Valeroso, Eunice Pearl L.

ReEd-43
07/02/16

BS- Entrep 2
TTH 3:00-4:30pm

1. What is Gods Covenant to Abraham?

Abraham made covenants with God when he received the gospel, when he
was ordained a high priest, and when he entered into celestial marriage. In
these covenants, God promised great blessings to Abraham and his family.
These blessings, which extend to all of Abraham's seed, are called the
Abrahamic covenant.
Gods promises to Abraham are the following:

His posterity would be numerous (see Genesis 17:5-6; Abraham 2:9;

3:14).
His seed, or descendants, would receive the gospel and bear the

priesthood (see Abraham 2:9).

Through the ministry of his seed, all the families of the earth [would]
be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the
blessings of salvation, even of life eternal (Abraham 2:11).

2. What was its significance in history of salvation?

By Gods covenant to Abraham , God points our eyes to the future of
salvation history.
Abraham is made a great nation in the Exodus, when by the covenant He
makes with Moses, God makes Abraham's descendants into a nation
possessing the land promised to Abraham (see Genesis 46:3-4). We will read
about this in our next lesson, when we look at the books of Exodus through
Deuteronomy.
God's second oath is fulfilled when David is made King and promised with a
great name (see 2 Samuel 7:9) and an everlasting throne (see Psalm 89:3-4;
132:11-12).
And finally, these covenants point us to Jesus. His New Covenant fulfills God's
promise to make the children of Abraham the source of blessing for all the
nations. That's why in the very first line of the New Testament we find the
words "Jesus Christ...the son of Abraham" (see Matthew 1:1).

3. How was the covenant ratified?

God ratified it with Abraham alone. An animal was used in sacrifice to seal or
ratify the covenant. The body of the animal was divided in two parts and then
those who were coming into covenant would pass between the divided parts.
This was symbolic of their pledge to faithfulness to the covenant. It
symbolized that if any of the ones who passed between the parts broke the
covenant, then what happened to the sacrifice would also happen to that
person who broke covenant.
Darkness fell and Abram had to protect the sacrificed animals. When
darkness came, Abram fell into a sleep. God then prophesied to Abram about
his descendants and their bondage in Egypt. God also prophesied that He
would deliver them after 400 years. Next, we find that God passed between
the divided parts of the sacrifice. This is very significant. God was making the
covenant to Abram unconditionally. Abram was only the recipient of the
covenant, not a part of the bonding of the covenant. God's promises are sure
and faithful. God demonstrated before Abram that He would be faithful to
that promise. In this we find that Abram believed God's promise and this was
put to Abram's charge for righteousness.
In chapter seventeen we have the next step in the process of God's fulfilling
the covenant with Abram. In verse one we find a new name for God - El
Shaddai, or the God of all supply. In this verse we have God commanding that
Abram walk before Him in obedience. Notice this verse:
4. How did this covenant affect the whole mankind?
And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you
have obeyed My voice (Genesis 22:18). The apostle Paul, commenting on
this verse many centuries later in Galatians 3:16, explains that this promised
blessing refers to Jesus Christ: Now the promises were spoken to Abraham
and to his seed. He does not say, And to seeds, as referring to many, but
rather to one, And to your seed, that is, Christ. Through Christ, as the Seed
of Abraham, God would make salvation available to the whole of humanity
(compare John 3:16).