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
