The covenants of God in the Bible are solemn vows made by God to perform something on behalf of men.
According to the teaching of Hebrews:
The oath was not sworn until Genesis 22.
Gen 22:16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; {shore: Heb. lip }
18 And in
thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
because thou hast obeyed my voice.
The above is "unconditional", to Abraham, and his seed mentioned in the oath.
See Genesis here ( which Paul speaks of the accounts in Genesis as
"Hearing the law" in Galatians . And speaks of
"The law of faith" in Romans.
Conditional language...
Gen 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God;
walk before me, and be thou perfect. {perfect: or, upright, or, sincere }
2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
4 ¶ As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
And here
Gen 26:3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will
perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
4 And I will make
thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto
thy seed all these countries; and in
thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
5
Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
The covenant at Sinai was expressly conditional because it was bi-lateral: both God and Israel were bound to perform their respective oaths; which Israel failed to do and broke the covenant.
But the covenants with Noah, Abraham, Phinehas, and David, as well as the New covenant in Christ, bind God alone, and are unconditional. Any conditions within them can only defer fulfillment until the conditions are met, but they cannot call off the eventual fulfillment of God’s oath, especially as the fulfillment is part of the larger goal of the whole Creation Project.
A covenant is entered into by two or more parties in order for there to be clear understanding and agreement around the terms (or words) within the covenant. The oaths taken bind the ones swearing them to perform the obligations of the covenant which they have “cut.”
Henebury, Paul Martin. The Words of the Covenant - A Biblical Theology: Volume 1 - Old Testament Expectation (p. 94). Xulon Press. Kindle Edition.
Henebury, Paul Martin. The Words of the Covenant - A Biblical Theology: Volume 1 - Old Testament Expectation (p. 94). Xulon Press. Kindle Edition.
Faith has always been a condition. I think you are not recognizing two covenants made with Abraham. One speaking concerning the fourth generation. And Isaac Jacob, and the patriarchs. These
all died not inheriting the land. Their hope was in an inheritance in their resurrection from the dead, hence Abraham's faith being made complete in testing him through Isaac.