Abraham – Covenants and Evil
God set about to define his relationship with mankind by swearing oaths and covenants with Abraham which were perpetually binding on both parties. These covenants also assured the ultimate defeat of Satan and the coming Lordship of Jesus Christ.
“Now the Lord said to Abram,
“Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Ge 12:1–3). This was the first covenant (oath) made between God and Abraham. Thus began God’s move towards redemption of the human race and the ultimate defeat of the evil one. In order to accomplish this God made an oath (covenant) with Abram (exalted Father) which was later changed by God to Abraham (Father of a multitude). This oath (covenant, contract, promise) was to be perpetual and a stronger force in salvation than the Levitical laws and would find its fulfillment in Christ Himself.
The word translated “oath” in English is actually two Hebrew words, both translated oath. The two Hebrew words translated oath are sebūʿâ and ʿālâ. “sebūʿâ” represents the part of an oath that conveys a blessing and solemn promise. The second ʿālâ. means a curse (Is. 14:24). So an oath can be either a blessing or a curse depending upon how it is responded to (see Deuteronomy 28, the blessing and the curse). As Moses said: “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today” (Deuteronomy 11:26-28).
A covenant is: (Hebrew berith), a formal agreement or treaty between two parties with each assuming some obligation. For our purposes an “oath” and a “covenant” are synonymous when dealing with God’s swearing to man that He will do something and man’s ascension (agreement) to God’s oath. An oath made by man is usually based on something higher than himself. However God’s oaths are different. “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you” (Heb 6:13-14; Genesis 22:16-17).
The covenants to Abraham were: “NOW when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.” And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you shall be THE FATHER OF A MULTITUDE OF NATIONS. “No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. “And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you. “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. “And I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Ge 17:1–9). He went to promise Abraham Son, Isaac, the child of promise. “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. “And I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall come from her” (Ge 17:15–17).
No sooner than Isaac was born and grown did God order Abraham to sacrifice his own son. However as Abraham was about to complete the sacrifice God stayed his hand and spoke to Abraham: “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. “And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice” (Ge 22:16–18). Because Abraham had been willing to sacrifice the promised son God was pleased. Abraham had proved his faith.
The result of the covenants with Abraham were that God reckoned Abraham’s faith as righteousness: “And He took Abraham outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then he believed in the Lord; and HE RECKONED IT TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Ge 15:5-6). This reckoning carried through the covenants to the time of Jesus Christ and, coupled with Christ’s New Covenant, (Hebrews 8; Jeremiah 31:33) made faith, rather than the works of the Law, righteousness. This proves that the covenants God made with Abraham were eternal, and resulted in the eternal priesthood God (see Romans 4; Hebrews 7-9).
God not only covenanted with Abraham in Cannon land but Abraham also faced evil from the surrounding nations. These Canaanite nations were descendants of Han and his son Cannon through whom the seed of evil had survived the flood. They would eventually be conquered by Joshua and David centuries later. But in Abraham’s time war broke out between the tribes which ultimately resulted in the kidnapping of Lot (Abraham’s nephew). “And when Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative Lot with his possessions, and also the women, and the people” (Gen 14:14-16). Abraham was widely outnumbered in this battle but prevailed nonetheless. He had divided his army and attacked on two fronts at night assuring victory.
Following the battle Abraham was met by the mysterious figure of Melchizedek king of Salem who said to Abraham: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” So Abraham, recognizing Melchizedek to be a priest higher than he, gave him a tenth of all the spoils of victory. (Gen 14:19-20). He refused to take any of the spoils of his victory from the King of Sodom saying: “I have sworn to the Lord God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich” (Gen 14:22-23).
To show how far evil had progressed in the land following the flood, there were two cities near the bank of the Dead Sea called Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham had defended Sodom in the war mentioned above. However two angels came to Abram and gave him a message from God saying: “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. “I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know” (Gen 18:20-21). “Then the men [angels] turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the Lord” (Gen 18:22). Abraham then began bargaining with the Lord saying that if there were 50 righteous