What does it mean that all covenants are from God and God alone?
It means the covenant is entirely God’s doing and God’s responsibility, not a mutual agreement in which Abram shares the obligation. God alone initiates, guarantees, and carries the covenant, ensuring that Abram has nothing to do with its covenant responsibility.
Les explains that in Genesis 15, God had already given Abram the covenant and its promises, yet Abram asked, “Lord God, whereby shall I know that I’ll inherit it?” The context describes the ancient Babylonian method of transferring real estate: animals were killed, carcasses parted with a walkway between the halves, and the two men made a blood covenant, probably with a cut in the hand and a handshake. God then tells Abram to take a heifer, a she-goat, a ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon, divide them, and leave the birds whole. The text explains that this covenant, like all covenants, is from God and God alone, so Abram has nothing to do with covenant responsibility. God acts to make certain Abram is not a covenant partner carrying responsibility.