Promise
After dealing with the entire human race in the three previous covenants, God chose to find one man who would be faithful and make a covenant with him. Under this covenant, Abraham and his descendants became the chosen lineage through whom God would reveal His glory to the world. Abraham's responsibilities under this covenant incorporated what man had learned about God in previous eras:
1. obey the voice of conscience
2. call upon the Name of the Lord
3. offer blood sacrifices
4. wisely govern other men.
In addition, Abraham was to
1. separate himself unto God
2. refuse to indulge in idolatry and wickedness
3. circumcise all the males of his household.
In return, God made many specific promises to Abraham such as
1. giving him numerous descendants
2. inheriting the land of Canaan
3. a spiritual Seed through Whom the world would be blessed
4. and financial prosperity
At the close of this covenant judgment fell on the nation of Egypt which stood in the way of God fulfilling his promises.
Covenant Obligations:
Genesis 12:1 God commands Abram to leave his country and relatives and follow Him.
Genesis 15:6 Abram believed God's promises, and the Lord counted his faith as righteousness.
Genesis 17:1 God commands Abram to walk before Him and be blameless.
Genesis 17:10-14 God institutes circumcision as the sign of the covenant. He commands Abram and all his male descendants to be circumcised.
Genesis 12:2 God promises to make Abram into a great nation and blessing.
Genesis 17:4-6 God changes Abram's name to Abraham, and promises to make him a father of not just one nation, but of many nations.
Genesis 12:3 God promises to bless those who bless Abram and his descendants, and to curse those who curse them.
Genesis 12:6-7 God promises to give Abram's descendants the land of Canaan.
Genesis 15:18 God describes the boundaries of the land he will give Abram.
Genesis 17:8 God promises that the land of Canaan will be an everlasting possession of Abraham's descendants.
Genesis 15:1 God promises to protect Abram.
Genesis 15:5 God promises to make Abram's descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven.
Genesis 22:17 God promises to give Abram's descendants the gates of their enemies. He also reiterated that they would be as numerous as the stars of heaven or the sand of the sea.
Genesis 22:18 God promised that through one of Abram's descendants all the world would be blessed. This promised was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Genesis 26:3-5 God confirms His covenant with Abram's son, Isaac.
Genesis 28:10-15 God confirms His covenant with Abram's grandson, Jacob.
Genesis 35:11-12 God confirms His covenant with Abram's grandson, Jacob a second time.
Genesis 49:1-28 Jacob takes the promises of God's covenant and divides them among his sons. From these men God builds the Hebrew nation, the "twelve tribes of Israel."
Man's failure ends in judgment:
Genesis 15:13-14 God predicts that Abram's descendants will become slaves in a foreign land, and that He will deliver them and judge the nation that enslaved them.
Exodus 1:8-11 Abram's descendants are made slaves in Egypt.
Exodus 3:7-10 God calls Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt.
Exodus 5:1-2 Pharaoh refuses to let the people of Israel go, placing himself in the way of God fulfilling His promises.
Exodus 7:14-24 God begins the first of a series of 10 plagues designed to bring glory to His Name, exalt Himself over the gods of Egypt, break the strength of Egyptian power, and free the people of Israel.
Exodus 14:5-31 The final judgment on the covenant of Promise comes when God miraculously destroys the Egyptian army by drowning them in the Red Sea.
