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Keep in mind the procedure for making a covenant in Jeremiah between two men. The following describes how God entered into a covenant with Abram (his name had not yet become Abraham):
And He said to him, " I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it."
And he said, "O Lord God, how may I know that I shall possess it?"
So He said to him, "Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon."
Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds. And the bird of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.
And God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve; and afterward they will come out with many possessions. And as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace, you shall be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete."
And it came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. Genesis 15:7-18
On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,
"To your descendants I have given this land..."
The covenant agreement with God entitled Abram and his descendants to three assurances:
(1) a promise for a land - not just to possess it but to inherit it
(2) a people
(3) and a blessing.
This was Gods final commitment to do His will through mankind. He had created man and then destroyed man for his disobedience and then restored man to creation again by entering into a covenant. There is no more that He would do to commit Himself.
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