COVENANT

COVENANT

Now we are coming to the period where history is starting to be recorded, at least in Egypt, round the start of the early Bronze Age.

Abraham was a nomad, who lived around about 2000BC. He and his family with their herds of sheep and goats moved round the area in which he was living at the time. (Finally Canaan, that is, Israel.)

From this time onwards we have a better understanding of Jewish history as history was passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth for 300 years until the Israelites went into Egypt for 400 years where they developed a written language.

Abraham was promised:

1. The land of Israel.
2. To be the father of the Jewish nation.

Abraham migrated with his father Terah from Ur to Haran. After his father's death he was called by God to leave the area and family he was familiar with, to go to a new land where God would make of him a new and great nation that would eventually, as we experience today, bless the whole earth.

Abraham originally lived in Ur of the Chaldees (later known as Babylon) where the people were degenerate and idolatrous, worshipping, in particular, a moon god.

Showing the importance of this Covenant, God confirmed it with Abraham on 3 further occasions.

Additionally, it was confirmed with Abraham's descendants showing that God was really serious about this!

ISAAC Genesis 26:1-5
JACOB Genesis 28:1-15
JOSEPH Genesis 48:15-20
MOSES Exodus 6:1-8
JOSHUA Joshua 1:1-9
DANIEL Daniel 9:27

Most Christians look for a sudden, miraculous inheritance of the things of God. Be 'saved' and all will be well forever after, for you will have received all that God has to offer! This is far from the truth!

The land of Israel was not to be handed to the people on a plate. Possession of the 'land', both naturally and spiritually, then and now, was and is, by progressive revelation and deepening faith.

This progression can be seen here.

'I will show you' Revelation

Let's see this again in this progression of Scripture.

# 'I will make you into a great nation' (Genesis 12:2)

# 'I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth' (Genesis 13:16, 1 Corinthians 15:44-50)

# '“Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.' (Genesis 15:5-6)

# 'The Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ.' (Galatians 3:16-18, Isaiah 53:10, Luke 3:8,)

We conclude our look at the covenant that God made with Abraham, a covenant that set the foundations for the relationship we have with our Maker even today.

Abraham is known as the father of our faith. So the covenant that God made with him is obviously very important, not only for him, but for us too!

So let us not forget the history of God's working with His people, for we are of the spiritual root of Abraham.

Ancient Babylonia - Nebuchadnezzar I

There soon emerged a new line of rulers who had descended from Isin, who were known as the second dynasty of Isin. At this time Babylon became the capital again, and it was at Babylon that the most important members of this dynasty reigned. One of the great rulers in this time period who had become a legend in Babylonian tradition was Nebuchadnezzar I (1125-1104 BC). Many important literary texts come from this period. A successful war against Elam resulted in bringing back the divine image of Marduk from the Elamites who had carried it off at the fall of the Kassite dynasty. Marduk was once again installed in his temple in Babylon and for the first time publicly declared "King of all gods", even above the ancient god An of the Sumerians. Nebuchadnezzar did a great deal of building both in Babylon and other Babylonian cities. He protected the plain and made Babylonia prosperous.