THE MYSTERY AND TRUE MESSAGE BEHIND THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT
The mystery and true message behind the Abrahamic Covenant.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The other three covenants, the Palestinian, the Davidic, and the New covenant, are all related in some way to the Abrahamic covenant.
He is able to FULFILL and WILL perform any promises He makes including the first one and the most important one He made to mankind in the garden of Eden.
The Abrahamic, Palestine, Davidic, and New covenant.
The first cure for Abraham’s worries = his need to understand the Promisor and the promises. The second cure is the doctrine found in of the word of God, vs 8-11.
Abram saw the land occupied by the Amorites, as well as many giants.
Not only that, Chedorlaomer and his forces had been moving back and forth throughout the land, threatening to envelop or surround it.
MAT 17:20 “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain [any huge obstacle in your life], ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you.”
MAT 19:26 “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
ROM 14:23 whatever is not from faith is sin.
This is the first time that the heifer, female goat, ram, the turtledove, and the young pigeon are all mentioned. Before the scriptural record there was the Stellar record, the record or the witness of the stars.
The first thing Abram needed to do was to rebound and confess his fear, vs 1.
He also needed to confess his doubt, vs 2.
Then he needed to deal with his arrogance in blaming God, vs 3.
Then he needed to recognize and confess his lack of faith in God, vs 8.
The she-goat and the ram both spoke of the work of Christ in salvation.
Specifically, the she-goat was the reconciliation offering, while the ram depicted propitiation.
“Peace” and “reconciliation” are synonymous terms,
EPH 2:14,15,17; 4:3; 6:15.
The she-goat spoke of propitiation which is the God-ward side of the work of Christ in salvation. The turtle dove and the young pigeon spoke of the Person of Christ and His heavenly origin, the turtle dove portraying His deity and the pigeon His resurrected humanity.
Neither bird was divided, because deity cannot be divided or killed.
The turtledove spoke of the deity of Christ whereas the young pigeon spoke of the humanity of Christ.
Through the heifer, or “rebound” offering, He was saying, “Abram, you need have no worries with regard to your sins because by confessing them you are forgiven and your sins are blotted out.”
PRO 28:13 He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion. Conceals - kacah = to cover in secrecy, to conceal, to hide.
GEN 3:12 “The Woman you gave me as a companion, she gave me fruit from the tree, and, yes, I ate it.”
GEN 3:13 “The serpent seduced me,” she said, “and I ate.”
There is no place for a guilt complex or for anxiety about past failures.
PSA 51:4 Against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned, And done what is evil in Thy sight,
Be sure you offer the heifer offering (rebound), for it is absolutely necessary to rebound before you can get rid of your fears, worries, doubts, and lack of faith in God. He will keep on worrying, no matter if he has a thousand promises, because he has not used rebound.
You cannot claim the promises of God and appropriate them when you are out of fellowship. You must first confess your sin of fear, worry, doubts, and lack of faith in God.
Abraham offered the heifer, the “rebound” offering, because it was necessary to get back in fellowship before he could even claim the promises of God.
If Jesus Christ provided reconciliation (the heifer or the rebound offering, the removal of the barrier between God and man), can He not meet our problems in time?
Then he divided the ram, the propitiation offering.
If God the Son, hanging on the cross, satisfied God the Father, and all of the Father’s claims against us - if Jesus Christ did it all on the Cross, can He not handle our problems in time?
The turtle dove spoke of the deity of Christ. Jesus Christ is God - deity, ROM 9:4.
He is always faithful (immutable), He always keeps His Word (veracity), He keeps on loving us, and He is eternal in nature.
The young pigeon represented the resurrected humanity of Christ, which is seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us.
When he walked between the pieces of the heifer, he was saying in effect, “I have confessed my sins.”
When he killed the other animals, it was analogous to being under the blood of Christ trusting in Him as his Lord and Savior.
Next we have the messengers of the Devil. Whenever the grace of God is portrayed, the kingdom of darkness attacks.
As soon as you stop worrying, as soon as you learn how to claim the promises of God and use doctrine, you are going to have more things about which you could worry.
They are the messengers of Satan or individuals under Satan’s influence.
1PE 5:7-8 casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary [diabolis / satana = an attorney, an attorney who slanders], the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking some believer to devour.
The roaring is something to make us worry, and the devouring is when we start to worry. Paul was not in any lion’s den literally, but he was delivered from worry by what God had provided.
To drive them away means that he had perfect peace; he was no longer worried.
Darkness here speaks of pressure.
God provides pressure, adversity and suffering so that we will learn to claim His promises and use the doctrine of the Word.
1PE 5:10 And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.
“How can I ever get all of this land, northward, southward, eastward and westward, as God promised it to me, after separation from Lot?”
They are supposed to have been men of great stature; their king, Og, is described by Moses as the last “of the remnant of the giants,” DEU 3:11.
In the promise to Abraham, GEN 15:21, the Amorites are specified as one of the nations whose country would be given to his posterity.
At that time three partners or associates of Abraham to this tribe = Mamre, Aner, and Eshcol, GEN 14:13,24.
A third cure for worry is the knowledge of prophecy. Knowledge of the future gives the believer assurance in the present.
God had to postpone His answer to teach Abram, by the offerings and sacrifices, the importance of knowing the doctrines pertaining to Christ and His constant provision for Abraham.
“To know” - once as a participle and then as a finite verb = “Knowing, thou shalt know,” literally. “Know with assurance.”
The first prophecy begins with the Egyptian bondage.
Accurately prophesied, the Jews were in slavery for four hundred years. That is enough to destroy any race, but it did not destroy them - it made them.
1. The promise of a national land, GEN 12:1; 13:14-15; 13:17.
2. The promise of both national and universal redemption, GEN 12:3; 22:18; GAL 3:16.
3. That a great nation should come from him, GEN 12:2.
4. That Abraham’s name shall be great, GEN 12:2.
5. That He should be a blessing so great that in him shall all families of the earth be blessed,
GEN 12:3.
6. To him personally and to his seed (not the church, but the Jews) should be given Palestine forever to inherit,GEN 13:14-17.
7. The multitude of his seed should be as the dust of the earth, GEN 13:16.
8. That whosever blessed him should be blessed and whosever cursed him should be cursed,
GEN 12:3.
9. He should be the father of many nations, GEN 17:4.
10. Kings should proceed from him, GEN 17:6.
11. The covenant shall be perpetual “an everlasting covenant,” GEN 17:7.
12. The land of Canaan shall be “an everlasting possession,” GEN 17:8.
If we had time to analyze these particulars we would see that certain individual promises were given to Abraham.
Certain national promises were given to Israel.
Certain promises were given to nations that Abraham would become associated with. The second unconditional and unfulfilled covenant is The Palestinian Covenant.