# Adamic and Noahic covenant?



## jwright82 (Jul 5, 2012)

What relationship if any is there between the Adamic covenant and the Noahic covenant? I can see that both are made with humanity as a whole but is there any overlap between the two?


----------



## Poimen (Jul 5, 2012)

> "Powerfully and copiously supplied with gifts, the world was, as it were, left to itself for a time; but it soon became evident that if God did not forcefully intervene, the world would perish in its own wickedness. With Noah, therefore, a new period begins. The grace that manifested itself immediately after the fall now exerted itself more forcefully in the restraint of evil. God made a formal covenant with all his creature. This covenant with Noah (Gen. 8:21-22; 9:9-17), though it is rooted in God's grace and is most intimately bound up with the actual covenant of grace because it sustains and prepares for it, is not identical with it. It is rather a 'covenant of longsuffering' made by God with all humans and even with all creatures. It limits the curse on the earth; it checks nature and curbs its destructive power; the awesome violence of water is reigned in; a regular alternation of season is introduced. The whole of the irrational world of nature is subjected to ordinances that are anchored in God's covenant. And the rainbow is set in the clouds as a sign and pledge."


-Herman Bavinck’s _Reformed Dogmatics_, Volume 3, Chapter 5.5 (page 218)


----------



## Martin (Jul 5, 2012)

A.W. Pink makes some interesting observations in Part 3 of his book _The Divine Covenants_. You can find it here: Divine Covenants by A.W. Pink-Part Three-The Noahic Covenant


----------



## Peairtach (Jul 5, 2012)

jwright82 said:


> What relationship if any is there between the Adamic covenant and the Noahic covenant? I can see that both are made with humanity as a whole but is there any overlap between the two?



If you mean the Covenant of Works, how could there be overlap, unless we're starting a theology of the Republication of the Covenant of Works with Noah and/or with Mankind in Noah 

But there are clearly parallels, since Mankind, and the Earth, are in a sense being "relaunched", having the important lessons of the previous total apostasy and judgment by the Flood, as something now provided in God's providence to learn from, for the rest of human history.


----------



## mvdm (Jul 6, 2012)

From Louis Berkhof's Sytematic Theology on the Noahic Covenant, while noting differences, finds the essential connection to the Covenant of Grace:

1.2. THE COVENANT WITH NOAH. The covenant with Noah is evidently of a very general nature: God promises that He will not again destroy all flesh by the waters of a flood, and that the regular succession of seed time and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night will continue. The forces of nature are bridled, the powers of evil are put under greater restraint, and man is protected against the violence of both man and beast. It is a covenant conferring only natural blessings, and is therefore often called the covenant of nature or of common grace. There is no objection to this terminology, provided it does not convey the impression that this covenant is dissociated altogether from the covenant of grace. Though the two differ, they are also most intimately connected.
a. Points of difference. The following points of difference should he noted: (1) While the covenant of grace pertains primarily, though not exclusively, to spiritual blessings, the covenant of nature assures man only of earthly and temporal blessings. (2) While the covenant of grace in the broadest sense of the word includes only believers and their seed, and is fully realized only in the lives of the elect, the covenant with Noah was not only universal in its inception, but was destined to remain all-inclusive. Up to the days of the covenant transaction with Abraham there was no seal of the covenant of grace, but the covenant with Noah was confirmed by the token of the rainbow, a seal quite different from those that were later on connected with the covenant of grace.
b. Points of connection. Notwithstanding the differences just mentioned, there is a most intimate connection between the two covenants. (1) The covenant of nature also originated in the grace of God. In this covenant, just as in the covenant of grace, God bestows on man not only unmerited favors, but blessings that were forfeited by sin. By nature man has no claim whatsoever on the natural blessings promised in this covenant. (2) This covenant also rests on the covenant of grace. It was established more particularly with Noah and his seed, because there were clear evidences of the realization of the covenant of grace in this family, Gen. 6:9; 7:1; 9:9, 26, 27. (3) It is also a necessary appendage (Witsius: “aanhangsel”) of the covenant of grace. The revelation of the covenant of grace in Gen. 3:16-19 already pointed to earthly and temporal blessings. These were absolutely necessary for the realization of the covenant of grace. In the covenant with Noah the general character of these blessings is clearly brought out, and their continuance is confirmed.
(pp. 294-295)


----------



## R. Scott Clark (Jul 6, 2012)

_Sacred Bond: Covenant Theology Explored_ by Mike Brown and Zach Keele is very helpful.

More resources here.


----------



## jwright82 (Jul 6, 2012)

Wow thanks for all the responses. They are very helpful.


----------

