Introduction: Have you ever felt because of personal failures that you were unworthy of God s Promises? In a world of lies, manipulation, and deceit, I am glad God is Faithful and True! The Bible is a book of Covenants, which provide the framework of the Bible. As I began to understand these covenants many years ago, the Bible made much more sense and it opened the door to revelation concerning God and how He has AND is working on the earth. Slide 2 Webster 1828 a mutual consent or agreement of two or more persons, to do or to not to do some act or thing; to enter into a formal agreement; to bind oneself by oath or contract. Hebrew - OT:1285 - beriyth (ber-eeth') cutting, a compact (because made by passing between pieces of flesh). Greek - NT:1242 - diatheke (dee-ath-ay'-kay); properly, a disposition, i.e. (specially) a contract (especially a devisory will). KJV - covenant, testament. Covenant: 1) Parties who is it between 2) Agreement what is going to be done or not done 3) Terms what are the conditions of the Covenant 4) Ceremony is there an oath, sign or ceremony symbolizing the Covenant 5) Judgment what happens to who if the Covenant is broken 6) Application does it apply to us today and why does it matter Slide 3 satan is a Liar! Everyone hates liars: don t want to be in a relationship with them, don t want to be married to one, don t want to work with one, don t want your friends to be liars, don t want your children to be liars, etc.; yet, many will lie in the moment to get ahead, or to fit in, or to save face, etc. NLT John 8:44-44, 44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. 2018-08-19 Page 1 of 10
NLT I John 5:9-10, 9 Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son. 10 All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don t believe what God has testified about his Son. Doubt calling God a liar. Slide 4 Seven Bible Covenants: 1) Noahic unconditional never destroy the earth and all living creatures by water again. 2) Abrahamic 3) Mosaic 4) Palestinian 5) Davidic 6) New Covenant (Grace) 7) New Covenant (Israel) Today we are going to look at the Abrahamic Covenant. The Abrahamic Covenant Summary: God called Abram and declared unconditionally... 1) I will make you a great nation 2) I will bless you 3) I will make you famous 4) You will be a blessing to others 5) I will bless those who bless you 6) I will curse those who treat you with contempt 7) All families on earth will be blessed through you God declared these as fact and done, not conditional or dependent upon anything Abram would have to do. As a result of Abram s doubt, God visibly appeared to Abraham and Covenanted with him as an assurance and guarantee! Slide 5 NLT Genesis 17:2-8, 2 I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants 4 This is my covenant with you: I will make you the 2018-08-19 Page 2 of 10
father of a multitude of nations! 5 What s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them! 7 I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God. Slide 6 1) Parties who is it between God and Abraham with all his descendants (every person that is Jewish, a literal descendant of Abraham. 17:7 2) Agreement what is going to be done or not done Abraham would be the father of a multitude of nations 17:4. Changed name from Abram to Abraham 17:5. Extremely fruitful 17:6. Descendants will become many nations with kings among them 17:6. I will ALWAYS be your God and the God of your descendants after you 17:7. God gave the ENTIRE land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants forever 17:8; as defined in 15:18 (from Egypt to the Euphrates River). This includes about half of Iraq, Kuwait, over half of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, parts of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. 3) Terms what are the conditions of the Covenant Unconditional and everlasting 17:7. 4) Ceremony is there an oath, sign or ceremony symbolizing the Covenant Circumcision 5) Judgment what happens if the Covenant is broken This Covenant is totally dependent upon God; however, any male who wasn t circumcised is cut off from the Covenant family for breaking the Covenant 17:14. 6) Application why does it matter to us today The reality is the Abraham Covenant, which is unconditional, and eternal can be summed up in three things: 1) Blessing, 2) Abraham s Seed, 3) Land Ishmael is Born: 2018-08-19 Page 3 of 10
I didn t have time to preach on it last week, but there is an event in Abraham s life as it relates to the Covenant that has huge implications for today that I want to preach on today. Slide 7 Map of Canaan and Middle East. 12 God reveals His will to Abram and Calls him 12 Abram follows God, leaving Country, Family, and Father s House 13 Abram and Lot separate 13 Abram is given the Land by God 14 Lot is captured by Kings of the East 14 Abram encounters Melchizedek after defeating the Kings of the East 15 God Covenants with Abraham God did not give Abraham the land until Lot was gone, because Lot was following Abraham (not God) and God didn t want Lot to inherit part of the land. 16 Ishmael is born Ismael was a failure of Faith on Abraham s part, but it didn t void the Covenant. Prophesy concerning Ishmael. Slide 8 NLT Genesis 16:11-12, 11 And the angel also said, You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means God hears ), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress. 12 This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives. This prophecy has been fulfilled and is still being lived out in modern times. 17 God instructs Abraham concerning Circumcision as the sign of the Covenant after his failure with Hagar and the birth of Ishmael! Slide 9 NLT Genesis 17:9-14, 9 Then God said to Abraham, Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. 10 This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. 11 You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. 13 All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant. 14 Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant. 2018-08-19 Page 4 of 10
Later in chapter 17, in the same appearance by God Slide 10 NLT Genesis 17:15-21, 15 Then God said to Abraham, Regarding Sarai, your wife her name will no longer be Sarai. From now on her name will be Sarah. 16 And I will bless her and give you a son from her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will become the mother of many nations. Kings of nations will be among her descendants. 17 Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. How could I become a father at the age of 100? he thought. And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old? 18 So Abraham said to God, May Ishmael live under your special blessing! 19 But God replied, No Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant. 20 As for Ishmael, I will bless him also, just as you have asked. I will make him extremely fruitful and multiply his descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But my covenant will be confirmed with Isaac, who will be born to you and Sarah about this time next year. On that day Abraham was circumcised along with all the males in his household, including Ishmael. This is critical to understand because of the implications for today. Later after the birth Isaac, Ishmael and his mother Hagar are sent away, with God s blessing! Slide 11 NLT Galatians 4:22-23, 30, 22 The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife. 23 The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God s own fulfillment of his promise 30 But what do the Scriptures say about that? Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman s son. The Covenant was only for the descendants of Abraham through Isaac, not Ishmael. Slide 12 NLT Genesis 25:12-18, 12 This is the account of the family of Ishmael, the son of Abraham through Hagar, Sarah s Egyptian servant. 13 Here is a list, by their names and clans, of Ishmael s descendants: The oldest was Nebaioth, followed by Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These twelve sons of Ishmael became the founders of twelve tribes named after them, listed according to the places they settled and camped. 17 Ishmael lived for 137 years. Then he breathed his last and joined his ancestors in death. 18 Ishmael s descendants occupied the region from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt in the direction of Asshur. There they lived in open hostility toward all their relatives. Slide 13 Map of Ishmaelites 2018-08-19 Page 5 of 10
His descendants were primarily Bedouins who lived in the northern Arabian Desert and are considered to be the origins of the Arab people by both Jewish and Islamic traditions. There is a reason why the Bible when talking about Israel frequently uses the phrase Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because Ishmael and Esau and their descendants are not part of the Abrahamic Covenant. Without going into it today, Esau and his descendants the Edomites were continually aligned against Israel, and in fact Obadiah is against Mt Seir where the Esau iniatially settled. It is controversial and debatable, but there are some that believe Esau is the father of the Arab-Palestinians of today. The Promise Is Kept: Slide 14 NLT Genesis 15:12-16, 12 As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 14 But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. 15 (As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) 16 After four generations your descendants will return here to this land God revealed to Abraham Israel bondage and deliverance and assured him that the Covenant would be honored. The sons of Jacob moved to Egypt to live under the protection of Joseph, but after Joseph were forced into slavery. But when they cried out to God, He raised up Moses to lead them out of the land, just as He promised Abraham. During that 400 years, descendants of Ishmael and Esau and others were living in the land promised to Israel in the Covenant with Abraham. And finally, under the leadership of Joshua, Israel came storming into the land of Canaan to possess the Land that had been promised to them. The Exodus and conquering of Canaan as recorded in Exodus and Joshua are the beginnings of the literal fulfillment of the land portion of the Abrahamic Covenant. Land History of Israel: Slide 15 The reality is the Abraham Covenant, which is unconditional, and eternal can be summed up in three things: 1) Blessing, 2) Abraham s Seed, 3) Land 2018-08-19 Page 6 of 10
The Bible clearly teaches the descendants of Abraham are through Isaac and Jacob, not Ishmael and Esau! There is a lot of scripture based on the Land of Israel: 1) They conquered it from Joshua to David when you study the scripture, you see based on the Palestinian Covenant that Israel after King David began a national slide away from God and into disobedience and idolatry. 2) They ruled it under Solomon 3) It was divided after Solomon King Solomon was very disobedient in his alliances and marriages with foreign women and idolaters, and as a result when he died the Kingdom of Israel was split into the 10 northern tribes known as Israel in the Bible, and the 2 southern tribes known as Judah in the Bible. 4) The northern tribes were decimated by the Assyrians in 722 BC, and the southern tribes were exiled by the Babylonians in 686 BC 5) They returned after 70 years Jeremiah prophesied their return after 70 years, which Daniel read while in Babylone, and the return is recorded in Ezra and Nehemiah, and several of the OT minor prophets. 6) They were continually oppressed and never truly free from the return through the time of Jesus 7) Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD as prophesied by Jesus, and for approximately 2000 years the land was oppressed and controlled by others, with Jews dispersed across the world. The incredible miracle is that even though the Jews were dispersed through the world, they did not assimilate, but retained their cultural and national identities literally for thousands of years. Ezekiel 37 Slide 16 NLT Isaiah 11:11-12, 11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to bring back the remnant of his people those who remain in Assyria and northern Egypt; in southern Egypt, Ethiopia, and Elam; in Babylonia, Hamath, and all the distant coastlands. 12 He will raise a flag among the nations and assemble the exiles of Israel. He will gather the scattered people of Judah from the ends of the earth. NLT Ezekiel 20:34, 34 And in anger I will reach out with my strong hand and powerful arm, and I will bring you back from the lands where you are scattered. Slide 17 NLT Isaiah 49:12, 12 See, my people will return from far away, from lands to the north and west, and from as far south as Egypt. 2018-08-19 Page 7 of 10
Israel was reborn in a day, when declared a new sovereign nation on May 14, 1948. NLT Isaiah 66:8, 8 Who has ever seen anything as strange as this? Who ever heard of such a thing? Has a nation ever been born in a single day? Has a country ever come forth in a mere moment? But by the time Jerusalem s birth pains begin, her children will be born. Prior to the restoration, the Jews spoke an impure form of their language called Yiddish, but as prophesied in Zephaniah 3, one they returned the ancient language of Hebrew was revived and is now the official language. It was prophesied in Ezekiel 45 that the shekel would be restored, which has happened. Prior to 1948, the land of Israel was a desolate waste full of malarial swamps and deserts, but as prophesied in Isaiah it has become a beautiful place of trees, vineyards, and fruit. NLT Isaiah 27:6, 6 In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit. Replacement Theology versus Restoration Theology: So here is the question and controversy in the Church and the world today: Replacement Theology versus Restoration Theology? Slide 18 Replacement Theology the belief and teaching that the Church has replaced Israel, and that God IS done with Israel as a nation and people. In order to believe this you have to make all the future promises and prophecies concerning Israel as spiritual and allegorical, and apply them to the Church. Restoration Theology the belief and teaching that God ISN T done with Israel, and that the future promises and prophecies concerning Israel are literal and will be fulfilled both physically and spiritually! I firmly believe in Restoration Theology. However, there is an increasing amount of belief and support for Replacement Theology, that will play a part into the end of times; especially as the world continues to be against Israel and their existence in the physical land of modern-day Israel. Why does it matter? Because the Covenant with Abraham is unconditional and eternal, this is still in effect today! Why is this important to me today? Slide 19 1) God is Faithful to His Word! 2018-08-19 Page 8 of 10
In spite of all of Israel s failures, and they are many and atrocious, including the rejection of Jesus as Messiah and as the Son of God and His crucifixion; God is still being Faithful to His Covenant with Abraham. If our failures caused God to break His Covenants, there would be no hope for humanity! Slide 20 2) God is in control, and All Powerful! The descendants of Ishmael and Esau have continually been aligned against the Covenant, and now much of the world has joined them under demonic influence; yet God has still miraculously brought them back to the Land! Slide 21 3) Prophetic Insight! Because of all the prophecy concerning Israel, we have Biblical revelation and insight into God s future plans for this earth. Much of our world is aligning against Israel, which is prophesied in the Bible and will be part of the one world government and religion. Islam is going to play a major part in this. The children of promise are always referred to as the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Islam, with the Arabs, Persians, etc; are descendants of Abraham, but of Ishmael, not Isaac. The only logical explanation for most of the thoughts and actions we see manifested in the world today is Deception! You need to read Zachariah 12-14. Slide 22 NLT Zachariah 12:1-10, 1 This message concerning the fate of Israel came from the Lord: This message is from the Lord, who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the human spirit. 2 I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. 3 On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves. 4 On that day, says the Lord, I will cause every horse to panic and every rider to lose his nerve. I will watch over the people of Judah, but I will blind all the horses of their enemies 8 On that day the Slide 23 Lord will defend the people of Jerusalem; the weakest among them will be as mighty as King David! And the royal descendants will be like God, like the angel of the Lord who goes before them! 9 For on that day I will begin to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10 Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have 2018-08-19 Page 9 of 10
pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died. Conclusion Application: God is Faithful to His Word! Did Israel fail and disobey God? Absolutely! But God still holds true to His promises to Abraham. God can be relied upon! Doubt is calling God a liar! Doubt creates confusion! Who is the liar? satan or God? God is NOT a liar! satan is always a liar! As we study the Covenants, we see how God has and does ALWAYS keep HIS Word, which gives us Faith and Assurance that we can trust His Word for the future! Slide 24 NLT Proverbs 30:5, 5 Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to all who come to him for protection. NLT Psalm 33:4, 4 For the word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything he does. NLT Psalm 89:34, 34 No, I will not break my covenant; I will not take back a single word I said. 2018-08-19 Page 10 of 10