The Abrahamic Covenant
God moved his saving plan forward from Adam to Noah to Abraham. With Abraham, we have another covenant head and another covenant. We first read about this Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 12:1–3: 1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great. 3 And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
—Genesis 12:1-3
God promises that he himself will rescue all nations from the curse of death and the guilt of Adam’s sin through Abraham’s offspring. God moves his plan forward by focusing on one, specific family among all the nations.
But we still meet the same problem:
(1) We need a new covenant and a new covenant head...but the Abrahamic covenant contains only the promise of a new covenant with a new covenant mediator who would bring God's curse-overcoming blessing to the nations. The good news, though, is that God himself commits to fulfill all that he promised to do for Abraham, even long after Abraham has passed from the scene.
(2) And we need one who perfectly obeys. While Abraham obeys at key points in the narrative, his obedience is not perfect. Ultimately, he is commended because he looks to God to accomplish what he cannot: the fulfillment of his promises.
5 God took Abraham outside and said, "Look up at the sky and count the stars-if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be!" Abram believed the LORD, and he credited to him as righteousness.
—Genesis 15:5
1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.
-Romans 4:1–5
The problem still remains: how can God keep his promises, deal with sin, and remain faithful to his own nature as the One who is perfect justice?
(3) We need one who will rescue us the curse of death, the guilt of Adam’s sin, and the dominion of darkness. We do not merely need God’s blessing. We need his blessing now to overcome sin and death. But at what is perhaps the defining point of Abraham's life, God shows Abraham that he cannot provide the sacrifice to overcome sin:
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."
—Genesis 22:13-14
God spared Abraham's one and only promised son. Instead, "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him would not die but live forever." (John 3:16) The Mosaic Covenant
God’s plan moves forward from Adam to Noah to Abraham to Israel. Let’s read Exodus 19:3–8.
3 Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
7 So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. 8 The people all responded together, “We will do everything the LORD has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD.
—Exodus 19:3–8
What did God do for Israel before he gave them this covenant?
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What does God command Israel to do in this covenant? Hint: Look at Exodus 19:5.
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With this covenant, God furthered his plan by establishing Abraham’s physical descendants in the Promised Land. Once again, we will have God’s people living in God’s place with God as king.
With Moses as the covenant mediator, the LORD promised life in the Land to Israel if they perfectly obey his Law (Lev 18:5; Deut 6:25). He also provided a system of sacrifices to atone for human sin and promised to bless their lives and lands.
Like Adam in the Garden, Israel would serve as a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation," who displayed God's glory to the nations.
But like adultery on the wedding night, Israel immediately breaks the covenant by building the golden calf in Exodus 32. God showed mercy to Israel, but the Golden Calf was just the beginning of Israel’s rebellion and failure. Moses sinned and died in exile outside the Promised Land, and his death foreshadowed the nation’s future. While God kept all of his promises (Joshua 21:43–45) and his Law is just and good, Israel revealed that the problem is the human heart, enslaved to sin. God needs a faithful, covenant partner to bring his blessing to all the nations. Israel was unfaithful. Like Adam, they rebelled and so God exiled them from the Land.
For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people.
Hebrews 8:7-8
Thus, the old covenant failed to meet our needs and could not bring about God’s promised kingdom.
(1) We need a new covenant with a new covenant head. But Israel was just like Adam, and the terms of the covenant were just like Adam's: Obey and you will live (Lev 18:5; Deut 6:25; Gal 3:10-14)! Israel broke the covenant, and God exiled them from the Land, just like Adam!
(2) We need a covenant head to perfectly obey. But Israel rebelled...again and again and again. So, they brought further curse and death upon themselves and the whole earth.
(3) And we also need him to rescue us the curse of death, the guilt of Adam's sin, and the dominion of darkness.
Israel proved unable to do this. And while the old covenant provided a God-given system of animal sacrifices to atone for sin, this system was always meant to act as a picture for how God would atone for our sins through Jesus (Col 2:17; Heb 10:4).
1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
—Hebrews 10:1-4