T HE C OVENANT Genesis 12:1-3 Genesis 15:1-21 Genesis 17:1-27

T HE C OVENANT (A BRAHAMIC ) God is a Covenant God Webster: Binding contract, Solemn agreement Hebrew: 1. To Eat with: Fellowship 2. To Bind: Commitment 3. To Allot: Sharing “Abrahamic Covenant”

T HE C OVENANT (A BRAHAMIC ) I The Promise of the Covenant Genesis 12:1-3 II The Sealing of the Covenant Genesis 15:1-21 III The Sign of the Covenant Genesis 17:1-27

I. T HE P ROMISE OF THE C OVENANT Genesis 12:1-3 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 and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

I. T HE P ROMISE OF THE C OVENANT “I will show you....” LAND “I will make you…..” GREAT NATION “I will make you…..” GREAT NAME “I will bless them….” BLESSING TO NATIONS

I. T HE P ROMISE OF THE C OVENANT Covenant making God Promise Maker and Promise Keeper

II. T HE S EALING OF THE C OVENANT Genesis 15:1-21 “Abram said ‘Sovereign LORD, what will you give me since I am childless…..” Verse 2 “He (God) took him outside and said, Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them,’ Then he said to him, so shall you descendants be.” Verse 5

II. T HE S EALING OF THE C OVENANT The Sealing Verses 9-21 “So the Lord said to him, ‘bring a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon. Abraham brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half.” vv. 9-10

II. T HE S EALING OF THE C OVENANT “When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch (Shekinah glory of God) appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the LORD make a covenant with Abram and said, ‘to your descendants I give this land…..” vv

II. T HE S EALING OF THE C OVENANT Jeremiah 34:18-19 “The men who have violated my covenant… made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces….and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf, I will hand over to their enemies who seek their lives. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the air and beasts of the earth.”

II. T HE S EALING OF THE C OVENANT Making and Keeping of a covenant or vow to God is Binding “make vows to the LORD your God and fulfill them….” Psalm 76:11 “If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not slow to pay it, for the LORD your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin.” Deut. 76:21

III. T HE S IGN OF THE C OVENANT Genesis 17:1-27 “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said ‘I am God Almighty (El Shaddai) ; walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you…” vv.1-3

III. T HE S IGN OF THE C OVENANT “This is my covenant, you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep; every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you.” vv.10-11

III. T HE S IGN OF THE C OVENANT Spiritual circumcision (circumcision of the heart) in the New Covenant “circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, keeping God’s command is what counts” I Cor. 7:19

T HE C OVENANT Take Home Lesson 1.God is a Covenant maker and Covenant keeper 2.Do not delay paying your vows to God Application 1.Praise God for the Abrahamic blessing of our Savior 2.Praise God for the promised New Covenant Promised in the OT, Realized in the NT

T HE N EW C OVENANT “The time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant….I will put my law in their minds and write in their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people….I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more…” Jeremiah 31:31ff

T HE N EW C OVENANT “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” Luke 22:20 “Well done good and faithful servant….”