What are the covenants of the Old Testament?

OLD TESTAMENT COVENANTS

The covenants in the Old Testament are divided into two groups unilateral and bilateral . As the word implies , unilateral is a one-sided covenant , which God imposes upon Himself and /or man ' The unilateral covenant is not negotiable . A bilateral covenant is two-sided , involving God and man , and is mutually agreed upon

The first example of a unilateral covenant is that declared by God to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden . God said , But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

, for when you eat of it you will surely die (Genesis 2 :17 . The punishment for breaking the covenant was death . Jesus died in their place

The second unilateral covenant declared by the Lord was a direct result of Adam and Eve 's disobedience and sin . Again , the covenant is one-sided . However , this time the Lord imposes the covenant upon Himself . Fulfillment of this covenant occurs in Revelation 20 . The Lord declares two things through this second covenant : 1 ) He would put enmity between the offspring of the serpent and the offspring of the woman , and .2 ) that , `He ' the Messiah , would someday crush the head of the serpent even though the serpent would strike His heel (Genesis 3 :14 , 15

The third unilateral covenant that the Lord makes is to Noah and his offspring , which means all people from thence forward

And for your lifeblood I will surely demand

an accounting . And from each man , too

I will demand an accounting for the life of his

fellow man . Whoever sheds the blood of man

by man shall his blood be shed for in the image

of God has God made man (Genesis 9 :5 , 6

It is not debatable . God said that any man who commits murder shall be executed

The fourth one-sided covenant God imposed upon Himself as well , and it too , was declared to Noah , after the flood : Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood (Genesis 9 :9-17 . We are reminded of this covenant each and every time the Lord places his bow (as in bow and arrow ) in the heavens after a rainstorm - the rainbow

The fifth one-sided covenant to be outlined was made by God to Abraham one of the only two men who ever walked with God ' - the other man being Enoch . Three promises were made to Abraham , and they are as follows : 1 ) God promised that all nations of the Earth would be blessed through Abraham 2 ) God would make Abraham 's descendants greater in number than the stars in the sky 3 ) God promised that a certain land , set aside only for them , would be given to Abraham and his descendants

The last unilateral covenant to be mentioned here , though by no means least in importance , is the Ten Commandments

The first bilateral covenant was created the day that Adam and Eve allowed sin in their lives and were cast from the...