eve, GOD brought all of His created animals before Adam, and left it to the Man to name them all – a formidable task that required no less a formidable mind, and Adam proved up to the task indeed (GEN 2:19-20)!
And I can’t help but wonder that as Adam named these creatures, that he must have noticed that they came in male and female versions, but he himself had no female counterpart.
Adam recognized something that I believe GOD wanted to reveal to him; that there was a lack in the life of the man – and this was in paradise! This reveals that man was not meant to live a solitary life, but that it was GOD’s design that he should be paired up with a suitable counterpart.
While it doesn’t specify in Scripture whether it was GOD or Adam that explained the conditions of this covenant, I believe it was Adam. It’s always been the duty of man to lead his wife, to minister to her, provide for her (and that she also is to minister and provide for him those things that she is enabled to by GOD).
I think he understood Adam’s heart for his wife, and how the woman understood (or didn’t! She seemed to think that even by touching the tree, she would be in violation; GEN 3:3) GOD’s command.
If he was to bring about the fall of man, Satan wouldn’t succeed in a frontal assault. Adam clearly knew the command of GOD. Rather, he used the indirect approach. Get the woman to fall, and the man – from his heart of love for her – would follow her, rather than be parted from her. In this sense, Adam becomes a type of Christ, for Jesus Christ identified with our sin, became sin for us (2 COR 5:21), and took upon Himself GOD’s wrath, rather than be parted from the ones He loves!
So let’s look at what actually transpired in the garden:
GENESIS 3:1-3
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" 2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden. 3 "but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.
GENESIS 3:4-6
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
GENESIS 3:7-13
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. 8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" 10 So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself." 11 And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?" 12 Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate." 13 And the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate.
For commentary on these passages and more, check out the TTUF study on GENESIS 3.
~ SECTION TWO
And notice that things didn’t really change for this couple until after Adam sinned – it was then that both of their eyes were opened, and they saw (simultaneously it would seem) that they were naked.
So then Why is Adam blamed for the fall of humanity when Eve sinned first? GOT QUESTIONS has a great and insightful answer at this link!
It was because Adam listened to his wife rather than to GOD (because the woman’s counsel was rebellious, and GOD’s was righteous) that the ground would be cursed. Agriculture would become arduous, and far less fruitful than before the fall. Work would become a burdensome task that wouldn’t yield in proportion to the effort. Such would be man’s lot: “from the dust you came, and to dust you shall return”.
Throughout all of these pronouncements of judgment and curses upon Adam, Eve and the creation that they were to supervise (ROM 8:22), in the midst of this paramount doom and gloom, there was a singular shaft of hopeful light:
The coming seed of the woman – the first prophecy of Scripture: one of the descendants of our First Parents would be the One to crush the serpent and all that he represents.
This was demonstrated visually for them:
GENESIS 3:21
Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin and clothed them.
When they realized that they were naked, they attempted to clothe themselves with fig leaves (which are notoriously itchy on the skin – I suppose they felt that they should suffer for what they did). A covering without the shedding of blood.
Yet here, they no doubt witnessed GOD taking a defenseless animal (or two) and slew them, spilling their blood, stripping them of their skins, and using them to “cover the man’s and woman’s sins” (an intentional pun on the part of the Holy Spirit; HEB 9:22)!
Herein is the difference between religion and righteousness. Adam and Eve through their own thinking and effort sewed fig leaves in an attempt to cover their sin – but failed to do so.
Wholly apart from their thinking and actions, GOD slew an animal – an innocent creature that did nothing wrong at all and having shed its blood provided a cover for our First Parents.
It's an interesting point of fact that this theme was repeated when Cain and Abel sacrificed their offerings before GOD: Cain brought grain to the LORD while Abel brought of his herd – the one bloodless, the other not. Abel’s was accepted while Cain’s was not. Because of jealousy and resentment Cain rose up and killed righteous Abel – and so the story continues throughout history: the righteous are always persecuted (not by atheists or humanists or godless philosophers) but by the religious!
In the Edenic Covenant, where Adam failed to obey GOD, Christ Jesus – the Last Adam successfully obeyed the Father in all things.
In the Adamic Covenant, as a result of Adam’s failure to keep the covenant granted by GOD, the LORD brought about another covenant where judgments were pronounced, the First Parents were expelled from Eden (and the tree of life left under guard of cherubim (VERY powerful super-angels) with flaming swords; GEN 3:24; probably necessary to provide this kind of angelic muscle to deny Satan – not Adam from having access to it, though it would be off limits to the man as well).
In the general sense, a covenant is simply a binding agreement or compact between two or more parties; in legal terms, it is a formal sealed agreement or contract.
There’s such a thing as a shoe covenant (DEUT 25:9-10; RUTH 4:8), as well as a covenant by salt (LEV 2:13; NUM 18:19; 2 CHRON 15:5) which was more binding than the shoe type.
The most binding of covenants were those made by sacrifice and the shedding of blood. Yet the greatest of all covenants were given by the authority of GOD’s Word and declaration of truth and the shed blood of The Word made flesh, Christ Jesus Who is Truth!
This is where the GOD of the Bible differs from the God of the Quran; YHWH makes and keeps promises; Allah does not or is free to abrogate any promise made because he is sovereign and may at any time change his mind as he sees fit.
This is why we as saints have great cause to rejoice; the Word of our GOD is strong, steadfast, dependable, and wholly trustworthy – He will never go back on His Word.
MATTHEW 24:35
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. (See PSALM 100:5)
1 KINGS 8:56
Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses.
DEUTERONOMY 32:3-4
3 For I proclaim the name of the LORD: Ascribe greatness to our God. 4 He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He (See also: 2 SAMUEL 7:28; JOHN 14:6).
So we shall begin with the first two covenants.
The Adamic Covenant can be thought of in two parts: firstly, the EDENIC Covenant (innocence) and secondly, the ADAMIC Covenant (grace) (GEN 3:16-19):
1.a The Edenic Covenant is found in GEN 1:26-30; 2:16-17. The Edenic Covenant outlined man’s responsibility toward creation and God’s directive regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This covenant was conditional: so long as man was obedient, he remained innocent and blessed in paradise. Failure to be faithful meant forlorn banishment and burdensome existence.
GENESIS 1:26-30
26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." 29 And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 30 "Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so.
Some preliminary thoughts before we delve into the significance of these covenants:
We have no conception of what Adam experienced when he first roused to consciousness, when as a result of GOD breathing into him, “he became a living soul” (GEN 2:7). Imagine opening your eyes for the first time, fully cognizant, fully aware, and able to comprehend your surroundings instantly (unlike the rest of humanity who were born as babies and who slowly, gradually develop these human aspects and experiences in the world). Think of what he must have thought when he saw His Creator, no doubt hovering over him as He raised the Man to his newly created feet!
I’m fully persuaded that the fall of man into sin wrought far, far more damage to us as a race than we could ever conceive of. It’s my opinion that Adam’s abilities were closer to what we would think of as a “superman” than to what’s common to us today as a species.
I believe the ability to record, process and utilize information for Adam was infinitely superior to our most advanced computer systems, exhibiting extraordinary intelligence. His physical prowess, far greater than the strongest power lifter, more agile than the most gifted of gymnasts, more handsome than any GQ model we could possibly come up with – and yet, having the innocence, humility, and gleefulness of a child.
And our mother Eve, no less in her qualities. Someone once posed the question, “Prove to me that Adam only lived in four dimensions”, which only serves to make the point that we know very little of reality as GOD created it prior to the fall. I believe the dimensionality of our universe was greatly diminished (to just four) from its original construct due to sin entering in.
GOD created Adam in “Our own image” – note the plural form here. In the first verse of GENESIS the word for “GOD” is Eloheim, a plural noun; but the verb for “created” (barah) is in the singular form: a grammatical error certainly, but which points to the truth of the Trinity of GOD.
And man was created in GOD’s likeness; that is, something that strongly resembles the original, but is not the exact replica of the original. As awesome as Adam was, he was not GOD nor comparable to GOD in all of His powers and attributes.
This same idea carries over to Christ Jesus in His incarnation:
“…GOD … sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh…” ROMANS 8:3.
Similar to our sinful flesh, but without a sin nature, not comparable to fallen man in all of his powers and attributes that demonstrated sinful behavior.
Adam was similar to GOD in that he was self-aware, intelligent, granted profound cognitive abilities, emotions, desires, imagination, free will, etc., just as GOD has these qualities, but not having GOD’s divine nature or supernatural abilities.
Adam was innocent in that he didn’t know evil, and he wasn’t corrupted, while also being corruptible (able to be corrupted). He and Eve were perfect, without flaw in any way – but given a free will, this left the door open so that if they had chosen to do so, they could step through that door, becoming then corrupted and damned.
Love that is not volitional is not love at all – so GOD gave us a choice: either to obey GOD, showing our love and allegiance to Him and therefore be the continual recipients of the Creator’s blessing and fellowship, or rebel and be cut off from the only Life source available, reap the consequences of sin, and incur GOD’s judgment.
This brings us to the Edenic Covenant:
Man was given authority by GOD to having rule over all of the Earth (which belongs to GOD (PS. 24:1-2) but was placed into man’s charge as the LORD’s steward over the world; which he lost when he fell into sin, and stewardship was transferred to Satan who became the ruler of this world; 2 COR 4:4; JOHN 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; EPH 2:2) – over the fish of the sea, birds of the air, over cattle and all land dwelling animals and the edict by GOD to go forward into the world, take dominion over it and be fruitful and multiply; in fact, “fill the Earth”.
He was told by the Creator that all herbs of the fields (vegetables) and fruit of all the trees, was his for the enjoyment. The same for the animals – there were no carnivorous predators at this point; everyone ate from the fruits born of the earth.
The Earth in those days didn’t know rain; it was irrigated by a heavy mist that rose up from the ground (GEN 2:5-6). GOD created a garden east of Eden; a river flowed through Eden and branched off into four riverheads (The Pishon, the Gihon, Hiddekel and the Euphrates; GEN 2:10-14); and the LORD placed Adam there (GEN 2:8). GOD created all vegetation and among the trees there were various kinds of fruit “pleasant to the sight and good for food” (GEN 2:9) – note that the fruit from the tree of knowledge between good and evil is described exactly the same way, they were all identical in their properties.
It’s interesting to note that in vs. 9 we read the following:
“…The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
Both trees were there in the garden, in the very center of it; I picture them being side by side, making the choice abundantly clear:
DEUTERONOMY 30:19
I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;
These were all the blessings of GOD given to Adam and Eve – they would continue to receive these if they were faithful to this covenant, which means that this covenant was conditional:
GENESIS 2:16
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat [including the tree of life]; 17 "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
This was in a sense, a One Rule Religion: just don’t eat of this fruit and all is well. GOD explained it to Adam, and presumably it was Adam that explained it to Eve because she wasn’t created until later (GENESIS 2:21).
In between this edict declaring this one rule religion and the creation of Eve, GOD brought all of His created animals before Adam, and left it to the Man to name them all – a formidable task that required no less a formidable mind, and Adam proved up to the task indeed (GEN 2:19-20)!
And I can’t help but wonder that as Adam named these creatures, that he must have noticed that they came in male and female versions, but he himself had no female counterpart.
Adam recognized something that I believe GOD wanted to reveal to him; that there was a lack in the life of the man – and this was in paradise! This reveals that man was not meant to live a solitary life, but that it was GOD’s design that he should be paired up with a suitable counterpart.
While it doesn’t specify in Scripture whether it was GOD or Adam that explained the conditions of this covenant, I believe it was Adam. It’s always been the duty of man to lead his wife, to minister to her, provide for her (and that she also is to minister and provide for him those things that she is enabled to by GOD).
On a side note: And notice that GOD put Adam to sleep, removed a rib and from it, created a woman; one might say, He created Adam from dirt, but the woman from the man and hence twice refined from the dirt! Adam was not involved in the process; GOD was invested in the entire matter and simply brought the woman to the man.I believe our First Parents had an audience, a particular serpentine audience, who carefully watched these two; perhaps he overheard Adam’s explanation regarding this tree of knowledge of good and evil (and found a flaw?) and wondered how he could get these two to rebel against GOD their Creator.
GOD seems to almost always follow this pattern between a man and wife. By means of Abraham’s servant Rebekah was brought to Isaac; it was Rachel that came to the well where she met Jacob. It was Ruth who was brought to Boaz. We also know that the Father leads people to His Son, and they become the bride of Christ.
How different is the biblical model of seeking a wife as opposed to the world’s method (the masculine cave man dragging his woman by the hair into his cave – a macho sentiment that seems itself to be waning in this day and age).
I believe that it’s a good thing for a man to seek a wife, but that he seeks after her through the LORD, and allow the LORD to bring His woman to the man.
There are many who counsel Christian men to seek out a godly woman, any woman that is walking with the LORD, and one that they are particularly attracted to, and compatible with, and that will be fine.
I believe Adam is our model – but what selection did he have? None! There wasn’t an ‘option B’; it’s my personal opinion that for (virtually) ever man, there is a specific woman – GOD’s choice – for him.
I think he understood Adam’s heart for his wife, and how the woman understood (or didn’t! She seemed to think that even by touching the tree, she would be in violation; GEN 3:3) GOD’s command.
If he was to bring about the fall of man, Satan wouldn’t succeed in a frontal assault. Adam clearly knew the command of GOD. Rather, he used the indirect approach. Get the woman to fall, and the man – from his heart of love for her – would follow her, rather than be parted from her. In this sense, Adam becomes a type of Christ, for Jesus Christ identified with our sin, became sin for us (2 COR 5:21), and took upon Himself GOD’s wrath, rather than be parted from the ones He loves!
So let’s look at what actually transpired in the garden:
GENESIS 3:1-3
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" 2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden. 3 "but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.
GENESIS 3:4-6
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
GENESIS 3:7-13
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. 8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" 10 So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself." 11 And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?" 12 Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate." 13 And the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate.
For commentary on these passages and more, check out the TTUF study on GENESIS 3.
~ SECTION TWO
It was because of the fact that Adam and Eve failed in keeping this covenant, that the LORD brought upon them both judgment but also mercy – both contained in the Adamic Covenant. We see this throughout all of the Covenants that are conditional; but it’s impossible for the recipient of an unconditional covenant to fail in keeping conditions that don’t exist for them!
Whereas the First Adam failed in keeping this covenant, the Last Adam proved Himself faithful in every respect in obedience to GOD the Father, always doing everything that is well pleasing in His sight (MATT 3:17; JOHN 8:29). The First Adam declined to partake of the Tree of Life and rather decided on the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil – whereas the Last Adam is Himself the Tree of Life.
Two last points before we move on to the Adamic Covenant:
The Great Fall of Adam – I don’t believe we can comprehend how great the fall of Adam truly was because we have no way of comprehending Adam’s lofty, regal station in his innocent state before the fall.
Adam likely possessed far more powerful senses and abilities than we do, with which he could perceive Him and live according to the glory of GOD. That was ruined with he fell. The state of innocence in which he and Eve lived was immaculate, perfect, flawless, pure in every respect. Suddenly all kinds of wickedness and rebellion crept into their hearts, and it started immediately when GOD called them into question: they started with “the Blame Game”, trying to pass the buck and lay the blame on others rather than themselves!
The intimate fellowship with GOD in all its intensity of rapturous, euphoric, jubilant elation was dashed, and rather than seeking GOD enthusiastically when He came in the cool of the evening, Adam ran and hid in fear.
I’m sure in the eyes of our First Parents, the world after the fall suddenly took on a much colder pallor, and a profound sense of lonely isolation must have crept in. How forlorn and grieved they must have been when they realized that they not only damned themselves, but any progeny as well – the whole human race!
I wonder if the process of dying that began once they died spiritually (upon disobedience) was something palpable – that they could sense a definite and damning difference in their awareness from before the fall to after?
And one wonders if they had remained loyal to GOD and were then fruitful and multiplied – how their innocent children would grow up to be innocent adults, and we would all have experienced an innocent world!
What was it about this tree? I don’t believe that there was anything intrinsically evil or sinful about this tree of knowledge of good and evil; that by taking a bite, the substance of the fruit would have incorporated its evil into the DNA or the minds of our First Parents.
The evil I believe, was in the disobedience to GOD Himself, and His Holy will; opposing the will of GOD proved to these two that such was possible – and that by doing so, and losing their status as innocent creatures, that they would then experientially come to understand and know both good and evil. Eventually, due to the newly inserted sin nature, their propensity would increasingly crave the evil and the good would become more and more repugnant. And so it promulgated and perverted all humanity!
For more on this, check out this article on This Strange Predicament of Evil.
Furthermore, just as GOD was able to commune with our First Parents, and reveal Himself to them, now that they’ve fallen from their innocence, and have devolved into a sin nature, that opened communication up with Satan in a more diabolical way; he could then reveal himself – and such forbidden knowledge he was privy to, to the descendants of Adam and Eve.
I believe that this knowledge was codified and expanded upon at the Tower of Babel (GEN 11) when Nimrod and Company sought to build this edifice that would “reach to the heavens” – reaching, not in a physical, but in a spiritual sense with “the sons of GOD” who fancied themselves to be gods (hence, “Babel” – gateway to the gods).
And this connection of corruption climbed to new hellish heights from the time of the fall, flourishing, and taking hold on the human race in GENESIS 6, when the fallen angels began to cohabitate with women.
That which was born of them (the nephilim or “fallen ones”) were half angelic/half human hybrids who would intuitively have forbidden knowledge that they would share with mankind, furthering their corruption to the point where GOD had to send a flood to wipe the proverbial slate clean!
But to the immediate problem (and blessed solution!) at hand, we now examine the Adamic Covenant and then conclude this second of eight articles:
1. b The Adamic Covenant included the curses pronounced against mankind for the sin of Adam and Eve, as well as God’s provision by grace for that sin (GEN 3:14-19). This covenant was unconditional, as mankind didn’t have any requirements and all the action taken is the sole responsibility of GOD.
GENESIS 3:14-19
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." 16 To the woman He said: "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you." 17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.
The curse on the serpent intimates that it didn’t always crawl about on its belly; did it have wings? Or legs? In any event, it suffered humiliation, and I don’t believe it was GOD’s intention to bring down a reptilian creature – I think He was declaring the denunciation of the devil!
There was also this declaration by Deity of war between “the seed of the woman” and “the seed of the serpent”. The seed of the woman is specific to the virgin birth of Christ; biologically the woman carries the egg, not the seed – but here it specifies the woman will have a seed. Definite intimation of the virgin birth here!
Also, Scripture itself points to the identity of this seed through the apostle Paul: the same seed of the woman who was destined to crush the head of the serpent is also the one specific seed, a descendant of Abraham, that is Christ, through Whom all the promises would be fulfilled:
GALATIANS 3:16
Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ.
Many assume that the seed of the serpent is in a general sense – all of those who are “children of disobedience” (EPH 2:2) and even pointedly, the religious leadership of Christ’s day (MATT 3:7; 12:34; 23:33); to suggest that all of these are “the seed of the serpent” is admissible, yet I can’t help but think:
Christ had no earthly father as His progenitor, His Father was GOD. What if the seed (singular) of the serpent had no earthly father either but had as their progenitor Satan himself, who, like the fallen angels of GENESIS 6, will (or has!) cohabitated with a human female who has conceived a nephilim who is the beast of Revelation, literally “the son of Satan”?
It’s certainly true that at the battle of Armageddon, Christ and His cruel counterpart – the antichrist, the son of perdition will meet together. But it’s hardly a battle; the antichrist leading the armies of the world to annihilate Israel once and for all will be intercepted by the Second Coming where the Messiah arrives to defend His brethren and destroys the beast merely “with the brightness of His coming” (2 THESS 2:8). Talk about anti-climactic! As such, that will be the beginning of GOD’s judgment upon Satan – beginning with the Beast (and the False Prophet; REV 19:20).
One thousand years later, Satan will finally meet the same unavoidable, inevitable fate and know ultimate defeat that began at the Cross where his head was crushed:
REVELATION 20:10
The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
For the woman, because she succumbed to temptation, she would have to endure pain during child birth – which evidently wouldn’t be a reality had our First Parents conceived children prior to the fall. Such a phenomenon also serves as an allegorical device in describing how the last days would transpire (MATT 24:8).
Eve would have the proclivity of controlling Adam, to do as she desired, but GOD would bring a restraining force through Adam to keep her in check. This ruination of their relationship would be the result of the furthering of sin in them both. Throughout the ages men due to their (usually) superior physical strength have wrongly dominated, even abused women. Women would likewise through subtlety and emotional manipulation seek to steer their husbands: the veritable “war of the sexes” that GOD never intended!
Seeing that the man was to govern over his wife is part of the judgment on her, we can safely assume that this was not how it was before the fall, nor how GOD intended this situation either! In as much as man needs GOD to supervise him, watch over him, govern his life, so likewise husbands need to supervise their wives. This might be “politically incorrect”, but this is nonetheless what the Scriptures reveal.
For these (and many more) reasons, I believe GOD’s call in raising up pastors (not prophetesses or evangelists, or deaconesses) disallows women (1 TIM 2:14).
Why Can’t Women Be Pastors According to the WORD of GOD?
Whereas the First Adam failed in keeping this covenant, the Last Adam proved Himself faithful in every respect in obedience to GOD the Father, always doing everything that is well pleasing in His sight (MATT 3:17; JOHN 8:29). The First Adam declined to partake of the Tree of Life and rather decided on the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil – whereas the Last Adam is Himself the Tree of Life.
Two last points before we move on to the Adamic Covenant:
The Great Fall of Adam – I don’t believe we can comprehend how great the fall of Adam truly was because we have no way of comprehending Adam’s lofty, regal station in his innocent state before the fall.
Adam likely possessed far more powerful senses and abilities than we do, with which he could perceive Him and live according to the glory of GOD. That was ruined with he fell. The state of innocence in which he and Eve lived was immaculate, perfect, flawless, pure in every respect. Suddenly all kinds of wickedness and rebellion crept into their hearts, and it started immediately when GOD called them into question: they started with “the Blame Game”, trying to pass the buck and lay the blame on others rather than themselves!
The intimate fellowship with GOD in all its intensity of rapturous, euphoric, jubilant elation was dashed, and rather than seeking GOD enthusiastically when He came in the cool of the evening, Adam ran and hid in fear.
I’m sure in the eyes of our First Parents, the world after the fall suddenly took on a much colder pallor, and a profound sense of lonely isolation must have crept in. How forlorn and grieved they must have been when they realized that they not only damned themselves, but any progeny as well – the whole human race!
I wonder if the process of dying that began once they died spiritually (upon disobedience) was something palpable – that they could sense a definite and damning difference in their awareness from before the fall to after?
And one wonders if they had remained loyal to GOD and were then fruitful and multiplied – how their innocent children would grow up to be innocent adults, and we would all have experienced an innocent world!
What was it about this tree? I don’t believe that there was anything intrinsically evil or sinful about this tree of knowledge of good and evil; that by taking a bite, the substance of the fruit would have incorporated its evil into the DNA or the minds of our First Parents.
The evil I believe, was in the disobedience to GOD Himself, and His Holy will; opposing the will of GOD proved to these two that such was possible – and that by doing so, and losing their status as innocent creatures, that they would then experientially come to understand and know both good and evil. Eventually, due to the newly inserted sin nature, their propensity would increasingly crave the evil and the good would become more and more repugnant. And so it promulgated and perverted all humanity!
For more on this, check out this article on This Strange Predicament of Evil.
Furthermore, just as GOD was able to commune with our First Parents, and reveal Himself to them, now that they’ve fallen from their innocence, and have devolved into a sin nature, that opened communication up with Satan in a more diabolical way; he could then reveal himself – and such forbidden knowledge he was privy to, to the descendants of Adam and Eve.
I believe that this knowledge was codified and expanded upon at the Tower of Babel (GEN 11) when Nimrod and Company sought to build this edifice that would “reach to the heavens” – reaching, not in a physical, but in a spiritual sense with “the sons of GOD” who fancied themselves to be gods (hence, “Babel” – gateway to the gods).
And this connection of corruption climbed to new hellish heights from the time of the fall, flourishing, and taking hold on the human race in GENESIS 6, when the fallen angels began to cohabitate with women.
That which was born of them (the nephilim or “fallen ones”) were half angelic/half human hybrids who would intuitively have forbidden knowledge that they would share with mankind, furthering their corruption to the point where GOD had to send a flood to wipe the proverbial slate clean!
But to the immediate problem (and blessed solution!) at hand, we now examine the Adamic Covenant and then conclude this second of eight articles:
1. b The Adamic Covenant included the curses pronounced against mankind for the sin of Adam and Eve, as well as God’s provision by grace for that sin (GEN 3:14-19). This covenant was unconditional, as mankind didn’t have any requirements and all the action taken is the sole responsibility of GOD.
GENESIS 3:14-19
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." 16 To the woman He said: "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you." 17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.
The curse on the serpent intimates that it didn’t always crawl about on its belly; did it have wings? Or legs? In any event, it suffered humiliation, and I don’t believe it was GOD’s intention to bring down a reptilian creature – I think He was declaring the denunciation of the devil!
There was also this declaration by Deity of war between “the seed of the woman” and “the seed of the serpent”. The seed of the woman is specific to the virgin birth of Christ; biologically the woman carries the egg, not the seed – but here it specifies the woman will have a seed. Definite intimation of the virgin birth here!
Also, Scripture itself points to the identity of this seed through the apostle Paul: the same seed of the woman who was destined to crush the head of the serpent is also the one specific seed, a descendant of Abraham, that is Christ, through Whom all the promises would be fulfilled:
GALATIANS 3:16
Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ.
Many assume that the seed of the serpent is in a general sense – all of those who are “children of disobedience” (EPH 2:2) and even pointedly, the religious leadership of Christ’s day (MATT 3:7; 12:34; 23:33); to suggest that all of these are “the seed of the serpent” is admissible, yet I can’t help but think:
Christ had no earthly father as His progenitor, His Father was GOD. What if the seed (singular) of the serpent had no earthly father either but had as their progenitor Satan himself, who, like the fallen angels of GENESIS 6, will (or has!) cohabitated with a human female who has conceived a nephilim who is the beast of Revelation, literally “the son of Satan”?
It’s certainly true that at the battle of Armageddon, Christ and His cruel counterpart – the antichrist, the son of perdition will meet together. But it’s hardly a battle; the antichrist leading the armies of the world to annihilate Israel once and for all will be intercepted by the Second Coming where the Messiah arrives to defend His brethren and destroys the beast merely “with the brightness of His coming” (2 THESS 2:8). Talk about anti-climactic! As such, that will be the beginning of GOD’s judgment upon Satan – beginning with the Beast (and the False Prophet; REV 19:20).
One thousand years later, Satan will finally meet the same unavoidable, inevitable fate and know ultimate defeat that began at the Cross where his head was crushed:
REVELATION 20:10
The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
For the woman, because she succumbed to temptation, she would have to endure pain during child birth – which evidently wouldn’t be a reality had our First Parents conceived children prior to the fall. Such a phenomenon also serves as an allegorical device in describing how the last days would transpire (MATT 24:8).
Eve would have the proclivity of controlling Adam, to do as she desired, but GOD would bring a restraining force through Adam to keep her in check. This ruination of their relationship would be the result of the furthering of sin in them both. Throughout the ages men due to their (usually) superior physical strength have wrongly dominated, even abused women. Women would likewise through subtlety and emotional manipulation seek to steer their husbands: the veritable “war of the sexes” that GOD never intended!
Seeing that the man was to govern over his wife is part of the judgment on her, we can safely assume that this was not how it was before the fall, nor how GOD intended this situation either! In as much as man needs GOD to supervise him, watch over him, govern his life, so likewise husbands need to supervise their wives. This might be “politically incorrect”, but this is nonetheless what the Scriptures reveal.
For these (and many more) reasons, I believe GOD’s call in raising up pastors (not prophetesses or evangelists, or deaconesses) disallows women (1 TIM 2:14).
Why Can’t Women Be Pastors According to the WORD of GOD?
For an in-depth, 9 Part Series on this (needlessly) controversial subject, check out these videos by pastor Mike Winger:
For the man, the situation was a little different: the woman was deceived, whereas the man fell by transgression: he knew what it was he was doing, but he did it anyway. His action was willfully intentional sin – yet as we know, even transgressions are forgivable by the grace of GOD (PSALM 32:1-2).
And notice that things didn’t really change for this couple until after Adam sinned – it was then that both of their eyes were opened, and they saw (simultaneously it would seem) that they were naked.
So then Why is Adam blamed for the fall of humanity when Eve sinned first? GOT QUESTIONS has a great and insightful answer at this link!
It was because Adam listened to his wife rather than to GOD (because the woman’s counsel was rebellious, and GOD’s was righteous) that the ground would be cursed. Agriculture would become arduous, and far less fruitful than before the fall. Work would become a burdensome task that wouldn’t yield in proportion to the effort. Such would be man’s lot: “from the dust you came, and to dust you shall return”.
Throughout all of these pronouncements of judgment and curses upon Adam, Eve and the creation that they were to supervise (ROM 8:22), in the midst of this paramount doom and gloom, there was a singular shaft of hopeful light:
The coming seed of the woman – the first prophecy of Scripture: one of the descendants of our First Parents would be the One to crush the serpent and all that he represents.
This was demonstrated visually for them:
GENESIS 3:21
Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin and clothed them.
When they realized that they were naked, they attempted to clothe themselves with fig leaves (which are notoriously itchy on the skin – I suppose they felt that they should suffer for what they did). A covering without the shedding of blood.
Yet here, they no doubt witnessed GOD taking a defenseless animal (or two) and slew them, spilling their blood, stripping them of their skins, and using them to “cover the man’s and woman’s sins” (an intentional pun on the part of the Holy Spirit; HEB 9:22)!
Herein is the difference between religion and righteousness. Adam and Eve through their own thinking and effort sewed fig leaves in an attempt to cover their sin – but failed to do so.
Wholly apart from their thinking and actions, GOD slew an animal – an innocent creature that did nothing wrong at all and having shed its blood provided a cover for our First Parents.
It's an interesting point of fact that this theme was repeated when Cain and Abel sacrificed their offerings before GOD: Cain brought grain to the LORD while Abel brought of his herd – the one bloodless, the other not. Abel’s was accepted while Cain’s was not. Because of jealousy and resentment Cain rose up and killed righteous Abel – and so the story continues throughout history: the righteous are always persecuted (not by atheists or humanists or godless philosophers) but by the religious!
In the Edenic Covenant, where Adam failed to obey GOD, Christ Jesus – the Last Adam successfully obeyed the Father in all things.
In the Adamic Covenant, as a result of Adam’s failure to keep the covenant granted by GOD, the LORD brought about another covenant where judgments were pronounced, the First Parents were expelled from Eden (and the tree of life left under guard of cherubim (VERY powerful super-angels) with flaming swords; GEN 3:24; probably necessary to provide this kind of angelic muscle to deny Satan – not Adam from having access to it, though it would be off limits to the man as well).
How is Christ the ultimate fulfillment of this Adamic covenant?
Christ Jesus is referred to as "the last Adam" (1 COR 15:45-49) as opposed to the first Adam - who failed to obey GOD and brought all of humanity into the condition of a sin nature. Likewise by the second Adam's perfect obedience to the LORD GOD (JOHN 8:29; 1 PET 1:19), He was able to provide righteousness (ROM 3:22) to the repentant by means of the spiritual rebirth (1 PET 1:23; JOHN 3:3).
The curse fell on the first Adam, resulting in sin and thorns and thistles.
The curse was then taken by the last Adam who took our sins and crowned in thorns.
The curse was then taken by the last Adam who took our sins and crowned in thorns.
Just as the first Adam was the Federal Head of fallen humanity, the second Adam is the Federal Head of redeemed humanity (ROM 5:17-21)! A new human race as it were, with new hearts (EZEK 36:26; JOHN 3:5), minds that are being renewed (ROM 12:1-2), and bodies that will be granted new, glorified bodies (PHIL 3:21; 1 COR 15:51-52) with which we shall live forever in GOD's eternal kingdom!
Along with those judgments, GOD provided a merciful promise: “the seed of the woman” would arrive one day and bring salvation – and as we know, this likewise is the fulfiller of this covenant as well: the One Who would take on the curse for us (and wear that crown of thorns; JOHN 19:5) and destroy the deeds of the devil!
HEBREWS 2:14-15
14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
1 JOHN 3:8
He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
HEBREWS 2:14-15
14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
1 JOHN 3:8
He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
The next two videos by Gideon Levytam are studies in the Edenic and Adamic covenants:
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