The Abrahamic Covenant

Introduction

If you notice, our graphic for the sermon series is a blueprint. There is a reason for this: Genesis 1-14 is the land surveying. It is not the answer. It just describes what is. But Genesis 15 is God’s laying the foundation.

Outside of Genesis 3, this is the most important text in the Old Testament. Today, we come to one of the 10 most important passages in the entire Bible. We see in it the foundation for how God is going to deal with his people from this time forevermore. Yet, it may not be one that you have spent much time studying.

Read Genesis 15.

Explanation

Genesis 15:1 “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

What do we do with a Bible full of God’s promises?

The problem with that is that not every promise in the Bible is for you.

You may say, “That’s not right! Every promise in the Scriptures is for me.” Well, how about Isaiah 34:8–9 “8 For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. 9 And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and her soil into sulfur; her land shall become burning pitch.”

How do we understand the promises of God correctly?

God comes to Abram after the battle, and He reaffirms his promise to Him.

“Fear not”

“Abram”

“I am your shield”

“Your reward shall be very great”

There are four types of promises in the Bible. There are (1) promises made generically to all [Noahic Covenant], (2) promises made to God’s blood bought people, (3) promises made to the people of Israel, and (4) promises made to individuals.

We really don’t have many problems with application of the first three.

It is usually the fourth that we struggle with - the individual promises. We tend to act like toddlers at a birthday party - thinking that all the presents wrapped on the table are for us. The problem is it’s not our party!

So, how do we know if an individual promise of God to another person is for us.

Firstly, some of the promises of the Bible are not for you.

Secondly, all the promises of the Bible find their yes and Amen in Jesus. All of the good you see in the Bible is either yours in Jesus or points to a reality of Jesus and his love for you in some way.

Thirdly, find the things that you share with the individual being promised in the Bible and find the things you don’t share with the individual being promised in the Bible.

I will give you an example of this. I have two little boys: Henry and Hudson. As a father, I love them the same, but I love them differently in the stage and context they currently sit.

For instance, I could tell Henry and Hudson. “I love you. I am going to provide for you. I am going to protect you. I am going to love your other. I am going to do my best to be a good dad to you.”

That night, I evening, I feed Henry a lunchable and Hudson a bottle. I kept my promise to both boys - “I will provide for you.” But I kept the promise with different answers.

God’s promise is the same to you.

Abram was told not to fear, because he had just left a battle. He tells you not to fear whatever you face.Why? Because He is with you as He was with Abram.

He knows your name. God knew Abram’s name, and He knows your name.

He protects Abram. He protects Him by making sure He is not overcome in a war between kings. He protects you from whatever you face, mainly your sin which He nailed to the cross.

Your reward in him will be great. You will gain the eternal reward. The reward of eternal life in His presence.

In Genesis 15:2–4, Abram’s thoughts are summarized like this: “I don’t have a son, what does it matter if you protect me and give me this entire land. All of what you have given me will be given to Eliezer my servant when I die.”

Genesis 15:5 “And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.””

God reaffirms his promise to Abram.

My promise to you is bigger than you can imagine.

Genesis 15:6 “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”

This verse is one of the most profound verses in the entire Bible. In fact, it is revisited in Hebrews. This is because it is THE hingepoint of the Bible. We are saved, not by works, but by faith.

There are two things that this passage does not say.

It does not say, “Abram believed and acted accordingly, and God counted it to him as righteousness.

It ALSO does not say, “Abram believed the Lord, and God gave him the land.

This passage is about salvation - to be counted as righteous even though you are not in your own actions.

The passage gives us one answer to be counted as righteous before God - faith.

So, how are the promises of God true for your life? The promise to save you. The promise to grant you His presence. The promise to love you unconditionally.

By faith, alone. You are not bought by your own blood. You are also not bought by your own sweat. And you are not bought by your own tears. You are bought by the blood of another, Jesus Christ. This is the essence of the entire Bible.

Now, faith is not assent to God. It is a resting in the promises of God.

I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins.

I trust in Him to save me.

I believe that he offers a better life than I have, so I am turning, repenting, from my old one.

Romans 4:1–5 “What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,”

Genesis 15:7–20. God declares who He is, and Abram asks, “How can I know I will possess this land?” So, God makes a covenant with Abram.

What is a covenant? A covenant is a giving of oneself to another. In the ancient world, it was marked often by a ceremony. This looks much like a covenant of the ancient world.

In ancient covenants, a lord or a king or a ruler would make a demand. You will swear fealty to me. You will ride at my banner. You will give me a portion of what you produce in the field. And in return, I will protect you, and I will seek your welfare.

And both parties would cut an animal in half, and they would walk between the animal. Now, you may ask, “Why couldn’t they just shake on it?” Wouldn’t that have been a little less drama and blood? That’s why the Hebrews words for “make a covenant,” is “to cut a covenant.”

The point of a covenant was to say, “If I don’t honor my word, may I bet cut off from you and cursed much like this bird, this animal, this being is.”

If I don’t honor my word, I am cut off from you.

If I don’t honor my word, then I am split in myself and my being.

If I don’t honor my word, I will be cursed in life and in death.

It was a swearing of your life to the other person. And as you make this pact, you walk through the consquences of what would happen if you don’t keep the pact.

How did God make the covenant?

God tells Abram to gather the animals. Abram knows what is coming. God is going to make a covenant. “Abram, I will protect you if you do these things. I will grant you the promise if you follow these rules.”

God tells Abram to line up the halves of the animals beside themselves per a covenantal action and to line up the birds.

But God causes a deep sleep to fall upon Abram. And in that dream, God tells Abram (Genesis 15:13-16). ““Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.””

Thus God makes the covenant. But what happens next? Genesis 15:17 is one of the most mysterious verses in the Bible. “A smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between the pieces.”

God, shown here as a pillar of smoke and fire (hello, Exodus), passes through the fire. But Abram does not. God does not require Abram’s obedience for the keeping of the covenant. God will keep both sides of the covenant.

God is telling Abram, “Abram, if I do not keep the covenant, I cease to be God. I am cut off from myself. I am cursed. I am not God. And I will bear the consequences of a violated covenant. But Abram, “If you do not keep the covenant, I will be cut off. I will be cursed.”

Abram, I will bear the consequences of your disobedience.

Now, that is not simply true of Abram, but it is a foreshadowing of the gospel.

Jesus does the same for us. I keep my promise to you - to save, to redeem, to keep, and to love. But if you stray, I will bear the consequences on myself.

Bearing the consequences of our obedience - that is what Christ did on the cross.

Invitation

When you take of the Lord’s Supper today, realize that the Lord’s supper displays Genesis 15.

Jesus says with his disciples, “You have not kept the law, but I will pay for your side of the covenant.”

And he stretched his arms out on the cross. And he was cursed. And he was killed. And he was separated from God and smote for iniquities that were not his own.