The Abrahamic Covenant: It’s Impact on History & Us! (Gen. 15)
The Promises of the Abrahmic Covenant are guiding & eventually determine the ultimate outcome of history. They reveal God’s guaranteed long-term plan in the Middle East. It reveals Why Israel [the Jews] can Never be totally Destroyed. Understanding Blood Covenant brings us assurance of salvation if we genuinely repent & believe in Jesus Christ!
GOD CUT AN UNCONDITIONAL COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM
God Reveals 2 Ways He Gives us Unshakable faith:
1.) God commits Himself to Abram with precious Promises (Gen. 12:1-3; 13:14-17; 15:1-5). A promise is only as sure as the character of the one making it: No one is more powerful, faithful & truthful than God (Heb. 6:13) God is omnipotent & Holy [perfect]. It is impossible for him to lie! (Heb. 6:17-18; Num. 23:19; I Sam. 15:29; Titus 1:2).
2.) God confirms the Promises with an unconditional Blood Covenant
Oath. (Described in Genesis 15:9-21). Once God swears by an unconditional Blood covenant it can never be changed. It is immutable!
(Hebrews 6:16-19) “Men verily swear [the promise] by the greater: & an oath [of a covenant] for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. (17) God, willing more abundantly to show the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: (18) That by two immutable things [the promise & the covenant] in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation & lay hold upon the hope set before us: (19) Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul.” Our HOPE is in God’s Word!
The Prophetic & symbolic Experience of Abraham entering a Blood Covenant Relationship with God
(Gen 15:12) “And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.”
[The deep sleep makes it very clear this covenant is unconditional] The horror & darkness hint the Promises will come through great suffering.
Genesis 15:13-16 is a 7-fold prophecy literally & completely fulfilled:
1. Abram’s descendants were to be strangers in a land not theirs
(Gen. 15:13). Fulfilled in Israel’s going to Egypt (Genesis 46 thru 50)
2. They will "serve" [be servants] in this strange land (Gen. 15:13)
Fulfilled (Ex. 1 & 2)
3. They will be ‘afflicted’ 400 yrs. (Gen. 15:13). Fulfilled (Ex. 12:40-41)
Why? Could it be related to the riches he took by deceiving the
Egyptians? (Gen. 12:9-20 esp. vs. 15-16) (Prov. 28:13)
4. The nation whom Abram’s descendants "serve" God would "judge."
(Gen. 15:14). Fulfilled in Exodus chapt. 5 thru 15 & history.
5. Abram’s offspring would come out of Egypt with "great substance."
(Gen. 15:14; Ps. 105:37). Fulfilled in Exodus 12:33-36. [the riches were so they could build God’s House]
6. “And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace” (Gen. 15:15) & be buried
in a good old age. Fulfilled in Genesis 25:1-11. Here we have a revelation of life after death. God must raise him from the dead to fulfill the covenant promise that he & his seed will inherit the Promised Land “forever” (Gen. 13:15). Fulfilled in his seed Jesus Christ’s resurrection!
Jesus confirms God’s relationship with Abraham implied Life after Death when He taught: “But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, & Isaac, & Jacob?’ “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” They were astonished at his doctrine” (Matt. 22:31-33).
Do you want to know where Abraham went? – read Luke 16:19-31.
7. In the "fourth generation" Abram’s descendants would return again to Canaan (v.16). Fulfilled (Ex. 12:40-1 & Joshua) [here a generation is 100 years; generations are different lengths in other Scriptures]]
A SUBSTITUTE TAKES ABRAHAM’S PLACE IN THE COVENANT
(Gen 15:17) “It came to pass when the sun went down, & it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, & a burning lamp passed between the pieces.”
The burning Lamp points to Jesus the light of the World (Isa. 10:17; 62:1) who takes Abram’s place in making covenant with the furnace of God’s Shekinah Glory! (Ex. 3:2; 13:21; 19:18; 40:38).
(Gen 15:18) “In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: Because the Abrahamic Covenant is an Unconditional Covenant the Promised Land (all the land of Canaan) will be Israel’s for an everlasting possession (Gen. 12:1, 7; 13:15; 17:8; also Gen. 22:15-18; 26:2-5; 28:12-13).
The Promises of the Abrahamic Blood Covenant are found in (Genesis 12:1-7; 13:14-17; 15:1-21; 17:1-14; 22:15-18). Some Promises are not fulfilled yet. How do the Gentiles enter the Blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant? By FAITH in God’s Word! (Gal. 3:6-9)
“Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham (Gal. 3:7). And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed (3:8) So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham” (3:9). (this was Prophesied in Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14)
KEY COVENANT PROMISES:
1. To Abraham & his seed shall the Promised Land be given forever.
(Gen. 12:1; Ps. 105:8-11)
2. Abraham’s name will be Great (Gen. 12:2)
3. A great Nation shall come from him (Gen. 12:2).
4. He shall have an heir of promise (Gen. 15:4).
5. His seed shall number more than the stars [heavenly seed] & sand & dust of the earth [earthly seed]
(Gen. 13:16; 15:5).
6. He will be the Father of many nations (Gen. 17:5; Rom. 4:17-18).
9. The Covenant is everlasting (Gen. 17:7, 13, 19).
10. His seed shall possess the gate of his enemies (Gen. 22:17)
The 4 unconditional Covenants (Abrahamic, Land Covenant, Davidic Covenant, New Covenant) were made with the Covenant People of Israel & eventually must be literally fulfilled for literal Israel! The church enters the blessings of the New Covenant through her relationship with Jesus Christ who fulfills all the Covenants (Gal. 3:14).
Paul wrote about “my kinsman according to the flesh who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, the glory, & the covenants, & the giving of the law, & the service of God, & the promises” (Rom. 9:3-4). All the Covenants in the Bible are made with Literal Israel but gentiles enter the Covenant blessings by faith in Christ: “remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, called Uncircumcision…at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, & strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, & without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:11-13)
JEREMIAH 31:35-37 CONFIRMS GOD’S PLANS FOR ISRAEL:
(35) Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, & the ordinances of the moon & of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name
(36) If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever.
(37) Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.”
ISRAEL & THE JEWS ARE GOD’S KEY TO FULFILLING ALL THE COVENANTS (Rom. 11:25-27)
(25) “I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; That blindness in part is happened to Israel, Until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.
(26) And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
(27) For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.” [Here God speaks of fulfilling the unconditional New Covenant]
3 IMPORTANT LESSONS FOR US ABOUT ISRAEL:
God’s plan for the Middle East is clearly revealed in the Bible
1. God has Given the Promised Land to Abraham & His seed, Israel!
2. We know why Israel will never be destroyed: Her existence as a nation
is guaranteed by God’s Promise & Blood Covenant oath.
3. From Israel’s history we learn that even God’s Chosen people will suffer the tragic consequences of
disobedience if they rebel against Him.
COVENANT PROMISES IMPACTING HISTORY:
(Gen. 12:2) “and thou shalt be a blessing” [imperative tense]. Notice that if you want to be blessed you must bless others! It is not optional: “thou shalt be a blessing.” This is a moral responsibility. These blessings started with Joseph & continue throughout history. The final fulfillment of this promise comes through Abraham’s seed who is Christ (Gal. 3:16) when he sets up His Millennial Kingdom. And through Christ to all the families of the earth (Rev. 7:9). God Promised this to Abraham in Genesis 12:3: “in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
It is a profoundly interesting fact that Jews are 0.2% of the World population yet earned 22% of all Nobel Prizes between 1901-2013. History’s 43 greatest Lifesaving Advances have saved 5.6 Billion lives! 2.8 Billion lives were saved by discoveries made by Jews alone! Breakthroughs When 50% of the developing team were Jewish have saved 4.3 Billion Lives. 77% of total # of lives saved involved Jews in some way!
To learn more visit the Website: < JINFO.ORG >
COVENANT PROMISES IMPACTING HISTORY:
(Gen. 12:3) “I will bless them that bless thee, & curse him that curseth thee.” [This involves both Nations & individuals (you & me)!]
Whoever blesses Abraham or his seed shall be blessed (Gen. 12:3 Matt. 25:31-40). Whoever curses Abraham or his seed shall be cursed (Gen. 12:3; Matt. 25:40-46). A most sobering study is to analyze the history of Nations & people in light of this Blood Covenant Promise.
Mark Twain observed this fact when he wrote in 1899: “The Egyptian, the Babylonian, the Persian, rose, filled the planet with sound & splendor, then passed away. The Greek & the Roman followed, made a vast noise & they are gone. All things are mortal, but the Jew. All other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”
3 Crucial Lessons to Keep us Gentile Believers Humble:
1. God will “dump” the gentiles for apostasy (Rom. 11:11-24; 2 Thess. 2:3; 2Tim. 4:3-4).
2. God will save Israel as a Nation. Their fall was only partial & temporary! (Rom. 11:25-26; Dan. 12:1-4;
Jer. 31:33-34).
3. The great danger for Gentiles is “becoming wise in their own conceits (Rom. 11:25; Ps. 2).
Romans 10:1 can be our model prayer for Israel.
