I don't see any "commanded" in the covenant of Ge 15:9-21 which ensured almost 600 years later.
I am not going to far afield of this op's topic, but the covenant with Abraham did not start in Genesis 15:9-21, and you should not limit the matter of commands to chapter 15. It started at Genesis 12:1 when God chose Abram, called him out of the land in which he was living and commanded him to do what God said. God tells Abram/Abraham He will establish His covenant with Abe multiple times, not just Gen. 15:18. Abraham was commanded to circumcise all the males a decade or more later in chapter 17. Most importantly, In Genesis 15 the vision Abram has shows God covenanted with Himself in a suzerain fealty ritual. It was not Abram whose life would be forfeit, but God's. The fiery torch and smoking oven are symbols for God, not Abram.
A covenant, most of the time being an obligation undertaken by a single person.
Incorrect.
A covenant with God is always "undertaken" by God, not a human. God initiates the covenant. He does so without the person involved even knowing the covenant has been initiated until after the covenant has been established. God chooses the participants. He calls them, and He chooses and calls them without ever asking any of them if they want to be chosen or called. He then commands them and He does so without asking if they want to be told what to do and always with the expectation of obedience; they are never given the option to say, "No." Only AFTER all of that has occurred does He ever provide an opportunity of choice to participate.
, as we see it used in God's covenant with the day and night, with David and with the Levites, basically equates to God's decrees in these matters,
I do not "
see" it. I find several errors in it.
...to which could also be added the Noahic covenant, the Abrahamic covenant of Ge 15:9-21, the Phinehas covenant and the New Covenant of peace (Jer 31:31-34).
Here I can find agreement: a single covenant begun at creation that is added to as time progressed, and all of them speak to a single covenant, the one found in Christ - to whom all the law, psalms, and prophets bear witness. Note what I said earlier: the "covenant" is spoken of in singular form, not as multiple covenants.
That is not in agreement with the Biblical record.
The facts of scripture prove otherwise, and this is very easily and readily verified by a simple word search of scripture. You and everyone else on the planet will find the plural word "covenants" is used only four times in the entire Bible. There are 320 mentions of covenant, only four of them are plural, and only two of those have anything to do with a covenant with God. Two out of 320.
No, Eleanor, it is your view that does not comport well with the Biblical record. This is very clear with the next statement...
The covenant with day and night is not related to the covenant of the everlasting possession with Abraham in Ge 15:9:21.
Hmmm....
Jeremiah 33:12-26
"Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'There will again be in this place which is waste, without man or beast, and in all its cities, a habitation of shepherds who rest their flocks. ~'In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who numbers them,' says the LORD. 'Behold, days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ~'In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. ~'In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the LORD is our righteousness.' "For thus says the LORD, 'David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices continually.'" The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, "Thus says the LORD, 'If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers. ~'As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.'" And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, "Have you not observed what this people have spoken, saying, 'The two families which the LORD chose, He has rejected them'? Thus they despise My people, no longer are they as a nation in their sight. "Thus says the LORD, 'If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established, then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.'"
There isn't a single word in that passage that does not tie back to the promises made Abraham. The only reason any of them were ever spoken to was because of the promises God made to Abraham.
The reason this is op-relevant, and the only reason I entertained the digression, is because the promises made to Abraham are fulfilled in Christ. Neither Abraham, nor any other sinful human, can accomplish what Only God accomplishes through Christ. We are incapable of saving ourselves from sin, and the covenant God instigated prior to creating creation whereby Christ would be the seed promised Abraham, making him the father of many nations, through his perfect sacrifice is beyond of ability. It is by grace we have been saved through faith and
not of ourselves. The effects of sin are total when it comes to human ability to come to God in our own sinful flesh for salvation from that sin.
If you'd like to discuss the matter of covenant more then start a thread on the topic and let me know it's up (PM me) and I'll consider discussing it there.
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