Dictionary of Bible Themes: 1348 covenant, God's with Abraham

1348 covenant, God's with Abraham

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Dictionary of Bible Themes » 1000 God » 1300 God, work of » 1345 covenant » 1348 covenant, God's with Abraham

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 18:10,14; Hebrews 6:13-15

The covenant was confirmed by sacrifice

Genesis 15:9-18

The covenant was given in perpetuity

Genesis 17:7 See also Genesis 17:13,19; 1 Chronicles 16:15-17 pp Psalm 105:8-10; Jeremiah 33:23-25

God's promises to Abraham

Genesis 12:2-3

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

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

God promised a relationship with himself

Genesis 17:8 See also Genesis 26:24; Deuteronomy 29:13; Matthew 22:32 pp Mark 12:26; Exodus 3:6; Acts 7:32

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 11:8,17-19

Faith

Genesis 15:6; Nehemiah 9:8 See also Romans 4:3,11-12,18; Galatians 3:6-7; Hebrews 11:8-12; James 2:23

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

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

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

The covenant confirmed through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

Leviticus 26:42 See also Genesis 26:24 Isaac