" There are words of cursing and blessing.

" There are continuing responsibilities of marriage, work and the Sabbath.

" There is a movement toward restoration.

� First Satan.

� Then the woman.

� Finally man.

Why doesn't God say that He will establish conflict between the Satan and the man?

Who is the woman? At first glance it seems to be Eve. But it may also refer to womankind in general.

The second level of enmity is "Between your seed and between her seed." Who is the woman's seed? It cannot be all mankind because Cain is seen to be of the evil one (I John 3:12). The woman's seed is the descendants of the woman in whom God sets this promised enmity. All men by nature are born on Satan's side. But then God comes and puts within the hearts of some an enmity against Satan and his kingdom.

Who is Satan's seed? It would include, not only fallen men, but also fallen angels who are set against God and His purposes.

The third level of enmity is seen in the words "He... and You..."

(1) This could be a singular form for a plurality of numbers.

(2) It could refer to a singular hero, conflicting not with Satan's seed, but with Satan himself.

(3) If the pointing were different, it would read "She shall crush."

(a) Cherem warfare when Israelites were told to go in and leave nothing alive.

(b) Imprecatory Psalms when the Psalmist cries out to God for the destruction of his enemies.

(1) Cursing.

(2) Blessing.

Literally "I will multiply your sorrow AND your conception." But Gesenius suggests that this ' is one of explanation, allowing us to translate it: "I will multiply your sorrow IN your conception" (Genesis 22:17 uses a similar phrasing in the promise of multiplied children to Abraham.

(1) Blessing.

(2) Cursing.

(1) Bread is provided.

(2) Pain is able to be relieved.

(3) Labor will produce fruit.

(4) Bearing children.

How is a man saved? What causes some to come and believe and be saved while others do not? The Lord sets enmity in the hearts of some.

We are moving from a garden to a city. We do not yet see the fulfillment of all things. But we do see Jesus.

Cain shows the warfare between the two seeds as he murders his brother. This shows that the seed was NOT physical in nature, but spiritual.

You can see the cultural mandate being fulfilled in the descendants of Lamech, even though they are in rebellion against God.

Every imagination (the first impulse behind a thought) of men was evil continually.

Nimrod was an empire builder. His name seems to come from the root word for "rebel."

God had told men to spread out and fill the earth. They rebelled by seeking to stay unified against the explicit command of the Lord.

His name means "to set." Eve rejoices because God has set one in the place of Abel.

In the same way that God walked with Adam in the cool of the garden, now a certain regenerated man is seen walking with God.

As a result, Enoch does not die. Instead, God takes him home BODILY. This is perhaps the first instance of resurrection hope.

Lamech names his son Noah which means "rest." Where did Lamech get the idea that there would be a rest and that the curse was going to be relieved? It was from the promise of God in the garden. Rest becomes an image of redemption (Hebrews 3-4).

Noah fulfilled his name by becoming the instrument who God used to preserve the human race.

The Lord had already decreed to destroy all life upon the earth except that which came under the terms of this covenant.

Life and death are obviously involved. When the covenant-breaker takes the life of man, his life is taken.

It was a grievous sin because a terrible curse is pronounced over him.

(1) His disrespect for his father as evidenced by his telling his brothers outside..

(2) A circumlocution (a round about way of saying it) for a sexual sin.

Genesis 9:23 reads "Shem and Japheth, HE took a garment and laid it upon BOTH THEIR shoulders..." Because of the use of the singular pronoun, Shem seems to be taking the leadership in this action.

Descendants do suffer for the sins of their parents. Exodus 20:5 indicates that it is not just the punishment, but the sin that is also passed from father to son. Thus, Canaan is cursed in anticipation for sin that he will commit as he follows in his father's footsteps.

We know from archaeology that the Canaanites were noteworthy for their sexual sins. They were fertility worshippers.

In Genesis 9:1 God had blessed Ham. You do not curse someone whom God has cursed.

Ham had more than one son. Because only one of his sons is cursed, God graciously refrains from cursing the other sons.

Abraham asks the Lord, "How shall I KNOW that I shall inherit the land (Genesis 15:8).

The promises give to Abraham are not short-term. On the very surface of things, they span over 600 years.

Abraham knew exactly what to do with the animals which God told him to bring. It was a custom in that day in the making of a covenant.

By dividing the animals and passing between the pieces, the participants in a covenant pledged themselves to life and death.

Jeremiah 34:17-20 presents a similar ceremony of covenant inauguration. Jerusalem had been under siege by Nebuchadnezzar and, in panic, Zedekiah cut a covenant on behalf of all of the people, making a promise to free all of their Hebrew slaves (Exodus 21:2). After the threat seemed to be over, the people reneged on their covenant promises. As a result, they would be cut in pieces, just as the animals of their covenant had been cut in pieces.

The language of Jeremiah 34 reflects the same language of Genesis 15 (notice even the double mention of the birds).

This is not a mere literary allusion. It is a real description of a covenant-renewal ceremony. And yet, this pattern was not after the Abrahamic Covenant, but rather after the Mosaic Covenant.

At the same time, the dividing of pieces of animals reflected the Abrahamic Covenant rather than the sprinkling of blood which took place under the Mosaic Covenant.

These two covenant models are merged in Jeremiah 34.

(1) Hebrews 9:15-20.

(2) Matthew 26:28; Luke 22:20.

Genesis 15 records the official ratification ceremony of the Abrahamic Covenant. God Himself passed between the pieces, suggesting that He would take upon Himself the curses of the covenant should it be broken.

Genesis 17 records the institution of the official seal of the Abrahamic Covenant.

Between these two events lay a failure on the part of Abraham that resulted in the conception and the birth of Ishmael. Sarai and Abram try to fulfill the promise of the covenant through their own efforts. Perhaps this is what led to the institution of the seal.

(1) Genesis 17:9-14.

(2) Theological significance.

It is essential that we understand that circumcision was NEVER purely national. This is evidenced in the following ways:

(1) Jesus was circumcised (Luke 2:21).

(2) There is a relief from the external process of circumcision.

(3) There is a distinction between the external form and the internal reality (Romans 2:28-29).

(4) Paul says that there is a false circumcision and a true circumcision (Philippians 3:2-3). Who is the REAL circumcision? It is those who worship in the Spirit of God.

(5) Circumcision was a seal of salvation (Romans 4:11). That physical seal has now been replaced by a spiritual seal - the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13).

(6) Paul tells the Colossians that they were "circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ" (Colossians 2:11). How did this take place? It is explained by the following verse.

Thus, circumcision is put in the very closes relation to baptism.

"Having been buried" is an aorist participle. The action of the aorist participle normally precedes the action of the main verb (although when the main verb is also an aorist, the two actions can coincide).

There is a greater grace given in the New Covenant than in the Old Covenant. We would not expect to see a LIMITING of the covenant sign being given, but rather an EXPANDING of that sign.

" Theonomists.

" Dispensationalists: See law as a different character from the Abrahamic Covenant.

" Seventh Day Adventists: Wish to utilize all dietary laws for today.

" Kline: Proposes a second form of the covenant.

(1) A preamble: A declaration of the lordship of the conquering suzerain.

(2) A historical prologue emphasizing the past acts of benevolence.

(3) An extensive delimiting of stipulations involving both demands for heart-loyalty and requirements for specific action.

(4) Provisions for official depositing of duplicate copies of the treaty documents in the presence of respective gods of vassal and suzerain.

(5) An invocation of witnesses, often involving the summoning of inanimate objects.

(6) A statement of potential curses and blessings related to covenant fidelity.

" K. A. Kitchen, Ancient Orient and the Old Testament, 1966.

" M. G. Kline, Treaty of the Great King, 1963.

The evaluation of archaeological material is like the wind. Sometimes it blows in your favor and sometimes it seems to blow against you. Harm has been done when well-meaning people have jumped too quickly to conclusions.

This covenant involves an externalized summation of the will of God. You have in the Ten Words a summary of all that God requires of man. It is external. It is written on stone tablets. The emphasis is on this externalized form.

Exodus 34:28 - "He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the TEN WORDS" (Literal Hebrew). Deuteronomy 4:13; 9:9-11; 10:4 all make a similar reference to the Ten Commandments as equal to the covenant.

The Covenant of Law cannot be confused with the covenant of works:

By an organic relationship, I mean that there is a living inter-connection, as opposed to an isolated compartmentalization of law and salvation.

(1) Law was significant prior to Moses.

(2) Law is significant after Moses.

Things were not better under the Abrahamic Covenant than they were under the Law. The Mosaic Covenant is an advancement of revelation of God.

(a) It is less than the Davidic Covenant in that now there was a succession of law-administrators and a localization of the law-giver.

(b) It is less that the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31) as it is written on stone tablets while the New Covenant is written in men's hearts.

God has been in a tent (7:6). Up to this point, the people of God have been a nomadic people living in tents. We are described in the same terms. This earth is not our permanent abode and we still look for a future rest.

There is a play on words between the House of David and the House of the Lord.

David had wanted to build a house for the Lord. But instead, the Lord says that He will build a house for David while his son builds a house for the Lord. David's rule is bound to God's rule and God's rule is bound to David's rule.

II Samuel 7:14. This is a prophecy which is fulfilled in the New Covenant (Romans 1:3). In this is also a promise of chastening.

Priests had already served as mediators. Prophets had also served as mediators. But now, this right is given to the descendants of David - the kings. II Samuel 5:3 - David cut a covenant with the elders of Israel. II Kings 23 - Josiah has the covenant document brought to him and he reinstitutes the covenant. Jeremiah 34 - Zedekiah cuts a covenant with the Lord.

The idea of mediator arises from the principle of sonship. Someone who is a son is authorized to speak in the name of the father.

Hebrews 1:5 quotes II Samuel 7:14 to point to Jesus.

(1) There is an emphasis on the permanence of this covenant.

(2) The Sonship: Because of Solomon's sin, the kingdom will be torn from him, but because of God's covenant, there will be a remnant (I Kings 11:13; I Kings 11:32-36).

(3) Jerusalem.

(4) Northern versus Southern Kingdoms.

(1) There are factors of conditionality in this covenant.

(2) And yet, there is the promise of a continuing of the covenant in a continuing seed.

David's reign ultimately ended and Jerusalem was destroyed. And yet, the promise is that there would be an eternal throne. The shadowy type anticipates the final reality.

I Chronicles 29:22-23. Don't miss what verse 23 says. Solomon sat upon the throne of Yahweh! The throne of David is the throne of the Lord! Thus, for Christ to sit upon the throne of the Lord is to sit upon David's throne. Is Jesus on the Lord's throne? Acts 2:30,33-34. Peter makes it very clear that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise to David:

(1) He is the Son of David.

(2) He is seated upon the throne of David and at the right hand of God.

Peter make no indication that a prophetic timeclock has stopped. To the contrary, he evidently believes that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant. David's throne is the shadow. Christ's throne is the reality. The question is whether you want to go back to the shadow or to be satisfied with the reality.

That which was a shadow had to come to an end, just as the sacrificed lamb and the Levitical priesthood both gave way before the ultimate fulfillment.

The Dispensationalist errs in that he wants to return to the shadow. He needs to realize to embrace the fulfillment (Galatians 4:25-28). Are you going to cling to the present Jerusalem who is in slavery, or are you looking to the Jerusalem which is free - the heavenly Jerusalem?

Who is this NEW JERUSALEM? Revelation 21:2,9-10 says that it is the bride, the wife of the Lamb. Who is the bride of Christ today? It is the CHURCH! Where is the continuing dwelling-place? It is in Christ! He is the new realm where we live. Who is the continuing seed? It is Christ! We have our being in Him. We are His seed after a new birth.