IMPORTANCE OF THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT

Many people ignore the covenant God made with Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3). The covenant includes three main points: (1) God would give to him a land (the land of Canaan), (2) He would make from Abraham a great nation, and, (3) Through him He would bring forth a blessing or a curse on those who curse him. "And in you (Abraham) all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (v. 3b).    We dispensationalists and premillennialists understand that this covenant is the key to the Bible and to world history. The covenant theologians think that this covenant is no longer in God's purposes but this is not so. Psalm 105:6-11 indicates that the Abrahamic covenant is still with us. "The seed of Abraham is His servant; the sons of Jacob (Israel) are His chosen ones!" (v. 6). The Lord "will remember His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations" (v. 8).    Notice the guaranteed promise: "The covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac, then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statue, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, 'To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion of your inheritance'" (vv. 9-10).    Notice that this is a "literal" covenant, one that is kept by the Lord forever, and it is made with the immediate and far generations of Abraham, His son Isaac and then Isaac's son Jacob, and ultimately to a "thousand generations." The covenant also has to do with the land of Canaan. The covenant guys force themselves to reject and deny this great covenant that has to do with Abraham's descendants and also concerning the land promises!    The entire Bible hinges on this great promise made in Genesis 12!    --Dr. Mal Couch   (11/10)