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