The Covenants - part 1
I have been thinking and praying heavily over this study. You see, there is more here that is deeper — more hidden than in most of our studies. The studies of the feasts are easy. There is so much on the surface that I don’t have to dig very deep to begin pulling out and exposing the beauty of G-d and how He points to our Messiah, His Son, in His appointed times.
This study is different. The premise is very simple: Each covenant was sealed in blood. But why was each covenant sealed that way? We know that blood covers sin (Leviticus 17:11, Hebrews 9:22). There must be something deeper in these covenants and their blood confirmation.
I began with Adam and Eve. We can read Genesis 3 to study the story of their fall and G-d’s punishment. This is also where we see the first covenant between G-d and man. The first agreement that is made between G-d and man. And it is sealed with blood as G-d made clothing for the humans He loved so dearly. Reviewing this story is where G-d showed me what I believe He wants me to share with you. Here, with Adam and Eve G-d made the first covenant. He made the first sacrifice. He spilled the first blood to seal the covenant with us.
To my memory this is one of only two times in Scripture where G-d spills blood to seal a covenant. It is interesting to me that the first covenant mirrors Yeshua’s covenant which was the second and only other time I can recall that G-d spilled blood to seal a covenant with us.
So we have Adam and Eve and G-d’s grace toward them. G-d’s grace toward them points us to Yeshua and His grace toward us as He gave the ultimate sacrifice.
The second covenant in Scripture is Noah’s. G-d sought to destroy all men, but when He saw Noah and his family He spared them. Out of gratefulness when Noah and his family were free of the ark (Genesis 8:15-22) Noah offered a sacrifice to G-d. Scripture says, “The L-RD smelled the soothing aroma… (Gen. 8:21)” Then in Genesis 9 G-d made a covenant with Noah and his sons that He would never destroy the earth in that way again and he gave them a rainbow as a sign of the covenant. Noah’s pure sacrifice before G-d had sealed the covenant.
Now people say that when the New Covenant (or Testament) came it did away with the old. G-d forbid He do away with one covenant for the sake of the next otherwise we may all die in a flood again.
How can we see Yeshua in this covenant? How does Noah’s covenant point us to our Master? I think the humility of Noah’s character is what inspired G-d to set him apart in the first place and save him from the flood. I think the purity of his heart before G-d — he was offering a holy sacrifice, a pleasing aroma to Adonai — is why G-d gave us this covenant. The heart behind his sacrifice and ultimately what inspired G-d to make this covenant with Noah and his descendants is a heart of worship to G-d. A heart that should not look very different from our own as we seek to honor our King.
We will be continuing to study the Covenants G-d has made with all man and His people throughout history and most of our references will come from Scripture or from this article in a Yavoh (Hebrew for “Foundation”) magazine: