THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT
Complicated. Or is it?
Many believers struggle with covenant theology, as did I until I studied what my brother in Christ wrote in his book, Captive to the Word of God.
Here is an excerpt:
Without an accurate view of the Abrahamic Covenant it is impossible to understand the relationship between the various covenants of the Bible and who are the mediators and members therein; which we need to understand if, as Spurgeon said, we are to rightly comprehend the Scriptures.
The promise given to Abram sprang forth from the Eternal Covenant, as do all of God’s redemptive actions. Contrary to what many theologians claim, the Author of our salvation did not put together His rescue plan in reaction to what Adam did in the garden. The promise was conceived before time by the Holy Trinity, revealed to man in the garden, confirmed in Abram, secured in national Israel, and fulfilled in Christ Jesus and His body, the church.
We cannot comprehend what the Old Testament tells us about the covenant with Abraham without properly understanding how the Author interpreted those passages for us in the New Testament. Since much of the New Testament is commentary or interpretation on the Jewish Scriptures, we cannot ignore what God has spoken through His Spirit to shed light on that which was hidden in types and shadows. So we turn to the chief Pharisee of his time to see the true meaning given in the Abrahamic Covenant.
In his letter to the Galatian church, the apostle Paul was shining the light of God’s grace into the then-growing darkness of legalism which was based on the dominant Jewish perspective of their Scriptures, a perspective he was very familiar with. In the first two chapters, Paul accuses his audience of leaving the truth; defends his apostleship and gospel as that of Christ rather than mere man; and begins explaining the dangers of creeping legalism.
In chapter 3, he turns to Abraham, the father of the Jews, as an example of being reconciled to YHWH by faith rather than works as required by the Law of Moses. He tells them Jesus was cursed for our disobedience so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles. Now to his inspired interpretation of God’s covenant with Abraham: To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.
This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise. (Galatians 3:15-18) The promises made to Abraham were communicated to him by a promise. In several places, God promised several things to Abraham and his offspring. The apostle is precise in correcting the Jewish perspective wherein they supposed all national Israel was being spoken of as that offspring.
Paul has even confused some modern commentators here, but clearly he means that what was promised to Abraham’s offspring was not to national Israel and its countless members; it was promised to one offspring, the promised seed that national Israel had been formed to protect as it was delivered through 43 generations (Matthew 1:17).
Here is how one commentary explains it: promises—plural, because the same promise was often repeated (Gen 12:3, 7; Gen 15:5, 18; Gen 17:7; Gen 22:18), and because it involved many things; earthly blessings to the literal children of Abraham in Canaan, and spiritual and heavenly blessings to his spiritual children; but both promised to Christ, "the Seed" and representative Head of the literal and spiritual Israel alike.
There were four specific places wherein the promises to Abraham are made and they explain how the body of Christ, His redeemed, are included in the person of Christ, to whom the promises are extended and guaranteed by the covenant ratified by God.
We will turn to a well-known reformer to explain why the Law was added, because some even in our day don’t understand this. A Baptist brother dear to my soul considers the Law as necessary for leverage to exert on church members to get them to Sunday services. Is this why the Law was given, 430 years after the promise? That is the question. Here’s Martin Luther’s answer: Why was the Law added to the promise? Not to serve as a medium by which the promise might be obtained. The Law was added for these reasons: That there might be in the world a special people, rigidly controlled by the Law, a people out of which Christ should be born in due time; and that men burdened by many laws might sigh and long for Him, their Redeemer, the seed of Abraham. Even the ceremonies prescribed by the Law foreshadowed Christ.
Therefore the Law was never meant to cancel the promise of God.
The Law was meant to confirm the promise until the time should come when God would open His testament in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Stuart Brogden, Captive to the Word of God
Painting: The Caravan of Abraham
Artist: James Tissot