I am curious as to the nature of the role that the land/earth itself plays into the covenant, if a Covenant (biblically) is a sovereignly administered contract between God and His elect. My question narrows a bit at God's use of the land as a means of punishment toward His disobedient creatures in Eden:
Gen. 3:17-19Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it':
"Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of you life.
Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return."
Now I recognize that dirt is nothing in and of itself, and that God could, with no effort whatsoever, have made man ex nihilo as he did the rest of creation. Nevertheless, I am curious as to whether man has a different kind of relation to the land itself, at least covenantally, than he has to the rest of creation.
My real question, though, regards how powerfully the land was implemented into the covenant of works, as it is personified in Leviticus 18:24-28
So how does the covenant work within the land, or is this symbolism? It may be a fairly easy question for most of you to answer for a layman it has been a thorn recently as I plow my way through Leviticus. Any ideas or literature on the topic would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!"'Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these things the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants. You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of you own nation or any stranger who dwells among you (for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you.'"


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