Concept of Covenant - The Covenant with Abraham (Abram)

Newsweek (11/19/90) ran an article titled "Letters in the Sand," a compilation of letters written by military personnel to family and friends in the States during the Gulf War. One was written by Marine Corporal Preston Coffer. He told a friend, "We are talking about Marines, not the Boy Scouts. We all joined the service knowing full well what might be expected of us." He signed off with the Marine motto, Semper Fi, Latin for "always faithful." The Bible says, "Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful" (1 Cor. 4:2). -- Richie Lewis in Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching (Baker), from the editors of Leadership.

God has offered us a covenant relationship.... are we "Semper fi" to Him and His pledges to us?

As we have been studying, covenants, let's remind ourselves of some key concepts. Contracts are terminal in nature. There are objectives and provisions which if not met cause the contract to terminate. Covenant relationships however, can be accepted or disregarded, but they continue to be available.because they are offered as an ongoing pledge of provision and pledge of opportunity offered as an unchangeable commitment from the one offering the pledge, or establishing the covenant.

Promise to Abram

Genesis 15:2 -3 (NIV) ¹After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." ²But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" ³And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir."

God presents Abram with the beginning of an understanding of a covenant God is offering to Abram. The first message: I have a great blessing / a great reward for you.  Since the people passed their "earthly goods" from father to son from generation to generation, Abram doesn't see why since he is childless that God's blessing him will be a worthy heritage since he has no children, and a slave would be the beneficiary of God's blessing, and not Abram's children. There's just a hint of an accusation here as Abram "points out" to God, " YOU have given me no children..."

Provision for the Covenant

Genesis 15:4 -7 ⁴ Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." ⁵He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." ⁶Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. ⁷He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it."

So the blessing of the covenant that God was offering, was not so much material possessions to pass on as a heritage, but the very children of which a heritage can be built. How big of a covenant blessing is God planning for Abram. One that can't be numbered any more than the stars can be numbered. Abram's response was of belief. The scripture states that "it was credited to him as righteousness.  What does that mean? When you credit righteousness to someone's account, the fouindation of beginning response is established, but the continued "investment" or demonstration of walking in trust in God isn't there. Abram's heart responded "right" to God, but he hasn't yet had any record or history of continuing to live in the expectation and joy of God's promised covenant with him. n the same way that opening a bank savings account, the account is credited to you, but until you begin to invest in it, there is little there to benefit you....except opportunity. When you come to salvation, you have it, but you haven't invested enough of yourself and your life in Christ to uncover the various blessings and dividends that continuing to walk and "invest" in righteousness brings to your life. Abram has a new "account" opened with God, and it's credited to him that he is ready to open that "faith account" but Abram must continue to invest himself in it to unfold the blessings promised.

The Details and Dimensions of the Covenant

Genesis 15:8 -16 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?" ⁹So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon." ¹⁰Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. ¹¹Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. ¹²As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. ¹³Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. ¹⁴But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. ¹⁵You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."

God for tells for Abram what his decendents will experience along the way.... both evil and good. Abram can do little but except what God tells him about the future, but in the heritage of children that Abram is going to be soon starting, those children will live in the reassurance of those historical pre revelations so that they can rejoice in God's proclaimed plan.... even during the difficult parts of the plan. God's covnant covered all the details of what woiuld happen until the covenant could be establsihed in Jesus ....as a decendant of Abram. Note also God's reason for giving the land to the children of Abram is that there would come a time when God would not talerate any greater level of sinfulness amongst the Amorites, but would wipe out their nation for their unrepentent sin.

God Seals the Covenant

Genesis 15:17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.

Here is the sign of the covenant. It must have been a terrifying but awesome sight!!!  When God moves, can anyone not be shaken who has the eyes to see what God is doing?

Commitments of the Covenant

Genesis 15:18-21 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—¹⁹the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, ²¹Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites."

With this promise, not only is Abram promised in his advanced years the blessing of children, but he is also promised a place for them as a heritage. So the covenant has imediate and lasting promises it establishes.... just as the covenant with Noah had those immediate and long term blessings, too.

Reaffirmation of the Covenant

Genesis 17:1-18 (NIV) 1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. 2I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers."

3Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4"As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5No longer will you be called Abram (meaning "exhalted father" - Pastor's note); your name will be Abraham (meaning - "father of many" - Pastor's note), for I have made you a father of many nations. 6I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."

The Outward Symbol of the Inward Acceptance of the Covenant

⁹Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. ¹⁰This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹²For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. ¹³Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant." ¹⁵God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah (meaning - "princess" - Pastor's note). ¹⁶I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."

Notice that Sarah is given her new name with its meaning, and then God goes on to say that from the princess will come nations and kings of people. Astonishing promise to Abraham and Sarah. Amazing promises, like many in the new covenant written for us to inherit, for our lives today.

¹⁷Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?"

When I took the job as head football coach at the University of Colorado in 1982, I made a solemn promise: I told everybody that with me, God was first, family second, and football third. But I didn't keep that promise for long. The thrill and the challenge of resurrecting a football program in disarray simply took too much time and attention. As my teams kept winning year after year, I kept losing focus of my priorities. When we won the national championship in 1990, many people said I had reached the pinnacle of my profession. But for me, there was an emptiness about it. I had everything a man could want, and yet something was missing. I was so busy pursuing my career goals that I was missing out on the Spirit-filled life that God wanted me to have. All because I had broken my promise to put God first and foremost in my life. -- Bill McCartney, founder of Promise Keepers. Men of Integrity, Vol. 1, no. 1.

God's answer to Abraham's question, essentially, "Yes, at 100 years or age, or whenever I choose to bless you. When I bless you, I bless you to your joy and My glory.

How about you, Believer? Are you keeping your covenant with God first in your life? - Pastor Russ