Divine Promises – General Presentation (The Protoevangelium and Noah's
Covenant) The promise is a central element in shaping the relationship between God and
man throughout the Old Testament. The remarkable figures, those who are
reiterated in the history of the salvation of the world, are those who have had
contact with the promises of the Lord or with the covenant which, in various
forms and manifestations, God has presented to man. A promise involves a
choice. The choice involves justice, and this is obvious in the Noah's case
(Gen 6:9). The present study considers the first references brought by the Old
Testament pages regarding the promise. In the exegetical analysis, this theme
of promise has become increasingly addressed in order to outline the principle
of biblical restructuring of the primordial state degraded by the fall of the
forefathers. Moreover, as can be seen in those presented in the study, the need
to approach God and resume a primordial communion is the one that, throughout
the history of Israel, uses the theme of promise, either by presenting promises
(Gen 3,15; 6,18; 12,1-3), or by repeating them. The theme of the promise
creates the whole corpus of God's approaches of man, and for this reason,
regarding the expected course of Israel, man was not in isolation, but in
communion, as much as he wanted to be a part of it. EMANUEL POP |
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