ABRAHAMIC   COVENANT

          The Abrahamic Covenant was made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendents. The Abrahamic Covenant is unconditional.1 This Covenant is one of the greatest revelations of God concerning future history. Abraham would have posterity that included two peoples:

Ø  One would number the sands of the seashore – an earthly people, and

Ø  The other would be as the stars in the sky – a Heavenly people

Abraham would have:

Ø  Personal blessings

Ø  His name would be great, and

Ø  He, personally, would be a blessing2

          It was further promised that through Abraham, a great nation of people would come, Israel; and through Abraham by the nation of Israel; all the nations of the earth would be blessed with the Messiah. All the prophets of God came through the lineage of Abraham’s descendents specifically to give messages to Israel concerning their coming Messiah.3 Prior to the call of Abraham, the people erected the Tower of Babel. It was there at the Tower of Babel that Nimrod introduced false religious worship. From Nimrod on, the whole human race has been knee deep in idolatry, having no interest for knowledge of the one True God. For that reason God separated Abraham, the man He would use to bring about the Nation of Israel delivering him from his idolatrous relatives.4

The promises in the Abrahamic Covenant are that God blesses those who bless Israel and He curses those who are against Israel.5 Through Abraham, God sets things in motion that leads to the place where Salvation will go out and cover the whole human race. It is on this Covenant:

Ø  That our Salvation rests

Ø  It is because of this Covenant Christ Jesus came, suffered, and died

Ø  It’s because of this Covenant the Apostle Paul came on the scene becoming the Apostle to the Gentiles6

          The Mosaic, Palestinian, Davidic, and the New Covenant, are all related to the Abrahamic Covenant the rest of the world is still under the Adamic and the Noahic Covenants. The New Covenant is based on the Covenant God made with Abraham, and is applicable only to the Nation of Israel. The Covenants that follow the Abrahamic Covenant was God dealing with the Nation of Israel on:

Ø  Promises and

Ø  Prophecy

          God dealt with the Nation of Israel on promises and prophecy up until He called the Apostle Paul to go to the Gentiles.7 Prior to that time, God dealt specifically with His covenant people with a couple of exceptions. The exceptions were:

Ø  Rahab who was a pagan Gentile who came in to the promises of Israel by faith - ending up in the genealogy of Christ (Joshua 2: 1, 6: 17, 25)

Ø  The other was Ruth the Moabitess, who was also a Gentile. Ruth was not from the stock of Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob; she came into the promises with her mother-in-law Naomi, becoming a citizen of Israel by faith (Ruth 1: 16)

          Christ came at His first Advent to fulfill all these Covenant promises, but Israel rejected them when they rejected Him. God didn’t break the Covenants He had made with Israel He postponed them.8 God did not deal with the Gentiles as far as Salvation was concerned at that time; He dealt with Gentiles in His wrath.9 Gentiles have no part in:

Ø  The Abrahamic Covenant

Ø  The Mosaic Covenant,

Ø  The Palestinian 

Ø  The Davidic Covenant, and

Ø  Gentiles will not play a part in the future New Covenant promises

          Through all of these Covenants, God is setting the stage for a time when He would send Salvation to the Gentiles. His original plan was to:

Ø  Make this happen through the Nation of Israel

Ø  Through the calling of Abraham

Ø  The making of the Abrahamic Covenant, and

Ø  By the deliverance and entrance of the Apostle Paul on the scene

In order for Christ to come in His first Advent, three things had to be in place:

Ø  First, the Nation of Israel had to be in the area of Jerusalem where Christ Jesus would be crucified

Ø  Second, the Jews had to be brought into their homeland

Ø  Third, they had to have a Government that would hold them together until all of Gods’ promises were fulfilled

          Whenever Christ Jesus is referred to as having come through the Nation of Israel, it began in the Abrahamic Covenant promises.10 All of the promises of Grace Age believers are:

Ø  Heavenly or

Ø  Spiritual

          Believers are outsiders on this planet and should not try to embrace the things of this world. Nothing came into the earth with us and nothing will leave earth with us. Believer’s citizenship is in Heaven, this is why God:

Ø  Has given the church heavenly connected promises

Ø  Israel is God’s earthly people; this is why their promises are earthy

          When we look around we can see that the Jews are blessed with most of the earthly possessions and riches.11 Scripture teaches that Gentiles became recipients of Salvation because of the Covenant God made with Abraham. When God made the Covenant with Abraham, it was before the circumcision, and before the Law, so Abraham just simply believed what God said.12 The thief on the cross believed and was saved by faith. Today we are still connected with Abraham not because we became Jewish at Salvation, but because we stepped into a relationship with the God of Abraham, by faith.13 Our faith is fixed in the finished work of the Cross and Christ Jesus’ Resurrection.

          God told the human race through the Apostle Paul that when Christ Jesus died on the Cross shedding His Blood – in accordance to the Old Testament prophecies. When He was buried and stayed three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, and rising again to Life in Power and Great Glory over sin, death, and all of His enemies that it was finished. It is finished were the words He declared from the Cross.14

          This statement, It is finished was stated publicly indicating that everything that needed to be done on God’s part to acquire man’s Salvation was done. Obtaining Salvation now rests within the hearts of men. All man is required to do from this point on is to grab a hold of the Gospel Truth and receive the Gift of Eternal Life from God by simply believing.15 Everything that pertains to Gentiles originated in Adam, but in the realm of the Spirit it all rests on the Abrahamic Covenant. The Nation of Israel appeared by the sovereignty of God, and through the promised Messiah who came to them and was:

Ø  Betrayed

Ø  Rejected

Ø  Crucified

Ø  Buried, and

Ø  Raised by the Power of God from the dead

All of these things had to come to pass to make it possible for our Savior’s total purpose to be fulfilled. In the fulfillment of God’s Plan of Salvation Gentiles were blessed to come into God’s Grace.16 Throughout the Old Testament, there were three lines of thoughts:

Ø  The promise of a suffering Savior

Ø  The promise of a coming King, and

Ø  The promise of a coming Kingdom

          There could not be a ruling and reigning King without first having a suffering Savior. The New Testament church could not have become a reality without the Sacrifice for sins being made by God the Son dying on the Cross for you and me.17 After Christ’s suffering had been accomplished, only then could He return someday to become the ruling King of the Jews.

No one knew that there was going to be a period of time between the tabernacle of David falling, which is when the Jews Temple was destroyed and Israel were taken out of their land in 70 A.D., until the tabernacle of David is rebuilt and restored. It was in that interval that God began to call out a group of Gentiles for His name.18 The fullness of the Gentiles will be complete when the Body of Christ is removed from this earth in the Rapture.19

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1(Genesis 12: 1-4, 13: 14-17, 15: 1-7, 17: 1-8)

2(Genesis 18: 18)

3(Genesis 49: 10)

4(Genesis 12: 1-3; Joshua 24: 2)

5(Genesis 12: 3)

6(Romans 1: 1)

7(Romans 11: 13)

8(Romans 15: 8; Acts 2: 25-36; Genesis 11: 31-32)

9(Ephesians 2: 11-12)

10(Genesis 12: 1-2)

11(Ephesians 2: 19-20)

12(Romans 4: 3)

13(Genesis 13: 14-16; 15: 5)

14(John 19: 30)

15(Romans 10: 9-10)

16(Genesis 15: 5-18; Romans 4: 1-3)

17(Genesis 12: 19-21, 26: 1-4; Luke 1: 67-69)

18(Acts 15: 14)

19(Luke 1: 69-75; Isaiah 1: 9; Romans 11: 1-25; I Thessalonians 4: 16-17)