Abrahamic Covenant

The Abrahamic Covenant, found in Genesis 15, granted the Israelites a promised land in the Land of Israel. In this covenant, God promises (see Genesis 12:1-3; 13:14-18; 15:1-21; 17:1-22):


 * To make from Abraham a great nation and to multiply his seed exceedingly and to make him a father of great many nations.
 * To bless Abraham and make him great.
 * To make Abraham a blessing to all the families of the earth.
 * To bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him.
 * To give Abraham and his seed forever all the land which he could see.
 * To give him a sign of the covenant (circumcision).

Introduction:
Around 2000 B.C., the Almighty God and Creator, Yahweh, made a sacred promise to Abraham of Ur, that He would bless him with countless descendants, give his descendants the land called Canaan, and make him the father of many nations. This sworn oath of God [Covenant] was predicated on Abraham's faith in Him as the one and only true universal God, and rested on his righteous acts of obedience, which God, through His foreknowledge, knew he would perform. This submission, precipitated by Abraham's faith, was first displayed when he obediently left his homeland of Ur to journey to an unknown land.

A condition, however, had to be met before the Abrahamic Covenant could be confirmed. Abraham was ordered by God to have himself and all male members of his household circumcised - those who were related or unrelated to him. This subsequent Covenant of Circumcision would be a sign of the Abrahamic Covenant. Opinions still vary as to the extent of coverage of God's Covenant with Abraham however. One view is that the covenant's promise of blessings pertained to Abraham and his natural heirs, the Israelite descendants of Jacob, alone. The opposing view is that the Covenant, though relating to Abraham's descendants in terms of prosperity and blessings, came to relate to all people who exercise faith in God and the Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently, are obedient. According to this view, their faith and obedience make them spiritual heirs of Abraham, and therefore, heirs of the promise [blessings] that God made to him. The Apostle Paul says, "Through him [Christ] and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith" [Romans 1:5]. . [Also See Romans 4:11 and Romans 16:26 26. 

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Parties Involved
Yahweh, the Eternal God of heaven and earth, and the creator of all things seen and unseen, is the originator of the covenant with Abraham. Abraham, the primary party to this covenant, is known as the founding father of the Israelites. He was born in Ur of the Chaldees around the year 2000 B.C. and later moved, with his family, to Haran [Northern Mesopotamia]. It was from Haran that God promised Abraham that he would became "the father of many nations."

The Covenant applied to Abraham's natural heirs, the Israelites through Jacob, made conditional upon their being circumcised in the flesh. Others, such as members of Abraham's household and those bought with money from foreigners, would also be considered a part of the Covenant through circumcision. After the institution of the New Covenant by Jesus Christ of Nazareth, all Christians who believed in God and in Jesus Christ would be included in this Covenant as stated earlier for their faith in God and in Jesus Christ would make them spiritual heirs. Jdgray 16:09, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

God Reaffirms His Oath
Several important events transpired prior to the final enactment of the Abrahamic Covenant. After Abraham had heeded the call of God to leave Haran, and journeyed with his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot and his servants, to the land of Canaan, God appeared to him a second time at Shechem [a city of Canaan] and promised the land to him and his descendants [See Genesis 12:6]. [Also see Numbers 34:1-29 [ http://www.ibs.org/bible/verse/index.php?q=Numbers%2034&tniv=yes&v_mode=&t_mode=]. [For further information on God's promise of land to the Israelites, see Exodus chapters one and two.]

At Bethel, following Lot's departure, God points out the full extent of the land of Canaan that will be for Abraham's descendants. Note what it says at Genesis 13:14-16, "After Lot departs from Abraham, God repeats His promise'…Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring [a] forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.'"

Abraham Is Blessed by God's High Priest
A very significant act takes place on Abraham's behalf after he returns to Hebron following the defeat of Kedorlaomer and the kings. Here, Melchizedek, King of Salem and Priest of the Most High God, comes out to bless Abraham, bringing him "bread and wine". This could easily be seen as a foreshadowing of [and tie-in to] the New Covenant instituted by God through the Lord Jesus Christ, for it is by means of these very same sacraments that Christians receive sanctification. Melchizedek says, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth." (See Genesis 14:16-20). (See also Matthew 26:17-30)

This act of blessing is soon followed by a sacrificial ritual that results in the establishment of the Covenant. The Biblical text reads, "9 So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon." 10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. We then read at verse 17, "When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates- 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites." {For information on Noah's covenant, ses Genesis 9:1-17.) (For God's Covenant through Moses, see Exodus 24:1-8.).

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The Covenant of Circumcision - A Condition and a Sign
The next event involved the institution of a conditional requirement. After God changes Abraham's name from Abram to Abraham ["the father of many nations"] and reaffirms the covenantal promise made earlier, He explains to Abraham, the condition upon which the covenant would be binding, and that is by "circumcision." The passage reads, "3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God"  9 Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you" (Genesis 17:3-11 ).

Verses twelve through fourteen state, " For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant." 

The Promise of a Natural Heir [Isaac]
In keeping with the promise to make Abraham the father of many, Genesis 18:10 reveals God's promise to Abraham of a son. Genesis 17 verse 10 reads,  "10 Then the LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son." We then read in verses 13-14, "Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son." The final event which draws the Covenant to its final enactment occurs when Abraham's faith and obedience is tested on Mt. Moriah. God reaffirms His covenant to Abraham after he prepares to sacrifice his son Isaac. Genesis 22: 9-14 reads, 9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. 12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." 13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son." 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."

This was a test of Abram's righteous fear of God as well as obedience. For his righteous behavior, God reaffirmed the covenant already established between them. Genesis 22:15-18 states, "15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." Jdgray 14:32, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

It should be noted that the actual promise [that preceded the formal covenant] was not sealed until the Covenant of Circumcision. According to Merriam-Webster, "a covenant is "a written agreement or promise usually under seal between two or more parties especially for the performance of some action." This meaning helps us to appreciate why the covenant of circumcision was enacted. A seal [circumcision] is a sign that the covenant is in effect, and this is what circumcision provided. Most importantly, however, is due to Abraham's act of obedience during his testing on the mountain, God promised that all nations would be blessed through his offspring.