Abraham Unconditional Covenant, (Part 1) June
20, 2020
Covenant, in simple terms, means a formal
agreement. It may be an agreement between two people, a treaty between nations,
or a relationship between God and a human individual or nation. These
covenants fall into three categories—conditional, unconditional, and
general.
Unconditional – What does this mean, to you
Unconditional Covenant – what does this mean, to you
Unconditional in nature;
that is, regardless of Israel's obedience or disobedience, God still will
fulfill these covenants with Israel
There are 5-8 covenants God made, Eden; Adam; Noah; Abraham; Moses; Land;
David; and the New Covenant; with different names. We are going to cover the Abraham Covenant in
the next 3 sessions.
Important to understand. Abraham Unconditional Covenant has nothing to
do with the Start of the Church of God at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was
given to start the New Testament Church, the Body of Jesus.
Abraham Covenant is only for the physical descendants of Abraham throughout the many
years until Our Lord and King, Jesus, returns to the Earth to set up His
Kingdom. Then Jesus will bring the physical descendants back to
the Land that was
given to Abraham at the start of the Millennium.
Who did receive the Blessing and Inheritance? And how did it affect
Israel and the nations around.
Religious groups and individuals have a
misunderstanding about which son of Jacob did
receive the Birthright, which is the Inheritance and / or Birthright
and Blessings that a father in Israel gives to his first born son.
What do we mean by inheritance?
Inheritance or
Birthright: refers to actual property or goods received after a family member's
death. The Scriptures concept of inheritance to include the spiritual blessings
and promises from God, but also includes physical property, land.
The Inheritance of Israel
Each family in Israel
was given their own land inheritance as a possession for
them and their family to occupy and take of the land.
Joshua 13:7-8 Now therefore, divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh." (8) With the other half-tribe the Reubenites and the
Gadites received their inheritance, which Moses had
given them, beyond the Jordan eastward, as Moses the servant of the LORD had
given them: {this is a covenant with
Israel}
When we look into the history of the Nation
of Israel, they were promise to inherit land as an everlasting possession.
Psalms 2:8 Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
Isaiah 54:3 For you shall expand to the right and
to the left, And your descendants will inherit the nations, And make the
desolate cities inhabited.
So, the
inheritance is a physical land to his descendants, Abraham.
In ancient Israel possessions were passed on
to the living sons of a father, but the eldest son received a double portion.
Deuteronomy 21:17 But he shall acknowledge the son of
the unloved wife as the firstborn by giving
him a double portion of all that he has, for he is
the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.
Blessings: “the act or words of one that blesses,”
or “a thing conducive to happiness or welfare.
praise, congratulate, or salute
God called Abram to go to the Promised Land
and promised to bless him, make his name great, and through him, to bless all
the families of the earth. The blessings here are plainly associated with
happiness and welfare, both for Abram and others.
This is the Abraham Covenant - one way from
God to Abraham
Genesis 12:1-3 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. (2) I will make you a
great nation; I will bless
you And make
your name great; And you shall
be a blessing.
(3) 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."
Notice, it is God who says, “I will” do it.
Notice, 7 Promise Jesus gave to Abram, without requiring Abram to do anything, He was 75 years old when he left Haran. Jesus said I will.
1. Make you a great nation, {become the father of a great nation}
2. Will bless you {God will bless you}
3. Make your name great {make your name famous}
4. You will be a Blessing, {a blessing to many others}
5. Bless those who bless you {God
will do this}
6. Curse those who curses you {God will do this}
7. All families will be blessed because of you. {entire world be blessed}
The focus of the inheritance concept in the
Old Testament is God's promise to Abraham. The land of Canaan was given to him
and his descendants as an eternal possession.
Genesis 12:7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and
said, "To your
descendants I will give this land." And there
he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
Let’s look at some examples on how the
Blessings and inheritance are passed on from the father to the first born son,
which is the most important thing a father can do for his first born son.
The Lord God made this promise to Abraham
that includes blessings and inheritance.
The LORD had said to Abraham,
Genesis 13:15-16 for all
the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.
(16) And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your
descendants also could be numbered.
Notice: unnumbered descendants forever will have the
land
Genesis 15:18 That very day the LORD made this covenant with
Abram: "I'm giving this land to your descendants, from the
river of Egypt to the great Euphrates River--
Normally a covenant has 2 parties, I do
something, you do something. But this is
a one way party covenant, the party making the covenant is God Himself.
If we read the passage carefully, you will
not be able to find any “condition” or if placed upon the covenant. In fact,
the Abram was asleep when the covenant was made {Gen 15:12}.
This was an unconditional covenant. One way only.
Genesis 15:12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and
great darkness fell upon him.
Genesis 17:6-7 I'm going to cause you to have many descendants, and I'll bring nations from you. Kings will come from you. (7) I'm establishing my covenant between me and you, and with your
descendants who come after you, generation after
generation, as an eternal covenant, to be your God and your
descendants' God after you.
Genesis 17:8 Also I give to you and your descendants
after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
Genesis 17:9-10 God continued to speak to Abraham,
"You and your descendants who are born in the future are to keep my covenant--that is, you and
your descendants, generation after generation. (10) Here is my covenant that
you are to observe, between me and you and your descendants: Every male among you is to be circumcised.
God wanted
a outward sign from the people showing this covenant
Abram
Genesis 17:11 "You are all to be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and this is to be the sign of the covenant between me and you. {circumcise is the sign of Abraham
Covenant}
The Lord God did pass on to Isaac the Inheritance
and Blessings from Abraham. Abraham
Blessing Isaac.
Genesis 17:19 Then God said: "No, Sarah your wife
shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with
him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.
Genesis 17:20 And as for Ishmael, I've heard you. I'll bless him, and he'll
have many descendants. I will multiply him greatly, he'll father twelve tribal leaders,
and I'll cause his
descendants to become a great nation.
Genesis 17:21 Now as to Isaac, I'll confirm my covenant with him, to whom
Sarah will give birth as your son at this time next year."
Genesis 17:26-27 Both Abraham
and his son Ishmael were circumcised on that very day. (27) Every man
born in his household, as well as those who had been purchased with money from
a foreigner, was circumcised
with him. {important to remember}
Genesis 22:15-18 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven (16) and said,
"I have taken an oath to swear by myself," declares the LORD,
"that since you have carried this out and have not withheld your only unique son, (17) I will certainly bless you
and make your descendants as
numerous as the stars in heaven and as the sand on the
seashore. Your descendants will
take possession of the gates of their enemies. (18)
Furthermore, through your descendants all
the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have
obeyed my command."
Descendants will take possession of the gates of their enemies
What are gates
Notice again, it is God who says, “I will” do
it.
Because what Abram obeyed God’s voice, God
said He would do 4 things:
1. Blessing I will bless you
2. Multiply your descendants as the stars and as the sand
3. Descendants shall possess the gates of their enemies
4. All the nations of the earth shall be blessed
"possess
the gate of his enemies." A gate is a narrow passage of
entrance or exit. When speaking nationally, a "gate" would be such a
pass as the Panama Canal, the Suez Canal, the Strait of Gibraltar. This promise
is repeated again.
Genesis 24:58-60 (Isaac) Then they called
Rebekah and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" And she said,
"I will go." (59) So they sent away Rebekah their sister and
her nurse, and Abraham's servant and his men.
(60) And they blessed Rebekah
and said to her: "Our sister, may you become The mother of
thousands of ten thousands; And may your descendants
possess The gates of those who hate them."
Important info.
Notice again God promise Isaac your descendants
possess The gates of those who hate them."
Genesis 25:5
Abraham gave everything
he owned to Isaac.
Genesis 25:11 After Abraham's death, God blessed his son Isaac, who
continued to live near Beer-lahai-roi.
Genesis 26:2-5 Then the LORD appeared to him (Isaac)
and said: "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell
you. (3)
Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these
lands, and I will perform the oath which I
swore to Abraham your father.
(4)
And I will make your descendants
multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these
lands; and in your seed all the nations
of the earth shall be blessed; (5) because
Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and
My laws."
Isaac said as he blesses his son, Jacob. This is the important one for us.
Esau surrendered his birthright to Jacob
Genesis 25:29-34 Now
Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was
weary. (30) And Esau said to Jacob, "Please feed me
with that same red stew, for I am weary." Therefore his name
was called Edom. (31) But Jacob said, "Sell me your birthright as of this
day." (32) And Esau said, "Look, I am about
to die; so what is this birthright to me?"
(33) Then Jacob said, "Swear to me as of this
day." So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. (34) And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of
lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his
birthright.
First, what is birthright: The birthright is
emphasized in the Bible because it honored the rights or privileges of the
family’s firstborn son. After the father dies, or in the father’s absence, the
firstborn son assumed the father’s authority and responsibilities
Hebrews 12:16-17 lest there be
any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of
food sold his birthright.
(17) For you know that afterward,
when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place
for repentance, though he sought it diligently
with tears.
The promise, as confirmed to Jacob, heathen
nations shall be ruled by the birthright nations of Israel.
Isaac blessed Jacob.
Genesis 27:27
So Jacob drew closer to kiss him. When Isaac smelled the scent of his son's
clothes, he
blessed him and said, "How my
son's scent is the fragrance of the field, that the LORD has blessed.
Genesis 27:28-29 Therefore may God give you Of the dew of
heaven, Of the fatness of the earth,
And plenty of grain and wine. (29) Let peoples serve
you, And nations bow down to you. Be
master over your brethren, And let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you,
And blessed be those who bless you!"
What 9 blessings were given to Jacob by God
through Isaac.
1.
Dew
of heaven
2.
Fatness
of the earth
3.
Plenty
of grain and wine
4.
Peoples
serve you
5.
Nations
bow down to you
6.
Master
over your brethren
7.
Your
mother's sons bow down to you
8.
Cursed be everyone who curses you
9. Blessed be those who bless you!"
Genesis 27:40
By your sword you'll live; but you'll serve your brother. But when you've
become restless, you'll break off his yoke from your neck."
Genesis 27:39-40 At this, his father Isaac replied to him, "Look! Away from the
fertile land will be your dwellings; away from the dew of the skies above. (40)
By your sword you'll live; but you'll serve your brother. But when you've
become restless, you'll break off his yoke from your neck."
Esau family became the
Edomites – 2 Kings 8:20
2 Kings 8:20 During Jehoram's lifetime,
Edom rebelled from Judah's hegemony and
appointed a king to rule over themselves.
The nations of Israel shall eventually spread
around the world
Genesis 28:12-16 when he {Jacob} had a dream! He saw a raised
highway that had been built with its ending
point on earth and its beginning
point in heaven. God's angels were
ascending and descending on it. (13) And there
was the LORD, standing above it and telling Jacob, "I am the LORD God of
your grandfather Abraham. I'm Isaac's God, too. I'm giving you and your
descendants the ground on which you're sleeping.
(14) Your descendants are going to become
like the dust of the earth and spread out to the west, east, north, and south. All
the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. (15) Now pay attention! I'm here with you, and I'm going to be
watching over you wherever you go. I'm going to bring you back to this land,
because I won't ever leave you until I've accomplished what I've promised about
you." (16) Then Jacob woke up during the night and told himself,
"Surely, the LORD is in this place and I never knew it!"
Genesis 28:18 When Jacob got up early the next
morning, he took the stone that he had
used for his pillow, set it up as a pillar, drenched it
with oil, {known today as Jacob Pillar
Stone}
Have any nation ever filled this prophecy? No.
Jacob name was changed to Israel.
Genesis 32:26-28 And He said, "Let Me go, for the
day breaks." But he said, "I
will not let You go unless You bless me!" (27)
So He said to him, "What is your name?" He said,
"Jacob." (28) And He said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have
struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed."
God reaffirms Jacob name changed to Israel
Genesis 35:9-12 Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he
came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. (10)
And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but
Israel shall be your name." So
He called his
name Israel.
(11) Also God said to him: "I am God
Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation
and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall
come from your body. (12) The land which I gave Abraham and
Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land."
When did Israel became a nation and a
company of nations?
What 7 things did God say when He appeared
to Jacob
1.
Not be
called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name."
2.
Be fruitful
and multiply
3.
A nation
shall proceed from you
4.
A company
of nations shall proceed from you
5.
Kings shall
come from your body
6.
Land which
I gave Abraham I give to you
7.
Land which
I gave Abraham I give to your descendants
A nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you.
Have this ever happen
in mankind history, a great Nation, and a Company of Nation with Kings. No, not in the Biblical History or through
current, today
This promise
or vow by the God of all Creation has never has been fulfilled in the Jews or Jewish
people.
Yet this amazing promise must be fulfilled.
We found in this study that the Lord God gave
the inheritance and blessings from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob.
We will continue the story with Jacob
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