The Abrahamic Covenant—3

The Abrahamic Covenant—3

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

In review: God relates to His people through covenants.  A covenant is greater than a promise.  A covenant is a bond in which each of those involved in the matter say, “Everything I have is yours.”  Covenant is total commitment.  In covenant with God, even though we are not totally committed to Him, He is totally committed to us. 

God’s covenant with the patriarch Abraham, as with all His covenants and prophetic words, has a message for the time when it was established, a message for the Church today and a message for the future. 

The essentials of the covenant are outlined in Genesis 12:1-3 (NKJV): “Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."  

In part one, we saw the importance of being separated unto the Lord in order to receive the blessings contained within the covenant.  In part two, we learned that we are blessed to be a blessing.  We are to be separated from the world in order that we may more effectively serve in the Kingdom of God.  

The Favor of God: 

When we are walking in the will of God, the Abrahamic covenant assures us that we are surrounded and protected by the favor of God.  He will stand against those who come against His people.  Conversely, He will bless those who bless His people. 

The Hebrew word for blessing is “barak" which means “to kneel down.”  When God blesses us, He kneels down to meet our needs.  When we bless God, we kneel down to serve Him.  In serving Him, we are blessed with His favor.  The antonym of “barak” is “arar”. 

“Whereas barak refers to divine favor that empowers a person, arar refers to divine bondage that renders one powerless. Thus, when Adam sinned, the earth was “cursed” (Gen. 3:17), meaning it would no longer produce fruit with the abundance it once did.” [i]

Another Hebrew word translated as “curse” is “galal”.  “Galal” expresses the “idea of making something small. Both arar and qalal are used by God in Gen. 12:3.” Those who curse Abraham (qalal), are those who make him small, who consider him worthless.  They will be cursed by God (arar);  they will be bound or made powerless by God. In this, we see that God, ultimately, is the protector of His people, and people's relationship with those walking in the favor of God defines their relationship with God Himself. [ii]

“The exact parallel arises ultimately in Jesus Christ. Those who bless Him are blessed–they are empowered to live as God intends; whereas those who curse, or belittle, Him are cursed by God, or bound by Him.”[iii]

Walking in the will of God and respecting Him in the lives of believers is empowering.  Belittling God and persecuting believers holds people in bondage to their sin.  That includes believers who belittle and shun others who know that Jesus died to pay the price for sin but who may worship differently. 

We have a choice. 

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[i] https://cmmorrison.wordpress.com/tag/arar/

[ii] Ibid.

[iii]  Ibid.

The Abrahamic Covenant—1

The Abrahamic Covenant—1

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

God relates to His people through covenants.  A covenant is greater than a promise.  It is a bonding. A covenant is a bond in which each of those involved in the matter say, “Everything I have is yours.”  Covenant is total commitment.  In covenant with God, even though we are not totally committed to Him, He is totally committed to us. 

God’s covenant with the patriarch Abraham, as with all His covenants and prophetic words, has a message for the time when it was established, a message for the Church today and a message for the future.  The Abrahamic Covenant is of particular importance because Paul reminds us in Romans 11 that the Church is a wild olive branch that has been grafted into the tree that is Israel.  Therefore, we become partakers in the covenant.  It is important to emphasize that we do not replace Israel in the covenant.  Even though Israel has broken the covenant, God has not. 

Remember Genesis 13:14-15 (NKJV):  “And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are--northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.”  “Forever” means forever.

The essentials of the covenant are outlined in Genesis 12:1-3 (NKJV): “Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."  

God is the active participant in the blessing.  He outlines the covenant to a man named Abram who lived in pagan Ur of Chaldea.  He will later change Abram’s name to Abraham and ratify that covenant.  God put a stamp of ownership on Abram when He renamed him.  God has a new name for each of us as well.  Because we are His, He has the authority to name us.  Revelation 2:17 (NKJV):  “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it."

It would take volumes to divide rightly the Word of God in relation to the Abrahamic covenant.  I feel led by the Spirit of God to elucidate in ensuing posts only the following:

▪Separation unto God

▪Purpose:  Blessed to Be a Blessing

▪ Favor of God

▪Jesus Christ, God’s Blessing to the Nations

SEPARATION UNTO GOD

Genesis 12:1 (NKJV) “ Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you.” In order for Abram to walk in the covenant, he has to sever soul ties with both his culture and the idolatrous traditions of his family. 

Just before Joshua led the people into the Promised Land, he spoke to the assembly:  Joshua 24:2 (NKJV):  “And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods.”

When Abram went out of Ur, he took family members with him.  The problems that ensued were not because of the physical presence of family members, but because of spirit of pagan worship that they brought with them.  Paganism is all about bribing and manipulating unholy gods for self-gain.  Paganism, in any form, is, in reality, the worship of self.

In Paul’s day, Corinth was a wicked seaport city dedicated to several pagan gods and goddesses including Aphrodite, Apollo, and Hera. The cultic worship included drunken fertility rites.  Paul admonished the believers in Corinth:  2 Corinthians 6:16-17 (NKJV): “And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people." Therefore "Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you."

The believers in Corinth lived among the pagan worshippers, but they were not to live as the pagan worshippers. The same is true for believers today.   God’s covenant promises are readily available to all believers. The question remains, “Are we willing to live in such a way that we can receive those blessings?”

Pentecost, Our Jubilee

Pentecost, Our Jubilee

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Colossians 2:16-17 (NKJV) 

“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.”

On the biblical calendar, Shavuot or Pentecost begins this year at sunset on Tuesday, June 3 and ends at sunset on Thursday, June 5.  The traditional Christian church will celebrate Pentecost on Sunday, June 8.  Let us not judge one another on the day we keep the feast.  Let’s acknowledge the Feast.

The Hebrew word “Shavuot” means “weeks”.  Shavuot is counted from the day after Passover.  It is celebrated after a week of weeks has passed (7x7 or 49 days).  Pentecost is a Greek word meaning “50 days.”  Pentecost is counted from the day of Passover.  Let us remember that Shavuot/Pentecost is a picture of what is to come and what has already come.  The most important thing is that the feast is one of the Lord’s appointed times and teaches us about Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus the Messiah.

Leviticus 23:15-16 (NKJV):  “And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath (the Passover), from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD.” The offering was brought on the second day of Shavuot.

Pentecost occurs 50 days after Passover, the day when the Lord suffered the agony of the cross for our redemption.  Three days after Passover is the Feast of Fruit Fruits.  The fruits of the barley harvest were then offered to the Lord.  Jesus rose from grave on the Feast of Fruit Fruits as the First Fruits of those who will be resurrected (1 Corinthians 15:20).  Pentecost commemorates the first fruits of the wheat harvest. In bringing the first fruits to the Lord, the people were declaring that God is their provision, the source of their strength and that they will be good stewards of the harvest which He has provided.

Fifty days after the crucifixion of our Lord, “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:1-4 (NKJV)  

The 120 believers gathered in that day became the first fruits of those who are indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit.  They became the first fruits of the Church triumphant in the overcoming power of our indwelling Holy Spirit.  Pentecost declares that God is the Christian’s provision, the source of our strength and the harvest of souls belongs to Him.

Fifty is a significant number in the Bible.  It is the number of Jubilee.  It is the number of restoration and redemption.  Every fiftieth year was to be a year of Jubilee when debts were forgiven, when the slaves were set free, when lands were returned to their original tribes, when the mercies of God were celebrated.

Pentecost is the eternal celebration of the finished work of the Cross.  Pentecost is the acknowledgment that in the power of the Holy Spirit, believers in Jesus Christ, are forgiven, set free from the power of sin and death and returned to a relationship with the heavenly Father who has created us.  Pentecost is about empowering, redemption and restoration through Jesus Christ who is our Jubilee.

In the Year of Jubilee

By Marvin V. Frey

In the year of jubilee
In the year of jubilee
The prisons shall be opened
The captives all set free
What a glorious restoration
What a mighty victory
The sons of God appearing
In the year of jubilee.