Genesis 15:18 “On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram…”
It is sometimes claimed that God’s selection of the Jewish people is rooted in the covenant He made with them at Sinai, and that it was through this event that the Jews became God’s people. However, Paul writes in Galatians 3:17: “What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.”
Which covenant is Paul referring to that came 430 years before the law, and that the law could not alter? The law could neither replace nor change this covenant.
The covenant Paul is talking about is the one that takes place in Genesis 15:1-6. Here, God and Abraham have a conversation:
“After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.’ But Abram said, ‘Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?’ And Abram said, ‘You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.’ Then the word of the Lord came to him: ‘This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.’ He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”
It is here that Abraham believes and is justified.
God Enters a Covenant with Abraham
The next thing the Bible describes in this chapter is how God makes the covenant with Abraham. In Abraham’s time, a covenant was made by cutting several animals in half and placing the pieces opposite each other. The people entering the covenant would walk between the halved animals, while reciting the covenant. This carried the following meaning: The one who breaks this covenant must die like these animals. For example, two tribal leaders could enter a mutual defense pact, promising to defend each other.
Personally, I entered a marriage covenant with my wife, Ingunn, on August 6, 1994; here, I gave my “yes” to her, and she gave her “yes” to me. We are both mutually responsible for this covenant. In the New Covenant, there are also two parties entering the covenant. The Bible says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith.” This means that Jesus, by His grace, made the finished work available to all people, but only those who believe partake in the work of salvation and become part of the New Covenant in His blood.
This was different in God’s covenant with Abraham. We read that Abraham was not involved in any way when the covenant was made.
Genesis 15:7-18:
“He also said to him, ‘I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.’ But Abram said, ‘Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?’ So the Lord said to him, ‘Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.’ Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut it in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation, your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.’
When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, ‘To your descendants, I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates.’”
The Covenant is Maintained by God Alone
It was God alone, sovereignly and independently, who entered His covenant with Abraham. It is fundamentally important to understand this truth, as it means that neither Abraham nor his descendants can ever break this covenant. It is entirely different from the Mosaic covenant at Sinai. In fact, only God Himself can break His covenant with Abraham and the Jewish people, and He cannot do so because, in that case, He would have to die. Of course, that will never happen, just as He will never break the covenant.
The reality of the covenant is that no matter what Abraham’s descendants did, they could not change the covenant. This covenant is the very foundation of God’s great plan of salvation. The New Covenant does not change the covenant with Abraham. On the contrary, we could say that the New Covenant builds upon this covenant.
In the Abrahamic Covenant, God promises salvation for a lost humanity; in the New Covenant, this salvation is made accessible.
In Deuteronomy 7:6, we read: “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.”
The phrase “a holy people to the Lord your God” describes a people who are set apart from the world and dedicated to be used by God. This is precisely the case with the Jewish people. God has set them apart collectively as a people and a nation to carry out His own will here on earth. He uses their natural/supernatural history for His will. The mystery is that He uses them in both their obedience and their disobedience. When they received the law, it was according to His will. When they broke the law, it became a tutor to bring them to Christ. When Jesus was born, it was according to God’s will. When they crucified Jesus, it was also according to God’s will, as Paul says in Romans 11:30: “… now you have received mercy as a result of their disobedience.” This is very different from how God uses His church in the New Covenant.
Replacement Theology is Incorrect
If God were to break His unilateral covenant with the Jews, how could we then confidently claim that the New Covenant will save us? Replacement theology, which argues that God is finished with the Jews after their rejection of Jesus as Messiah, is gravely mistaken. It not only dismisses those who brought us salvation but also portrays God as unfaithful. Yet our God is not unfaithful:
Psalm 105:7-11: “He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth. He remembers His covenant forever, the word He commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, the oath He swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.’”
In Acts 3:25, Peter speaks to Jews who do not believe in Jesus and makes it clear that God’s covenant with them still stands. It has therefore not been annulled after Jesus’ death and resurrection:
“You are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’”
Reflection Questions – The Covenant
1. A covenant must be made between two parties; why does God make the covenant with Himself as we read in Genesis 15:7-18?
2. Does the covenant that God made with Abraham still apply, and if so, why?
3. What is meant by replacement theology, and why is this perspective incorrect?
4. Which Bible verses spoke specefically to you?
