Diving In Summary of the Abrahamic Covenant
A. The Participants in the Covenant
1. Abram – An idol worshipper from Ur of the Chaldees (10th Patriarch)
- Abram, high father, or exalted father, son of Terah, brother of Nahor, all of whom worshipped idols in Ur – Josh. 24:2-3
- A Hebrew – one who crossed over (NB all the Patriarchs could have known Eber)
- After the chaos of Babel and the undoubted spread of Babel’s idolatrous worship, the earth had quickly become a dark place! We’re not told why God chose Abraham, but there’s a hint in Gen. 18:18-19 – although that is a long while after his call and obedient response.
- Called out by God. Acts 7:2-4 gives the context of the statement in Gen. 12:1
- Renamed by the Lord in Gen. 17:5 as Abraham, father of a multitude, when he only had one son, Ishmael and was still waiting for the son of the promise.
- Until John 15 where Jesus calls His disciples ‘My friends’, no other person had ever been described as the ‘friend of God’ (Isa. 41:8). Enoch and Noah walked with God and God was evidently pleased with them but they are not described as God’s friends (may be implied though, but not stated). God spoke with Moses face to face, but he is described as a servant over the house of God (Heb. 3:5 – see Num. 12:7). We’re told that the descendants of Abraham are ‘beloved because of the fathers’, so that friendship is foundational to the election of Israel. What is the foundation of his friendship with God? He believed God! (James 2:23). And is THE example of faith for the rest of time. Over half the world ‘follow’ him!
2. Abraham and his ‘seed’.
Who are, or Who is. The “Seed”?
- God repeated the promises to Abraham’s immediate descendants (Abraham had 9 children by 3 different women – which one will inherit? Gen. 25:5-6)
- to Isaac Gen. 26:2-5, 24
- and to Jacob Gen. 28:13-15
- Confirmed to Israel as seen in the Exodus Psa. 105:6-12
From this, we see that Covenant Promises apply to the physical descendants of Abraham through Isaac. Ishmael was disinherited as the first born by Abraham’s exaltation of Isaac (as were all his other children Gen. 25:5-6). So the promise does run down the physical line by the law of the firstborn.
In Gal. 3:16-19, Paul says that the promises were made to one seed, Yeshua, and for that reason, some theologians limit the ‘seed’ only to Christ, and exclude any further fulfilment for Israel. But Paul can’t mean that, for in Rom. 9:4-5, he says that the covenants and promises pertain (present tense) to his people, the Israelites and applies the Covenant promises to the salvation of Israel in Rom. 11:27. Jer. 31:31-32 speaks of this relative to the New Covenant and specifically says that it is not like the Mosaic Covenant.
So which Covenant is it like? At the birth of their children, both Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, refer back to the promises made to Abraham. The New Covenant is firmly rooted in the Abrahamic Covenant and is the fulfilment of it. But how?
I don’t believe that Paul’s statements in Gal. 3 about the One Seed says that the full covenant applies to the Gentiles, e.g. the national and land promises. Paul actually defines the ‘blessing of Abraham … [coming] on the gentiles’, as the giving of the Spirit. Note that it is the ‘blessing of Abraham’ which comes to the Gentiles (i.e. the Gentiles are blessed by Abraham), which is one of the covenant promises made to Abraham (that all nations would be blessed through him), not the covenant itself, which applies only to Abraham and his descendants.
We will explore later, in our discussion of the New Covenant, how Gentiles become children of Abraham. But let’s note for now, that the Abrahamic Covenant finds its full fulfilment in the Millennium, when Messiah reigns from Jerusalem and regathered and restored Israel is the head, not the tail, of the nations.
B. The Basis for Development of Other Covenants
Essential to God’s redemptive purposes! Rom. 9:4-5
“God has said, ‘When I achieve My purposes in the earth, it will involve the people of Israel, the Jewish descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ ” (Dwight Pryor)
It is foundational to all subsequent covenants! Reducing the Abrahamic Covenant to its very basics, it can be seen that it contained three aspects: the Land aspect, the Seed aspect, and the Blessing aspect. The Land aspect is covered in the Land Covenant. The Seed aspect is developed in the Davidic Covenant. The Blessing aspect is presented in the New Covenant.
- Election of Israel as God’s special possession
- Inheritance of the land of Canaan
- Selection of David through whom the promised seed would come
- Fully fulfilled in the New Covenant
C. The provisions of the Covenant
Reading across all the passages where God speaks of the Abrahamic Covenant, we summarised the promises as:
| Promise | Number of mentions |
| A land is promised to his descendants | 9 |
| Great nation to come from Abraham | 8 |
| All families/nations will be blessed | 4 |
| Yahweh will be their God and protect them | 4 |
| Everlasting duration | 4 |
| God will bless Abraham | 3 |
| God will bless those who bless Abraham | 2 |
| God will curse those who mistreat Abraham | 2 |
| Father of many nations | 2 |
| God confirms it with an oath | 2 |
| Abraham will have a great name | 1 |
| Abraham will be a blessing | 1 |
| Abraham and descendants to be circumcised | 1 |
| Descendants will rule over enemies | 1 |
D. The Status of the Covenant
- Conditional? No. Some would make it conditional due to circumcision, but that is a mark that you are a beneficiary, not a condition for the covenant.
- Type Royal grant
- Promise Make of him a great nation, with a Promised Land; All nations blessed through him
- Applies to Abraham’s seed – many (Israel) and one (Jesus)
- Faith Believed God
- Grace Abraham my Friend
- Righteousness Credited righteousness
- Sanction Exclusion from Abraham’s family and hence the blessings
- Blood sacrifice Cut the covenant/circumcision
The Abrahamic Covenant became the basis for the Dispensation of Promise. Because the Abrahamic Covenant is unconditional, it is still very much in effect even though it has remained largely unfulfilled. The ultimate fulfilment will come during the Kingdom Age. Some examples of this include: Exodus 2:23-25; 4:24-26; 6:2-8; 32:11-14; Leviticus 26:46; Deuteronomy 34:4; II Kings 13:22-23; I Chronicles 16:15-19; II Chronicles 20:7-8; Nehemiah 9:7-8; Psalm 105:7-12; Luke 1:54-55, 68-73; Galatians 3:15-18; and Hebrews 6:13-20. These verses note that the Abrahamic Covenant was the basis for the Exodus, for giving them the Land, for Jewish survival in spite of disobedience, for the coming of the Messiah, for the resurrection of the dead, and for Israel’s final redemption and restoration.
The Abrahamic Covenant is a good example of what was stated earlier: that a covenant could be signed and sealed at a specific point of time, but not every provision goes immediately into effect, but rather, three different things happen. Some went into effect right away such as the change of names and circumcision. Some went into effect in the near future, for there was a twenty-five year wait for the birth of Isaac and a four hundred year wait before the conquest of the Land. Some provisions go into effect in the prophetic distant future such as the settlement of all of the Promised Land, which has not been fulfilled to this day.
Arnold Fruchtenbaum “The Eight Covenants of the Bible”
| Promise | Repeated | Fulfilled? |
| A land is promised to his descendants | 9 | Not fulfilled in its entirety |
| Great nation to come from Abraham | 8 | Not fulfilled in its entirety |
| All families/nations will be blessed | 4 | In Christ, but in the future as well |
| Yahweh will be their God and protect them | 4 | Yes and continuing |
| Everlasting duration | 4 | Continuing |
| God will bless Abraham | 3 | Yes |
| God will bless those who bless Abraham | 2 | Yes and continuing |
| God will curse those who mistreat Abraham | 2 | Yes and continuing |
| Father of many nations | 2 | Yes |
| God confirms it with an oath | 2 | Done |
| Abraham will have a great name | 1 | Yes |
| Abraham will be a blessing | 1 | Yes and continuing |
| Abraham and descendants to be circumcised | 1 | Continuing |
| Descendants will rule over enemies | 1 | Not yet |
Other references to the Abrahamic Covenant in the New Testament
At the Incarnation – the Hinge of History
Mary’s song Luke 1:54-55 “He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful, as He promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.”
Zechariah’s song Luke 1:68-75 “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has visited and redeemed His people … to remember His holy covenant, the oath He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us deliverance from hostile hands, that we may serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives.”
The assurance of God’s Promises
Heb. 6:13-20 When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply your descendants.” And so Abraham, after waiting patiently, obtained the promise. Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and their oath serves as a confirmation to end all argument. So when God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath. Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus our forerunner has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.
It’s not nationality!
John 8:39 “Abraham is our father,” they replied. “If you were children of Abraham,” said Jesus, “you would do the works of Abraham.
Rom 9:6-8 It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.” So it is not the children of the flesh who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as offspring.
Gal 3:8-9 The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and foretold the gospel to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Act 3:25 And you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers when He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’
Righteousness by faith
Romans 4:1-3, 9-16 “Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” Is this blessing only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. In what context was it credited? Was it after his circumcision, or before? It was not after, but before. And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
James 2:21-23 Abraham’s faith justified (vindicated) by our deeds
Fulfilled in Christ as “The Seed”
Gal. 3:10-18 All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.” The law, however, is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. Brothers, let me put this in human terms. Even a human covenant, once it is ratified, cannot be cancelled or amended. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say, “and to seeds,” meaning many, but “and to your seed,” meaning One, who is Christ. What I mean is this: The law that came 430 years later does not revoke the covenant previously established by God, so as to nullify the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God freely granted it to Abraham through a promise.
Discussion of above Scriptures
Abrahamic Covenant and Gospel Significance
We discussed the Abrahamic Covenant and its significance in relation to the Messiah’s arrival and the establishment of a new government. We highlighted that being a descendant of Abraham does not automatically make one their child; rather, one must follow Abraham’s example of belief. We emphasized that righteousness comes through faith alone and that the covenant reaches its fulfilment through the Gospel. We also noted that the Mosaic covenant, which focused on maintaining righteousness through the performance of the commandments, was rooted in the Abrahamic covenant.
From Romans 4, we discussed Abraham’s righteousness and how it was credited to him before he was circumcised, so that Abraham is the spiritual father of all who believe whether circumcised or not. We also highlighted that the promise given to Abraham and their descendants is not fulfilled through observing the law, but through faith. The promise is available to all descendants of Abraham, including Jewish and Gentile believers who share in Abraham’s faith.
We emphasised the importance of righteousness by faith and the resolution of some New Testament debates – a dispute concerning the requirement of circumcision for new converts and recommended focusing on specific verses to follow Paul’s argument. We highlighted that Christians are spiritually grafted into this tree but do not become Jews or Israelites.
Faith, Works, and Jewish Identity
We discussed the concept of salvation by faith rather than by works. We discussed the idea that faith as understood in Evangelicalism is a work, as claimed by the Grace movement in America which insists that salvation is by grace alone without the need to exercise personal faith or repentance. We also touched upon the concept of being a Jew, explaining that it encompasses nationality, religion, and identity, and that it is not about nationality or religion alone.
Faith and Responsibility: A Biblical Perspective
We discussed the concept of faith and its relation to responsibility. We emphasized that true faith, as exemplified by Abraham in the Bible, involves putting faith into action rather than simply believing. David also differentiated between the modern and ancient interpretations of faith, with the modern view often being reduced to a mental acceptance of something, or believing a set of facts, whereas the in the languages of the Bible, the word faith includes the idea of faithfulness and commitment. We further stressed that faith should be evidenced by actions, rather than solely by belief.
The Sinaitic Law, and Abraham’s Covenant
The conversation then shifted to the role of the law and its inability to justify people. David emphasized that while the law reveals guilt, it cannot justify people, as justification comes from faith. We concluded by discussing the covenant made with Abraham and its significance, emphasising from Gal. 3 that that the law, which came into existence much later, does not invalidate the Abrahamic covenant.
Mosaic Covenant and Law Discussion
David led a discussion about the Mosaic covenant, the law, and its relevance in today’s context. We emphasized the importance of understanding the law in its historical and theological contexts, which we will start to do in the next session discussing the Sinaitic/Mosaic Covenant.