'Appreciating God's Love'
A) Adamic Covenant
Gen 2:16-17 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
God made a covenant with Adam that he could eat all the fruits in the garden of Eden except those from the tree of knowledge otherwise they would die.
As long as Adam and Eve stayed away from that tree of knowledge, they could joyfully come before God with full confidence of His approval and delight.
After Adam and Eve had broken the covenant, God killed an animal to seal the covenant and made it effective. Immediately, God drove them out of the garden of Eden for without the tree of life they would surely die.
Gen 3:21, 24 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them... So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Rule - Monotheism, cannot eat fruit from tree of knowledge
Food - fruits and herbs (cereals and vegetables)
Noahic Covenant
Gen 9:2-4 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
God made all living things to fear men and set the rainbow as the sign of the covenant. God gave all living things besides fruits and herbs as food for men.
Gen 9:13 "I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth."
Rule - Monotheism, use only clean animals for sacrifices
Food - all living things (both clean and unclean), fruits and herbs. Cannot eat animals with its blood.
B) Abrahamic Covenant
Gen 15:4-5, 9 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, "This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir." Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be"... So He said to him, "Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."
After God had made the covenant with Abraham that his seeds would be as numerous as the stars in the sky, He demanded Abraham for the blood of animals to seal the covenant. Abraham fulfilled the blood of the covenant by killing the required animals.
Gen 15:10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.
Circumcision Sign of Covenant
Gen 17:10-11 This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
Just as the rainbow was the sign of God's covenant with Noah, circumcision was the sign of God's covenant with Abraham.
Rule - Monotheism and circumcision, clean animals for sacrifices only.
Food - fruits, herbs, living things (both clean and unclean)
C) The Israelites were preserved from idolatry in Egypt and after four hundred years there, their population had increased from 70 to over 2 million before God sent them to possess Canaan Land.
Mosaic Law
Deu 5:32-33 "Therefore you shall be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess."
The Mosaic covenant made at Mount Sinai with the Israelites that if they kept His words, they might dwell long in the Promised Land and bless with peace and safety.
But if they did not keep His words, the Lord would afflict them with sicknesses, famines, disasters and defeats by enemies.
If they had committed the abominations of the Canaanites, the Lord would dislodge and scatter them.
Lev 18:26-28 You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you (for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you."
Rule - Monotheism, rejects the abominations of the Canaanites, circumcision, observe all religious ceremonies, feasts and law
Food - only clean food, fruits and herbs.
