The Abrahamic Covenant

[jeremiah1five]

The Abrahamic Covenant is a significant aspect of the Bible, delineating God's promises to Abraham and his descendants.
Below, I have itemized the key elements of this covenant as found in Genesis 12, 15, 17, and other relevant passages.

Genesis 12:1-3​

1. Call to Leave: God commands Abram (Abraham) to leave his country, people, and father's household.
2. Promise of a Great Nation: God promises to make Abram into a great nation.
3. Blessing: God promises to bless Abram.
4. Great Name: God promises to make Abram's name great.
5. Blessing to Others: Abram will be a blessing.
6. Blessing and Curse: God will bless those who bless Abram and curse those who curse him.
7. Blessing to All Peoples: All peoples on earth will be blessed through Abram.

Genesis 15​

1. Descendants as Numerous as the Stars: God promises Abram that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky (Genesis 15:5).
2. Land Promise: God promises to give Abram's descendants the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates (Genesis 15:18-21).
3. Covenant Ceremony: A formal covenant ceremony involving a sacrifice is conducted, symbolizing God's commitment to the promises (Genesis 15:9-17).

Genesis 17​

1. Everlasting Covenant: The covenant is described as everlasting (Genesis 17:7).
2. Name Change: Abram's name is changed to Abraham, meaning "father of many nations" (Genesis 17:5).
3. Multitude of Nations: God promises that Abraham will be the father of many nations and nations that are his seed from Ishmael and Esau (Genesis 17:4).
4. Kings from Descendants: Kings will come from Abraham’s descendants through the descendants of Ishmael, Esau, and Jacob (Genesis 17:6).
5. Land of Canaan: God reiterates the promise of the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants as an everlasting possession (Genesis 17:8).
6. Covenant of Circumcision: Circumcision is established as the sign of the covenant (Genesis 17:10-14).
7. Promise to Sarah: God promises that Abraham's wife Sarah will bear a son, Isaac, through whom the covenant will continue (Genesis 17:16, 19).

Genesis 22:15-18 (The Binding of Isaac)​

1. Oath of Blessing: After Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac, God swears by Himself to bless Abraham.
2. Multiplication of Descendants: God reiterates that Abraham's descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore (Genesis 22:17).
3. Victory Over Enemies: Abraham's descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies (Genesis 22:17).
4. Blessing to Nations: All nations on earth will be blessed through Abraham's offspring (seed - Genesis 22:18).

Additional Citations​

• Genesis 13:14-17: God promises Abraham the land of Canaan and innumerable descendants.
• Genesis 26:2-5: God reaffirms the covenant with Isaac, Abraham's son.
• Genesis 28:13-15: God reaffirms the covenant with Jacob, Abraham's grandson, promising land, descendants, and blessings.

These passages collectively outline the promises made by God to Abraham, forming the foundation of the Abrahamic Covenant which includes promises of land, descendants, blessings, and a special relationship with God.
There are no non-Hebrew Gentiles in this covenant.

 

[Josheb]

1. Blessing to All Peoples: All peoples on earth will be blessed through Abram.

The words, "all people" would include Jews and Gentiles. Remember: there were no Jews in Genesis. The Abrahamic covenant is NOT made with Jews.

Genesis 15​

1. Descendants as Numerous as the Stars: God promises Abram that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky (Genesis 15:5).

Which the New Testament applies to converts to Christ, both Jewish and Gentile (see Romans 4 and Hebrews 11).

1. Covenant Ceremony: A formal covenant ceremony involving a sacrifice is conducted, symbolizing God's commitment to the promises (Genesis 15:9-17).

Ooooooo...! Foul!

The most important part of that passage has been left out! When Abraham falls asleep he has a vision in which a suzerain fealty ritual is seen and in that fealty ritual it is God who practices BOTH sides of the ritual = God pledging fealty to God upon risk of death, lest He, not Abraham, suffer the sundering of his body in two like the carcasses through which the smoking oven and flaming torch passed. What Abraham prepared for was NOT a Mosaic Law styled sacrifice or offering. It is hugely wrong to interpret the slicing of animals in two and laying them on the ground as anything remotely like the sacrifices of the Law.

Huge muck up.

Genesis 17​

1. Everlasting Covenant: The covenant is described as everlasting (Genesis 17:7).

Yes, and according to the author of Hebrews Abraham and all the other covenant members are made complete in the body of Christ.

Genesis 22:15-18 (The Binding of Isaac)​

Again, hugely important information is being left out.

Isaac is a "monogenes," son. Isaac is a son of promise. It's the promise that makes Isaac monogenes, not biology. Through Isaac Abraham learns the future fulfillment of the covenant promises are found in a monogenes son (Jesus is the monogenes sarx egenetos), God will provide the sacrifice, and even if the son dies he will be raised again. This was only alluded to in Genesis, but it was unveiled and explained in the NT...... in letters written to Christians of both prior Jewish and and Gentile persuasion.

Additional Citations​

• Genesis 13:14-17: God promises Abraham the land of Canaan and innumerable descendants.
• Genesis 26:2-5: God reaffirms the covenant with Isaac, Abraham's son.
• Genesis 28:13-15: God reaffirms the covenant with Jacob, Abraham's grandson, promising land, descendants, and blessings.

These passages collectively outline the promises made by God to Abraham....

The covenant promises were made to Abraham and his seed, and his seed is Jesus (see Gal. 3). Therefore, the correct understanding of all the Genesis covenant commentary is the covenant promises were made to Abraham and Jesus.

There are no non-Hebrew Gentiles in this covenant.

There are no Jews in the covenant, either.

The descendants of Abraham are not counted by bloodline. All Israel is not Israel, and the Israel that is Israel is not counted by bloodline, either. This op is about a racist gospel.


Furthermore, there'd be no covenant with Abraham had God not covenanted first with Noah. In addition to that, because Jesus precedes Abraham, (see John 1) the covenant promises made to Abraham and Jesus mean Jesus came first, not Abraham. Were Abraham to ever meet Jesus it is Abraham who would be bowing to Jesus, not the other way around. The exact same question Jesus asked in Matthew 22:45 applies to Abraham. Jesus, the descendant of Abraham, is Lord over Abraham, not the other way around.

John 8:58
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”

With the exception of Luke's writings, every verse from the NT I have referenced, cited, and quoted was written by a Jew. Those Jews authoritatively taught a much different message than this op. The selective us of Genesis does not tell the whole story.

 

[TrevorL]

Greetings Jeremiah1five,

Genesis 13:14-17: God promises Abraham the land of Canaan and innumerable descendants.

The promise of the Land is to Abraham and to Jesus and this shows that the Kingdom of God will be upon the earth. Abraham was not told to look to heaven. The reward of the faithful is not heaven going at death, no immortal souls, but the hope is a resurrection from the dead at the return of Jesus and a sharing in the Kingdom of God upon the earth.:

Genesis 13:14–15 (KJV): 14 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

Galatians 3:16 (KJV): Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

The faithful share in this promise when they believe and are baptised:
Galatians 3:26–29 (KJV): 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Kind regards
Trevor

 

[jeremiah1five]

Greetings Jeremiah1five,

The promise of the Land is to Abraham and to Jesus and this shows that the Kingdom of God will be upon the earth. Abraham was not told to look to heaven. The reward of the faithful is not heaven going at death, no immortal souls, but the hope is a resurrection from the dead at the return of Jesus and a sharing in the Kingdom of God upon the earth.:

Genesis 13:14–15 (KJV): 14 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

Galatians 3:16 (KJV): Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

The faithful share in this promise when they believe and are baptised:
Galatians 3:26–29 (KJV): 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Kind regards
Trevor

As per the Abrahamic, Mosaic, and the New Covenant, salvation is OF THE JEWS.

It matters not if one is "faithful". What matters most is that one is of the seed of Abraham.

This is why Saul said in Romans, "and all Israel shall be saved."

The high priest under the Law after sacrificing a lamb for the sins of the children of Israel did not ask the children of Israel to "accept the sacrifice into your heart" or "confess with your mouth and believe in your heart" the sacrifice and you will be saved.
There is no such method. But what the high priest did do was sprinkle the people with the blood of the sacrifice to atone for their sins. This was a yearly atonement until in the fulness of time God would send His Lamb to die for the sins of the people eternally.

4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Gal. 4:3–5.

God cannot be any clearer.

 

[Josheb]

Greetings Jeremiah1five,

The promise of the Land is to Abraham and to Jesus and this shows that the Kingdom of God will be upon the earth.

I do not want to digress far afield of the op. I do not want to digress far afield of this op but I have three questions for you that is directly related to this statement I've just quoted. I have purposefully worded this question in the form of a "yes or no" question because that is all I want; a "yes," or a "no" (I'll accept a "maybe" or "I don't know"). I understand the answer could be discussed at some length but that's not the topic of this op. I also know from our prior exchange that questions like the one I am about to ask cause unnecessary provocation, and that is not my intent. For that reason, it is my hope that the questions asked will be answered and we can be done with the matter. The readers of the thread can take what they want from the limited exchange.

1. Do you think God is interested in a postage-stamp sized parcel of land on the east side of the Mediterranean more than He is the Genesis 1:27 subduing and ruling of the whole world (see also Matthew 28:18-20)?
2. According to several verses in the Bible (like Jos. 2:9; Jdg. 6:9, etc.) God fulfilled the promise to the genetic descendants of Abraham long ago. Given that fact, is there justification for another fulfillment of an already fulfilled promise?
3. This op exists in the Bible Study board of the forum, NOT the eschatology board. It is, however, very common for the Dispensational-style premillennialists in any forum to make every discussion about end times. Do you see that happening here in Post #3?
4. I do not know how much experience you have trading posts with @jeremiah1five, but according to him there is no covenant between God and the Gentiles. Do you understand that means (unless you were Jewish before becoming Christadelphian) you and I have no covenant with God?

I'll take up some of the more op-relevant content in Post 3 separately. Thank you in advance for the yes/no/maybe/I dunno these four questions will receive.

 

[Josheb]

Abraham was not told to look to heaven.

Abraham was not told to jump around a frog on one leg, watch the sunrise while doing a handstand, or eat 20 kilos of beans and broccoli and pass gas between six trees, either. There is no end of what Abraham was NOT told. Aside from the argument of silence asserted in that sentence, scripture explicitly states,

Hebrews 11:8-10
By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Is that not the city of Revelation 21? Or do you think God has built another city beside the new city of peace that comes down out of heaven? If the latter, then please cite where I might find that in the Bible. If, on the other hand, the city built by God is the city of Revelation 21, then Abraham was, in fact, told to look to heaven and the dichotomy making heaven and earth exclusive of one another is a false one. Abraham can look to heaven and reap earthly promise.

Because of places like Hebrews 12 the reader of the whole Bible understands that "Zion" is not about physical land (or physical land alone).

Hebrews 12:18-24
For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.


In other words, it is scripture itself that allegorizes and spiritualizes many of the Old Testament's statements. It's not an extra-biblical, man-made doctrine that does this; it is scripture itself. Throughout Biblical history the bloodline descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob obtained the land promise of God but on every single occasion they gained no benefit aside from a momentary possession of land. Do you think there is a purpose to God seeing fit to show that to both the Jews and the rest of humanity (for as long as the Bible bears witness to that fact)? According to the author of Hebrews, not only were Abraham, all those men and women of faith listed in the previous chapter who find their perfection in the Church, and the New Testament saints looking for a city made by God, but they had already come to it! According to Peter (1 Pet. 2:9) the holy nation of God was fulfilled by those believing in His Son. That promise was, therefore, fulfilled - everlastingly. It simply was not fulfilled the way an old covenant earth-bound-thinking Jew would understand the fulfillment (see Ex. 19:6).

Romans 9:6-13
But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls — she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Based on the many, many posts I have read from @jeremiah1five, I have never seen any evidence applying the older serving the younger, the Jews serving the converts to Christ, has ever dawned on him. I have repeatedly pointed out the many times scripture elevates the descendants of promise over bloodline/genetic descendants only to have that content ignored. Not all Israel is Israel. Not all the descendants of Abraham are his descendants.

That would indicate whenever we read the word "Israel" or any mention of Abraham's descendants anywhere in the Bible, we should read them as God defined them in the New Testament - especially those mentions found in covenant promises and prophecy. When that happens very few (if any) mentions of "Israel" turn out to be about a geo-political nation state (this is very apparent in the book of Revelation where the word "Israel" is mentioned only three times and NONE of them have to do with a geo-political nation-state named "Israel").



If all we had was the Old Testament, we'd all think things God never intended us to think. Christians chronically criticize and stand against "man-made philosophies," the "traditions of men," and man-made doctrine but it never seems to occur to them that is exactly what Judaism is! The "traditions of men" to which Paul was referring was Judaic tradition, not post-biblical doctrines. Abraham did, indeed, look to heaven for the promises' fulfillment but that did not preclude an earthly fulfillment. The two are not mutually exclusive of one another.

 

[TrevorL]

Greetings again Jeremiah1five,

It matters not if one is "faithful". What matters most is that one is of the seed of Abraham.

Galatians 3 teaches that ALL of this flows through Jesus Galatians 3:16 and the faithful become incorporated into Jesus and inherit the promises including the promise of the Land by a true belief of the Apostolic Gospel and baptism Galatians 3:26-29, Acts 8:5-6,12.

Kind regards
Trevor

 

[jeremiah1five]

Greetings again Jeremiah1five,

Galatians 3 teaches that ALL of this flows through Jesus Galatians 3:16 and the faithful become incorporated into Jesus and inherit the promises including the promise of the Land by a true belief of the Apostolic Gospel and baptism Galatians 3:26-29, Acts 8:5-6,12.

Kind regards
Trevor

There is no requirement of "faith" in the Abrahamic Covenant.

There is no requirement of "faith" in the Mosaic Covenant but there is command to obedience.

There is no requirement of "faith" in the New Covenant.

There was no "accept the animal sacrifice in your heart" in the Old Testament, nor was there any "confess the animal sacrifice with your mouth and believe in the animal sacrifice with your heart and you shall be saved" in the Old Testament.

With the Great Congregation in the desert at the time of the Tabernacle the high priest deliberately sprinkled the people with the blood of the sacrifice as prefiguring the day when the blood of the lamb of God would be sprinkled (figuratively) upon the children of Israel for whom Christ died to atone for their sins.

 

[TrevorL]

Greetings again Jeremiah1five,

There is no requirement of "faith" in the Abrahamic Covenant.

I consider that faith is at the heart of the Abrahamic Covenant:

Genesis 15:5–6 (KJV): 5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Kind regards
Trevor

 

[jeremiah1five]

Greetings again Jeremiah1five,

I consider that faith is at the heart of the Abrahamic Covenant:

Genesis 15:5–6 (KJV): 5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Kind regards
Trevor

I agree. Abram believed God, but I said that faith is not a requirement of any of the Hebrew Covenants.

Circumcision is required in the Abrahamic Covenant and obedience is required/commanded by God in the Mosaic Covenant. There is no requirement of faith in the New Covenant. Reading Jeremiah 31:31-34 reveals God the 'mover' in those things, and He just does them without anything from the House of Israel or the House of Judah. The covenant is salvation in and of itself and the New Covenant is merely the Mosaic Covenant fulfilled by Christ, and now with Christ in the believer the Mosaic Covenant is also in the believer. This is what God said and meant in "putting His Law in their inward parts." What led and guided the Israelites in the desert at the time of the Tabernacle was God's Law written in stone. With the Law in the inward parts of the believer and the Law type and shadow of the Holy Spirit of Promise, the Law/Holy Spirit leads and guides the believer from within written on fleshly tables of the heart.

Gentiles do not have this taking place in them for they are NOT in any of the Hebrew Covenants nor Abraham's seed