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The Abrahamic Covenant An Everlasting Covenant  If Abram could count the stars, so also could he count his descendants. Genesis 15:5-6 Introduction.
There are a
number of Biblical Covenants. One in particular, the Mosaic
Covenant,
is a conditional, thus temporary covenant. But a number of covenants
are said to be everlasting. The Abrahamic
Covenant is one of the
everlasting
covenants. This article discusses, in relation to the
Abrahamic Covenant, A its foundation,
B its ratification, C
its fleshly threat, D its signs, E its sole heir in terms of
Abraham's sons, F its test, G
its delayed fulfillment,
H the importance of theological purity in
marriage for its recipients, I further
selectivity as to its recipients, J its extension to Isaac, K its conditional and unconditional
elements, L the struggle between Esau
and Jacob over its blessings, M its extension to Jacob, N its extension to Jacob's twelve sons, and O its
summary.
A. The
Foundation
and Framework of Yahweh’s Eternal Covenant with Abram. Yahweh’s relationship to Abram
centered upon a
promise of land, progeny, and blessing. 1. Yahweh’s
relationship with Abram began with a promise (Gen. 12:1-3). a. There
was something Abram had to do: He had to leave his country, his
relatives, and
his father’s house. He had to move to the land which Yahweh would show
him (Gen. 12:1). b. If Abram
would do so, Yahweh promised He would make of him a great nation, bless
him,
and make his name great (Gen. 12:2). c. In
addition, Yahweh commanded Abram, “be a blessing” (Gen. 12:2). d. Yahweh
further promised He would bless those who blessed Abram, He would curse
those
who cursed Abram, and in Abram all of “the families of the earth” would
be
blessed (Gen. 12:3). 2. When
Abram arrived in the land of Canaan, Yahweh made him an unconditional
promise:
“To your descendants I will give this land” (Gen. 12:7). 3. Yahweh
had already begun to fulfill His promise to Abram. After a brief stay
in Egypt,
“Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold” (Gen. 13:1-2). After Abram
unselfishly separated
himself from Lot because their combined herds were too great, Yahweh
enlarged
on His unconditional promise to him. He instructed Abram to look in all
directions. He said, “all the land which you see, I will give it to you
and to
your descendants forever” (Gen. 13:14-15). He said that
He would make Abram’s
descendants as plentiful as the dust of the earth. He was to walk
throughout
the land, for Yahweh would give it to him (Gen. 13:16-17). 4. Abram
dutifully and miraculously rescued Lot and all the citizens of Sodom
from the
hands of Chedorlaomer and his allies (Gen. 14:1-17). He met
Melchizedek, King-Priest of
Salem (Jerusalem) (Gen. 14:18). Melchizedek
pronounced a blessing
upon Abram from God Most High, Possessor of Heaven and Earth, who had
granted
Abram the victory (Gen. 14:19-20). 5. It was following Abram’s victory over Chedorlaomer and his allies that Yahweh, in Genesis 15, expanded His initial promise to Abram into a covenant. Return to Top. 1. After
Abram’s daring, miraculous victory, Yahweh announced to Abram in a
vision that
he was not to fear, for Yahweh was his defense, and He was going to
reward
Abram greatly (Gen. 15:1). 2. Abram
immediately responded and began to question Adonai Yahweh. He had
experienced His
blessing. He was living in the land, but he had no blood heirs. So
where was
the fulfillment of Adonai Yahweh’s promise (Gen. 15:2-3)? 3. Yahweh
assured him that someone who would come forth from his own body would
be his
heir (Gen. 15:4). Then Yahweh
told him to look at the
stars. If he could count them, then he could count his descendants (Gen. 15:5). Abram
“believed in the LORD; and He
reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). 4. Having
successfully reassured Abram about his descendants, Yahweh reminded
Abram that
He had brought him from Ur of the Chaldeans with a view to giving him
the land
in which he was now a nomad. Yahweh’s purpose was that Abram would
possess the
land (Gen. 15:7). Abram asked
for some tangible
demonstration of that purpose (Gen. 15:8). His specific
question was, “O Lord
GOD [Adonai Yahweh], how may I know that I will possess it?” 5. It
was at this point that Yahweh reinforced His promises to Abram with a
covenant,
first so labeled in Gen. 15:18. Yahweh’s
covenant formally
guaranteed to Abram’s descendants a specifically bounded piece of real
estate.
In addition, Yahweh revealed something of the time constraints of His
beginning
to fulfill His covenant (in excess of four hundred years). In addition,
He
revealed the nations whom Abram’s descendants would displace (Gen. 15:9-21). Here are the
details of the
covenant ceremony. a. Yahweh
instructed Abram to bring specific animals to the place where Abram had
been
conversing with Him (Gen. 15:9). b. Abram
knew instantly that God was proposing a blood covenant, and so he
killed the
animals and “laid each half opposite the other” (Gen. 15:10). This was done
so that the two
parties might walk between the dead animals, formalizing their
agreement. The
idea was that if either party violated the terms of the covenant, he
was liable
to forfeit his own life. (For a subsequent example of this, see
Yahweh’s
requirement of the lives of all those who passed between the parts of a
calf as
a blood covenant that they would release their slaves from servitude (Jer. 34:18-19). Since they had
reneged on their
blood covenant, Yahweh would take their lives at the hands of the
Babylonian
army (Jer. 34:8-22)!) c. Time
passed. This conversation between Yahweh and Abram had begun at
nighttime, when
Abram could see the stars (Gen. 15:5). But now it was
daytime so Abram
could see what he was doing. He had to wait all day for Yahweh to
complete the
covenant, and so Abram had to chase away vultures and other scavengers (Gen. 15:11). Finally the
sun went down and God
put Abram to sleep (Gen. 15:12). Yet he was
acutely aware of what
God was saying and doing. d. Elohim
told Abram his descendants would one day be enslaved in another country
four
hundred years, but they would then be rescued and in possession of
great wealth
(Gen. 15:13-14). Abram would
live out his full life.
His descendants would be brought back to this promised land in the
fourth
generation. This was so because the land’s inhabitants (the Amorites)
had not
reached their Divine quota of evil, and Elohim would not yet destroy
them in
judgment (Gen. 15:15-16). e. When
the sun had set completely and it was very dark, “there appeared a
smoking oven
and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces” (Gen. 15:17). In other
words, while Abram was
still incapacitated, Yahweh walked between the pieces of the dead
animals
alone. This unequivocally demonstrates the unconditional nature of
Yahweh’s
covenant with Abram. Its performance depended on Yahweh and His
integrity
alone. In any age, Abram’s descendants might be disqualified from the
benefits
of the covenant because of their faithlessness (Deut. 28), but the
ultimate fulfillment of the
covenant depended on Yahweh, not man. f. On
that day Yahweh “made a covenant” (lit., “cut a covenant” – so stated
because
the animals throats were cut and the animals were cut in two to
guarantee the
finality and fulfillment of the agreement) with Abram (Gen. 15:18). Here were the
terms of the
covenant: (1) Yahweh gave to
Abram’s descendants “this
land” (Gen. 15:18). (2) The boundaries of
the land were
described as extending from “the river of Egypt as far as the great
river, the
river Euphrates” (Gen. 15:18). There is no
debate as to which
river the Euphrates is (closest to Israel in modern day Syria). In the
heyday
of the reign of Solomon, Israel controlled territory reaching as far Northeast as the
Euphrates River (1 Kings 4:24 – Tiphsah was
situated on the banks
of the Euphrates River). But disagreement exists as to the identity of
the
“river of Egypt.” Most take the Southwestern border to be the Wadi El
‘Arish.
But the Wadi El ‘Arish is a dry river bed during the dry season.
Everyone knows
the name of the river in Egypt comparable to the Euphrates. It is the
Nile. So
the best Southwestern counter weight to the well-known Euphrates to the
Northeast
of Canaan would be the mighty Nile River, or at least its eastern-most
branch
in its Delta. Abram’s descendants have never occupied the full extent of their promised territory,
but the time will come
when they will. (See a satellite image
of the Nile Delta. See a satellite image
of Wadi El ‘Arish. See a photo and
satellite image of
the Euphrates River
at Dayr AzZawr, Syria. See a map of
the Tigris-Euphrates
basin. Go to Dr. Constable’s
Notes on Genesis, 2009 Edition,
p. 140 for the
opposing view that the SW border is Wadi El ‘Arish.) (3) Yahweh identified
the ethnic entities
or nations that would be displaced by Abram’s descendants when their
quota of
evil had been breached. These included the following – the land
inhabited by
the Kenite, Kenizzite, Kadmonite, Hittite, Perizzite, the Rephaim, the
Amorite,
Girgashite, and Jebusite (Gen. 15:19-21). The Jebusites
were the ancient
inhabitants of Jerusalem. 6. In summary, then, Yahweh established His covenant with Abram. We call this the Abrahamic Covenant. It guaranteed, on the strength of Yahweh’s integrity and faithfulness, two fundamental realities – Abram’s descendants were to inherit a specific piece of land bounded by the Nile and the Euphrates Rivers. In the process, the existing inhabitants of the land would necessarily be displaced because of their evil. This covenant built upon the foundation of Yahweh’s promises to Abram first stated in Genesis 12:1-3. Yahweh would unveil other specifics of this covenant as the years went by and Abram’s descendants began to appear. Return to Top. C. The
Fleshly Threat to the Covenant. Genesis 16 records the
attempt of Sarai, with
Abram’s acquiescence, to implement a humanistic fulfillment of Yahweh’s
Promise
to and Covenant with Abram. 1. Sarai
acknowledged that Yahweh had prevented her from bearing children. She
asked
Abram to have sexual relations with her maid. Her hope was that she
could have
children through her maid. The offspring thus born would be counted as
the
offspring of Abram and Sarai (Gen.
16:1-2). This was an established legal
precedent in those days (Notes on Genesis, 2009 Edition,
Dr. Thomas Constable,
pp. 142-143). 2. When
Abram had relations with the maid, Hagar, she immediately conceived,
and Hagar
despised her mistress (on account of Sarai’s infertility). Sarai
disciplined
her rebellious maid, and Hagar fled (Gen. 16:3-6). 3. The
Angel of Yahweh found Hagar and
instructed her to
return to Sarai and submit to her. He would multiply her descendants
incalculably (Gen. 16:10). She would bear
a son, Ishmael.
Ishmael would be “a wild donkey of a man” (Gen. 16:11-12). This phrase
probably refers to his
nomadic traveling of great distances. This is accurately describes the
existence of many freedom-loving Bedouins (see Constable, p. 144). “His
hand” would be “against
everyone, and everyone’s hand … against him” (Gen. 16:12). This depiction
aptly describes the
Arab peoples, kin folk to the Jewish people. There has been endless
animosity
among Arabs, as well as between Arabs and Jews. Never has there been a
more
potent illustration of the futility of trying to achieve God’s will
through
fleshly means. And he would “live to the east of all his brothers” (Gen. 16:12). “History has
confirmed this
promise. The Ishmaelites have continued to this day in free and
undiminished
possession of the extensive peninsula between the Euphrates, the
Straits of
Suez, and the Red Sea [Saudi Arabia], from which they have overspread
both
Northern Africa and Southern Asia” (Keil and Delitzsch Commentary). 4. Abram was eighty six years old when Hagar gave birth to their son Ishmael (Gen. 16:16). Return to Top. D. Signs
of the Covenant and Sarah’s Son as Its Beneficiary.
Thirteen years
after Ishmael’s birth,
when Abram was ninety-nine, Yahweh, in Genesis 17 began to
“establish,” i.e. to confirm
and implement (Gen. 17:1-2,7) His Genesis 15 promise to Abram
of numberless
descendants (Gen. 15:5) and His
unconditional covenant to
give his descendants the land “from the river of Egypt as far as the
great
river, the river Euphrates” (Gen. 15:18). Yahweh’s
confirmation consisted of
two sets of signs – the sign of new names and the sign of circumcision.
1. In
the first instance, Yahweh revealed to Abram a new name for Himself.
Our
English text reads, “I am God Almighty” (Gen. 17:1); in Hebrew it
is El Shaddai. In the
context of Genesis 17, this newly
revealed name of God
connotes the idea that God (El) is mighty enough to make good on the
promises
He has made, reinforced by His unilateral covenant. 2. In
preparation for the implementation of this covenant, Yahweh urged
Abram, “Walk
before Me, and be blameless” (Gen. 17:1). 3. Then
Yahweh told Abram He would establish His covenant with him and multiply
him
exceedingly (Gen. 17:2). This refers to
the covenant Yahweh
had made with Abram in Genesis 15:18, at least
thirteen or fourteen years
earlier. 4. Abram
fell on his face in worship, and Elohim continued with a second
name-change
sign. He repeated that His covenant was with Abram. Then He stated, “And you will be
the father of a multitude of nations.” He would no
longer be “Abram,” “Exalted Father.” He would now be “Abraham,” “Father
of a
Multitude,” for Elohim had made him “the father of a multitude of
nations” (Gen. 17:3-5). Elohim would
make him “exceedingly fruitful.” Nations and kings would issue from him
(Gen. 17:6). Furthermore,
Elohim
declared, He would establish His covenant between He Himself and
Abraham and
his descendants after him for an everlasting
covenant (emphasis mine) – to be a God to Abraham and his
descendants (Gen. 17:7). And then, to
reinforce
the terms of the covenant, Elohim specified, I will give to you and to
your
descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of
Canaan,
for an everlasting possession
(emphasis mine); and I will
be their God" (Gen. 17:8). For the first
time we
learn that the Abrahamic covenant is an eternal covenant. We also learn that
the terms of the Abrahamic Covenant are that Elohim
grants to Abraham and his descendants the land of Canaan in
perpetuity. 5. Having revealed
to Abram His own name (El Shaddai – the God powerful enough to keep His
promises and His covenant), and having revealed to Abram the latter’s
new name,
Abraham – “Father of a Multitude” – Elohim now expanded on the responsibility of Abraham and Abraham’s
descendants (Gen. 17:9-14). a. Both Abraham and
his descendants are to keep perpetually this covenant with Elohim (Gen. 17:9). b. When Yahweh
alone had walked through the pieces of the dead animals (Gen. 15:17-21), that had been
Yahweh’s sign that the ultimate fulfillment of the covenant was His and
His
alone. It was an unconditional covenant. Now Elohim pressed upon
Abraham a sign
for him and for his descendants to keep – they must be circumcised in
the flesh
of their foreskin (Gen. 17:10-11). c. This sign was to
be applied to every male in Abraham’s retinue eight days old and above,
even to
servants, whether those born in his own household or purchased (Gen. 17:12-13). d. Just as Elohim’s
covenant with Abraham was an everlasting
covenant (Gen. 17:7), so Abraham and
his
descendants and his servants were to bear the sign of the covenant
(circumcision)
in their flesh as an everlasting
covenant (Gen. 17:13). e. In fact, any
uncircumcised male would be cut off from Abraham’s people, for that
male will
have broken the covenant (Gen. 17:14)! f. This sequence of
events clearly illustrate this maximum: Elohim’s covenant with Abraham
and His
descendants regarding the land of Canaan is unilateral, unconditional,
and
everlasting; yet for any descendant of Abraham to partake of the
benefits of
that covenant, there are conditions to be met. In this instance there
is a
physical sign that must be displayed – circumcision. Subsequent
communication
from Yahweh would reveal the necessity not only of a circumcised organ
of
procreation, but also of a circumcised heart (Lev. 26:41; Deut.
10:16; 30:6; Jer. 4:4; 9:25-26; Ezek. 44:7-9; Acts
7:51; Rom. 2:29). 6. From the sign of
circumcision Elohim reverted back to the sign of a new name – this time
for
Sarai. Her name would no longer be Sarai (my princess) but Sarah (royal
princess) (Gen. 17:15). a. The name change
was not insignificant. Elohim would bless Sarah and give Abraham a son
by her!
In blessing her, He would grant her to be a “mother of nations; kings
of
peoples will come from her” (Gen. 17:16). b. Abraham’s
response was instantaneous. He fell on his face and laughed. Polite, he
did not
verbalize his thoughts, but inwardly he ridiculed the idea that a one
hundred
year old man and a ninety year old woman could produce a child (Gen. 17:17). c. Outwardly,
he wished that Ishmael might live before Elohim as the fulfillment of
the
latter’s covenant (Gen. 17:18). d. One
the covenant fulfillment through Ishmael, Elohim demurred. “No,” He
stated.
Sarah, Abraham’s wife would indeed bear a son (Gen. 17:19). 7. Here
Elohim revealed yet another new name. a. Abraham
was to name his promised son Isaac (meaning “he laughs”), a reference
to
Abraham’s having laughed (Gen. 17:19, 17). b. Furthermore,
declared Elohim, He would establish His covenant with Isaac, and it
would be an
“everlasting covenant for his
descendants after him” (Gen. 17:19). c. Nevertheless,
Elohim did hear Abraham’s wish concerning Ishmael. He would bless
Ishmael, make
him fruitful, and multiply him exceedingly. He would become the father
of
twelve princes (Gen. 25:12-16), and He would
make of him a great
nation (Gen. 17:20). d. But
Elohim would establish His covenant not with Ishmael, but with Isaac,
whom
Sarah would bear in about a year (Gen. 17:21). 8. After
this, Elohim left off talking with Abraham and departed (Gen. 17:22). 9. Abraham
promptly obeyed Elohim, taking upon himself and all the males in his
household
the sign of circumcision (Gen. 17:23-27). 10. What have we
learned in Genesis 17? We have learned
that Elohim’s
covenant with Abraham, which He had unilaterally ratified in Genesis 15, was to be an everlasting covenant both with Abraham
and his descendants (Gen. 17:7). This covenant
was to give to
Abraham’s descendants, furthermore, the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession (Gen. 17:8). In any age,
for Abraham’s
descendants to inherit this promise, they would have to maintain a holy
walk
with God (Gen. 17:1) as well as to
accept His sign of
circumcision as an everlasting
covenant in the flesh (Gen. 17:13). But that
faithfulness which God demanded
would alter neither the unconditional nature of the covenant, nor its
irresistible fulfillment, nor its eternality. We have learned, further,
that
Ishmael was specifically excluded from this covenant, and that Elohim
rather committed
Himself to establish this same everlasting
covenant with Isaac, the miraculous child of promise, yet unborn, and
also with
Isaac’s descendants. Still, in deference to Abraham’s request, God
would bless
Ishmael and multiply him exceedingly (Gen. 17:18-21). 11. In Genesis 18:9-15 Yahweh confirmed to Abraham that Sarah his wife would bear a son in about a year’s time. He also confirmed that Abraham would become a great and mighty nation, and that in him “all the nations of the earth would be blessed” (Gen. 18:18). Return to Top. E. Yahweh’s
Provision of Isaac as the Sole Heir of the Abrahamic Covenant. 1. In
Genesis 21:1-7 Yahweh noticed
Sarah and did for her
as He had promised. She bore a son to Abraham in his old age, and
Abraham named
him Isaac. 2. On
the day Isaac was weaned, Abraham made him a great feast. But Ishmael
mocked
Isaac. Sarah was furious and told Abraham to drive out “this maid and
her son,
for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac” (Gen. 21:8-10). Abraham was
deeply distressed. 3. But
Elohim told Abraham not to be distressed and to do as Sarah requested,
for, He
said, it was through Isaac that Abraham’s descendants were to be named (Gen. 21:11-12). 4. Yet God would make of Ishmael a great nation because he also was a son of Abraham (Gen. 21:13, 18, 20). Return to Top. F. Yahweh’s
Reinforcement of the Abrahamic Covenant through His Testing of
Abraham’s Faith
and Obedience. 1. In
Genesis 22, God tested
Abraham in regard to his
son Isaac. He was to sacrifice Isaac on a mountain in the land of
Moriah. Early
the next morning Abraham proceeded to obey (Gen. 22:1-8). 2. As
Abraham was about to kill his son, the angel of Yahweh called to him
from
heaven to stop. He knew Abraham feared God since he had not withheld
his only
son from Him (Gen. 22:9-12). 3. The
Angel of Yahweh called to Abraham again from heaven, and revealed that
Yahweh
had sworn that, because Abraham had not withheld his son, Yahweh would
bless
him, and He would multiply his seed “as the stars of heaven and as the
sand
which is upon the seashore.” Abraham’s seed would be victorious and
would
“possess the gate of their enemies.” In Abraham’s “seed all the nations
of the
earth” would be blessed because Abraham had obeyed His voice (Gen. 22:15-18). Return to Top. G. The
Death and Burial of Sarah as Illustrating the Delayed Fulfillment of
the
Abrahamic Covenant. 1. Yahweh
had covenanted to Abram’s descendants “this land” “from the river of
Egypt as
far as the great river, the river Euphrates” (Gen. 15:18). 2. Yet
when Sarah died, Abraham confessed himself “a stranger and a sojourner”
among
the sons of Heth (Gen. 23:3-4). Consequently
he was forced to
purchase land in which to bury his own wife (Gen. 23:3-20). 3. It would be centuries before Abraham’s descendants would physically possess the promised land (Gen. 15:12-16). Return to Top. H. Abraham’s
Efforts to Secure a Believing Wife for His Son Isaac.
Genesis 24. This beautiful
chapter reveals the Sovereignty of God in His
fulfillment of the promises He had covenanted
with Abraham. 1. It
shows, first of all, the care Abraham took in acquiring a believing
wife for
his son Isaac. By acquiring a wife from the household of his relatives
back in Syria of the Two
Rivers (Aram
Naharayim, in modern day Iraq), Abraham was doing his part to
ensure that
Isaac’s heart would not be pulled away from God by an unbelieving local
Canaanite wife (Gen. 18:18-19;
24:1-10). Abraham’s
extended family shared
his faith, at least to some degree. This was all part of Yahweh’s sovereign
plan. 2. This
account reveals also the sovereignty
of Yahweh in blessing Abraham “in every way” just as He had promised (Gen. 12:2-3;
24:1, 31, 35, 60). 3. This account further reveals the sovereignty of Yahweh in guiding Abraham’s servant to exactly the right young woman at the right place at the right time. When the young woman’s brother and father heard the servant’s story, they could only respond, “The matter comes from the LORD; so we cannot speak to you bad or good” (Gen. 24:27, 48, 50-51). The young woman, Rebekah, was even willing to depart her family to marry a man she had never seen at a moment’s notice (Gen. 24:50-67)! Return to Top. I. Further
Selectivity as to the Recipients of the Abrahamic Covenant. The text of Genesis 25 advances the
theme in Genesis that
Yahweh extended the Abrahamic Covenant only to certain
chosen heirs of Abraham. 1. Abraham
married a second wife, Keturah, by whom he fathered other sons. But
Abraham
“gave all that he had to Isaac.” While he gave gifts to the sons of his
concubines, he sent them away from his son Isaac “to the land of the
east” (Gen. 25:1-6). This would
preserve the land of Canaan and the
bulk of his
estate for Isaac, the chosen seed. 2. After
Abraham’s death, God blessed Isaac (Gen. 25:7-11). 3. What
happened to Ishmael? He had twelve sons,
“princes” (Gen. 25:12-18). 4. Isaac’s
wife Rebekah was barren, so he prayed on her behalf. Yahweh heard, and
Rebekah
conceived. Rebekah felt her children struggling within her, and she
asked
Yahweh why. He told her that two nations were in her womb. One people
would be
stronger than the other, “and the older shall serve the younger” (Gen. 25:19-23). One concludes,
therefore, that
Yahweh had again chosen the second-born son to inherit the blessings of
the Abrahamic Covenant. The narrative
immediately describes
a significant first step in that development. Jacob the
heel-grabber, the second born,
succeeded in talking his brother Esau out of his birthright (Gen. 25:24-34)! Return to Top. J. Yahweh’s
Extension of the Abrahamic Covenant to Isaac. Genesis 26. 1. Isaac
had prayed to Yahweh, but Yahweh had never appeared to Isaac until the
incident
recorded in Genesis 26:1-6 took place. a. Because
of a famine in the land, Isaac traveled to Gerar, where Abimelech was
king of
the Philistines (Gen. 26:1). b. While
Isaac was there, Yahweh appeared to him, instructing him not to travel
to
Egypt, but to “stay in the land of which I shall tell you” (Gen. 26:2). c. Yahweh
further commanded him, “Sojourn in this land
and I will be with you and bless
you, for to you and to your descendants
I will give all these lands, and I
will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham” (Gen. 26:3, emphasis mine).
Notice that the
three components of the Abrahamic Covenant appear in this
single statement – blessing, descendants, and land.
These three are all tied together. The blessing
is to be given to Isaac’s descendants
in the land. Isaac’s descendants
will never experience the
full blessing of Yahweh if they are
outside the land. Though Yahweh did
not utter the word covenant in His
conversation with Isaac, He did use the word oath
– it was the particular oath that He had sworn with Isaac’s
father, Abraham. By
this we know Yahweh
was referring to the covenant
He had sworn with Abraham.
d. Yahweh
was not through with His speech to Isaac. He continued, “I will
multiply your descendants as the
stars of heaven, and
will give your descendants all
these
lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the
earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 26:4, emphasis mine).
In His statement,
Yahweh incorporated past speeches He had delivered to Abraham. He would
multiply Isaac’s descendants as the
stars of heaven, reminiscent of His previous promises to Abraham in Genesis 15:5 and
in 22:17. Yahweh’s blessing of Isaac’s descendants
in these lands would be so great
that in his descendants all the
nations of the earth would be blessed!
This echoed Yahweh’s original promise to Abram in Genesis 12:1-3, which He
confirmed in Genesis 22:18. e. Yahweh
concluded His extension of the Abrahamic Covenant to his son Isaac
with the following
explanation, “because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My
commandments, My
statutes and My laws” (Gen. 26:5). f. Some
might argue, “See – God’s covenant with Abraham was conditional upon
his
obedience, and God’s extension of that covenant to Isaac was
conditional upon
his remaining in the land” (Gen. 26:2-3). That is a fair
observation, and it
demands a satisfactory response,
which we will soon provide. But let us first
look at the evidence of Yahweh’s blessing of Isaac. 2. There
is abundant evidence that Isaac did indeed inherit the Abrahamic Covenant with its
attendant blessings. Moses
recorded that Isaac sowed in the vicinity of Gerar and reaped a
hundredfold harvest from
the land. That was evidence that
Yahweh blessed him. Further
evidence
is provided in that Isaac grew wealthier and wealthier, as measured by
the size
of his flocks and herds and his entire household retinue. His
Philistine
neighbors were so aware of his prodigious wealth that they became
envious of
him and his power, and asked him to leave (Gen. 26:12-14). 3. The
next portion of the chapter describes the struggles between the
herdsmen of Gerar and those of
Isaac over water rights
(Gen. 26:18-22). Isaac was not
a confrontational
person. When his servants had dug a well and the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with
them over the water,
he yielded, moved further away, and dug another well. Finally the
herdsmen of Gerar left his
herdsmen alone, and he
called the well Rehoboth, for, he said, “At last the LORD has made room
for us,
and we will be fruitful in the land”
(Gen. 26:22b, emphasis mine). 4. Next,
Isaac moved to Beersheba. That same night
Yahweh appeared to
him. Here is what He said: “I am the God of your father
Abraham; do not
fear, for I am with you. I will bless
you, and multiply your descendants,
for the sake of My servant Abraham” (Gen. 26:3-4, emphasis mine). 5. It
is clear that God had extended the Abrahamic Covenant to Abraham’s son
Isaac.
Return to Top. K. Was
the Abrahamic Covenant Conditional? 1. It
is true that there are conditional
aspects of the Abrahamic Covenant. a. Yahweh’s
initial promise to Abram required that he leave his country and proceed
to the land
Yahweh would show him (Gen. 12:1). Had Abram
stayed in Ur of the
Chaldees, he would not have been blessed (Gen. 12:2-3). Abram, of
course, did believe God,
and he did travel to the land (Gen. 12:4-5). b. God
instituted circumcision (Gen. 17:9-14) as a sign of
Abraham’s descendants’
participation in the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 17:1-8). Any
uncircumcised male was to be
cut off from his people for breaking God’s covenant (Gen. 17:14). Abraham was
quick to obey God, and
had every male in his household circumcised (Gen. 17:23-27). c. After
Abraham had obeyed God in the mattering of sacrificing his son, Yahweh
swore
with an oath that because Abraham had not withheld his son, He would
bless him
greatly and fulfill the promises He had initially made (Gen. 22:15-18). d. When
Yahweh first appeared to Isaac, He warned him not to travel to Egypt
but to
stay in the land, and Yahweh would bless him and establish the oath He
had
sworn to Abraham (Gen. 26:1-5). Isaac, of
course, did stay in the
land (Gen. 26:6), and Yahweh
blessed him prodigiously
(Gen. 26:12-14). e. Additionally,
on the occasion that Yahweh extended the Abrahamic Covenant to Isaac, His
stated rationale for
doing so was that Abraham had “obeyed Me and kept My charge, My
commandments,
My statutes and My laws” (Gen. 26:5). One might
logically argue that, had
Abraham not obeyed God, Isaac would never have been granted an
extension of the
covenant to himself. The text, however, does not explicitly state that
conclusion. 2. It
is also true that there are unconditional
features of the Abrahamic Covenant. a. After
Abram had arrived in the land and had parted ways with his nephew Lot,
Yahweh
told Abram He would give to him and his descendants forever
all the land he could see (Gen. 13:14-17). There were no
conditions attached.
Furthermore, Yahweh’s use of the term forever
presumes a future that is nothing short of being guaranteed. b. We
have already discussed the promise to Abram and the covenant that God
made with
Abram in Genesis 15. The word
blessing does not occur in Genesis 15, but the concept
does. Yahweh told
Abram his reward would be very great (Gen. 15:1). That amounts
to a blessing. When questioned by
Abram,
Yahweh responded that the number of Abram’s descendants
would be as incalculable as the stars of heaven (Gen. 15:5). Then Yahweh
reminded Abram He had
brought him from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to possess “this land” (Gen. 15:7, emphasis mine).
When Abram queried
as to how he could know this, Yahweh responded by making a Blood Covenant
with him. Yahweh staked His own integrity on this covenant by walking
between
the pieces of the dead animals alone (Gen. 15:8-17). This means
that the provisions of
the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 15:18-21), a specifically
bounded piece of
land and the displacement of specific nations, made Abram and his
descendants
the unconditional, guaranteed beneficiaries. c. We
generally think of Genesis 17 as introducing
circumcision as the
obligatory sign of the Abrahamic Covenant. Indeed, this
section begins with a
command linked with a promise: Yahweh appeared to Abram, saying, “I am
God Almighty
(El Shaddai); walk before Me, and be blameless. I will establish My
covenant
between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly” (Gen. 17:1-2). At that point,
Abram’s response was
to fall on His face. Without demeaning that response, let me
nonetheless point
out that Abram had not yet had the opportunity to fill any condition of
obedience. Nonetheless, Yahweh continued to make some unequivocal
promises with eternal
overtones as follows: (1) God’s covenant
was with Abram (Gen. 17:4). (2) Abram would
become “the father of a
multitude of nations,” a reference to his descendants.
On that account God changed his name from Abram to Abraham (Gen. 17:4-5). (3) God would make
Abraham very fruitful,
so that nations and kings would issue from him (Gen. 17:6), also a
reference to Abraham’s descendants.
The reference to kings
paves the way for God’s covenant with Abraham’s descendant King David,
and
David’s greatest descendant, King Jesus through the Davidic Covenant as well as this Abrahamic Covenant. (4) God would
establish His covenant between
Himself and Abraham and his descendants after him as an everlasting
covenant from generation to generation (Gen. 17:7). (5) God would give to
Abraham and his
descendants the land of Canaan as an everlasting
possession (Gen. 17:8). Let me pause
to ask a question. How
could God make eternal guarantees of the covenant and grant land as an
eternal
possession if the outcome were uncertain? The answer is simple. He
could not,
and He did not. (6) After requiring
the physical sign of
circumcision (Gen. 17:9-14), God continued
with more explicit
revelation. Sarai’s name was to be changed to Sarah because she herself
would
bear to Abraham a son by virtue of Elohim’s blessing. Elohim would
bless her so
much that she would be the mother of nations and kings of peoples (Gen. 17:15-16). Since she was
to be the maternal
ancestor of royalty her name was changed from Sarai (“My Princess”) to
Sarah
(“Princess”). (7) Abraham was to
name the son that Sarah
would bear Isaac. Elohim would establish His covenant with Isaac, and
as an everlasting covenant with
Isaac’s descendants after him (Gen. 17:19). If there were
any uncertainties
about the eventual outcome of God’s relationship with Isaac and his
descendants, how could the covenant be an everlasting one? (8) Abraham’s son by
Hagar, Ishmael, would
not be a party to this covenant, yet for Abraham’s sake, Elohim would
bless
Ishmael anyway (Gen. 17:18, 20). (9) Elohim would
definitely establish His
covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah would bear in a year’s time (Gen. 17:21). Let me
conclude this section by
remarking that, any conditions notwithstanding, any mention of an everlasting covenant, both with Abraham
and with Isaac’s descendants, and any mention of the land of Canaan as
an everlasting possession requires
the
existence of an unconditional covenant. An eternal guarantee is, in
effect, an
unconditional guarantee. Any descendants of Abraham and Isaac who did
not obey
God, and who did not practice circumcision would themselves be
disqualified.
But with the use of the term “everlasting,”
there could be no dispute as to the eventual outcome! d. Outside
of the passages in Genesis we have discussed, there are two additional
references in the Old Testament to an “everlasting covenant” in
relationship to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These two passages are 1 Chronicles
16:15-18 and its almost
verbatim repetition in
Psalm 105:6-11. The term
“everlasting” presupposes
God’s eternal, and thus unconditional, relationship with Abraham and
his
physical descendants through Isaac and Jacob. There are several other
references to an “everlasting covenant.” 2 Samuel 23:5 refers to the Davidic Covenant. I believe that
the following refer
to the New
Covenant: Isaiah 55:3;
61:8; Jeremiah 32:40;
50:5; Ezekiel 16:60; 37:26.
Both the Davidic
and the New
Covenants are based upon the foundation of the Abrahamic Covenant. The word
“everlasting” in each can
only mean that the ultimate success of Yahweh’s Covenant with
Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob cannot be
compromised. 3. How
do we reconcile
the conditional
aspects of the Abrahamic Covenant with its unconditional
features? a. In
the first mention of a covenant with Abram (Gen. 15:18, see Gen. 15:7-21), the initiative
and the ratification
of the covenant were Yahweh’s alone. Yahweh announced the covenant, and
He
alone ratified it by walking alone between the pieces. Prior and
subsequent
statements of condition cannot alter that fact. The Abrahamic
Covenant, as it
was formed, was unilateral and therefore unconditional. Nothing can
shake that
foundation. b. Taking
note of the chronological indicators in the narrative helps to
illustrate the
unconditional, guaranteed nature of the Abrahamic
Covenant. Abram was 75 when
he departed Haran for Canaan (Gen. 12:4). It was at some
time during the next
ten years, when Abram was between 75 and 85, that Yahweh made the
unconditional
blood covenant with Abram to give his descendants the land of Canaan (Gen. 15:7-18; cf.
16:3). Abram was 86
when Hagar bore
Ishmael to him (Gen. 16:16). It was not
until Abram was 99 and
Ishmael 13 (Gen. 17:1, 24-25) that God
imposed the condition of
circumcision upon Abraham and his household (Gen. 17:10-14). The addition
of the requirement of
circumcision could never alter the unconditional guarantee of God’s
covenant
with Abram, made, at the least, fourteen years earlier. Paul makes a
similar
argument when he states that the Law given to Israel could never
invalidate the
promises God had made to Abraham 430 years earlier (Gal. 3:15-18). c. The
conditional elements of God’s promises (such as Abram moving from Ur to
Canaan;
Isaac remaining in Canaan and not going to Egypt) can be explained in
terms of
God’s election (Gen. 18:17-19). For example,
Yahweh was not going
to hide from Abraham His plans to destroy Sodom “since Abraham will
surely
become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the
earth will
be blessed.” From Yahweh’s point of view, Abraham doubtless would become a mighty nation, and
without question, through him all nations would be blessed (Gen. 18:18). How could
Yahweh be so certain? The
answer lies in Yahweh’s
election, or choice: “For I have
chosen him, so that he
may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of
the
LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring
upon Abraham
what He has spoken about him” (Gen. 18:19). When Yahweh
chose Abraham, His choice carried
with it the necessary implementation
on the part of Abraham
and His descendants that would permit them ultimately to partake of the
benefits of the Divine choice. It has always
been so in the Old
Testament, and so it is in the New. God’s
choice is God’s guarantee (Rom. 8:28-39). God’s
achievement of blessing and
redemption does not depend on human will or human effort, but upon the
mercy of
God (Rom. 9:16), “for the gifts
and calling of God
are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:29, emphasis mine).
I am amazed at the
Calvinists who will accept that verity in the New Testament for the
Church, but
reject it for the physical seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Old
as it
relates to Israel’s future restoration and blessing! d. Considerable
confusion exists between the conditional demands of the Mosaic Covenant (the Law,
elsewhere called the “Old”
Covenant) and the unconditional provisions of the Abrahamic Covenant. Doubtless the
blessings of the Mosaic Covenant were
conditional. At Mount Sinai
Yahweh instructed Moses to tell the people of Israel, “Now then, if you
will
indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be
My own
possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is
Mine; and you shall
be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:5-6). Notice the IF
…. THEN. Nowhere more
clearly are the conditional aspects of the Mosaic Covenant stated than in
Moses’ words in
Deuteronomy. If the people obeyed Yahweh’s commands, they would be
blessed (Deut. 28:1-14). If they
disobeyed Yahweh’s
commands, they would be cursed (Deut. 28:15-68). In the amount
of text devoted to
each topic, the curses far outweighed the blessings! In contrast, the Abrahamic Covenant is not
conditional as to its eventual
outcome. So in any era, those Israelis who obey Yahweh are blessed, and
those
who disobey Yahweh are cursed. But there is coming a time when all
Israel will
be saved (Rom. 11:26). This salvation
of all the physical
seed of Abraham at some time in the future is no less certain than the
salvation for Gentiles under the New Covenant in the Church Age.
If God cannot be trusted to achieve the ultimate salvation of Israel as
a
nation, He cannot be trusted to achieve the spiritual salvation of
Gentiles
living in the Church Age. If He can be
trusted to achieve
Gentiles’ salvation in the Church Age,
He can be trusted to achieve the ultimate salvation of Israel. We
cannot have
the one without the other. God is an equal opportunity Savior! e. Under
the terms of the New Covenant, built upon the
foundation of the Abrahamic Covenant, Yahweh
committed Himself unconditionally
to write His laws on the hearts of “the house of Israel” and “the house
of
Judah.” He would emphatically be their God and they would be His
people. The
ultimate fulfillment of the New Covenant, and thus the Abrahamic Covenant, would depend on
Yahweh’s
faithfulness, not Israel’s. In fact, in the New Covenant, Yahweh stated
He would forgive their
iniquity and remember their sins no more (Jer. 31:27-34)! In Yahweh’s
mind, the perpetuity of
the Jewish nation is as guaranteed as the perpetuity of the universe (Jer. 31:35-37)! Let me remind
the reader that,
though this present universe will be destroyed (2 Pet. 3:7-12), God will
create New Heavens and
Earth that exist
without sin into eternity (2 Pet. 3:13; Rev.
21:1 – 22:5). f. In
summary, the ultimate outcome of the Abrahamic Covenant is
unconditional, guaranteed by the
integrity of God Himself. The application of the benefits of the Abrahamic Covenant to any
particular Jewish people is
conditioned upon their faith and obedience. But the ultimate
fulfillment is
unconditional, thus guaranteed. g. For a further discussion of conditional elements in the unconditional Abrahamic Covenant, see Thomas Constable, Notes on Genesis (p. 116 of the .pdf file). Return to Top. L. The
Struggle between Jacob and Esau over the Blessing of the Abrahamic
Covenant. Genesis 27. Unquestionably,
the theme of
blessing is of paramount importance in Genesis 27. The Hebrew verb barak (Strong’s #
1288), to bless, appears 17 times
in this
chapter. The corresponding Hebrew noun berakah (Strong’s #
1293), blessing, appears six times
in this
chapter. 1. The
significance of the dispute over the blessing is a measure of the
enormous
advantage one who was blessed by God under the terms of the Abrahamic Covenant would enjoy.
When God promised to
bless Abram (Gen. 12:1-3), it wasn’t an
empty gesture. God’s
blessings for Abram were not only spiritual, but also physical and
material.
After all, at the very least, His blessings were tied together with
physical
descendants and physical real estate – a specific land. It should be no
surprise that the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant included
material prosperity. The
clues are there. Pharaoh had given Abram sheep, oxen, donkeys, male and
female
servants, female donkeys, and camels as a dowry for Sarai (Gen. 12:14-16). The record
states, “Now Abram was
very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold (Gen. 13:1-2). By the time
Abram sent his most
trusted servant to acquire a wife for Isaac, the servant endeavored to
impress
Rebekah’s family that the resources of the family he represented were
more than
enough to secure Rebekah’s well-being. He said to them, “The LORD has
greatly
blessed my master, so that he has become rich; and He has given him
flocks and
herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and
donkeys” (Gen. 24:35). The wealth
part of the blessing did
not end with Abraham. We have already noted that after the death of
Abraham,
“God blessed his son Isaac” (Gen. 25:11). Later, Yahweh
personally appeared
to Isaac and extended to him the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 26:2-5). Moses then
recorded the result of
the promised blessing: “Now
Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a
hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him, and the man became
rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very
wealthy; for
he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that
the
Philistines envied him” (Gen. 26:12-14). 2. Jacob
and Esau, Isaac’s twin sons, did not grow up in a vacuum.
Their father Isaac no doubt had told them of his father Abraham’s
encounters with
God and of his own. He had told them of God’s plan to bless their
grandfather
Abraham and their father Isaac. The blessing was worth a great deal. At
first,
only Jacob seemed to understand the significance of the blessing. He
was also a
schemer, as his name suggested (Gen. 25:26,
footnote a).
When the boys grew up,
Jacob successfully bartered some stew with a hungry Esau for the
latter’s
birthright. Moses concluded, “Thus Esau despised his birthright” (Gen. 25:27-34).
The writer of the book
of Hebrews revealed that Esau’s problem was a spiritual one. He was
both
“immoral” and “godless” (bebelos –
Strong’s # 952 – meaning
profane, worldly, irreligious or secular) (Heb. 12:16). 3. But
there was something else at work. It was the sovereign choice of
God. When Rebekah was
carrying her twins, they struggled against each other in her womb. This
condition was so pronounced, she prayed about it. Yahweh told her, “Two
nations
are in your womb; and two peoples will be separated from your body; and
one
people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the
younger”
(Gen. 25:23).
So the truth is that
God had chosen Jacob, not Esau, to be the recipient of the Abrahamic Covenant
and resultant blessing.
The Apostle Paul made it abundantly clear that God’s choice of
Jacob was not based on the moral
superiority of
Jacob, for when God chose, neither twin had done anything good or bad (Rom. 9:10-12)! 4. But
there was yet another factor at work in the struggle of which son would
receive
the blessing. Sadly, both parents had acquired a favoritism of one son
over the
other. Esau had become a “man’s man.” He was a skilled hunter in the
out of
doors. Jacob was more docile in temperament, preferring to stick around
home.
Isaac loved Esau because of his taste for game. Rebekah, however, loved
Jacob (Gen. 25:27-28). 5. As Isaac grew near to his time of death, he thought about passing on the blessing of Abraham to his son. He of course had heard from Rebekah Yahweh’s pronouncement that the elder (Esau) was to serve the younger (Jacob) (Gen. 25:22-23). But Isaac’s flesh overruled his walk with God. He was determined to bless his favorite son Esau. He communicated this to Esau, but Rebekah overheard (Gen. 27:1-5). She arranged with Jacob to sabotage Isaac’s plans by subterfuge. Jacob reluctantly cooperated. So Jacob succeeded in securing the Abrahamic blessing from his blind father (Gen. 27:6-29). Isaac could not reverse the blessing he had given, but he could throw some twists into the blessing on Esau’s behalf (Gen. 27:30-40). So God’s will was achieved, but human integrity was sadly compromised, and Jacob was forced to flee for his life to Syria under the guise of seeking a Godly wife (Gen. 27:41-46). When Rebekah sent off her favorite son, she would never see him again. Lack of integrity fatally disrupts family unity (Gen. 28:1-2)! Return to Top. M. The
Extension of the Abrahamic Covenant to Jacob. Genesis 28. 1. Isaac
was at least spiritually perceptive enough to realize that Yahweh, in
His
sovereignty, had overruled his own desire to pass on the Abrahamic
blessing to
Esau. Isaac agreed with his wife that sending Jacob to Syria to find a
godly
wife was a wise choice. After all, he had acquired his own wife,
Rebekah, from
there. So Isaac called Jacob and blessed
him (Gen. 28:1). This time the blessing was voluntary, not involuntary!
He instructed him to take
a wife for himself from the daughters of Laban, his mother’s brother (Gen. 28:1-2). 2. At
the same time, he specifically passed on the blessings
and terms of the Abrahamic Covenant on to his son,
Jacob! He said, 3“May
God Almighty bless you and make you
fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of
peoples. 4“May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may
possess the land of your
sojournings, which God gave to Abraham” (Gen. 28:3-4, emphasis mine).
Notice that Isaac’s
blessing included the requisite three components of the covenant: a. The
multiplied blessing of God
Almighty;
“the blessing of Abraham” (emphasis
mine). b. The
bequeathal of the blessing to Isaac and his descendants.
c. Jacob’s
possession of the land that God had
given to Abraham. 3. Not
only did Isaac pass on the terms of the Abrahamic Covenant to Jacob, but
Yahweh Himself also did
so (Gen. 28:10-15). a. As
Jacob was on the way to Haran, he stopped for night at a certain place.
That
night he dreamed of a ladder reaching up to heaven with God’s angels
ascending
and descending. Yahweh stood above the ladder and said, “I am the LORD,
the God
of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land
on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. 14“Your
descendants will also be like
the
dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east
and to
the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants
shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15“Behold,
I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you
back to
this land; for I will not leave you
until I have done what I have promised you” (Gen.28:13-15, emphasis mine).
Notice once again
the familiar triad: land, descendants, and blessing. b. Jacob
was in awe of what happened to him. He called the name of the place
“Bethel,”
“House of God.” Then he vowed that if God would be with him, grant him
food and
clothing, and permit him to return to his father’s house safely, then
Yahweh
would be his God, the stone he set up would be God’s house, and he
would give
him a tenth of all (Gen. 28:16-22). c. Jacob
did arrive in Haran, and began working for his uncle Laban (Gen. 29). 4. The
evidences of Jacob’s having received God’s blessing. a. After
a time, having acquired two wives and two concubines from Laban, and
many
children, Jacob requested permission to leave (Gen. 30:1-24). Laban asked
him to stay on, for he
had perceived that Yahweh had blessed him on Jacob’s account (Gen. 30:25-28), and offered
him a job. Jacob agreed
that Yahweh had blessed his Uncle Laban on his account (Gen. 30:29-30). The two
settled on Jacob’s wages (Gen. 30:31-34). The result was
that Jacob grew
exceedingly prosperous, possessing large flocks, female and male
servants,
camels, and donkeys (Gen. 30:43). b. Yahweh
instructed Jacob to return the land of his father (Gen. 31:3). On his way
back to the land of
promise, the “angels of God met him.” Jacob said it was “God’s camp,”
and he
called the place “Mahanaim” (Gen. 32:1-2), which means
“two camps” or “two
companies” – his own and God’s (Gen. 32:2,
footnote). c. Jacob
grew fearful when he heard that Esau was coming to meet him, and in
preparation, he divided his retinue into two companies, perhaps
prompted by the
name “Mahanaim” (Gen. 32:3-8). That night a
man wrestled with him.
The man injured Jacob, but Jacob would not let him go, even though he
was
requested to do so. Jacob told the man, “I will not let you go until
you bless me” (Gen. 32:24-26, emphasis mine).
The man changed
Jacob’s name to “Israel” (Gen. 32:28), which means
“he who strives with
God,” or possibly “God strives” (Gen. 32:28
footnote). The man would
not reveal his name
to Jacob, but he did bless Jacob (Gen. 32:29). Jacob named
that place Peniel,
meaning “the face of God” (Gen. 32:30
footnote) for, he said,
“I have seen God face
to face, yet my life has been preserved” (Gen. 32:30). Jacob believed
he had been
wrestling with God, probably a pre-incarnate
appearance of the
Messiah. d. When
Jacob did meet his brother, he urged Esau to accept the gift (lit. blessing) which he had prepared (Gen. 32:13-20), for, he said,
“God has dealt
graciously with me” (Gen. 33:8-11). e. Though
Jacob’s sons slaughtered the Shechemites because Shechem had raped
their sister
Dinah (Gen. 34), God protected
Jacob from the
surrounding cities by placing within the surrounding cities a great
terror (Gen. 35:1-5). 5. After
the fiasco with the men of Shechem on account of matter of Dinah (Gen. 34), God instructed
Jacob to return to
Bethel and make an altar to Him (Gen. 35:1). Jacob obeyed.
There God blessed Jacob and
repeated to him the
following (Gen. 35:9-12): a. His
name would no longer be Jacob, but Israel (Gen. 35:10). (See also Gen. 32:28.) b. God
Almighty commanded Jacob to be fruitful and multiply. He revealed that
“a
nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall
come forth
from you” (Gen. 35:11). This, of
course, was a reference to
Jacob’s descendants. c. God repeated, “The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you” (Gen. 35:12, emphasis mine). Return to Top. N. The
Extension of the Abrahamic Covenant to Jacob’s Twelve Sons as Clan
Heads of the
Future Nation of Israel.
From Genesis 37-50
we are told what became of Jacob, especially as it relates
to his sons (Gen. 37:1-2). 1. Jacob’s
son Joseph had two dreams, both of which depicted his brothers bowing
down to
him (Gen. 37:5-11). The brothers
hated Joseph for these
dreams, but the dreams eventually were fulfilled by God, their author,
on two
levels: 1) The brothers did bow down to Joseph (Gen. 42:6; 43:26,
28); and 2) Joseph
was granted a double
portion of land in Israel through his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (Gen. 48). In effect, God
chose to grant a
double portion of the Abrahamic blessing to Jacob’s favorite son,
Joseph. This
is clearly demonstrated in Jacob’s conversation with Joseph: 3Then Jacob said
to Joseph, “God
Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed
me, 4and He said to me, ‘Behold, I will
make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a company of
peoples, and
will give this land to your descendants after you for an
everlasting possession.’ (Gen. 48:3-4, emphasis mine). It
was immediately after this that Jacob claimed Joseph’s two sons,
Ephraim and
Manasseh, as his own sons on a par with his other sons, such as Reuben
and
Simeon (Gen. 48:5). In this way,
Joseph would receive a
double portion in Israel, a double portion of the Abrahamic Covenant and its
blessings (Num. 1:20-46;
Ezek. 47:13). 2. Even
though Joseph’s brothers hated him and sold him as a slave into Egypt,
God
blessed Joseph there. Yahweh was with Joseph and he became successful
in the
house of Potiphar, his master. Potiphar saw that Yahweh blessed
him personally on account of Joseph (Gen. 39:1-6). Through a
false accusation (Gen. 39:7-18), Joseph was
thrown into prison, but
Yahweh was with him and granted him favor in the eyes of the warden,
and
everything Joseph did prospered (Gen. 39:19-23). 3. While
in prison Joseph was twice able to use his God-given ability to
interpret
dreams (Gen. 40). God used
Joseph to interpret two
dreams of Pharaoh (Gen. 41), both of which
predicted seven years
of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Joseph used his God-given
administrative ability to recommend a way for Egypt to tax the bounty
of the
good years to provide a reserve to carry the nation through the bad
years.
Pharaoh and his courtiers recognized this God-given ability and Pharaoh
made
Joseph second in authority in all the land to administer the grain
reserve
program (Gen. 41:37-45). 4. From
this position of authority, Joseph was able to rescue his family from
the
devastating effects of the famine, and Jacob and the entire clan moved
to Egypt
(Gen. 42-47). 5. As
we have already observed Jacob claimed Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and
Manasseh,
as his own and thus granted Joseph a double portion of the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 48). 6. As
Jacob was about to die, he prophesied what would happen to his sons in
the
future (Gen. 49). Of particular
note was his prophecy
that royalty would spring forth from Judah (Gen. 49:10). This, of
course, was fulfilled in
God’s anointing of David, of the tribe of Judah, to be king (1 Sam. 16:1-14), and later, in
His anointing of
Jesus, also of the tribe of Judah and a descendant of David, to be King
(Matt. 3:13-17;
Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22;
John 1:32). Also
worth noting is the fact that Jacob passed on a special measure of blessings upon Joseph (Gen. 49:22-26). Jacob’s
faith-filled prophecy about
his sons amounted to an implicit passing on of the Abrahamic Covenant and its blessing
to them as clan
leaders of the future nation of Israel (Gen. 49:28; Heb.
11:21). 7. Before
his final breath, Jacob asked to be buried back in the land
of Canaan (Gen. 49:29-33). This wish his
sons carried out (Gen. 50:1-14). 8. Before
Joseph died, he charged his brothers that, when God visited the sons of
Israel
and took them back to the promised land
of Canaan, they should bury him there (Gen. 50:22-26;
Heb. 11:22). 9. In this way, the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant were extended by faith to the twelve sons of Jacob, with Joseph receiving a double blessing. Return to Top. 1. The
Abrahamic
Covenant is based on a triad of promises to Abram found in Genesis
12:1-3. This triad of promises includes the land
of Canaan, an incalculable number of descendants,
and blessings
from Yahweh. Through Abraham and his descendants all the families of
the earth
are to be blessed. 2. The
original promises to Abram were reinforced by Yahweh’s unilateral, thus
unconditional blood covenant in Genesis
15:7-21. 3. The
original triad of promises to Abram were passed on directly by God to
his son
Isaac and to his grandson Jacob. So also was the Abrahamic
Covenant. Abraham’s firstborn
son Ishmael and Isaac’s firstborn son Esau were specifically excluded
from the
Abrahamic
Covenant, though both were blessed because they were
descendants of
Abraham. 4. On several occasions the Abrahamic Covenant is explicitly stated to be an Everlasting Covenant. The land of Canaan is specifically stated to be an everlasting possession of Abraham’s descendants. These everlasting features, both explicit and implied, reinforce the unconditional nature of the Abrahamic Covenant. Though any generation of Israelis may forfeit the blessings of the Covenant through disobedience, the ultimate supremacy and blessing of Israel as a redeemed nation is without question. It is predetermined. 5. The Abrahamic Covenant is the foundation for both the Davidic Covenant and the New Covenant. Jesus is the ultimate Anointed One (Messiah, Christ) who will reign as King over Israel and the world in fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant. Jesus is the Mediator of the New Covenant. Both the David Covenant and the New Covenant fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant. Neither abrogates it. Gentiles receive incalculable blessings by participating as beneficiaries under the New Covenant, but they do not ultimately displace the sons of Israel as being its primary beneficiaries. 7. Jesus is the ultimate descendant of Abraham through whom all the families of the world are supremely blessed. 8. I urge the reader to enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the only means of access to God (John 14:6). If the reader does not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ by means of trusting in Him, he can never hope to gain the blessings promised to the world through the Abrahamic Covenant for himself. Instead, he remains under the judgment and wrath of God (John 3:16-21, 36). Go to the
Index of Biblical Covenants. |
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