THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT

The Abrahamic Covenant

 

"Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."

Gen. 12:1-3

 Under the terms of this covenant Abraham was promised certain regal rights and privileges, involving: first, an innumerable progeny through natural generation (Gen. 12:2; 13:16; 15:3-5); second, a guarantee of historical continuity by means of divine protection (Gen. 12:3); third, an everlasting and irrevocable title to a definite land area on earth (Gen. 13:14-17; 15:18; 17:7-8); and, fourth, a final world supremacy through which "great" divine blessings would flow outto all mankind (Gen. 12:2-3).
 This Abrahamic covenant was unconditional in character. That is, the promises originated wholly in God and were not conditioned upon any meritorious acts on the part of Abraham but were received by him simply by faith. The inspired record states that Abraham "believed in the LORD" and the LORD "counted it to him for righteousness" (Gen. 15:6). This does not mean that every individual descended from Abraham will personally share in all the blessings promised under the covenant, apart from moral and spiritual considerations. But it does mean that the fulfilment of the promises to Abraham is in no sense dependent upon human character or action, but rests upon divine grace and sovereignty, and therefore cannot fail. No matter how bad conditions may become in Israel, and the situation was terrible in the days of Micah, the prophet can bid the nation to remember that Jehovah will "perforin the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham" which He had "sworn unto our fathers from the days of old" (Mic. 7:18-20).
God is patient, does not give up and does not lie.