Page 8 - Advanced OT Survey Student Textbook

forming a blood-path the two parties would walk down to confirm the covenant. Abraham seemed to
know about this type of covenant validation.

In this passage, God makes an unconditional covenant with Abraham, that his seed will become like the
stars in heaven and shall inherit a land. Abraham asked God, “how can I know this will come to pass?”
God asked Abraham to create the blood path, and, while we are not explicitly told, God obviously
walked through the animals as a seal of His covenant to Abraham. No seal could be stronger.

Christ’s shedding of His blood is a seal that all those who believe in Him, WILL HAVE eternal life (John
3:16). It is a covenant of blood.

The Five different types in Covenants in Old Testament

There are basically six important covenants but for the purposes of this course we will
focus on five.

(A) Noahic Covenant
The covenant which God made with Noah is also called re-creational covenant. God
destroyed the entire planet with water and then recreated it. God also was now
redefining his relationship with humanity for the first time since Eden. God was beginning
afresh with his fallen humanity. The covenant that God was making is a clear echo of (Genesis 1:28-30),

“Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the
earth. The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on
every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your
hands. Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I
now give you everything. But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.”

(Gen 9:1-4, all quotations unless otherwise are taken from the NIV) God preserved Noah and his family
and the rest of the saved animals as a seed for the new creation. However, even though God re-created
the earth, man was still corrupt. Noah’s covenant was also a cosmic covenant because it applied to all
humanity and all the earth. (Gen 9:8-16). And as per custom the covenant had to be sealed. Thus God
sealed His oath with the sign of his bow in the clouds.

Theological significance
The Ark which Noah made is a typology of Christ’s saving grace even in chaotic world like Noah’s day.
The story of Noah is also a good example of God’s view of sin. He is a loving and patient God, but he is
also a just God who does not let sin go unpunished. Our Lord Jesus in the New Testament compared the
story of Noah, “For the coming of the son of man will be just like the days of Noah.” Jesus was referring
to the corruption of humanity.

(B) Abrahamic Covenant
The Abrahamic covenant in literature is also known as the “covenant of grant” or “royal grant.” The
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covenant is called this because God was going to bless Abraham for his faithfulness in following God.
This covenant was not between a suzerain and vassal but a, “covenant sworn by two individuals
involving a gift of land, bestowed upon a servant who had distinguished himself by loyal service to his

9 https://www.jstor.org/stable/598135?seq=1
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