A covenant is an agreement or contract between two parties. Covenants that God has made with His people were made or “cut” by the shedding of blood. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word “beriyth” (bayr-EETH) is translated “covenant.” “Beriyth” is derived from a root word which means “to cut,” and hence a covenant is “a cutting,” with reference to cutting and shedding of blood. Since the fall of man, God has never left His people without a covenant.
The five covenants that God has made with His people over the history of mankind are:
1) The Adamic (a-DAMM-ikk) Covenant (the covenant that God made with Adam and Eve after they sinned (Genesis 3:14–21) when God made clothes from the skins of animals for Adam and Eve and the blood from the animals that God killed was shed).
2) The Noahic (noh-AY-ikk) Covenant (the covenant that God made with Noah after the flood (Genesis 8:20–9:17) when Noah offered burnt offerings of every clean beast and every clean fowl and the blood of these animals and birds was shed).
3) The Abrahamic (ay-bruh-HAMM-ikk) Covenant (the covenant that God made with Abraham in Genesis, chapters 15 and 17, when Abraham offered sacrifices of animals and birds, all the male persons in his household were circumcised, and the blood of these animals and birds and people was shed.).
4) The Mosiac (moh-ZAY-ikk) Covenant (the Old Covenant, the covenant that God made with Moses and the children of Israel in 1445 B.C. (Exodus 19ff.) when the sacrifices and offerings were made and the blood of the various animals was shed).
5) The New Covenant (the covenant that God made with us through Jesus in 29 A.D. when Jesus shed His own blood).