Journal: Journal of Dispensational Theology
Volume: JODT 23:67 (Autumn 2019)
Article: Adam’s Covenant: Another Perspective On Hosea 6:7
Author: Luther Ray Smith, Jr.

JODT 23:67 (Autumn 2019) p. 177

Adam’s Covenant: Another Perspective On Hosea 6:7

Luther Ray Smith Jr.

Luther Ray Smith Jr., M.A., M.A., Psy.D., Dean of the College, Department Chair – Biblical Counseling, Assistant Professor of Biblical Counseling and Theology, Calvary University, Kansas City, Missouri

There are theologians, and biblical scholars who are, or have been convinced that God established a covenant with Adam in the Garden of Eden. The passage where a scholar would support this idea comes from Hosea 6:7, which says the following: “like Adam they have transgressed the covenant; there they have dealt treacherously against Me” (NASB). In Hosea 6:7, God seems to compare Israel to Adam in the Garden of Eden. As Adam had violated “the covenant,” Israel had acted in much the same way by transgressing the covenant God made to them. Does this “Adamic Covenant” fit the pattern of all other significant covenants that God has revealed in Scripture? In this inquiry the definition of the covenant will be explored, in addition to how theologians and biblical scholars from various theological systems observe Hosea 6:7. A brief survey of each of the biblical covenants God established will be investigated, observing the commonalities between them. A contextual examination of Hosea 6:7 will be analyzed, and commonalities of the specific covenants God made with man in Scripture will be compared with the “Adamic Covenant,” showing that Hosea 6:7 does not meet the criteria for a biblical covenant.

Covenant Defined

The word covenant in the Hebrew text is the word bĕriyth (בְּרִית),1 and is defined as a joint agreement between two parties. They can be parties of equal status (e.g. two human beings making a covenant), or two parties of unequal status (e.g. God making a covenant with Israel). Holman’s Bible Dictionary underscores these qualities of covenants when they wrote that a covenant is “A pact, treaty, alliance, or agreement between two parties of equal or of unequal authority.”2 Noah Webster defined covenant with more detail when he wrote that a

JODT 23:67 (Autumn 2019) p. 178

covenant is, “A mutual consent or agreement of two or more persons, to do or to forbear some act or thing; a contract; stipulation. A covenant is created by deed in writing, sealed and executed; or it may be implied in the contract.”...