Covenant People

Overview

When we last met, we completed our study of the flood. We saw that God made a covenant between Himself and Noah, really all mankind, that He would not destroy the world by flood again. The sign of God’s covenant being? His bow…the rainbow.

From there, the next few chapters contain several key things, e.g.,

The Table of Nations in Gen. 10

The Tower of Babel (Babylon) in Gen. 11

The Genealogy from Shem to Abram

The Call of Abram in Gen. 12

Abram in Egypt

Abram and Lot Separate Gen. 13

Abram rescues Lot Gen. 14

Melchizedek’s Blessing

The Abrahamic Covenant Gen. 15

Hagar and Ishmael Gen. 16

Covenant Circumcision Gen. 17

Beginning in chapter 9 and continuing through Chapter 17 where we will pick up tonight, there are few themes that run through these passages.

Theme of covenant

Theme of nations

Theme of names / genealogies

All the while, God is intervening and intersecting humankind. Nothing is happening that He does not see, nor are His purposes thwarted. All that God wants to occur is occurring.

Review the Genealogy Chart from Adam to Noah

Review the “potential” name meanings associated with the line from Adam to Noah

The descendents’ names from Shem to Abram have these potential meanings according to Fred Blumenthal in his journal for jewishbible.org:

Shem - word typically means “name” as used in Gen. 11:4, Deut. 25:7, Is. 56:5. “It reflects the conviction of Noah that mankind would survive.

Arpachshad - sometimes understood to mean “healer” and the last few letters is an abbreviation of “Shaddai”. So the name comes to mean “The Lord heals.”

Shelah - Conveys the idea of stretching out and releasing. The name may also be based on the root to mean “to be calm, tranquil.” As such,it could mean the exact opposite of the stormy Flood waters that drowned so many people, indicating that water can also be calm and beneficial.

Eber - this word generally means crossing a boundary or river and landing safely on the other side. This word is used to describe Abraham. “One expresses the idea that Abraham was geographically ‘from the other side’ of the Euphrates; another suggests that Abraham was a religious nonconformist.”

Peleg - points to the ordained separation of mankind into different nations.

Reu - suggests the name come from the Hebrew word ro’eh (“shepherd”).

Serug - this name is generally understood to refer to a geographical location, but it can also be viewed as related to the Hebrew word for “branch.”

Nahor - may have its origin in the root nahar where the word signifies “lighting up, being radiant.”

Terah - At this time pantheism was becoming more and more prevalent with particular worship of the sun and moon. Terah’s name points to the “moon”, and the Midrash notes that Abraham, as a youth, first considered both the sun and the moon as possible deities before he realized that since they constantly rise and set, there must be a Creator who controls them.”

So in the call of Abram, the foreshadowing perhaps of Abram’s descendants’ names depicts what Abram will do and what God will do through him. Gen. 12:1-3

Genesis 12:1–3 (CSB)

1 The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

2 I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth

will be blessed through you.

Names are important in Scripture as we will continue to see that both Abram and Sarai will have their names changed from God in Gen. 17.

One of the other themes deals with the theme of covenants.

How would you define covenant? According to Wayne Grudem in his Systematic Theology this is the definition: A covenant is an unchangeable, divinely imposed legal agreement between God and man that stipulates the conditions of their relationship.

He goes on to say that even though the word agreement is used here that is to distinguish that there are at least two parties involved, God and man. However, we need to realize that man can never negotiate with God or change the terms of the covenant - he can only accept the covenant obligations or reject them.

Other characteristics of covenants:

Unchangeable - They can be superceded or replaced by a different covenant, but they may not be changed once they are established;

Promises - at the heart of each covenant is the promise of God and who God is;

Three types of Covenants

Covenant of Works - Established in the garden with Adam. But Adam broke the covenant and we are all the recipient of this broken covenant relationship with God.

Covenant of Redemption - This is a covenant made between the members of the Trinity. It is an agreement between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is a specific plan and purpose of God that was agreed to by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in order to gain our redemption.

On the part of the Father, this “covenant of redemption” included an agreement to give to the Son a people whom he would redeem for his own possession (John 17:2, 6), to send the Son to be their representative (John 3:16; Rom. 5:18–19), to prepare a body for the Son to dwell in as a man (Col. 2:9; Heb. 10:5), to accept him as representative of his people whom he had redeemed (Heb. 9:24), and to give him all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18), including the authority to pour out the Holy Spirit in power to apply redemption to his people (Acts 1:4; 2:33).

On the part of the Son, there was an agreement that he would come into the world as a man and live as a man under the Mosaic law (Gal. 4:4; Heb. 2:14–18), and that he would be perfectly obedient to all the commands of the Father (Heb. 10:7–9), becoming obedient unto death, even death on a cross (Phil. 2:8). The Son also agreed that he would gather for himself a people in order that none whom the Father had given him would be lost (John 17:12).

The role of the Holy Spirit in the covenant of redemption is sometimes overlooked in discussions of this subject, but certainly it was a unique and essential one. He agreed to do the will of the Father and fill and empower Christ to carry out his ministry on earth (Matt. 3:16; Luke 4:1, 14, 18; John 3:34), and to apply the benefits of Christ’s redemptive work to his people after Christ returned to heaven (John 14:16–17, 26; Acts 1:8; 2:17–18, 33).

Covenant of Grace - “When man failed to obtain the blessing offered in the covenant of works, it was necessary for God to establish another means, one by which man could be saved. The rest of Scripture after the story of the fall in Genesis 3 is the story of God working out in history the amazing plan of redemption whereby sinful people could come into fellowship with himself.”

Parties - God and all the people whom He will redeem. Christ serves as “mediator” between God and man to reconcile us to God.

Condition - Faith in the completed work of Christ as the redeemer. This covenant begins with faith and the condition of continuing in that covenant is obedience to God’s commands.

Promise - The promise of eternal life with God.

Genesis 17:7 “7 I will confirm my covenant that is between me and you and your future offspring throughout their generations. It is a permanent covenant to be your God and the God of your offspring after you.”

Jeremiah 31:33 “33 “Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

Jeremiah 32:38–40 “38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them integrity of heart and action so that they will fear me always, for their good and for the good of their descendants after them. 40 “I will make a permanent covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put fear of me in their hearts so they will never again turn away from me.”

2 Corinthians 6:16 “16 And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, as God said: I will dwell and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

1 Peter 2:9–10 “9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

This blessing finds fulfillment in the church, which is the people of god, but it finds its greatest fulfillment in the new heave and new earth in Revelation 21:3 “3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God.”

Sign - the sign of the covenant varies between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the OT the sign of beginning this covenant is circumcision. The sign of continuing in this covenant was continuing to observe all the festivals and ceremonial laws. In the New Testatment, the sign of beginning in this covenant relationship is baptism, while the sign of continuing in that relationship is participation in the Lord’s Supper.

Ok, that concludes our overview for our study this evening. It is important for us to remember as we look into Genesis 17 this evening a couple of things:

God is at work orchestrating what His purpose and will (even for us!) through the establishment of the Abrahamic covenant. Both the Noahic and the Abrahamic covenants fall under God’s overall Covenant of Grace. What is grace? God’s unmerited favor toward those whom He redeems. God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense.

Covenants are not to be taken lightly. Covenants are a type of contract, but these contracts are not to be broken or modified. What is one of the most common covenants that many of us around this table have entered into? Covenant of Marriage . Who were the parties to this covenant? Husband and wife and God. Paul admonishes the Christians in Corinth to not be unequally yoked together - meaning we should not enter into a covenant, such as marriage, with one of the members being an unbeliever.

Covenants are established by God to fulfill the Covenant of Redemption and the Covenant of Grace.

Abrahamic Covenant

Read Gen 17:1-14

Genesis 17:1–14 CSB

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence and be blameless. 2 I will set up my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell facedown and God spoke with him: 4 “As for me, here is my covenant with you: You will become the father of many nations. 5 Your name will no longer be Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you. 7 I will confirm my covenant that is between me and you and your future offspring throughout their generations. It is a permanent covenant to be your God and the God of your offspring after you. 8 And to you and your future offspring I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as a permanent possession, and I will be their God.” 9 God also said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations are to keep my covenant. 10 This is my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you, which you are to keep: Every one of your males must be circumcised. 11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 Throughout your generations, every male among you is to be circumcised at eight days old—every male born in your household or purchased from any foreigner and not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or purchased, he must be circumcised. My covenant will be marked in your flesh as a permanent covenant. 14 If any male is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that man will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Who are the current parties?

Who are the future parties to this covenant?

What is the promise?

What is the condition?

What is the sign?

How is God’s grace on display here?

Abram’s name is changed to Abraham - Abram most likely means something like “exalted father.” Adding what amounts to be one letter or character to his name (Abraham), his name now means, “a father of a multitude of nations.”

Sarai also has her name changed. Sarai typically meant “princess.” Changing her name to Sarah changed the meaning to woman of strength, for she will be a mother of nations. One researcher said that Sarah is the modern Hebrew feminine word for minister.

Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004), 519.