The Abrahamic Covenant

As the history of redemption progressed, God’s next move was to call forth one individual, and through him one people, with whom to forge a covenant and show forth the riches of His mercy. That individual, of course, was Abraham.

As in previous covenants we have mentioned, God clearly set the terms for His covenant with Abraham. And as in previous covenants, we find that Abraham was given responsibilities and promises of blessing. Perhaps the simplest statement of Abraham’s responsibility is found in Genesis 17:1: “ ‘Walk before Me and be blameless.’ ” Simply put, Abraham was called to perfect obedience to God. Of course, Abraham was not perfect; no man is. Yet his obedience was often exemplary. When God told him to leave his homeland (Gen. 12:1), he went. When God told him to sacrifice his son (Gen. 22), he was prepared to do so. But most of all, he was obedient in that he took God at His word when He made great promises to Abraham. God had vowed to give Abraham a son and, through him, to raise up a great nation (Gen. 12:2; 13:16; 17:4–6, 19). And He had vowed to give to Abraham and his descendants the land of Canaan in which he sojourned (Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 17:8). Abraham believed these things, and God “accounted it to him for righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). By his faith he was justified before God (Rom. 4).

Yet Abraham did struggle to believe on one occasion. In Genesis 15, having heard and believed God’s promise of land, Abraham asked how he could be completely sure that such an outrageous blessing would come to him (Gen. 15:8). God responded by telling Abraham to bring certain animals; to cut them in half, head to toe; and then to lay the pieces out in two rows. As darkness fell, Abraham slipped into a deep sleep. Then a theophany, a manifestation of God, appeared—a smoking oven and a burning torch—and moved between the pieces as God repeated His promise to give the land to Abraham. This was a covenant ceremony, and God was dramatizing for Abraham a solemn oath. He was saying, in essence, “If the promise fails, may I be cut asunder like these animals.” God was giving Abraham the strongest assurance He could, swearing that He would stop being God before He would let the promise fail. This covenant was a sure thing.