LESSON FIVE

ABRAHAMIC COVENANT

by Steve and Terri White 

Genesis 11:10 - Genesis 50

ABRAHAM

"Now the LORD had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your kindred and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ " (Genesis 12:1-3)

Abram was a descendant of Shem (Gen. 3:15), from whom the promised deliverer would come. Although idolatry was still rampant after God scattered the people (Gen. 11:9), Shem and some of his descendants remained true to the Most High God.

It is possible that Abram had some kind of contact with Shem that influenced his decision to turn from idol worship to the one, true, living God. This would have been a remarkable conversion since archaeological records indicate that Terah was an idol maker. Ur was dedicated to the worship of the moon god. That meant that every resident was a servant of the moon god. In calling Abram out of Ur, God was calling him to a public repentance -- leaving the city meant leaving your god. Idols were not omnipresent, but territorial. Paganism is man’s initiative to make a god, but the Most High God came to Abram and revealed Himself to him as: invisible, creator of all creation, omnipresent, personal, and One who talks with man. This was a stark contrast to all Abram had been taught of 'god' by his culture.

God’s command to Abram was to leave his country and family and go to a land that He would show Abram -- after his obedience. Abram, however, brought along both Terah, his father, and Lot, his orphaned nephew. Their journey ended in Haran, another city dedicated to the moon god. The family lived there until Terah’s death.

Traveling with Lot to the land of Canaan ("a land that I will show you") revealed the ancient custom of adoption by childless couples. Because barrenness was a stigma, couples unable to bear children did one of three things: (1) adopted an orphaned relative; (2) adopted a servant (Gen. 15:2,3); (3) took a second wife (concubine -- a woman without the full rights of a wife) to bear children; the children of the concubine legally belonged to the first wife (Gen. 16:1-3). Abram struggled to believe the true God’s promise to bear a son and, thus, father a great nation. It took 25 years for God to cultivate Abram’s character and build his faith to father a great nation.

And so it was, at age 75 Abram took his wife Sarai (age 60), his nephew Lot, and all their servants and possessions to the land of Canaan. This was a land polluted with the most perverse forms of idolatry -- child sacrifices; prostitute priestesses and homosexual priests practiced gross sexual sins in 'honor' of their vile gods. God appeared to Abram and promised the land of Canaan to his descendants. (Gen. 12:7)

After a detour to Egypt (Gen. 12:10-20) where Abram brought trouble on himself again for not trusting God, he settled at Bethel. Here Lot and Abram separated (Gen. 13) -- Lot to the well-watered Jordan plains and Abram to the high country of Canaan.

Some years later, tribal wars disrupted in the plains; Lot and his possessions were taken captive. Stirred by his responsibility to his nephew, Abram and his servants recovered Lot and his goods, as well as others from Sodom. It was here that Abram met Melchizedek, the King of Salem (peace), who was also the priest of God Most High. They shared a covenant meal of bread and wine, and Melchizedek blessed Abram. Abram, in turn, gave a tenth of the war booty to Melchizedek.

After Lot’s rescue and the encounter with Melchizedek, the LORD came to Abram in a vision, both to confirm His promise of multiplied descendants and to initiate a blood covenant similar to the model pact discussed in Lesson One (Gen. 15:4-21).  "Abram believed in the LORD, and He counted it to him for righteousness" (Gen. 15:6) concerns God’s promise of an heir for Abram. This is a key verse that describes Abram and God’s relationship; it is mentioned by Paul in his letters to both the Roman (chapter 4) and Galatian (chapter 3) churches. The belief that Abram had was not a mere mental acceptance of what God said, but a certainty, or assurance (Hebrew: ‘aman) based on the kind of relationship he had with God. Therefore, God judged or imputed (Hebrew: hashab) Abram to be righteous (Hebrew: tsedaka), since he met God’s standard. Indeed, Abram and God shared a trusting interaction with each other. Abram’s acts of faith were done because he understood that God would do what He promised; God also knew that Abram would keep his commitment and acted accordingly (i.e., Gen. 18:16-33).

The blood sacrifice that the LORD commanded Abram to offer was to be split in covenant fashion (Gen. 15:8-21).  Later, with Abram in a deep sleep (a good position for resting and/or receiving), God confirmed His promises for Abram’s seed (Gen. 15:13-16, 18-21) by taking sovereign responsibility for the ceremonial walk between the pieces of the sacrificed animals -- Abram could do nothing.

God’s next initiative came when Abram was ninety-nine years old. The commandments concerning circumcision were given , and Abram and Sarai’s names were changed to Abraham and Sarah (Gen. 17:5-15).  His restatement of a promised son for the two 'oldsters' brought Abraham down on his face with laughter (Gen. 17:17).   Choosing to remind Abram of his laughter, God named Abram and Sarah’s son Isaac (Hebrew: yitschak - 'he laughs'). Later, when she was listening from inside the tent as the LORD and Abram shared a meal, Sarah also had a good laugh at the mention of the son she was to bear (Gen. 18:1-15).

It should be noted that Abraham and Sarah were not only able to miraculously reproduce, but also the rejuvenation went far enough to restore Sarah’s beauty as well. King Abimelech of Gerar thought so -- he took her into his collection of wives, thinking she was Abraham’s sister. He gave her back unharmed, with apologies, when the LORD intervened. Not bad for a ninety year old woman!

A few years later, the LORD tested Abraham by commanding him to take his son Isaac, "whom you love," into the land of Moriah to offer him as a burnt sacrifice (Gen. 22).   Abraham obediently took Isaac and the split wood and made the trip. When Isaac asked him about a lamb for burnt offering, Abraham replied, "My son, God will provide (Hebrew: ra-ah -- 'see to it') himself a lamb" (Gen. 22:8). Abraham’s test ended when God stopped him from slaying his son, accepting a ram in Isaac’s place. What was important to God was that Abraham did not withhold (Hebrew: chasak - 'spare') his son and that he revered (Hebrew: yar - 'stand in awe') the LORD above all.

The covenant that God made and established with Abraham closely parallels the Lesson One model:

• God initiated and imposed a covenant. Gen. 12:1-3

• Abraham represented himself and his descendants. Gen. 12:2; 17:7-8

• God and Abraham pledged loyalty. Gen. 15:1, 6

• God would protect Abraham in all circumstances. (Gen. 12:3, 17; 14:14-16, 18-20; chapter 20)

• God initiated blood sacrifice and the sign of circumcision (cutting of the representative’s flesh). (Gen. 15:8-21; 17:9-14)

• God ate a covenant meal with Abraham. Gen. 18:8

• Abram had his name changed to Abraham, and God was known as the "God of Abraham." (Gen. 17:4, 5; 32:9) 

ABRAHAMIC COVENANT CONFIRMED WITH ISAAC

Isaac was a quiet man of peace. Perhaps the greatest thing he did was to go up to Mount Moriah with his father as a youth and willingly offer himself to God as a burnt offering.

At age 37 Isaac’s mother died. After three years of loneliness, Abraham arranged to find a wife for him. Sending his oldest and most trusted servant back to Mesopotamia where his brother’s family lived, God supernaturally provided a wife for Isaac (Gen. 24).  She was Rebekah, Abraham’s niece. It was 20 years before Isaac and Rebekah had any children. While pregnant, the LORD spoke to Rebekah an important prophecy:

"Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger." (Gen. 25:23)

Always the firstborn took a double portion of the inheritance and was head over the patriarchal families. With this family, however, something else was passed on -- the blessing spoken to Abraham back in Ur. When the twins, Jacob and Esau, where born and began to grow, it was a divided household. After Jacob and Esau were born, the LORD appeared to Isaac and confirmed the Abrahamic covenant (Gen. 26:24,25).

ABRAHAMIC COVENANT CONFIRMED WITH JACOB

The tension between Jacob and Esau boiled throughout their upbringing. Finally, the struggles climaxed when Jacob deceived his blind and aged father into giving him the patriarchal blessing traditionally due only to the eldest. Enraged, Esau threatened to kill him. Jacob fled for his life to his mother’s homeland in the East. Before he left, however, Isaac willingly gave Jacob the full blessing of Abraham (Gen. 28:3,4).  To confirm this blessing, God met Jacob in a dream on his way east, thus fulfilling the prophecy given to Rebekah when she carried the twins (Gen. 28:10-22).

Jacob, however, reaped a bitter life because of the deception he sowed as a young man. Many years of grief were brought on by two wives and two concubines when he only loved one, his cousin Rachel. Years of barrenness agonized Rachel until she finally birthed Joseph. Her second child, Benjamin, was delivered on her death bed. In sorrow over the only wife he loved, Jacob favored Joseph and Benjamin, causing jealousy and envy among the other ten brothers.

During this time, Jacob left Mesopotamia to return to his homeland. Fearing Esau, he sought God alone one night and met God face to face (Gen. 32).   Humbled by this awesome experience, God changed his name from Jacob (deceiver) to Israel (prince with God).

As the tribe settled into its life in Canaan, the ten brothers' jealousy over Joseph mounted. Finally, they sold the favored brother to slave traders and convinced their father that Joseph had been killed by a wild beast. Grief again overtook Jacob. 

JOSEPH

Forcibly and cruelly separated from his family at age seventeen and sold as a slave in Egypt, the Bible records no bitterness from Joseph. What the Bible does say is that "the LORD was with Joseph and he was a successful man . . ." (Gen. 39:2).   God gave Joseph favor, and he became Potiphar’s chief steward. Tragedy struck again, however, and Joseph was thrown in the dungeon, falsely accused of trying to seduce Potiphar’s wife.

While imprisoned, Joseph interpreted the dreams of two men, the Pharaoh’s butler and baker. As the man being released from prison was leaving, Joseph asked him to remember him, but the butler never did until years later.

Twelve years as a slave and in jail molded Joseph into a man that God could use in an international crisis. Suddenly Joseph was ordered to appear before Pharaoh to interpret his dreams. For this moment he had come to Egypt. God gave Joseph the interpretations, and Pharaoh made Joseph second ruler over Egypt to organize a plan for the coming famine.

Seven years later the famine swept over the world, just as Pharaoh’s dream predicted. People came to Egypt from everywhere to buy the food that Joseph had reserved in giant storage facilities. One of the families seeking help was Jacob’s tribe. Joseph forgave his brothers and then brought the entire tribe of Israel to live in Egypt. At the end of Jacob’s life he blessed each of his sons (Gen. 49:1-28), and   passed the Abrahamic blessing on to the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:8-12).  "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people" (Gen. 49:10).   Each son named a tribe; thus, began the 12 tribes of Israel. 

CONCLUSION

Along with the Covenant of Creation, the Abrahamic Covenant is the foundation of the entire Bible, and the beginning of the Gospel:

"And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In You all the nations shall be blessed.’ " (Galatians 3:8)

The nations were to be blessed through Abraham’s "seed" (Gen. 22:18). The ultimate seed is Jesus Christ:

"Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ.’ "(Galatians 3:16)

The Abrahamic Covenant, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, is entered by faith:

". . . Abraham ‘believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham . . . So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham." (Galatians 3:6, 7, 9)

top