The Covenant With Abraham

1)The Abrahamic Covenant first appears in Genesis 12. In essence it says (God, recorded as YHWH, is speaking directly to Abraham), “I will bless you, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you. Through you all the families of the world will be blessed.” Genesis 12:1-4a

This covenant is restated a number of times in later chapters - its form and stated intent do not change, although God builds up on individual items.

In form, this is a one-way, unconditional covenant (no “if” clause). Its outcome does not depend on Abraham’s performance; instead it is guaranteed irrevocably by God’s word, His performance. He is, of course, watching over His word to perform it. (Jeremiah 1:12)

Before the covenant is stated, God gives Abraham instructions (a command) on what to do next, in the same way that He instructed Noah at the time of his covenant. In neither covenant are these instructions conditional: that is, there is no qualifier stating that non-compliance renders the covenant invalid or brings penalties, nor is there any statement from God that the covenant depends on Abraham’s compliance for its fulfillment. 

As we have seen, a two-way, conditional covenant will normally have an “if” or a “then” and usually there will be penalties in the case of non-compliance.

Even though the Abrahamic Covenant in its first iteration is preceded by a command, “Go out…” followed by “...and I make you become a great nation, and bless you and make your name great; and you be a blessing…” it is important to remember:

A Command is Not a Condition

That command was Abraham’s next move in God, a one-time action, a moment in time. It was not something that was repeatable. It was not something that he had to keep on doing. There was no clause in that covenant, nor was there a rider along with that command, that said, “This whole blessing thing depends on you obeying this instruction.”

When we look at God’s two-way, conditional covenant with Israel at Mt Sinai, which in the New Testament is called “the Old Covenant,” we see something completely different. God’s outcome (blessing) for them depended on their performance.

2) God Builds On The Basic “Covenant Of Blessing” Idea

In Genesis 12:1-3, apart from the four blessings, Abraham was told that God would make a great nation of him, and make his name famous

1. Then, later on, after Abraham went out to the place he was shown God said, “To your seed I give this land.” Genesis 12:7

2. Then, after separating from Lot, God told Abraham to lift up his eyes (take a good look) because “...the whole of the land which you are seeing I give to you and to your seed, forever.” Genesis 13:15

3. What’s more, “I have set your seed as dust of the earth” (in number, that is), followed by another command, “Rise, go up and down through the land…for to you I give it.” Genesis 13:16,17. YLT ¹

• These commands were not conditional, but to encourage him and give direction.

Two specific blessings of the covenant have been identified: land and descendants

3) The Righteousness Of Faith

With Genesis 12:3 as the foundation of the Abrahamic covenant, Genesis 15:6 becomes the substance from which all of it is built.

Not only that, but also the substance of salvation for all time, since it is the same path, the same core, as in the New Covenant, another one-way, unconditional covenant ratified in the blood of Jesus.

“And he has believed God, and He has reckoned it to him as righteousness.” Genesis 15:6

Immediately before this Abraham was in doubt because he was childless. God took him outside and commanded him to count the stars - they represented the children he would have.

Commanded him? It looks just like every other instruction from God. To some, God’s word is a command, but to those who are being saved, to those who walk in faith, it is an invitation.

Immediately after this Abraham was in doubt once more. God had reminded him of His promise to provide much land but Abraham wasn’t so sure. Genesis 15:8

In spite of this, in spite of the other times Abraham’s actions showed doubt and lack of trust (see Genesis 12:13; 16:2; 16:6; 17:17; 20:2), there was no rebuke, no correction, no penalty and no loss of blessing. The covenant still stood, because it depended on God and His word, not on man, his actions or inactions.

Just like the new birth, in the new covenant.

1. “And He brought him outside and said, Count the stars...thus is your seed.” Genesis 15:5

2. “On the same day God made a covenant with Abram saying, To your seed I have given this land.” Genesis 15:18

That was not a new covenant, just a reiteration of the extension of the original one first mentioned in Genesis 12 and 13. God clarified that in verse 7: “I am God (YHWH) who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees (where the covenant was first started), to give you this land as an inheritance.”

3a) God “Cuts” The Covenant With Abraham

Abraham had heard the same promises a number of times, but apart from amassing personal wealth he had nothing to show for the rest: he was still a wanderer and still childless. In verse 8 of Genesis 15 he asked God for a sign.

God confirmed His word using the same tools that humans used at that time when making binding agreements with each other: He cut a covenant.

Traditionally, after cutting the animals in half, in a two-way, horizontal covenant both parties would walk though between the carcass halves to graphically signify their willingness to be sawn asunder should they break the terms of the agreement.

But not this time - this was a one-way covenant, solely dependent on God for every stage to be fulfilled.

Abraham had waited some years with these promises, and even after cutting the animals to be used in this ceremony he still had to wait some more. The birds of prey that he chased away are symbolic of the tools the enemy uses to bring doubt, fear and despair over the promises of God. God doesn’t shift those things - we need to drive them away. And wait.

The enemy made another attempt to dispossess Abraham - in the waiting for God, he fell into a deep sleep and was then oppressed by horror and great darkness. Verse 12.

Eventually God spoke and reconfirmed the promises He had first made back in Genesis 12:1-3, and again extended them with further details. Then, when it was really dark, a smoking furnace and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the animal halves. 

Abraham did not have to walk through - God was confirming that He, and He alone, was going to bring those promises to pass. 

There is no record that God ever used this system previously or subsequently. On Earth it was normally used with two-way, conditional covenants - in His way He used it for a one-way, unconditional covenant.

4) The Original Covenant Is Again Restated...

In Genesis 17 God appears to Abraham and the covenant is repeated, but not before God gives Him some words of advice.

“I am God Almighty (I can do anything), walk habitually before Me, and be perfect.”

Why is there suddenly an admonition, a correction for Abraham?

Since the beginning he had made some serious errors of judgment, some serious errors in fact. If the outcome of the covenant depended on his actions, it could have been rescinded in (or because of) Genesis 12:13. “Say, I beg of you, that you are my sister…

4a) ...after Abraham Sells Sarah Into Sex Slavery...

A half truth (Sarah was his half sister) is always a full lie, because it aims to deceive. Why did he want to pretend that he was not in a conjugal, sexual relationship with Sarah? Out of fear; he was afraid and, as we well know, fear is the opposite of faith.

4b) ...and after Abraham Has Sex With His Wife's Maid to Father the Child of Promise

It doesn't matter how common it was for a man at that time to have more than one wife, this was not a part of God's plan for this couple. Up to this point Abraham had had 5 encounters with God. While it is true that only in the first of these encounters did God give actual instructions to Abraham to follow, it's interesting to note that Abraham did not need a lot of persuading to follow what appears to be the only suggestion Sarah ever made. It did not bring the son of promise, but a son who would oppose the son of promise.

In Genesis 13 Abraham admirably handled a potentially disastrous situation with his nephew (surrendering his right to the best land), and it turned out well for him. Or maybe he did it out of a desire to avoid confrontation and having to work out a tricky solution - we see him definitely exhibiting avoidance behaviour in Genesis 16:6, when he asked Sarah to fix up the mess that he, Abraham, had created with Hagar.

In Genesis 14 Abraham admirably handled a tricky situation when Lot, his family and many others were captured and taken away. He showed his integrity and strength of character in financial matters when he refused to take a reward from the king of Sodom for doing a good deed, “lest someone should say a man has made me rich.”

This is in stark contrast to his response to a similar offer in Genesis 20, after he had once again deceived someone about Sarah’s conjugal status. It was much worse this time, because Abraham now knew most definitely (Genesis 17:16) that God was giving him an heir through Sarah. Through greed and fear he was potentially placing that promise, a part of the covenant, at risk, if he was not stopped.

Afterwards the king rewarded Abraham handsomely (Genesis 20:14-16), in spite of the fact that it was Abraham who had caused immense problems for the king and his people. Somehow Abraham knew that it could only be God behind this blessing in the midst of his foolish wickedness, so soon after God had encouraged him to walk blamelessly. He received the sizable windfall from Abimelech, and God thereby showed Abraham and us that our mistakes, even deliberate, repeated sin, cannot nullify or reverse a one-way covenant from God or restrict His blessing. 

This was, of course, a re-run of what happened right at the beginning of his walk with God, in Genesis 12:16. That was the first time he passed his wife off as his sister and gained wealth after he was found out.

Surely God’s encouragement in 17:1 to walk blamelessly was to prevent just this sort of mistake?

In Genesis 17:4-8 God repeats what He had already shared with Abraham on at least three previous occasions: his future included God's provision of land, posterity and blessing. On each occasion God uses words to this effect in the Hebrew, “I have made my covenant with you…” or “You have become the father of many nations,” or “I have given this land to you and your descendants.” 

5) Once Again, The Original Abrahamic Covenant Is Restated

In Genesis 22 God put Abraham to the test (Hebrew nasah). In Deuteronomy 8:2 Moses explains that when God puts people to the test (Hebrew nasah) it was to see what was in their heart.

Did not He who is “declaring the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10) know what was in His people’s hearts? Of course He did. Putting people to the test was so that they could see what was in their heart.

Note the way that Genesis 22 begins:

"After these events, God tested Abraham..."

After what events? The three events where Abraham showed a dramatic lack of trust in God - two where he sold his wife into sex slavery, and one where he fathered a child with her maid.

Abraham passed the test with flying colours and this time the Angel of the Lord called to him from Heaven and repeated the covenant as previously, but with two important differences or extensions.

The first was in the words, “since you have done this.”

This was actually the first time, the first chance Abraham had to further the covenant promises. Even with Sarah becoming pregnant his input was insignificant, since she was well past child bearing age and capability. This part of God’s promises (producing the promised seed through fathering a child with Sarah) was again totally dependent on God for its fulfillment, not Abraham’s actions.

But “since you have done this” the promise of seed was extended in a particular direction: his seed would now “possess the gate of his (the seed’s) enemies.” This second difference is a clear, Messianic promise, extended to us.

The promise, the covenant, had never depended on Abraham’s actions, but now it was extended because of them.

6) The Original, Unconditional Abrahamic Covenant Is Respoken To New Generations

Promise of land: Genesis 26, 28, 35, 50

Promise of blessing: Genesis 26, 27, 28, 49

Promise of descendents:Genesis 26, 28, 35. 46, 48

7) The Abrahamic Covenant Under The New Covenant

In Romans 4 and Galatians 3 Paul declares that the unconditional, not-connected-to what-he-did, one-way Abrahamic Covenant is extended to all believers.

4 “Now to someone working his wages his wages are not counted as a gift but as an obligation

5 “But to one not working who trusts in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited to him as righteousness…

23 “...but (these words) were written not for his sake alone

24 “...but for our sakes too.”

And in Galatians 3:

17 “The Law does not annul the (Abrahamic) covenant previously established

18 “For if the inheritance of the promise depends on the Law it no longer depends on the promise. However, God gave it to Abraham by virtue of His promise.

29: ”And if you belong to Christ then you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to promise.”

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¹ Note regarding Young's Literal Translation, used here and elsewhere: Dr Young makes a valid point that translators incorrectly turn a Hebrew past tense into an English - or other language - future tense. This corrupt and unnecessary translation practice, know as the 'waw conversive', robs the non-Hebrew reader of the absolute certainty of fulfillment of an action that God has set in place in future time, compared to when it is announced. This particular figure of speech

For example (one of many), in Genesis 13:16 the original Hebrew says, "I have set your seed as dust of the earth," to show the certainty of God's promise for the future. However, every translation available today renders this as, "I will set your seed as dust of the earth." This has particular significance in relating to Ephesians 1:3, as discussed in Part 4, The New Covenant. As here, so there: If God has done it, what man can undo it.

You can read more about Dr Young's exacting methodology here.