God's gracious promise made to Abraham, and repeated to his descendants, to bless both them and, through them, the whole world. In response God calls for faithful obedience, expressed particularly in the outward sign of circumcision.
Features of the Abrahamic covenant
The covenant is based upon God's gracious promise
Galatians 3:18 See also Genesis 15:4–7, Genesis 17:4–8, Genesis 18:10, Genesis 18:14; Hebrews 6:13–15
For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God freely granted it to Abraham through a promise.
The covenant was confirmed by sacrifice
The covenant was given in perpetuity
Genesis 17:7 See also Genesis 17:13, Genesis 17:19; 1 Chronicles 16:15–17 parallel Psalm 105:8–10; Jeremiah 33:23–25
I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
God's promises to Abraham
I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
God promised the land of Canaan
Genesis 17:8 See also Genesis 12:7, Genesis 15:18–21; Exodus 6:4; Joshua 1:3; Nehemiah 9:8; Acts 7:5
And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing— all the land of Canaan— as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”
God promised that Abraham would be the father of a nation
Genesis 15:5 See also Genesis 12:2, Genesis 17:4–6 The change of name from Abram to Abraham is a sign of God's covenant with him; Genesis 17:16, Genesis 22:17; Hebrews 11:11–12
And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
God promised a relationship with himself
Genesis 17:8 See also Genesis 26:24; Deuteronomy 29:13; Matthew 22:32 parallel Mark 12:26; Exodus 3:6; Acts 7:32
And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing— all the land of Canaan— as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”
The requirements of the covenant
Obedience
Genesis 17:9–14 Circumcision is the sign of Abraham's commitment to God's covenant with him; Genesis 22:18 See also Genesis 26:5; Numbers 32:11 by contrast, the consequences of disobedience; Hebrews 11:8, Hebrews 11:17–19
God also said to Abraham, “You must keep My covenant— you and your descendants in the generations after you. This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, which you are to keep: Every male among you must be circumcised. You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. Generation after generation, every male must be circumcised when he is eight days old, including those born in your household and those purchased from a foreigner — even those who are not your offspring. Whether they are born in your household or purchased, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh will be an everlasting covenant. But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
Faith
Genesis 15:6; Nehemiah 9:8 See also Romans 4:3, Romans 4:11–12, Romans 4:18; Galatians 3:6–7; Hebrews 11:8–12; James 2:23
Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
You found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites and Hittites, of the Amorites and Perizzites, of the Jebusites and Girgashites— to give it to his descendants. You have kept Your promise, because You are righteous.
God's faithfulness to the covenant
God remembers his promise
Psalm 105:42 See also Genesis 21:2, Genesis 50:24; Exodus 33:1; Acts 7:17; Hebrews 6:15
For He remembered His holy promise to Abraham His servant.
God shows compassion for his people
2 Kings 13:23 See also Exodus 2:24–25, Exodus 32:13–14; Deuteronomy 9:27; Luke 1:72–73
But the LORD was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them, and He turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day, the LORD has been unwilling to destroy them or cast them from His presence.
The scope of the covenant
The covenant continued through Isaac, not Ishmael
Genesis 17:19–21 See also Genesis 21:12; Romans 9:7–8; Galatians 4:28
But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”
The covenant confirmed through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
Leviticus 26:42 See also Genesis 26:24 IsaacGenesis 28:13–14, Genesis 32:12 Exodus 3:6; Deuteronomy 1:8; Acts 7:8
then I will remember My covenant with Jacob and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
The people of Israel are heirs to the covenant
Deuteronomy 29:12–13 See also Acts 3:25
so that you may enter into the covenant of the LORD your God, which He is making with you today, and into His oath, and so that He may establish you today as His people, and He may be your God as He promised you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
All nations will be blessed through Abraham
Genesis 18:18 See also Genesis 26:4; Acts 3:25; Galatians 3:8–9, Galatians 3:14, Galatians 3:29
Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.