Adamic Covenant
The Adamic Covenant
Under the Edenic Covenant man was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The temptation to break that covenant came from Satan as he attacked the terms of the covenant. Unfortunately, Adam and Eve gave into that temptation and the result was the fall of man. The man was lost, his relationship with God was broken, his dominion was lost and he and his offspring came under the dominion of sin and death. This set the stage for the revelation of the Adamic Covenant. God came in grace to fallen man seeking to restore him back to the covenantal relationship. The Adamic Covenant was the beginning of the covenants of redemption. It is a “seed” covenant to the other covenants which follow.
Scripture: Genesis 3:14-19
So, the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly, you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
16 To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain, you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil, you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust, you shall return.”
The Participants in the Covenant
God and Adam are involved in this covenant in which Adam again represented the whole human race. Thus, the judgment on Adam is the judgment on all humanity.
The Provisions of the Covenant
The promises of the Adamic Covenant are expressions of God’s purposes in redeeming man and judging Satan. God individually addressed the serpent, Satan, Eve, and Adam.
The Serpent: Genesis 3:14
There are three provisions concerning the serpent.
First: he is cursed above all other creatures of the animal kingdom. All creatures now fall under a curse, but there is a special curse upon this one member of the animal kingdom. Normally, an animal is not held morally responsible for its actions. However, if it causes any harm to man, then it is held responsible (Gen. 9:5). Animals were created for the benefit of man, and when this principle is violated, it then incurs the Judgment of God.
Second: the serpent is to crawl on its belly. This shows that originally the serpent moved in an erect position. This led to the debate whether or not the serpent originally had legs, but that question is irrelevant to the issue. The only point is that in place of moving erectly, the serpent now crawls on its belly.
Third: dust shall be the serpent’s food. The curse will continue to be there even in the Messianic Kingdom (Is. 65:25a).
Satan: Genesis 3:15
Four provisions are given in relationship to Satan.
First: there would be perpetual hatred between Satan and the woman.
Second: this hatred was to culminate between Satan’s seed, the Antichrist, and the woman’s Seed, the Messiah.
Third: the serpent would bruise the heel of the woman’s Seed; this happened at the Crucifixion.
Fourth: this first prophecy of the Lord’s victory over Satan goes on to say that the woman’s Seed will crush Satan’s head; this occurred initially with the Resurrection (Heb. 2:14-15). But the final crushing of Satan was still future when Paul wrote Romans 16:20; it will come when Satan is cast into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:10a.
The main point of this prophecy is that the Messiah would be of the Seed of the woman. This goes against the biblical norm that teaches that genealogy is traced through the male line, not through the female line. The reason for this exception will not be known for centuries until Isaiah 7:14 revealed that the Messiah will be conceived and born of a virgin. The prophecy of Genesis 3:15 led to the events of Genesis 6: l – 4 when Satan tried to corrupt the seed of the woman and will lead to the future supernatural conception of the Antichrist.
The Woman: Genesis 3:16
Eve and all women were made subject to three provisions.
First: there would be multiplication of menstrual Main and conception. Apparently, the nature of conception before the Fall was quite different than what it was after the Fall. Since the Fall, a woman generally is able to conceive at least once a month. Furthermore, a woman’s menstrual periods are accompanied by discomfort and pain.
Second: the woman was to give birth in pain. Before the Fall, she would have been able to conceive and give birth without pain, but this was no longer true. However, once birth takes place, there is joy Jn. 16:21). In this way, the woman is saved (I Tim. 2: l3). She is not spiritually saved through childbirth, but she is saved from being in a demeaning position through her ability to produce children, for in this way she guarantees the continuity of the human race not subject to physical death.
Third: the wife was to be in subjection to the husband. This was already true before the Fall, but the new element was that she would now have a desire to rebel against that subjection and choose to try to rule him.
The Man: Genesis 3:17 – 19
Adam and all men and the entire human race were subjected to five provisions in Genesis 3:17-19.
First: since Adam stands as the representative head of the human race, the judgment on Adam is the judgment on the whole human race. It is Adam, not Eve, who is held responsible for the human condition.
Second: the earth was cursed. Working was not something new with the Adamic Covenant, it had already been provided for in the Edenic Covenant. The difference was in the earth’s response. Under the Edenic Covenant, the earth was to respond readily to man’s working and tilling. But now the earth would not respond so easily; there would be thorns, /#/i//ri, and weeds.
Third: the human diet continues to be vegetarian as it was under the Edenic Covenant; it is not clear if the same was true for the animal kingdom. Animals were used for dairy products, wool for clothing, and sacrifices, but not for eating.
Fourth: man’s work was to be characterized by hard labor. Working conditions under the Edenic Covenant were easy, simple, and enjoyable. Now, sweat was to characterize the work of man and labor was to be hard and toilsome.
Fifth: physical death was introduced. Whereas under the Edenic Covenant man died spiritually, under the Adamic Covenant man would ultimately die physically (Rom. 5:12-21) Thus far there have only been two exceptions to this rule: Enoch and Elijah. There will be others in the future at the time of the Rapture.
The Status of the Covenant
The Adamic Covenant became the basis for the Dispensation of Conscience. As an unconditional covenant, it is very much in effect today.