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Adam, Noah, and the Kingdom: The Fulfillment of the Commission to Adam in the Old Testament The Davidic Covenant God's covenant with David brought greater focus to the promise. Through this particular man and his descendents, God would give the Messiah who would fulfill all the promises and lead the world to blessing. In David, Israel's national purpose and meaning is clarified and emphasized. She exists to bring one man, the seed of David, into the world. The Davidic king would be the one to defeat all the Satanic enemies of God and establish the kingdom of blessing all over the world (Ps. 2, 89:21-29; 110). He would be the seed of the woman who would defeat the seed of the serpent and save the world. Not only a king, he is also a priest after the order of Melchizedek (Ps. 110). It is even hinted that He would offer Himself as the sacrifice for sin (Isa. 52:13-53:12). Like the Mosaic covenant before it, the Davidic covenant is simply expanding and making more specific the promise that was originally given to Abraham - which means also that the mandate of the Noahic covenant would be fulfilled through the Davidic Son.[6]
The New Covenant The new covenant is announced as the new covenant by Jeremiah (31:31). As we see this covenant being fulfilled in history, it seems clear that there is an initial gift of the covenant in the days of Ezra and in the restoration of Israel to the land, in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. The new covenant that Jeremiah spoke of has as its first reference the post captivity era, but it looks forward, as do all the covenants, to a greater new covenant. The Messiah would be given as a covenant to the Gentiles, a savior for the world (Isa. 42:1-8). He has been especially chosen and prepared by God to bring salvation to the world and restore the earth (Isa. 49:1-8; 61:8-9). The Messianic promise of God's blessing on the people of Israel is specifically related to the promise to Noah (Isa. 54:1-10; Jer. 31:35-37). The promise to save Israel is linked also to the Davidic covenant — having as its foundation the unshakable certainty of the Noahic promise. The LORD declared to Jeremiah that the covenant with David is as sure as the covenant with Noah! (Jer. 33:19-26). The new covenant is God's reaffirmation of the sure mercies of David (Isa. 55:3). It includes the promise of the Holy Spirit to God's people (Isa. 59:21). Ezekiel, too, declared that the new covenant would be established to fulfill the promises of the original covenants (Eze. 16:60-63). Though He would discipline Israel for her sins, the Lord would eventually bring them back to His covenant (Eze. 20:36-38). The blessings of the new covenant would be brought in by the Davidic king (Eze. 34:20-34). The promise of abundant seed, rule over the nations, a Davidic king, and restoration to the land of promise are all seen to be part of the new covenant and dependent upon the blessing of the Spirit (Eze. 37). Thus the climactic covenant promises of the Old Testament allude unmistakably to the covenants in the book of Genesis, including the foundational promise in Genesis 3:15 and the postdiluvian covenant with Noah. Covenantal continuity is taken for granted as a theological fact and emphasized as a truth that brings comfort and encouragement to the people of God facing trial.
Conclusion The covenant promises of the Old Testament form an organic whole that finds its roots in the pre-fall Edenic covenant mission that God gave to His image. The connection is made through each of the covenants from Abraham to the end of Old Testament history being an outgrowth of the covenant that God gave to Noah, which was itself a repetition of the original Adamic covenant. God's promise to Noah that He would preserve the world and direct it without catastrophic intervention is fulfilled as He providentially corrects His people and works through them to bring the Messiah into the world. The Old Testament ends with a final reaffirmation of the covenant promise of the coming Messiah, one which points back to the Genesis promise of defeat for the seed of the serpent (Mal. 4).
[6] The new covenantal age brought in by the Davidic
covenant is overlooked in the dispensational interpretation of Old Testament
history. The law is seen to extend from Moses to Christ. But in the Biblical
history of the covenant, the Davidic era is a distinct era. Does that
mean that the Mosaic law no longer applies in David's day? Not at all,
for each new covenant builds upon the previous covenants. A new covenant
is not a cancellation of the previous one, nor is a new "dispensation"
a totally different covenant arrangement. The Noahic, Abrahamic, and Mosaic
covenants are all renewed, revised, expanded, and continued in the Davidic
covenant. The covenants are progressive, each one leading to the final
covenant in Christ.
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