People commonly mistake the Ten Commandments as being
first delivered
to the Nation of Israel on the Mt. but as your about to
learn, it
actually predates them completely. The law is not just a
"jewish"
covenant.

One interesting fact we learn about Abraham is that he
kept God's law.
Notice Genesis 26:5: "Because Abraham obeyed My voice and
kept My
charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws."
Interestingly, in
the midst of a narrative book, we read a comment that
indicates
clearly that Abraham kept the laws of God, and that those
laws, though
yet to be codified for the nation of Israel, were in
existence well
before Sinai. Thus we see that Abraham, referred to as the
"father of
the faithful" in the New Testament, was one who kept the
commandments
of God.

People commonly mistake the Ten Commandments as being first delivered
to the Nation of Israel on the Mt. but as your about to learn, it
actually predates them completely. The law is not just a "jewish"
covenant.

One interesting fact we learn about Abraham is that he kept God's law.
Notice Genesis 26:5: "Because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My
charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws." Interestingly, in
the midst of a narrative book, we read a comment that indicates
clearly that Abraham kept the laws of God, and that those laws, though
yet to be codified for the nation of Israel, were in existence well
before Sinai. Thus we see that Abraham, referred to as the "father of
the faithful" in the New Testament, was one who kept the commandments
of God.

From the very beginning, God established a family relationship with

man. In the Garden of Eden, man is described as walking and talking
freely with God (Genesis 2:19-25). Man and woman have a direct and
loving relation with God without fear or guilt. They look to God as
their Father, and God looks to them as His children.

Sin, the violation of God's law (1 John 3:4), has as a penalty-death
(Romans 6:23). This new factor of sin would radically change man's
standing before God (Genesis 3:19, 24). Paul notes, "Therefore, just
as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and
thus death spread to all men, because all sinned" (Romans 5:12).

Their disobedience was a monumental folly that drastically altered
their access to God. No longer would man have free access to God, nor
be without sin or have direct access to eternal life. Some generations
later, God saw that only Noah was following His ways and laws. This
means, it should be recognized, that God's basic commandments were
already in force.

Throughout Genesis, we see that man is to avoid sin, which throughout
the Bible means transgressing God's laws. He should keep the Sabbath
(compare 2:2-3), not murder (4:6-11), not commit adultery (39:7-9),
not steal (44:4), not envy (37:11), not take the name of God in
vain(12:8), not make idols and not follow false gods (35:1-2).

Regrettably, man's relations with God and his fellow man had
deteriorated so much by Noah's day due to the multiplication of sin
that God had no other recourse but to eliminate this totally corrupt
society and begin again with Noah's family.

After the Flood, Noah offered a sacrifice of gratitude to God for
having saved them.
Then, God established a new covenant with Noah, based on the same
basic commandments, but now with several new provisions to better
administer some of those laws.

The previous pact is thus "inserted" into the new one, though
amplified and modified. Man is authorized by God to stem violence by
applying capital punishment to murderers, a clear dispensation of
human government (Genesis 9:5-6). Other stipulations of the previous
covenant are still valid. The effects of Adam's transgression continue
to affect all of mankind. Women still give birth with pain, man has to
live and toil by the sweat of his brow due to the reduced fertility of
the soil and he has to fend off wild creatures. Death still reigns
over all men since they all sin. Sacrifices are still offered to God
as a sign of gratefulness and to recognize the penalty of sin as
death.

This new covenant also includes a promise never to destroy mankind in
the same manner no matter what happens in the future. As a sign of
this promise, God tells Noah, "The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and
I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and
every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth" (Genesis
9:16). Clearly, this provision of the Noachian covenant is,
thankfully, still in force today.

The next pact recorded is with Abraham. Through Abraham's faith and
obedience, God institutes a special relationship not only with
Abraham, but with his descendants through Isaac and Jacob. Great
promises would be made to Abraham-the physical promises to him and his
descendants and the spiritual promises of God's grace to all humanity,
through the promised Seed, Christ (Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:15-18).

The sign of circumcision is given as a new covenant relationship with
Abraham's
descendants through Isaac and Jacob. God told Abraham: "As for you,
you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you
throughout their generations. 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" (Genesis 17:9-10). Though also
included later in the covenant at Sinai (Leviticus 12:3), circumcision
was originally introduced as a token of covenantal responsibilities
for all of Abraham's descendants, not just for the nations of Israel
and Judah. It came into existence as a token of covenant
responsibility, not as a badge of national superiority, as it was
later misrepresented in Judaism.