From the beginning of Godâs creation God wanted
nothing more than a personal relationship with man. But, man chose not to
have a relationship with God. During the rise of civilization, which is
told in the opening chapters of Genesis, we see that although there were a
few Godly men, most of mankind was wicked. God becomes unhappy with mans
evil ways and is nearly ready to destroy all of life on the earth. Yet God
sees in one man, Noah, the possibility of a people who would be hungry for
Him. So, God tells Noah to build the ark and then wipes the earth clean
for a second attempt at populating the His creation.
God finds with this second attempt that mankind by
and large is unwilling to accept His blessings. But, He finds and chooses
one man, Abraham, through which He can build a people who want a
relationship with Him. Abraham was willing to do as God requested of him,
leave this land of idol worshippers and follow Him. It is through Abraham
that God promises to bless all of mankind.
There are three aspects of the covenant:
1. Land. God promises that the land of Canaan was
for the descendants of Abraham.
2. Seed. Abraham is told his line will never be
destroyed. Abrahamâs descendants would become as many as the stars, or the
grains of sand.
3. Blessing. God promises to bless those who bless
Abraham and his descendants and curse those who curse Abraham and his
descendants.
At a time when most covenants lasted four or five
generations, this covenant was meant to be eternal. It is a tangible
contract in that God promises land and offspring. Abraham had no
difficulty with the land portion, but, Sarah was barren. Abraham said that
his servant, Eliazer, would inherit his wealth. God informs Abraham that
he will be a father, it is his bloodline that would carry on. The
bloodline that would bring us Yeshua. The Abrahamic covenant was the
foundation that will be expanded upon and refined as we go through the
revisions of the Mosaic, Davidic and Renewed covenants.
From Genesis 12 to the end of the book, we see how
God prunes and in a sense grooms Abrahamâs offspring in order to build a
nation. Isaacâs eldest son, Esau, fails to meet Godâs criteria as
firstborn. Instead we read of the scheming that takes place so that Jacob
gets the blessing and acts as the firstborn. A recurring theme that shows
us that God chooses the âfirstbornâ according to His plan, not the
chronological order of birth. We see this also with, Joseph, Moses and
David.
When we get to Exodus we find that the seed has
grown into a nation. However, there is a problem, this Hebrew nation is in
bondage. As slaves in Egypt they have become known as a peculiar people
because they worship one God in a land of so many gods that it is nearly
impossible to count the number of gods. God has another leader who will
direct the people in His ways. A messiah of sorts who will lead Godâs
chosen people out of bondage and into the land promised to Abraham. Moses
leads the people out of Egypt to Sinai where Moses is given Godâs law
(Torah) so that the Israelites could know what God expected from them. The
Israelites agree to the stipulations of this amended covenant and God
gives them the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The sign of this
covenant would be the Sabbath. For six days the people could work, but on
the seventh day all work would cease. So now Israel had the land promised
by God.
After a period of time, long by human standards, we
come to the next phase of Gods plan. Israel has grown and prospered and
now has a king in which the Lord finds favor. It is through David that God
chooses to establish His kingship for all eternity. Our King of Kings will
come from the line of David, fulfilling the promised seed through which
the world will see that there is only one God and one way to eternal life.
This is the essence of the Davidic covenant.
There is yet one aspect of the Abrahamic covenant to
be addressed. It is the blessings of the renewed covenant. Many people
believe this is addressed in the New Testament, but the details are
revealed in the writings of the Prophets. In a time when much of Israel
had strayed and rejected Torah, God sent a prophet, Jeremiah, to call the
people back to Him. Jeremiah tells us that if people return to God, He
will bless them for all eternity. Jerusalem will live in peace and all the
world will know the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. All the people of the
world will have an intimate relationship with God through Yeshua. All will
have Torah written on their hearts. The New Testament is empty and
senseless without seeing that it is an expansion of the Older Testament.
The New, or rather Renewed Testament, reinforces and rebuilds Gods
Covenant as it was intended from the very beginning.
Much like the constitution of the USA, God's
covenant has been amended several times. Do we in the USA have a new
constitution today that has replace the original? Here we go
again, somebody has pryed more words out of me than I usually care to
write! Izzy, are you following this? Have you figured out the birth
of Yeshua or would you like me to post all the juicy details for
that?
Jeff
Jeff
