Genesis 12.3-The Abrahamic Covenant-Promises to the Nations
Wednesday November 9, 2005
Genesis: Genesis 12:3-The Abrahamic Covenant-Promises to the Nations
Lesson # 58
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 12:1.
This evening we will study Genesis 12:3, which records the establishment of the “Abrahamic” covenant and deals with the promises by the Lord to Abraham for the nations of the world.
On Sunday morning we study the call of Abraham recorded in Genesis 12:1.
Genesis 12:1, “Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you.”
On Tuesday evening we studied the Abrahamic covenant in relation to the personal promises to Abraham recorded in Genesis 12:2.
Genesis 12:2, “And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing.”
This evening we will the Abrahamic covenant in relation to the promises to the nations of the world as recorded in Genesis 12:3.
Genesis 12:3, “And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
The promises “I will bless them that bless you and the one who curses you I will curse” identifies the Lord with the cause of Abraham.
Therefore, blessing Abraham would be equivalent to doing it to God whereas those who curse Abraham would be cursing God.
The promises “I will bless them that bless you and the one who curses you I will curse” refers to the fact that the Lord would bless those who bless Abraham and curse those who curse him.
The promise “in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” refers to the fact that through Jesus Christ, the Promised Seed of Genesis 3:15, Abraham would be a blessing to all mankind (Dt. 28:8-14; Is. 60:3-5, 11, 16) since it is only through the Lord Jesus Christ that one becomes Abraham’s seed and heirs of the promise (Gal. 3:29; Eph. 2:13, 19).
This promise was the Gospel of salvation proclaimed to Abraham (Gal. 3:8) and reaches back to the divided “families” (10:5, 20, 31) of the earth at the Tower of Babel who were alienated from God due to sin and rebellion and the deception of Satan but who would be blessed through faith alone in Christ alone.
Galatians 3:1, “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?”
Galatians 3:2, “This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”
Galatians 3:3, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”
Galatians 3:4, “Did you suffer so many things in vain -- if indeed it was in vain?”
Galatians 3:5, “So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”
Galatians 3:6, “Even so Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
Galatians 3:7, “Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.”
Galatians 3:8, “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.’”
Galatians 3:9, “So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.”
Galatians 3:10, “For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM.’”
Galatians 3:11, “Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, ‘THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.’”
Galatians 3:12, “However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, ‘HE WHO PRACTICES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM.’”
Galatians 3:13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us -- for it is written, ‘CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE.’”
Galatians 3:14, “in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
Galatians 3:15, “Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man's covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it.”
Galatians 3:16, “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ.”
Galatians 3:17, “What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.”
Galatians 3:18, “For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.”
Galatians 3:19, “Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.”
Galatians 3:20, “Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one.”
Galatians 3:21, “Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law.”
Galatians 3:22, “But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.”
Galatians 3:23, “But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.”
Galatians 3:24, “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”
Galatians 3:25, “But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”
Galatians 3:26, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:27, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:29, “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise.”
Therefore, Galatians 3 teaches that Gentiles and Jews who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior become the “spiritual” posterity of Abraham and heirs according to the promise made to Abraham in relation to the nations.
Go back to Genesis 12:3.
Genesis 12:3, “And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
The promise “in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” gives us further information regarding the Promised “Seed” of Genesis 3:15 who would destroy the works of the devil and would deliver Adam and Eve’s descendants from sin and Satan and indicates that the human nature of Jesus Christ would originate from the line of Abraham.
Up to this point in our study of Genesis, we have seen that the human nature of Jesus Christ would come from the line of Seth (Luke 3:38) and Shem (Gen. 9:24-27; Luke 3:36) and now Genesis 12:3 states that Jesus Christ would be a descendant of Abraham.
The promise “in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” refers to God’s plan to reverse the curse of Genesis 3 and all the effects of the Fall of Adam and is God’s promise of salvation to the human race and is repeated five times in the Book of Genesis (Gen. 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14).
This covenant with Abraham was reaffirmed and confirmed after Abraham’s faith was tested (Gen. 22:15-18) and was confined to the Jews who are the racial descendants of Abraham (Gen. 17:1-14).
The “Abrahamic” covenant has several applications in different areas of theology: (1) Soteriology: Study of salvation (2) Resurrection (3) Eschatology: Study of events that are future to the rapture of the church.
The apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians that Christian believers enter into the blessings promised to Abraham (Gal. 3:14, 29; 4:22-31) and his argument is based on this same covenant promise made with Abraham (Rom. 4:1-25).
Paul taught that after the Fall of Adam, God revealed His purpose to provide salvation for sinners (Gen. 3:15) and which purpose was progressively revealed to man and the promise made to Abraham represented a significant and progressive step in that revelation.
In Matthew 22:23-32, the Lord refuted the Sadducees unbelief in the resurrection by stating that God had revealed Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Ex. 3:15), with whom He had entered into covenant relationships.
Thus since these men had died without receiving the fulfillment of the promises (Heb. 11:13) and since the covenants could not be broken, it was essential for God to raise these men from the dead in order to fulfill His word.
In Acts 26:6-8, Paul united the “promise to the fathers” with the resurrection from the dead.
Dwight Pentecost writes concerning the “Abrahamic” covenant and eschatology, “The eternal aspects of this covenant, which guarantee Israel a permanent national existence, perpetual title to the land of promise, and the certainty to material and spiritual blessing through Christ-and guarantee Gentile nations a share in these blessings-determine the whole eschatological program of the Word of God” (Thy Kingdom Come, page 81, Victor Books).
The “Abrahamic” covenant serves as the foundation for the message delivered to the nation of Israel by the Old Testament prophets and writers.
The “Abrahamic” covenant marked the “patriarchal” dispensation, which ended with Exodus of Israel and the giving of the Law at Sinai.
A “dispensation” is a period of human history defined in terms of divine revelation and according to the Bible, history is a sequence of divine administrations and these consecutive eras reflect the unfolding of God’s plan for mankind.
Scofield Reference Bible states on page 5, “A dispensation is a period of time during which man is tested in respect of obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God.”
Ryrie, “A dispensation is a distinguishable economy in the outworking of God’s purpose.” (Dispensationalism Today, page 29).
Human history may be classified into six dispensations, which can be grouped into three categories: (1) Theocentric (2) Christocentric (3) Eschatological.
“Theocentric” dispensations are Old Testament dispensations extending from the creation of Adam to the virgin birth of Christ and are divided into two periods: (1) Gentiles (2) Israel.
The dispensation of the “Gentiles” extended from the creation of Adam to the Exodus of Israel from Egypt and is divided into four periods: (1) “Edenic”: Creation of Adam to his fall (2) “Antediluvian”: Fall of Adam to Flood of Noah (3) “Post-Diluvian”: Noah leaving the Ark to call of Abraham (4) “Patriarchal”: Call of Abraham to the Exodus of Israel from Egypt and the giving of the Law.
The dispensation of the “Jews” extended from the Exodus of Israel from Egypt to the birth of Christ.
The “Christocentric” dispensations are New Testament dispensations extending from the birth of Christ to the resurrection, or rapture of the church and are divided into two periods: (1) “Hypostatic Union”: Birth of Christ to His death, resurrection, ascension and session (2) “Church Age”: Pentecost to the Rapture.
The “Eschatological” dispensations are dispensations, which will follow the rapture of the church and are divided into two periods: (1) “Tribulation”: Rapture of the church to the 2nd Advent of Christ (2) “Millennium”: 2nd Advent of Christ to the release of Satan from prison and the execution of his sentence to Lake of Fire.
Therefore, the call of Abraham marked the “patriarchal” period of the dispensation of the Gentiles, which was a “Theocentric” dispensation.
The “Abrahamic” covenant is declared to be eternal or everlasting in Genesis 17:7, 13, 19; 1 Chronicles 16:17 and Psalm 105:10 and is confirmed repeatedly by reiteration and enlargement.
The “Abrahamic” covenant was solemnized by a divinely ordered ritual symbolizing the shedding of blood and passing between the parts of the sacrifice (Gen. 15:7-21; Jer. 34:18).
This ceremony assured Abraham that his seed would inherit the land in the exact boundaries given to him in Genesis 15:18-21.
The Lord gave circumcision to Abraham and his descendants to distinguish those who would inherit the promises as individuals through faith from those who were only physical seed of Abraham (Gen. 17:9-14).
The “Abrahamic” covenant was confirmed by the birth of Isaac and Jacob who also received the promises repeated in their original form (Gen. 17:10; 28:12-13).
A comparison of Hebrews 6:13-18 and Genesis 15:8-21 records that the “Abrahamic” covenant was immutable and was not only promised but solemnly confirmed by an oath from God.