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?”