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Course 6 · Lesson 2.2

The covenants with Noah and Abraham

11 minute read

Lessons in this course

Course 6 outline

Module 1: Israel in the Ancient Near East

  1. Egypt, Mesopotamia and Canaan: the world of the Old Testament
  2. What archaeology and ancient texts can and cannot show
  3. Genesis 1 to 3 beside other ancient creation accounts
  4. Ancient cosmology and how Christians and Jews read Genesis

Module 2: Covenant: Abraham and Moses

  1. What a covenant is, and covenant forms in the ancient world
  2. The covenants with Noah and Abraham
  3. The exodus and the covenant at Sinai
  4. The Torah: law, worship and the tabernacle
  5. Covenant in Jewish, Catholic, Orthodox and Reformed thought

Module 3: Kingship in Israel

  1. From the judges to the first kings
  2. David, Jerusalem and the promise of a lasting house
  3. Solomon, the temple and the divided kingdom
  4. How Samuel and Kings tell the story: sources and purpose

Module 4: The Prophets, Exile and Restoration

  1. What a prophet was in Israel and in the ancient world
  2. Amos, Hosea, Isaiah and Micah: justice, loyalty and judgment
  3. Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the fall of Jerusalem
  4. The return, Ezra, Nehemiah and the rebuilt temple
  5. How the prophetic books were formed: the debate over Isaiah and others

Module 5: Wisdom and Apocalyptic Writing

  1. Proverbs and the way of the wise
  2. Job and Ecclesiastes: wisdom that questions
  3. What apocalyptic writing is: Daniel and its setting
  4. Reading apocalyptic images responsibly

Module 6: Second Temple Judaism and the Development of Jewish Thought

  1. Persian, Greek and Maccabean periods
  2. Temple, synagogue and the main groups in Jewish life
  3. Development in Jewish thought: angels, resurrection, wisdom and law
  4. Sources: the Dead Sea Scrolls, the deuterocanonical books and Josephus

Module 7: Messianic Expectation and the Shape of the Covenants

  1. Anointed ones in the Old Testament: king, priest, prophet
  2. Messianic texts in the prophets and psalms
  3. How Jews and Christians read the messianic texts
  4. The promise of a new covenant
  5. Mapping the development of covenant across the Old Testament

All courses

Program / Course 6: Old Testament Theology and History / Lesson 2.2

What you will learn

  • Summarize the covenant with Noah, its promise and its sign.
  • Trace the promise to Abraham through Genesis 12, 15, 17 and 22.
  • Explain what is meant by faith counted as righteousness in Genesis 15:6.
  • Describe how Jewish and Christian traditions read the Abrahamic covenant.

The big idea

After the flood, God makes a covenant with Noah and with every living creature, promising never again to destroy the earth by flood and setting the rainbow as a sign. Some generations later, God calls Abraham and promises land, descendants and blessing for all the families of the earth. The first covenant is universal and the second begins a particular family’s story, with a purpose that reaches beyond that family. Together they set the pattern of promise on which the rest of the Old Testament builds.

Key terms

Noahic covenant
The covenant in Genesis 9 between God and Noah, his descendants and every living creature.
Abrahamic covenant
The covenant and promises given to Abraham in Genesis 12, 15, 17 and 22.
Sign
A visible mark of a covenant, such as the rainbow for Noah and circumcision for Abraham.
Circumcision
The removal of the foreskin of a male child, commanded as the sign of the covenant in Genesis 17.
Noahide laws
In rabbinic tradition, seven commandments held to be binding on all humanity as descendants of Noah.
Akedah
The Hebrew word for the binding of Isaac in Genesis 22.
Justification
In Christian theology, being declared or made right with God. Paul links it to Genesis 15:6.

Background

The book of Genesis moves from the creation of the world to the call of one man, in a series of steps. Humanity falls into violence, the flood follows, and a new beginning is made with Noah. The tower of Babel scatters the nations. Then, in Genesis 12, God speaks to Abram and sets out a plan that will work through one family for the sake of all.

The two covenants are connected by the theme of blessing. Genesis 9 blesses all life, and Genesis 12 promises that all families of the earth will be blessed through Abraham. Readers therefore do not treat Abraham’s story as opposed to concern for the nations. The particular and the universal are held together.

The date of Abraham is debated. Scholars who accept him as a historical figure often place him in the early second millennium BC, but evidence outside the Bible does not mention him, and other scholars regard the stories as later memory. Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions all honor him.

Step-by-step explanation

Step 1: The covenant with Noah

After the flood, God speaks to Noah and his sons in Genesis 9. The terms are stated plainly: God will never again cut off all flesh by the waters of a flood, nor destroy the earth with one. The covenant is made not only with Noah but with his descendants and with every living creature. It has no list of duties for the creatures, and its weight falls on God’s promise.

The sign is the bow in the cloud. Many readers note that the Hebrew word for bow is the word for a warrior’s bow, so that the weapon is hung up in the sky. The chapter also contains commands: humans may eat animals but not their blood, and human life is protected because humans are made in God’s image (Genesis 9:4 to 6). Jewish tradition developed from these verses the seven laws of the children of Noah, which later rabbis counted as binding on all humankind.

Step 2: The call and promise in Genesis 12

God tells Abram to leave his country and his father’s house and go to a land he will be shown. The promise has several parts: a great nation, a great name, blessing, protection and, at the climax, that in him all the families of the earth will be blessed (Genesis 12:1 to 3). The verb in the last clause can be read as passive or as reflexive, so that the nations are blessed through him or bless themselves by him. Translators and interpreters differ, and both readings affirm a role for Abraham among the nations.

Step 3: The covenant ceremony in Genesis 15

Abram is old and without a child. God promises that his descendants will be as many as the stars, and the text says that Abram believed the Lord and that God counted it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6). Then God performs a covenant ritual: animals are cut and arranged, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch pass between the pieces, and God says that the land will be given to Abram’s descendants. In the ceremony it is God who passes between the pieces, which many readers take as a sign that the promise rests on God’s commitment.

Later writers return to the verse. Paul argues in Romans 4 and Galatians 3 that Abraham was counted righteous by faith before the law and before circumcision. James 2 reads the same verse with attention to Abraham’s works. Christian traditions explain how the two fit in different ways.

Step 4: Circumcision and the test

In Genesis 17, God renews the covenant, changes the names Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah, and commands circumcision of every male on the eighth day as the sign of an everlasting covenant. God also promises that Sarah will bear Isaac, and he blesses Ishmael as well. Genesis 22 tells how God tests Abraham by commanding him to offer Isaac, and then stops him. After the test God renews the promise with an oath.

Jewish tradition calls this the Akedah and reads it as an example of faithfulness and a lasting source of mercy. Christian writers read it as a pattern of sacrifice that points to Christ. Some modern readers find the story troubling, and commentators in all traditions have treated that discomfort seriously.

  1. Who is included in the covenant with Noah, and what does it promise?
  2. Why might a sign such as the rainbow be given to a covenant?
  3. What are the parts of the promise in Genesis 12:1 to 3?
  4. What is the connection between belief and righteousness in Genesis 15:6?
  5. How is the ceremony in Genesis 15 different from a normal treaty ceremony?
  6. How do the particular promise to Abraham and the universal promise to Noah relate?

Examples

The rainbow

A rainbow appears after rain, when the cloud has cleared. Genesis 9 gives it meaning as a sign that God remembers his promise. The text says that God will remember when he sees the bow. The sign reassures the people and reminds God, in the idiom of the text.

Paul’s use of Abraham

In Romans 4, Paul asks whether Abraham was counted righteous before or after he was circumcised. Because Genesis 15 comes before Genesis 17, Paul concludes that Abraham is father of those who believe, whether circumcised or not. A Jewish reader may reply that the covenant sign remains binding as God commanded.

Ishmael and Isaac

In Genesis 17, God says he will establish his covenant with Isaac, and he also promises to bless Ishmael and make him a great nation. The text thus separates the line of the covenant from the line of blessing without saying that Ishmael is forgotten.

Different perspectives

Jewish readers

For Jews, the covenant with Abraham is the beginning of the covenant people, marked by circumcision on the eighth day. The covenant with Noah is understood as binding on all humanity, which is why the seven laws of Noah describe what is required of non-Jews.

Catholic readers

The Catholic Church reads the covenants with Noah and Abraham as stages in God’s single plan, with Abraham as father of all who believe. It sees baptism as the new sign that fulfills circumcision, a view stated in the Catechism.

Orthodox readers

Orthodox writers read Abraham as a type of faith and of hospitality, noting the visit of the three at Mamre (Genesis 18), which the Orthodox icon tradition connects with the Holy Trinity. They see baptism as the sign of the new covenant.

Reformed Protestant readers

Reformed writers see the Abrahamic covenant as a key expression of the covenant of grace and baptize infants on the ground that the sign passes to children, as circumcision did. Baptist and other Protestants who baptize believers only read the continuity differently.

Dispensational and other Protestant readers

Some Protestants hold that the promise of land to Abraham’s descendants remains in force, and distinguish Israel from the church in God’s plan. Others hold that the promises are fulfilled in Christ and the church. These are major points of disagreement among Protestants.

Why it matters

Almost everything later in the Old Testament, and much in the New, refers back to these covenants. The prophets recall Abraham, the psalms recall Noah, and Paul builds an argument on Abraham. Understanding what was promised, to whom, and with what sign allows a reader to see why the later debates about land, law, faith and the nations matter.

Common misunderstandings

Misunderstanding: The covenant with Noah is a legend of no importance.

Correction: It has lasting importance in Jewish law, which draws on it, and in Christian theology, where it supports the goodness and preservation of creation.

Misunderstanding: Abraham was saved by works in the Old Testament and by faith only in the New.

Correction: Genesis 15:6 speaks of belief counted as righteousness. Paul uses it, and James adds a reading about works. All three Christian traditions discuss how these relate, and none treat the Old Testament as teaching salvation by works alone.

Misunderstanding: God’s promise to Abraham was only about land and descendants.

Correction: Genesis 12:3 and 22:18 include blessing for all the nations. The land and descendants serve this purpose in the text.

Misunderstanding: Jews and Christians read Abraham the same way.

Correction: They share the story and differ over the meaning of the sign and the fulfillment of the promises. A fair account states each view as its adherents would.

Knowledge check

What does God promise in the covenant with Noah, and what is the sign?

God promises that he will never again cut off all flesh by a flood or destroy the earth by one. The promise is made with Noah, his descendants and every living creature. The sign is the bow in the cloud, which God says he will see and remember. The covenant rests on God’s commitment and has no demanding conditions for the earth.

What are the main parts of the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:1 to 3?

God promises to make Abram a great nation, to bless him, to make his name great, to bless those who bless him, and to curse those who curse him. The climax is that in him all the families of the earth will be blessed. The promise of land is stated soon after and expanded in chapters 15 and 17.

What does Genesis 15:6 say, and why did Paul care about it?

It says that Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted it to him as righteousness. Paul notes that this happened before circumcision and before the law, and uses it to argue that Abraham is father of all who believe, Jew or Gentile. Jewish and other Christian readers interpret the role of faith and works differently.

What is circumcision in Genesis 17?

It is the sign of the covenant that God commands Abraham to carry out on himself and on every male in his household, and then on every son on the eighth day. It marks the bearers of the promise as members of the covenant people. Jews keep it today as brit milah. Christian traditions say baptism is the new sign.

Think it through

  1. Why might God give a covenant with a sign that can be seen?
  2. What does it say about God that the promise to Abraham reaches beyond his own family?
  3. How do you understand the relationship between faith and action in Abraham’s life?
  4. Which part of Genesis 22 do you find hardest to read, and how do commentators in different traditions respond?

Independent assignment

A covenant summary sheet

In your own notebook, make a one-page summary of the covenants with Noah and Abraham. For each, record the parties, the promise, the requirement, the sign and the chapter references. Then write 200 to 300 words on how you see the two covenants relating, noting one place where Jewish and Christian readers differ. Keep it for yourself.

Further study