The Kingdom of God

THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT

  "Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: . .. and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; . . . And Abram took Sarah his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered; . .. and into the land of Canaan they came.... And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land."—Gen. 12 :1 7. "And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be." "In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates."—Gen. 15:5 21. "And in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed." Gen. 22:18. "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; ... And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.... As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.... And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting' covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." —Gen. 17 :1 8.

  The covenant here spoken of is truly wonderful, and one that is greatly speculated upon by Millennial [72] advocates. Some teach that it will have a literal fulfillment in the future—that Christ will set up his throne in Jerusalem, which will be the capital of the world, and through his seed (the church selected in this gospel age) all the families of the earth will be saved and dwell in literal Canaan forever. While the many texts already cited, which prove that the second coming of Christ will be the day of judgment, and will eternally fix the doom and destiny of all men, and at which time this earth will be "burned up," and "pass away" and "no place be found for it"—while these texts are a perfect refutation of all such chaffy theories, yet we feel led of the Lord to give a thorough exposition of this covenant. It is one that contains a number of promises, which, when properly divided, are as follows:

  First. "I will make of thee a great nation." "And will multiply thee exceedingly." "Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be." "Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates ;" i. e., the land of Canaan. Second. "Thou shalt be a father of many nationsÓ. ÒAnd in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." "I will give unto thy seed after thee, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession."

  The first of these were personal and familiar; the second, spiritual, universal, and eternal: or, in other words, the first had respect to Abraham's natural descendants, according to the flesh; the promise of "a great nation" in own family. The second had respect to the Messiah and all his people. This blessing is spiritual and eternal.

  These promises—the first for a nation, the second for all time and eternity too embrace within them the entire nations; the first for fleshly and temporal, the second for spiritual blessings; the first for a time, the second for all destinies of humanity. They are the fountains of two streams of promises, prophecies, and histories, which, born that moment, began to flow, and whose waters meander through all ages, and disembogue themselves at last into the vast ocean of eternity. The distinction of Jew and Gentile is conceived in these promises. The Jew stands Abraham's "nation." The Gentile is always a [73] cosmopolite—a citizen of any nation. The Gentiles, or "the nations', on the one side, and the Jews on the other, are here first placed in comparison and contrast. But after being for a time severed by a special providence, both meet in the Messiah, by a mystic tie, and become one in him; in whom "there is neither Jew nor Gentile, bond nor free, male nor female."

  Two covenants, sometimes called two testaments, "old and new," are founded on these promises. The "old" or Sinaitic covenant—the law—was established upon the first. That law was given to only one nation—the Jews. It was a "middle wall of partition" between them and the Gentile nations. They were a favored people above all the nations of the earth. The "new testament" was established upon the second. These promises upon which the new covenant was established, Paul tells us are "better promises" than those upon which the old covenant was established. (Heb. 8:6). The whole Jewish nation, with all their peculiarities, grew out of the first; the whole Christ tian church, out of the second. We will now proceed to prove that the first of these promises, which related to Abraham's literal seed the Jews, have been fulfilled.

  Promise. "I will make of thee a great nation, and will multiply thee exceedingly, until thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven for number." Fulfillment. "The Lord your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude."—Deut. 1:10' "Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the Lord thy God hath made tbee as the stars of heaven for multitude."—Deut. 10:22. "But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under; because the Lord had said he would increase Israel like to the stars of the heavens."—1 Chron 27:23. "Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitudle and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable These all died in faith."—Heb. 11:12, 13.

  Promise. "Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates." Fulfillment. Just before his death, Moses went to the top of Pisgah that is over against Jericho. "And [74] the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, and  all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, and the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. And the Lord said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes."—Deut. 34 :1 4. "Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them."—Deut. 1:7, 8, 21. Just before the children of Israel crossed over Jordan into Canaan, "the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, ...now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all tis people, unto the land which I do give to them, even the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of our foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you,. ,..From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, . . . Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them."—Josh. 1:1 6. They crossed over Jordan (Josh.Chapters 3 and 4) and possessed the land. (Joshua, Chap.12 to 22.) "Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry. And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt."—1 Kings 4:20, 21. Read carefully Ps 105:9 44. Here David tells us clearly the promise of God to Abraham's literal seed was fulfilled. Now turn to Nehemiah 9. "Thou art the Lord the God who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham; ... and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed 61 words; for thou art righteous."—Verses 7 and 8. In verses 8 to 22 is given a description of God's dealings with Israel from their exodus from Egypt to the time they arrived at Jordan. Now we read verses 23-25— ÒTheir children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, andþ[75] broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it. So the children went in and possessed the land,... And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and olive. yards, and fruit trees in abundance; so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness." This line of scripture could be drawn out considerably, but abundant proof is given that the promises of the Abrahamic covenant to "Israel after the flesh" have been fulfilled. This cuts off one branch of Millennialism; for many contend today that these promises will have a literal fulfillment in the future, when (as they say) Christ will reign over the Jews in Palestine. Having seen that the promises to Abraham's natural descendants have beer, fulfilled, we will now prove that those respecting the Messiah and his people reach their fulfillment in this gospel age.

  Promise. "Thou shalt be a father of many nations." Fulfillment. "For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For i! they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: . . . Therefore it Is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, (as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations)."—Rom. 4:13 17. Nothing is plainer than the fact so clearly stated in this text, that the promise of God to make Abraham a father of many nations has a spiritual fulfillment in the New Testament dispensation. God is making all nations children of Abraham, by bringing them into the faith of the gospel. "For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." "Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles."—Rom. 9:6 8, 24. "Now, [76]

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