Covenants in the Old Testament Scriptures.
The Old Covenant Scriptures present several promises that God gave to the people. Bible describes these promises as covenants. Usually, the covenant is an agreement between two parties. However, some of the covenants described in the Bible are not an agreement between two parties. Examples of these grants, or covenants, are. The covenant, or a promise, that God gave to Adam in the garden of Eden; the Covenant with Noah after the flood; the Covenant with Abraham; and the Covenant with David. These covenants are promises because they do not involve two parties. The Hebrew Scriptures address the covenants as grants. God granted a promise as a reward for loyalty both past and present. God is the unilateral Grantor of a promise. The humanity in the garden of Eden, Noah, Abraham, and David are grantees or recipients of a promise. The grant, or a promise, obligates the Grantor only. It does not obligate or imposes conditions on the grantee or recipient. The recipient, grantee, of a promise could not choose when and how God would fulfill the promise. The translators of the Scriptures present these grants as covenants. However, grants, or promises, are not legally binding agreements between two parties. God, as Grantor, fulfills his promises unilaterally. The recipients of grants do not have a say in when and how God would fulfill his promises, and they cannot request what the promises are to include.
The grant, God’s promise, in the garden of Eden pertained to God’s future action on behalf of the rebellious humankind. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15. God addressed Satan in the serpent on the tree. God referred to the offspring in the singular, not plural. When God stated “and her seed” the seeds or offspring of the woman, He referred to the Messiah. Christ crushed or defeated Satan, God’s Enemy. However, to do so, He suffered the cross.
The Messiah received the human body through a woman at the incarnation. The male part of humanity did not have a role in the incarnation. The Messiah is the seed of the woman in His body. God determined when and how the Messiah would come into the world. Humankind has no say in how God would fulfill the promise He gave in the garden in Eden. Humans had to trust that God would fulfill the promise at just the right time. God did not impose any requirements on humankind concerning the coming of the Messiah. The grantee, the recipient, humankind, could not and did not impose any requirement on God concerning the coming of the Messiah. God did fulfill His promise at just the right time. God ensured that humankind would not perish. He did so because He loves humankind. Because God loves humankind selflessly, He restored it to Him as His children.
