Rejoicing in the Covenant of Abraham

It started as a promise that God made with Abraham saying that if Abraham would obey him and would walk in his ways, then he would make his covenant with Abraham, and would multiply his seed exceedingly. “I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect, and I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly (Genesis 17:1-2).” This promise required Abraham to depend upon God to show him how to be perfect. Abraham walked together with God for many years before receiving his promise. “After he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise (Hebrews 6:15).”

Evidence as to when the covenant was sworn unto Abraham was recorded in the book of Genesis, and it was eluded to in the book of Hebrews: “By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son… that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice (Genesis 22:16-18).” On the day that Abraham withheld not his son from God, God rejoiced exceedingly in Abraham’s obedience, and on that day the Lord performed his promise, and he swore a covenant to Abraham! “For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee (Hebrews 6:13-14).”

Abraham’s reward for trusting God was a heritage of blessings and promises that were laid up for those who would serve the God of Abraham. The details of God’s plan are scattered, but God appointed verses which lead us into understanding. “Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; and confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant (Psalm 105:9-10).” Believers can discern from these words that Abraham’s inheritance was recorded as an oath, and in a law, and in another covenant.

True understanding must begin by believing God. When God promised the covenant, he said that he would establish it with Abraham, and also with his seed (Genesis 17:7). God informed Abraham, that Sarah would bear him a son. Although Abraham tried to defer to his existing son whom God had already blessed with promises (Genesis 16:10-11), God, for his own purposes, said that his covenant would be established with Isaac. “As for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly… but my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year (Genesis 17:20-21).”

The blessings of Abraham’s reward were first published in a law that was scribed by Moses. “Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob (Deuteronomy 33:4).” Jacob’s name was intentionally used to conceal the whereabouts of this law. “He confirmed the same to Jacob for a law (Psalm 105:10).” God routinely used the parable name "Jacob" to refer to believers who had been shown the truth of his word, and this is why Jacob’s name was ascribed to the law. “He sheweth his word unto Jacob (Psalm 147:19).”

The law that Moses published, lists the many benefits that believers will inherit because of Abraham’s faithfulness. However, this law has a stipulation: To inherit the blessings, believers must walk in God’s commandments, and do them. “If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit… I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. And you shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword… For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you… and I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people (Leviticus 26:3-12).” A host of judgments are also recorded in the law. These judgments are as correcting sentences which God promised to bring upon believers that are not yielding unto his commandments, and that are breaking his covenant. But God, in his infinite wisdom, concluded the law by publishing a way that his banished children could be restored, and forgiven. Read more about this law, and about the commandments written therein, in the book of Leviticus, chapter twenty six.

“God, willing more abundantly to show the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath (Hebrews 6:17).” As Israel stood at the gates of her promised land, she entered into God's covenant, but Israel also stood there to be a witness as God swore an oath unto all of Abraham’s seed. “Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God… that thou shouldest enter into a covenant with the Lord thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day… Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath; but with him that standeth here with us this day before the Lord God, and also with him that is not here with us this day (Deuteronomy 29:10-15).”

The covenant and the oath which were sworn unto Israel on that day, are inseparable. This means that the words of Israel’s covenant, pertain to all of Abraham’s seed. “He confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant (Psalm 105:10).” Like the law that was scribed by Moses, the covenant declares the many blessings that will come upon the believers who diligently serve the God of Abraham. “It shall come to pass, if thou hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that… all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee… and all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee (Deuteronomy 28:1-10).” “God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he swore unto thy fathers: And he will love thee, and bless thee, and will multiply thee… Thou shalt be blessed above all people… And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee (Deuteronomy 7:12-15).” Also like the law that was given through Moses, the covenant listed the curses which will come upon believers that are not listening to the Lord's commandments, and doing them. To summarize the relevance of these things, the Lord has given his people the promises of blessings and cursings, twice; therefore the things which are written in the law, and again in the covenant, will happen, because God has established them.

There are many blessings listed in the covenant, and all of them are inherited promises which will come upon, and overtake those believers who have listened to the words of Abraham’s covenant, and done them (Deuteronomy 6:1). “Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all the people, as it is this day (Deuteronomy 10:15).”

“But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee (Deuteronomy 28:15).” Likewise, promised curses are prophesied to come upon those believers who are not listening to the words of Abraham's covenant, and doing them: until they are destroyed, and until their high fenced walls come down. “Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: and they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder (Deuteronomy 28:45-46).” “And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst (Deuteronomy 28:52).”

Hearing alone is not the answer: God's people must do the commandments of the Lord, that is the answer. Even faithful believers that have done great things for the Lord will be among the casualties of the curse, if they don't take action. “It shall come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my heart… The Lord shall not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven (Deuteronomy 29:19-20).”

God is implementing change, which means that believers need to pay attention: we have not yet entered into our inheritance. “Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes. For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the Lord your God giveth you (Deuteronomy 12:8-9).” Within the words of the covenant that was sworn unto Abraham's seed, God informed his people that they are to be listening for a prophet. “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him (Deuteronomy 18:18-19).” Through the voice of a prophet God will show his people what will happen during end times, and through the voices of his messengers, including the prophets, the Lord will lead his people safely through the changes that lie ahead. When the pestilence does occur, it will confirm God's word, and it will bring glory unto his servants the prophets. It is imperative to understand that blessings, or cursings will come upon all of God's people, and these rewards will be based upon whether or not believers have listened to God's voice: God's voice will be heard through his servants the prophets, as well as through his messengers.

End times are about God fulfilling the scriptures and delivering the truths of his promises, especially that prophesied end time promise to set up his everlasting kingdom upon earth (Daniel 2:44). In order to accomplish these things, the curse will overtake believers that are not yielding to the authority of God’s repeated commandment to listen diligently to his covenant, and do it. “Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of his covenant, which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt… saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so you shall be my people, and I will be your God: That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey (Jeremiah 11:3-5).”

“When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he swore unto them (Deuteronomy 4:30-31).” Pray that God  will reveal the truths of prophecy and end times unto your soul, and when he does, then stand upon your understanding of God's word, for God will protect and deliver you. “If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them? Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt… So shall the Lord thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid (Deuteronomy 7:17-19).”

“The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you (Deuteronomy 1:11)!” In the covenant of Abraham, God promised his people that they will possess the gates of their enemies (Genesis 22:17). Consider the implication: the words "possessing the gates of his enemies," imply that God's people will be able to show others how to enter into the Lord's presence. And God's other promise to Abraham, the one to bless and multiply, testifies that if God's people will give out his message to others, even the newly revealed truths of prophecy, then the blessings of Abraham's promise will come upon them: for God will do a work in the hearts of the hearers, and he will bring them into understanding and agreement with his people. “In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies… because thou obeyed my voice (Genesis 22:17-18).”

“And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed (Genesis 22:18; 26:4).” God pledged this very special promise unto Abraham, and then again to Isaac. Therefore it is an established promise, because if God promises something twice, it has been established forever (Genesis 41:32). God said to Isaac, “Sojourn in this land… and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws (Genesis 26:3-5).” This was God’s oath unto Isaac, and these are the words of the everlasting covenant which God established through Isaac. “Thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant (Genesis 17:19).”

The oath that God swore unto Abraham, and then again unto Isaac, did two things: First of all, it made promise that all nations which serve the God of Abraham, would be blessed in Jesus Christ. Proof of this is evidenced in the verse: “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to thy seeds, as to many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect (Galatians 3:16-17).” This verse testifies that the law of blessing and cursings which Moses commanded to Israel, cannot disavow the blessings of promise which are in Christ Jesus, because God established those promises by first swearing them unto Abraham, and then again unto Isaac. The second thing which God's oath of promise that was sworn unto Abraham and Isaac did, was that it confirmed that Messiah would come through the lineage of Isaac.  

Believers today are facing a decision of what to do when they discover these long neglected truths of scripture. We have a pattern concerning what to do, and that pattern is recorded in the life of King Josiah. In the days of King Josiah, an all but forgotten book of the covenant was found. Through its discovery Josiah learned that Judah’s priests had broken God’s covenant. He rent his clothes. Written within the words of the covenant was God's commandment for priests to read the words of that covenant in the ears of all Israel every seven years. God charged them with this commandment, saying that it would cause their children, and the strangers within their gates to hear the covenant, and thereby they would learn to fear him and would observe to do all the words of the law. Despite the many repeated warnings that wrath and cursers would overtake all persons who broke covenant, the priesthood had grown complacent in executing God's word. They had, in essence, forsaken God. “They will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils shall befall them. (From Deuteronomy 31:10-17).”

Josiah immediately called on priests to pray for him, and for Judah, and for all the people; and Josiah prayed. Josiah's humbled response pleased the Lord. “Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place… and has rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee (2Kings 22:19).” Believers need to have that same humbled spirit that Josiah had, and they need to cry out to God for the souls that have been damaged by religion's mistakes, and by the complacency of God's people. As in Josiah’s case, God will not turn away his wrath, but he will have mercy upon those who humbly bow themselves, and obey him. “Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep… and let them say, Spare the people, O Lord… Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people (Joel 2:17-18).”

Josiah’s jealousy continued to burn for the Lord, and he gathered all Judah and read the covenant in their ears. Then he made a covenant with the Lord, to walk after him and to keep his commandments, and to perform the words of His covenant, and Josiah caused all the people to stand to the words of the covenant. Then he commanded the high priest to bring out of the temple all the items of falsehood, and he burned those items without the temple. He put down Judah’s idolatrous priests, and he broke down their altars. Josiah defiled and burned holy places of false gods, and slew their priests. Afterwards, Josiah kept a Passover unto the Lord. Pondering all this is important because Josiah was zealously taking these action and doing these things: to perform the words of the covenant (2Kings 23:24; Deuteronomy 7:24-26; 12:2-4).

“Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that you may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee (Deuteronomy 6:3).” Believers today should not fear cleaning up religion's mistakes, for God is with us. “Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee (Deuteronomy 31:6).” “Lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast (Hebrews 6:18-19).” “Be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises (Hebrews 6:12).”

In conclusion: Priests that work to advance their congregation's understanding of the covenant message, will be blessed: "He that puts his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain (Isaiah 57:13)." God will pour his Holy Spirit upon them, and he will pour blessings upon their congregations. “Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou Jesurun, whom I have chosen… I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring (Isaiah 44:3).” The perversions and mistakes of religion will be corrected, and God will bring peace unto his people. “To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; the oath which he swore to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life (Luke 1:72-75).” These things will happen because of the faithfulness of God, and because of the faithfulness of all God's people throughout the ages. “If ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the Lord… then this city shall remain for ever (Jeremiah 17: 24-25).”