Abe And God
Ge 12:1 Now the Lord said to Abram, Go out from your country and from your family and from your father's house, into the land to which I will be your guide:
2 And I will make of you a great nation, blessing you and making your name great; and you will be a blessing:
3 To them who are good to you will I give blessing, and on him who does you wrong will I put my curse: and you will become a name of blessing to all the families of the earth.
4 So Abram went as the Lord had said to him, and Lot went with him: Abram was seventy-five years old when he went away from Haran.
(BBE)
Ge 15:1 After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Have no fear, Abram: I will keep you safe, and great will be your reward.
2 And Abram said, What will you give me? for I have no child and this Eliezer of Damascus will have all my wealth after me.
3 And Abram said, You have given me no child, and a servant in my house will get the heritage.
4 Then said the Lord, This man will not get the heritage, but a son of your body will have your property after you.
5 And he took him out into the open air, and said to him, Let your eyes be lifted to heaven, and see if the stars may be numbered; even so will your seed be.
6 And he had faith in the Lord, and it was put to his account as righteousness.
7 And he said to him, I am the Lord, who took you from Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land for your heritage.
8 And he said, O Lord God, how may I be certain that it will be mine?
9 And he said, Take a young cow of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a sheep of three years old, and a dove and a young pigeon.
10 All these he took, cutting them in two and putting one half opposite the other, but not cutting the birds in two.
11 And evil birds came down on the bodies, but Abram sent them away.
12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep came on Abram, and a dark cloud of fear.
13 And he said to Abram, Truly, your seed will be living in a land which is not theirs, as servants to a people who will be cruel to them for four hundred years;
14 But I will be the judge of that nation whose servants they are, and they will come out from among them with great wealth.
(Recall this when we study the Egyptian captivity)
15 As for you, you will go to your fathers in peace; at the end of a long life you will be put in your last resting-place.
16 And in the fourth generation they will come back here; for at present the sin of the Amorite is not full.
17 Then when the sun went down and it was dark, he saw a smoking fire and a flaming light which went between the parts of the bodies.
18 In that day the Lord made an agreement with Abram, and said, To your seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:
19 The Kenite, the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite,
20 And the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim,
21 And the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.
(BBE)
http://www.breakpoint.org/the-center/columns/viewpoint/22777-the-covenant-with-abraham
Signs for the Present and the Future
As in previous manifestations of His covenant, God gave Abraham a sign to remind him of the grace and promise of the Lord. Actually, God gave Abraham two signs—one an immediate and temporal reminder of His grace, and one designed to secure the blessings of God for all time.
The sign of circumcision indicated the cutting away of everything that kept God’s people from being fruitful in the blessings of God (Gen. 17). Circumcision is accomplished through the shedding of blood, and it was given to serve as a permanent identifying mark for those who bore it, reminding them constantly that they had been set apart by God within a framework of promises, mandates, and sanctions, within which they were privileged to know the presence and peace of the Lord Himself.
The second sign of God’s covenant with Abraham was actually given first. We read about it in Genesis 15. Here God passes between the pieces of sacrificed animals to signal that He alone bears the authority and responsibility of fulfilling His covenant of promise. God cannot die, like those animals slain to create that covenant pathway; therefore, God’s covenant cannot fail.
But Abraham can—and would—fail in His covenant obligations, as we all do even to this day. Thus God was obligating Himself, to ensure that His covenant of promise would be always a covenant of grace, to bear His own wrath against all covenant-breakers and to endure the punishment they and we deserve. Only thus, by God fulfilling His covenant in all aspects, would it remain a covenant of grace and promise.
Ge 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord came to him, and said, I am God, Ruler of all; go in my ways and be upright in all things,
2 And I will make an agreement between you and me, and your offspring will be greatly increased.
3 And Abram went down on his face on the earth, and the Lord God went on talking with him, and said,
4 As for me, my agreement is made with you, and you will be the father of nations without end.
5 No longer will your name be Abram, but Abraham, for I have made you the father of a number of nations.
6 I will make you very fertile, so that nations will come from you and kings will be your offspring.
7 And I will make between me and you and your seed after you through all generations, an eternal agreement to be a God to you and to your seed after you.
8 And to you and to your seed after you, I will give the land in which you are living, all the land of Canaan for an eternal heritage; and I will be their God.
9 And God said to Abraham, On your side, you are to keep the agreement, you and your seed after you through all generations.
10 And this is the agreement which you are to keep with me, you and your seed after you: every male among you is to undergo circumcision.
11 In the flesh of your private parts you are to undergo it, as a mark of the agreement between me and you.
12 Every male among you, from one generation to another, is to undergo circumcision when he is eight days old, with every servant whose birth takes place in your house, or for whom you gave money to someone of another country, and not of your seed.
13 He who comes to birth in your house and he who is made yours for a price, all are to undergo circumcision; so that my agreement may be marked in your flesh, an agreement for all time.
14 And any male who does not undergo circumcision will be cut off from his people: my agreement has been broken by him.
15 And God said, As for Sarai, your wife, from now her name will be not Sarai, but Sarah.
16 And I will give her a blessing so that you will have a son by her: truly my blessing will be on her, and she will be the mother of nations: kings of peoples will be her offspring.
17 Then Abraham went down on his face, and laughing, said in his heart, May a man a hundred years old have a child? will Sarah, at ninety years old, give birth?
18 And Abraham said to God, If only Ishmael's life might be your care!
19 And God said, Not so; but Sarah, your wife, will have a son, and you will give him the name Isaac, and I will make my agreement with him for ever and with his seed after him.
20 As for Ishmael, I have given ear to your prayer: truly I have given him my blessing and I will make him fertile and give him great increase; he will be the father of twelve chiefs, and I will make him a great nation.
21 But my agreement will be with Isaac, to whom Sarah will give birth a year from this time.
22 And having said these words, God went up from Abraham.
23 And Abraham took Ishmael, his son, and all whose birth had taken place in his house, and all his servants whom he had made his for a price, every male of his house, and on that very day he gave them circumcision in the flesh of their private parts as God had said to him.
24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he underwent circumcision.
25 And Ishmael, his son, was thirteen years old when he underwent circumcision.
26 Abraham and Ishmael, his son, underwent circumcision on that very day.
27 And all the men of his house, those whose birth had taken place in the house and those whom he had got for money from men of other lands, underwent circumcision with him.
(BBE)
A Matt Henry intrusion:
Matthew Henry Commentary
17:7-14 The covenant of grace is from everlasting in the counsels of it, and to everlasting in the consequences of it. The token of the covenant was circumcision. It is here said to be the covenant which Abraham and his seed must keep. Those who will have the Lord to be to them a God, must resolve to be to him a people. Not only Abraham and Isaac, and his posterity by Isaac, were to be circumcised, but also Ishmael and the bond-servants. It sealed not only the covenant of the land of Canaan to Isaac's posterity, but of heaven, through Christ, to the whole church of God. The outward sign is for the visible church; the inward seal of the Spirit is peculiar to those whom God knows to be believers, and he alone can know them. The religious observance of this institution was required, under a very severe penalty. It is dangerous to make light of Divine institutions, and to live in the neglect of them. The covenant in question was one that involved great blessings for the world in all future ages. Even the blessedness of Abraham himself, and all the rewards conferred upon him, were for Christ's sake. Abraham was justified, as we have seen, not by his own righteousness, but by faith in the promised Messiah.
(Notice every time Abe has made plans on the fleshly level, to give the heritage to his servant or to give it to his illegitimate son, God steps in and reiterates his covenant and expands on the details.)
Some well written detailing helps the discussion
https://gotquestions.org/Abrahamic-covenant.html
Question: "What is the Abrahamic Covenant?"
Answer: A covenant is an agreement between two parties. There are two basic types of covenants: conditional and unconditional. A conditional or bilateral covenant is an agreement that is binding on both parties for its fulfillment. Both parties agree to fulfill certain conditions. If either party fails to meet their responsibilities, the covenant is broken and neither party has to fulfill the expectations of the covenant. An unconditional or unilateral covenant is an agreement between two parties, but only one of the two parties has to do something. Nothing is required of the other party.
The Abrahamic Covenant is an unconditional covenant. God made promises to Abraham that required nothing of Abraham. Genesis 15:18–21 describes a part of the Abrahamic Covenant, specifically dealing with the dimensions of the land God promised to Abraham and his descendants.
The actual Abrahamic Covenant is found in Genesis 12:1–3. The ceremony recorded in Genesis 15 indicates the unconditional nature of the covenant. The only time that both parties of a covenant would pass between the pieces of animals was when the fulfillment of the covenant was dependent upon both parties keeping commitments. Concerning the significance of God alone moving between the halves of the animals, it is to be noted that it is a smoking furnace and a flaming torch, representing God, not Abraham, which passed between the pieces. Such an act, it would seem, should be shared by both parties, but in this case God’s solitary action is doubtless to be explained by the fact that the covenant is principally a promise by God. He binds Himself to the covenant. God caused a sleep to fall upon Abraham so that he would not be able to pass between the two halves of the animals. Fulfillment of the covenant fell to God alone.
(I would suggest that God held either the furnace or torch and the holy Spirit held the other, That way two parts of the Trinity formed the partnership so it was not so much a "solitary" act as it was the spiritual level of god accepting an eternal covenant. My evidence for the spirit being there was that tongues of flame fell on the Apostles at Pentecost. W.)
Later, God gave Abraham the rite of circumcision as the specific sign of the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 17:9–14). All males in Abraham’s line were to be circumcised and thus carry with them a lifelong mark in their flesh that they were part of God’s physical blessing in the world. Any descendant of Abraham who refused circumcision was declaring himself to be outside of God’s covenant; this explains why God was angry with Moses when Moses failed to circumcise his son in Exodus 4:24–26.
God determined to call out a special people for Himself, and through that special people He would bring blessing to all the nations. The Abrahamic Covenant is paramount to a proper understanding of the kingdom concept and is foundational to Old Testament theology. The Abrahamic Covenant is described in Genesis 12:1–3, and (1) it is an unconditional covenant. There are no conditions attached to it (no “if” clauses suggesting its fulfillment is dependent on man). (2) It is also a literal covenant in which the promises should be understood literally. The land that is promised should be understood in a normal definition of the word—it is not a figure of heaven. (3) It is also an everlasting covenant. The promises that God made to Israel are eternal.
There are three main features to the Abrahamic Covenant:
1. The promise of land (Genesis 12:1). God called Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees to a land that He would give him (Genesis 12:1). This promise is reiterated in Genesis 13:14–18 where it is confirmed by a shoe covenant; its dimensions are given in Genesis 15:18–21 (precluding any notion of this being fulfilled in heaven). The land aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant is expanded in Deuteronomy 30:1–10, which is thePalestinian Covenant.
2. The promise of descendants (Genesis 12:2). God promised Abraham that He would make a great nation out of him. Abraham, who was 75 years old and childless (Genesis 12:4), was promised many descendants. This promise is amplified in Genesis 17:6 where God promised that nations and kings would descend from the aged patriarch. This promise (which is expanded in the Davidic Covenant of 2 Samuel 7:12–16) would eventuate in the Davidic throne with Messiah’s kingdom rule over the Hebrew people.
3. The promise of blessing and redemption (Genesis 12:3). God promised to bless Abraham and the families of the earth through him. This promise is amplified in the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31–34; cf. Hebrews 8:6–13) and has to do with “Israel’s spiritual blessing and redemption.” Jeremiah 31:34 anticipates the forgiveness of sin. The unconditional and eternal nature of the covenant is seen in that the covenant is reaffirmed to Isaac (Genesis 21:12; 26:3–4). The “I will” promises again suggest the unconditional aspect of the covenant. The covenant is later confirmed to Jacob (Genesis 28:14–15). It is noteworthy that God reaffirmed these promises amid the sins of the patriarchs, which fact further emphasizes the unconditional nature of the Abrahamic Covenant.
God’s method of fulfilling the Abrahamic Covenant is literal, inasmuch as God partially fulfilled the covenant in history: God blessed Abraham by giving him the land (Genesis 13:14–17), and, centuries later, the sons of Abraham took control of the land: “So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there” (Joshua 21:43). God blessed Abraham spiritually (Genesis 13:8, 18; 14:22, 23; 21:22); God gave him numerous descendants (Genesis 22:17; 49:3–28). An important element of the Abrahamic Covenant, however, demands a still-future fulfillment with Messiah’s kingdom rule:
(1) Israel as a nation will possess the totality of the land in the future. Numerous Old Testament passages anticipate the future blessing of Israel and her possession of the land as promised to Abraham. Ezekiel envisions a future day when Israel is restored to the land (Ezekiel 20:33–37, 40–42; 36:1–37:28).
(2) Israel as a nation will be converted, forgiven, and restored (Romans 11:25–27).
(3) Israel will repent and receive the forgiveness of God in the future (Zechariah 12:10–14). The Abrahamic Covenant finds its ultimate fulfillment in connection with the return of Messiah to rescue and bless His people Israel. It is through the nation Israel that God promised in Genesis 12:1–3 to bless the nations of the world. That ultimate blessing will issue in the forgiveness of sins and Messiah’s glorious kingdom reign on earth.Recommended Resource: The Moody Handbook of Theology by Paul Enns
Some things to add:
1) This covenant relates to the Earth. there is no redemption of sin related to it except the promise of a blessing to the entire world. A material world blessing. Specific land on this world. A flock of blessed on the world. A nation and a people. Of this Earth. A promised deliverer. of this Earth. A promised Messiah and his rule on this world.
Please keep that in mind when someone tells you the Church has anything to do with claiming any promises of God to Israel. We inherit a Messiah for eternity. When we start messing with His plan and claiming this and that that we think He has for others, we end up doing stupid things. And being simply foolish.
2) The "real" Israel hasn't existed since the Twelve Tribes were dispersed. understand it hasn't kept god from still blessing the remaining Tribes and Israel under the Jews alone (the tribes of Benjamin, Levi and Judah) was never legal and during Christ's time had an illegal government from royalty to Sanhedrin. Make no mistake, god enabled the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem and Nehemiah to rebuild the city wall and Ezra to read the Scripture and bring the Word back to the People. but the refusal to let the rest of the tribes return, the extent of effort to brand anyone from the other Tribes as foreigners or lost all worked to undermine the true rebuilding of the Nation. It was a version of Israel but it was a fleshly version, based on religion and religiously keeping the Law instead f genuine worship for God. they understood only point 1 here: that there was a promise for the Jews on this Earth and thought the bigger and better the Temple or the offering or the bank account, the better the People were and the more blessed.
Flesh takes God's plan and sees it as meant for the Flesh not for the eternal. We are meant for heaven so let's make heaven o n Earth. For some that means all our needs being met in the moment. Sex, food, water, shelter and all of them being met with the vastest amount spent to make them the best for us. The government should do it. our work should do it. The business we found should do it. Our spouse should take care of us and be rich in the mix as well.
The Bible simply tells us God has a special Earthly blessing for Israel.
The Church has a blessing in Heaven. It comes from Abraham's spiritual blessing.
Does He watch over us and care for us and guide us in the ways we need to follow the song? Yes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY-k2hnIE7E
We know from Revelation that the Earth goes on. We know the Millennium lasts only a thousand years, hence the name. But also know a new Heaven and Earth will be there after everything in this universe's state is done. A pure Earth and Heaven with whatever tasks he has for us, with all humanity sorted out, tares from the wheat. An endless kingdom.
Contrast what we can think that kingdom might be like and what depths of love the King will bring with the kingdom we will now discuss: Egypt.
Ge 12:1 Now the Lord said to Abram, Go out from your country and from your family and from your father's house, into the land to which I will be your guide:
2 And I will make of you a great nation, blessing you and making your name great; and you will be a blessing:
3 To them who are good to you will I give blessing, and on him who does you wrong will I put my curse: and you will become a name of blessing to all the families of the earth.
4 So Abram went as the Lord had said to him, and Lot went with him: Abram was seventy-five years old when he went away from Haran.
(BBE)
Ge 15:1 After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Have no fear, Abram: I will keep you safe, and great will be your reward.
2 And Abram said, What will you give me? for I have no child and this Eliezer of Damascus will have all my wealth after me.
3 And Abram said, You have given me no child, and a servant in my house will get the heritage.
4 Then said the Lord, This man will not get the heritage, but a son of your body will have your property after you.
5 And he took him out into the open air, and said to him, Let your eyes be lifted to heaven, and see if the stars may be numbered; even so will your seed be.
6 And he had faith in the Lord, and it was put to his account as righteousness.
7 And he said to him, I am the Lord, who took you from Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land for your heritage.
8 And he said, O Lord God, how may I be certain that it will be mine?
9 And he said, Take a young cow of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a sheep of three years old, and a dove and a young pigeon.
10 All these he took, cutting them in two and putting one half opposite the other, but not cutting the birds in two.
11 And evil birds came down on the bodies, but Abram sent them away.
12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep came on Abram, and a dark cloud of fear.
13 And he said to Abram, Truly, your seed will be living in a land which is not theirs, as servants to a people who will be cruel to them for four hundred years;
14 But I will be the judge of that nation whose servants they are, and they will come out from among them with great wealth.
(Recall this when we study the Egyptian captivity)
15 As for you, you will go to your fathers in peace; at the end of a long life you will be put in your last resting-place.
16 And in the fourth generation they will come back here; for at present the sin of the Amorite is not full.
17 Then when the sun went down and it was dark, he saw a smoking fire and a flaming light which went between the parts of the bodies.
18 In that day the Lord made an agreement with Abram, and said, To your seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:
19 The Kenite, the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite,
20 And the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim,
21 And the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.
(BBE)
http://www.breakpoint.org/the-center/columns/viewpoint/22777-the-covenant-with-abraham
Signs for the Present and the Future
As in previous manifestations of His covenant, God gave Abraham a sign to remind him of the grace and promise of the Lord. Actually, God gave Abraham two signs—one an immediate and temporal reminder of His grace, and one designed to secure the blessings of God for all time.
The sign of circumcision indicated the cutting away of everything that kept God’s people from being fruitful in the blessings of God (Gen. 17). Circumcision is accomplished through the shedding of blood, and it was given to serve as a permanent identifying mark for those who bore it, reminding them constantly that they had been set apart by God within a framework of promises, mandates, and sanctions, within which they were privileged to know the presence and peace of the Lord Himself.
The second sign of God’s covenant with Abraham was actually given first. We read about it in Genesis 15. Here God passes between the pieces of sacrificed animals to signal that He alone bears the authority and responsibility of fulfilling His covenant of promise. God cannot die, like those animals slain to create that covenant pathway; therefore, God’s covenant cannot fail.
But Abraham can—and would—fail in His covenant obligations, as we all do even to this day. Thus God was obligating Himself, to ensure that His covenant of promise would be always a covenant of grace, to bear His own wrath against all covenant-breakers and to endure the punishment they and we deserve. Only thus, by God fulfilling His covenant in all aspects, would it remain a covenant of grace and promise.
Ge 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord came to him, and said, I am God, Ruler of all; go in my ways and be upright in all things,
2 And I will make an agreement between you and me, and your offspring will be greatly increased.
3 And Abram went down on his face on the earth, and the Lord God went on talking with him, and said,
4 As for me, my agreement is made with you, and you will be the father of nations without end.
5 No longer will your name be Abram, but Abraham, for I have made you the father of a number of nations.
6 I will make you very fertile, so that nations will come from you and kings will be your offspring.
7 And I will make between me and you and your seed after you through all generations, an eternal agreement to be a God to you and to your seed after you.
8 And to you and to your seed after you, I will give the land in which you are living, all the land of Canaan for an eternal heritage; and I will be their God.
9 And God said to Abraham, On your side, you are to keep the agreement, you and your seed after you through all generations.
10 And this is the agreement which you are to keep with me, you and your seed after you: every male among you is to undergo circumcision.
11 In the flesh of your private parts you are to undergo it, as a mark of the agreement between me and you.
12 Every male among you, from one generation to another, is to undergo circumcision when he is eight days old, with every servant whose birth takes place in your house, or for whom you gave money to someone of another country, and not of your seed.
13 He who comes to birth in your house and he who is made yours for a price, all are to undergo circumcision; so that my agreement may be marked in your flesh, an agreement for all time.
14 And any male who does not undergo circumcision will be cut off from his people: my agreement has been broken by him.
15 And God said, As for Sarai, your wife, from now her name will be not Sarai, but Sarah.
16 And I will give her a blessing so that you will have a son by her: truly my blessing will be on her, and she will be the mother of nations: kings of peoples will be her offspring.
17 Then Abraham went down on his face, and laughing, said in his heart, May a man a hundred years old have a child? will Sarah, at ninety years old, give birth?
18 And Abraham said to God, If only Ishmael's life might be your care!
19 And God said, Not so; but Sarah, your wife, will have a son, and you will give him the name Isaac, and I will make my agreement with him for ever and with his seed after him.
20 As for Ishmael, I have given ear to your prayer: truly I have given him my blessing and I will make him fertile and give him great increase; he will be the father of twelve chiefs, and I will make him a great nation.
21 But my agreement will be with Isaac, to whom Sarah will give birth a year from this time.
22 And having said these words, God went up from Abraham.
23 And Abraham took Ishmael, his son, and all whose birth had taken place in his house, and all his servants whom he had made his for a price, every male of his house, and on that very day he gave them circumcision in the flesh of their private parts as God had said to him.
24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he underwent circumcision.
25 And Ishmael, his son, was thirteen years old when he underwent circumcision.
26 Abraham and Ishmael, his son, underwent circumcision on that very day.
27 And all the men of his house, those whose birth had taken place in the house and those whom he had got for money from men of other lands, underwent circumcision with him.
(BBE)
A Matt Henry intrusion:
Matthew Henry Commentary
17:7-14 The covenant of grace is from everlasting in the counsels of it, and to everlasting in the consequences of it. The token of the covenant was circumcision. It is here said to be the covenant which Abraham and his seed must keep. Those who will have the Lord to be to them a God, must resolve to be to him a people. Not only Abraham and Isaac, and his posterity by Isaac, were to be circumcised, but also Ishmael and the bond-servants. It sealed not only the covenant of the land of Canaan to Isaac's posterity, but of heaven, through Christ, to the whole church of God. The outward sign is for the visible church; the inward seal of the Spirit is peculiar to those whom God knows to be believers, and he alone can know them. The religious observance of this institution was required, under a very severe penalty. It is dangerous to make light of Divine institutions, and to live in the neglect of them. The covenant in question was one that involved great blessings for the world in all future ages. Even the blessedness of Abraham himself, and all the rewards conferred upon him, were for Christ's sake. Abraham was justified, as we have seen, not by his own righteousness, but by faith in the promised Messiah.
(Notice every time Abe has made plans on the fleshly level, to give the heritage to his servant or to give it to his illegitimate son, God steps in and reiterates his covenant and expands on the details.)
Some well written detailing helps the discussion
https://gotquestions.org/Abrahamic-covenant.html
Answer: A covenant is an agreement between two parties. There are two basic types of covenants: conditional and unconditional. A conditional or bilateral covenant is an agreement that is binding on both parties for its fulfillment. Both parties agree to fulfill certain conditions. If either party fails to meet their responsibilities, the covenant is broken and neither party has to fulfill the expectations of the covenant. An unconditional or unilateral covenant is an agreement between two parties, but only one of the two parties has to do something. Nothing is required of the other party.
The Abrahamic Covenant is an unconditional covenant. God made promises to Abraham that required nothing of Abraham. Genesis 15:18–21 describes a part of the Abrahamic Covenant, specifically dealing with the dimensions of the land God promised to Abraham and his descendants.
The actual Abrahamic Covenant is found in Genesis 12:1–3. The ceremony recorded in Genesis 15 indicates the unconditional nature of the covenant. The only time that both parties of a covenant would pass between the pieces of animals was when the fulfillment of the covenant was dependent upon both parties keeping commitments. Concerning the significance of God alone moving between the halves of the animals, it is to be noted that it is a smoking furnace and a flaming torch, representing God, not Abraham, which passed between the pieces. Such an act, it would seem, should be shared by both parties, but in this case God’s solitary action is doubtless to be explained by the fact that the covenant is principally a promise by God. He binds Himself to the covenant. God caused a sleep to fall upon Abraham so that he would not be able to pass between the two halves of the animals. Fulfillment of the covenant fell to God alone.
(I would suggest that God held either the furnace or torch and the holy Spirit held the other, That way two parts of the Trinity formed the partnership so it was not so much a "solitary" act as it was the spiritual level of god accepting an eternal covenant. My evidence for the spirit being there was that tongues of flame fell on the Apostles at Pentecost. W.)
Later, God gave Abraham the rite of circumcision as the specific sign of the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 17:9–14). All males in Abraham’s line were to be circumcised and thus carry with them a lifelong mark in their flesh that they were part of God’s physical blessing in the world. Any descendant of Abraham who refused circumcision was declaring himself to be outside of God’s covenant; this explains why God was angry with Moses when Moses failed to circumcise his son in Exodus 4:24–26.
God determined to call out a special people for Himself, and through that special people He would bring blessing to all the nations. The Abrahamic Covenant is paramount to a proper understanding of the kingdom concept and is foundational to Old Testament theology. The Abrahamic Covenant is described in Genesis 12:1–3, and (1) it is an unconditional covenant. There are no conditions attached to it (no “if” clauses suggesting its fulfillment is dependent on man). (2) It is also a literal covenant in which the promises should be understood literally. The land that is promised should be understood in a normal definition of the word—it is not a figure of heaven. (3) It is also an everlasting covenant. The promises that God made to Israel are eternal.
There are three main features to the Abrahamic Covenant:
1. The promise of land (Genesis 12:1). God called Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees to a land that He would give him (Genesis 12:1). This promise is reiterated in Genesis 13:14–18 where it is confirmed by a shoe covenant; its dimensions are given in Genesis 15:18–21 (precluding any notion of this being fulfilled in heaven). The land aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant is expanded in Deuteronomy 30:1–10, which is thePalestinian Covenant.
2. The promise of descendants (Genesis 12:2). God promised Abraham that He would make a great nation out of him. Abraham, who was 75 years old and childless (Genesis 12:4), was promised many descendants. This promise is amplified in Genesis 17:6 where God promised that nations and kings would descend from the aged patriarch. This promise (which is expanded in the Davidic Covenant of 2 Samuel 7:12–16) would eventuate in the Davidic throne with Messiah’s kingdom rule over the Hebrew people.
3. The promise of blessing and redemption (Genesis 12:3). God promised to bless Abraham and the families of the earth through him. This promise is amplified in the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31–34; cf. Hebrews 8:6–13) and has to do with “Israel’s spiritual blessing and redemption.” Jeremiah 31:34 anticipates the forgiveness of sin. The unconditional and eternal nature of the covenant is seen in that the covenant is reaffirmed to Isaac (Genesis 21:12; 26:3–4). The “I will” promises again suggest the unconditional aspect of the covenant. The covenant is later confirmed to Jacob (Genesis 28:14–15). It is noteworthy that God reaffirmed these promises amid the sins of the patriarchs, which fact further emphasizes the unconditional nature of the Abrahamic Covenant.
God’s method of fulfilling the Abrahamic Covenant is literal, inasmuch as God partially fulfilled the covenant in history: God blessed Abraham by giving him the land (Genesis 13:14–17), and, centuries later, the sons of Abraham took control of the land: “So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there” (Joshua 21:43). God blessed Abraham spiritually (Genesis 13:8, 18; 14:22, 23; 21:22); God gave him numerous descendants (Genesis 22:17; 49:3–28). An important element of the Abrahamic Covenant, however, demands a still-future fulfillment with Messiah’s kingdom rule:
(1) Israel as a nation will possess the totality of the land in the future. Numerous Old Testament passages anticipate the future blessing of Israel and her possession of the land as promised to Abraham. Ezekiel envisions a future day when Israel is restored to the land (Ezekiel 20:33–37, 40–42; 36:1–37:28).
(2) Israel as a nation will be converted, forgiven, and restored (Romans 11:25–27).
(3) Israel will repent and receive the forgiveness of God in the future (Zechariah 12:10–14). The Abrahamic Covenant finds its ultimate fulfillment in connection with the return of Messiah to rescue and bless His people Israel. It is through the nation Israel that God promised in Genesis 12:1–3 to bless the nations of the world. That ultimate blessing will issue in the forgiveness of sins and Messiah’s glorious kingdom reign on earth.Recommended Resource: The Moody Handbook of Theology by Paul Enns
Some things to add:
1) This covenant relates to the Earth. there is no redemption of sin related to it except the promise of a blessing to the entire world. A material world blessing. Specific land on this world. A flock of blessed on the world. A nation and a people. Of this Earth. A promised deliverer. of this Earth. A promised Messiah and his rule on this world.
Please keep that in mind when someone tells you the Church has anything to do with claiming any promises of God to Israel. We inherit a Messiah for eternity. When we start messing with His plan and claiming this and that that we think He has for others, we end up doing stupid things. And being simply foolish.
2) The "real" Israel hasn't existed since the Twelve Tribes were dispersed. understand it hasn't kept god from still blessing the remaining Tribes and Israel under the Jews alone (the tribes of Benjamin, Levi and Judah) was never legal and during Christ's time had an illegal government from royalty to Sanhedrin. Make no mistake, god enabled the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem and Nehemiah to rebuild the city wall and Ezra to read the Scripture and bring the Word back to the People. but the refusal to let the rest of the tribes return, the extent of effort to brand anyone from the other Tribes as foreigners or lost all worked to undermine the true rebuilding of the Nation. It was a version of Israel but it was a fleshly version, based on religion and religiously keeping the Law instead f genuine worship for God. they understood only point 1 here: that there was a promise for the Jews on this Earth and thought the bigger and better the Temple or the offering or the bank account, the better the People were and the more blessed.
Flesh takes God's plan and sees it as meant for the Flesh not for the eternal. We are meant for heaven so let's make heaven o n Earth. For some that means all our needs being met in the moment. Sex, food, water, shelter and all of them being met with the vastest amount spent to make them the best for us. The government should do it. our work should do it. The business we found should do it. Our spouse should take care of us and be rich in the mix as well.
The Bible simply tells us God has a special Earthly blessing for Israel.
The Church has a blessing in Heaven. It comes from Abraham's spiritual blessing.
Does He watch over us and care for us and guide us in the ways we need to follow the song? Yes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY-k2hnIE7E
We know from Revelation that the Earth goes on. We know the Millennium lasts only a thousand years, hence the name. But also know a new Heaven and Earth will be there after everything in this universe's state is done. A pure Earth and Heaven with whatever tasks he has for us, with all humanity sorted out, tares from the wheat. An endless kingdom.
Contrast what we can think that kingdom might be like and what depths of love the King will bring with the kingdom we will now discuss: Egypt.
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