A Summary of God's Biblical Covenant to Abraham Shows Biblical Inspiration

The biblical covenant to Abraham is found in Genesis 22:17-18 and 26:3-4. and includes three parts. First, his descendants would be numerous. Second, his descendants would possess the land of Canaan. Third, all nations through him would be blessed. When this promise came to Abraham it didn't happen instantly, as maybe he and Sara thought that it should. So in order to get the ball rolling, they tried to get the covenant to happen themselves. Sara gave Abraham her maidservant, Hagar, in order to produce a descendant so that the covenant God spoke to Abraham could be accomplished. Giving a maidservant to a husband as a secondary wife was a common thing in those days, and in that culture there was nothing morally wrong with it. However, attempting to speed up the hand of God by your own efforts is wrong. Ishmael was not the son through whom the covenant promise of God would be accomplished. Later, God opened Sara's womb and Isaac was born; he was the son of the promise, and would be the descendant through whom God would use to fulfill his covenant with Abraham.

God tested Abraham with his son Isaac; knowing that Isaac was the son that God had promised him, God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. This undoubtedly brought great distress upon Abraham, but he was willing to be obedient to God in all things. At the point where Abraham was about to kill and sacrifice his son on the altar, God intervened and provided a ram for the sacrifice as well. Because Abraham was the man through whom the biblical covenant came to initially lead to the redemption of all nations, God had to make sure his heart was pure; Abraham passed the test.

Isaac grew up and went on to become the father of Jacob. Though his son Esau was older, Jacob was the one who received the birthright and the blessing, thus becoming the descendant through whom God's biblical covenant with Abraham would be accomplished. Jacob had twelve sons through his wives, Leah and Rachel, and his secondary wives, Bilhah and Zilpah. At this point, the descendants of Abraham were beginning to increase in number. However, just as Jacob was younger and still received the birthright and blessing, a younger son in this family also will receive the blessing and birthright. Jacob chooses Joseph, the firstborn of his favorite wife, Rachel, to have birthright privileges and receive a double portion of the inheritance. Even though there are many sons who are older, and Reuben, the firstborn of Leah, should have the birthright, he does not receive it.

The story of Joseph composes a large portion in the book of Genesis. It tells how his brothers sold him into captivity out of jealousy, but how God turned that around and used it for the deliverance of many (including Jacob and his entire family). Because of all the events that take place during the Joseph narrative, Jacob, his children, and all his grandchildren end up moving from Canaan to Egypt, settling in the land of Goshen. The descendants of Abraham live in Egypt for approximately 400 years.

During this time, the Bible says that they flourished and increased in number. This is where we see part of the biblical covenant to Abraham being fulfilled, in that his descendants are becoming numerous and are becoming a large nation. Because they were increasing so quickly in number, and because a Pharaoh who did not remember Joseph had taken the throne, the descendants of Abraham were reduced to forced labor in order to keep them from being too powerful.

When the Hebrew children cry out for help, God raises up a deliverer named Moses. Moses, who exiled himself to Midian after killing an Egyptian slave-master, heard from God through a burning bush; because of this encounter with God, Moses went back to Egypt to bring the descendants of Abraham out from that place. God instructed Moses to bring them back to that mountain where He would establish His biblical covenant with them.

God brings them out of Egypt with great powers and wonders. He shows Himself strong against the Egyptians, bringing horrific plagues that affect the whole nation. The clincher is when God parts the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites to walk through on dry ground, then crashes the sea on the Egyptian armies as they are chasing after them. On Mt. Sinai God establishes his biblical covenant with the children of Israel, it is very possible that many of them had forgotten about their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (because pagan Canaanite religion was so strong where they were dwelling).

The biblical covenant God establishes with the Israelites is the same that He established with Abraham. God just elaborated on it and explained it in more detail. This biblical covenant is not like the dedications that other religions of the day used. It is more similar to a suzerain-vassal treaty. This was a common political treaty used in Canaanite societies to establish a relationship between an overlord and a commoner. God most likely chose this style to establish his biblical covenant to show the singleness of devotion He demanded from them. They were not allowed to worship other gods, just as a vassal was not allowed to serve other lords, or make a covenant with them.

After receiving the covenant and the instructions from the Lord, the Israelites moved up to the Promised Land to take possession of it as God had promised to Abraham. However, the Israelites were disobedient and unbelieving. Because of their unbelief in God's power to give them victory over the Canaanite peoples, God punished them by making them wander in the wilderness for 40 years, until the original generation had died.

God decided in His heart that He would fulfill the second part of the biblical covenant by giving Abraham's descendants a land of Canaan through the next generation. Joshua was the leader God raised up to bring the children of Israel into the land that God had promised to Abraham many years ago that his descendants would possess. After the conquest, God has fulfilled two parts of His covenant to Abraham; He has made Abraham’s descendants numerous, and He has also given them the land that God promised they would have.

The third part of the covenant, which is that he will be a blessing to all nations, takes the longest to fulfill. This could possibly be because of the disobedience of the Israelite people. The Israelites did not completely conquer all the Canaanite peoples as they were instructed by the Lord; and because they did not follow His instructions, the Canaanites and their religions were a snare to the Israelites all throughout the Old Testament.

God eventually makes a covenant with a man named David that is in line with fulfilling the biblical covenant made to Abraham. David becomes king of Israel, and because of his faithfulness and loyalty to God, God makes a covenant with him that a ruler from his bloodline will always be on the throne. It is said that through this bloodline a great King will be raised up, who will rule all nations.

Many years go by; some of the kings of this bloodline were evil, some were good. Even though the bloodline was unfaithful, God was still faithful to His covenant. But because of the evil ones, God turned the Israelites over to exile. However, God did not forget His promise to David, or His covenant with Abraham, that all the nations through him would be blessed. As shown in Matthew chapter 1, Jesus of Nazareth is a direct descendant of David, who is a direct descendant of Abraham. As we know, salvation for all nations (Jews and Gentiles) came through Jesus Christ.

We can easily see how God fulfilled his three part biblical covenant with Abraham which was made nearly 4000 years ago. History, archeology, and present day observation confirm this fact. The Israelites, who are Abraham's descendants, became a great people that occupied the land of Canaan which is present day Israel. Out of these people came Jesus who offers reconciliation to God for all people. Even if someone doesn't believe that Jesus is the Son of God. They have to acknowledge the fact that he has had more impact on the world as a whole than any other person. (That's not bad for someone who never wrote a book, was only in the public eye for three years, never traveled farther than 200 miles from his hometown, and was executed as a criminal.) This fact alone points back to the biblical covenant God made with Abraham. We can see the inspiration of Scripture through the fulfillment of the biblical covenant God made with Abraham.