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When the descendants of Noah violated the covenant that God had made with Noah, forming nations to oppose God and eventually falling into idolatry at Babel, God came to call Abraham as the head of a new race and to make a covenant with him, the fourth covenant that God made with man.
We have said that in making the first covenant Jehovah is the One who was, who is, and who will be. He always is and never changes, and He always exists and never passes away; He is the self-existing and ever-existing One (Exo. 3:14-15; Rev. 1:8). He is the “I Am,” who is well able to meet all the needs of the called one and to be the attraction, encouragement, strength, guidance, support, supply, protection, and care to him in his journey. It was this One who always is who came to make a covenant with the called one.
Jehovah, the One who made this covenant, is the God of glory. Acts 7:2 says, “The God of glory appeared to...Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran.” The glory here might have been visible glory, as when the cloud and the fire appeared to Israel (Exo. 16:10; 24:16-17; Lev. 9:23; Num. 14:10; 16:19; 20:6; Deut. 5:24) and filled the tabernacle and temple (Exo. 40:35; 1 Kings 8:11). God’s glory was a great attraction to Abraham. It separated him from the world unto God (Exo. 29:43), and was a great encouragement and strength which enabled him to follow God (Gen. 12:1, 4). It was the God of such glory who appeared to Abraham to make a covenant with him.
Abraham was formerly called Abram. When God appeared to him to make a covenant with him, he was in a situation with the darkest background. At that time the human race had fallen to the uttermost. Man abused the God-given authority to form nations, built a city for himself to have a man-made, godless life, built a tower for self-exaltation to oppose God, and fell into a situation of idolatry. Even Abram’s father was there serving idols (Josh. 24:2). No one was concerned for God’s interest, and no one cared for God’s purpose. When Abram was called by God, he was in such a situation with a dark background.
While Abram was living in Ur, the God of glory suddenly appeared to him, telling him to go out of his land and from his relatives (Acts 7:2-3). Because he lacked boldness, he did not answer God’s call immediately. Although God raised up an environment in which, by His sovereign hand, He took away Haran, Abram’s brother (Gen. 11:28), Abram still delayed and would not take action. Finally, it was Terah, Abram’s father, who brought the whole family out of Ur of Chaldea to go to the land of Canaan (Gen. 11:31). It was in this way that Abram got out of Ur.
Although God’s sovereign hand caused Terah, Abram’s father, to lead the whole family out of Ur toward the land of Canaan, they stopped on the way at Haran (Gen. 11:31-32). Because Abram hesitated again to answer God’s call and remained there, God had no choice but to take away his father also (Acts 7:4). Then God appeared to Abram again, calling him to get out not only of his land and from his kindred but also from his father’s house (Gen. 12:1-2), and He also made a covenant with him. Thus Abram came into the land of Canaan according to Jehovah’s command (Gen. 12:5).
While Abram was staying at Haran, Jehovah told him to get out of his country, from his kindred, and from his father’s house unto the land that He would show him. Abram originally lived in Ur of Chaldea. “Chaldea” means demonic. Chaldea was a demonic place, a place that was fallen, rebellious, and full of idols. Terah, Abram’s father, and his relatives dwelt there serving idols (Josh. 24:2). When God called Abram, on the negative side, He told him to go out of his country, from his kindred, and from his father’s house, to stay far away from the people, place, activities, and things related to the service of idols. On the positive side, He told him to go to the place that He would show him, implying a promise, the promise of the good land. God intended for Abram to serve Him in the good land.
In this covenant God also promised Abram that He would make him a great nation (Gen. 12:2). At Babel, man had abused the God-given authority to form nations (Gen. 10), but here God promised to make Abram a great nation. He did not have to struggle and endeavor to form a nation. What a strong contrast this was to the background at that time! The great nation promised by God is the kingdom of God, constituted of Abram and his descendants and composed of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament, the church in the New Testament, the millennial kingdom in the coming age, and the new heaven and the new earth in eternity. All the nations formed by man on the earth will pass away, but this great nation will last unto eternity.
God also promised to bless Abram and to make his name great. This also was a strong contrast to the background at that time, where the people, like those at the tower of Babel (Gen. 11:4), were trying to make a name for themselves, to make their names great. In contrast to them, Abram did not have to do anything for himself; God would bless him and make his name great. In human history, other than the name of the Lord Jesus, no name on earth is greater than that of Abraham. He is the father of “a great nation.” He is the father of the nation of Israel and the father of the church, and he will be the father of the millennial kingdom and of all the redeemed ones in eternity. What a great name this is!
In this covenant God promised not only that He would make Abram a great nation and make his name great, but also that He would make him a blessing to others, that is, that all families of the earth would be blessed in him (Gen. 12:2-3). The blessing promised by God to Abram is the blessing of God’s creation and of His redemption, including all that God wants to give man—God Himself and all that He has in this age and in the age to come. Galatians 3:14 shows us that this blessing eventually is the promise of the Spirit, who is the consummation of the processed Triune God, the very God Himself. Therefore, God’s promise to Abram was that He would give Himself to him as the blessing. This blessing, which is a great blessing, would come first to Abram and then, through him, would turn to others that all the families of the earth might receive the same blessing.
God also promised that He would bless those who bless Abram and would curse those who curse him (Gen. 12:3). History tells us that during the past twenty-five centuries, from the time that Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city of Jerusalem until now, every country, people, race, or individual that has cursed the Jewish people, the descendants of Abram, has received a curse. However, whoever blesses the Jewish people receives a blessing. This is the fulfillment of the covenant that God made with Abram in Genesis 12:3.
Because God appeared to him and made a covenant with him, Abram had the strength to answer God’s call. He crossed the river and entered into the land of Canaan, arriving at the place of Shechem, at the oak of Moreh, the right place where God intended for him to be. Hence, God reappeared to him and made a covenant with him the second time.
God appeared to Abram and promised to give the land of Canaan to his seed (Gen. 12:7). This is the first time that God promised to give the land to him. In Genesis 12:1 God only told Abram to go forth to the land that He would show him. God did not tell him where the land was, nor did He say that He would give the land to him. But, here, God told him clearly that the land was Canaan, and He promised to give the land of Canaan to his seed.
After Jehovah God made a covenant with Abram the second time, Abram built an altar and pitched a tent to live a life of the altar and the tent (Gen. 12:7-8). This shows that he lived by faith, offering everything to God and completely trusting in God, and that he had a deeper fellowship with God by calling on the name of Jehovah. This was a high point of his spiritual experience. However, instead of remaining there by the mercy of God, he went downward toward the south, even down to Egypt, because of the famine (Gen. 12:9-10). There he sinned by lying, but he experienced God’s keeping grace and learned the lesson that God took care of him in everything and that everything was in God’s hand (Gen. 12:11-20). Then he went back to the place where he had built the altar and pitched the tent in the beginning, and there he recovered his calling on the name of Jehovah (Gen. 13:3-4). Lot, having acquired many riches there, strove with Abram and left him. However, because he trusted in God’s care, Abram did not strive for himself. Thus, he prevailed in this trial. Therefore, God appeared to him again and made a covenant with him the third time.
After Lot had separated from Abram, Jehovah God appeared to him and said, “Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever” (Gen. 13:14-15). Here God promised again that He would give the land of Canaan to Abram and to his seed, thus confirming the promise of the good land in Genesis 12:7.
In the covenant this time, God also promised Abram that his seed would be as many as the dust of the earth. Genesis 13:16 says, “And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.” The dust of the earth signifies the earthly children of Abram, the children of Israel in the Old Testament, the constituents of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament.
After Jehovah God made a covenant with Abram the third time, Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre. Thus he was brought into another high point of the experience of God to live in fellowship with God. When Lot was captured, Abram fought by trusting in God and prevailed (Gen. 14:14-16), testifying to the fact that God is the Most High God, the Possessor of heaven and earth, receiving the supply of bread and wine from Melchisedec (Gen. 14:18-19), and overcoming the temptation of earthly substance (Gen. 14:21-23). After this incident, God appeared to him again to make a covenant with him the fourth time.
In the covenant God promised this time that Abram would have a son born of himself (Gen. 15:4). God called Abram with the intention of gaining a kingdom to exercise His authority on earth and to express His glory. In order to have a kingdom, a seed is needed. Only when there is a seed can there be the kingdom; without the seed, there is no possibility to produce the kingdom. Hence, in order to fulfill God’s purpose, a seed was needed, and the seed had to be of the promise of God and had to be born of Abram. Therefore, God promised that Abram would have a son born of himself to be his seed.
God promised Abram not only that he would bear a son of himself but that his seed would be as many as the stars in heaven (Gen. 15:5). Stars signify the heavenly children of Abram, the believers in the New Testament. Not only have they been separated from the corrupted world, but they also are heavenly, their citizenship is in the heavens (Phil. 3:20), and they constitute the church in the New Testament.
God promised again to give the land of Canaan to Abram and to his seed (Gen. 15:7, 18-21). In order to fulfill His purpose, God needed not only the seed but also the land. The land is the place where God’s people may have rest and where they can defeat God’s enemies, establish God’s kingdom, and build God’s habitation that God may be expressed and represented on this rebellious earth. Therefore, God confirmed His promise once again that He would give the land of Canaan to Abram and to his seed.
When God promised Abram that he would have a seed, Abram immediately believed, and God counted his faith as righteousness and justified him (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:3). However, when God promised to give him the land, Abram was lacking in faith. Because Abram found it difficult to believe in God regarding the promise of the land, God was forced to confirm His promise by making a covenant with him in an extraordinary way. In the process of making the covenant, God appeared as a smoking furnace and a flaming torch, passing through the pieces of the sacrifices. Moreover, a horror of great darkness fell upon Abram, in the midst of which came the prophecy that his seed would suffer affliction for four hundred years as a sign of the fulfillment of this covenant (Gen. 15:12-17). History proves that Abram’s seed did suffer affliction for a period of four hundred years, beginning with Ishmael’s persecution of Isaac (Gen. 21:9; Gal. 4:29) and continuing until Israel’s exodus from Egypt (Exo. 3:7-8; Acts 7:6). While Abram was in Canaan, it was a strange land to him, and it remained a strange land to his descendants until the day they entered into it as the good land. It was then that God’s promise of the land to Abram was fulfilled.
God had made a covenant with Abram the fourth time, yet Abram accepted the proposal of Sarai, his wife, and by the strength of his flesh begot Ishmael through Hagar, causing God to hide Himself from him for thirteen years. When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God appeared to him again to reveal His name as El-Shaddai, the all-sufficient Mighty One (Gen. 17:1), to be the rich source of the supply of grace to keep His covenant for the fulfillment of His purpose, and He also made a covenant with him the fifth time.
In making a covenant with Abram, God changed Abram’s name to Abraham that he might be the father of many nations (Gen. 17:5). “Abram” means “exalted father” and “Abraham” means “father of a great multitude,” that is, a multiplied father. For the fulfillment of His purpose God needs someone who is a father of a great multitude, a multiplied father, not merely an exalted father or an exalted individual, but a multiplied person. Hence, God changed Abram’s name to Abraham to make him the father of many nations that his seed might multiply and become a great nation for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose.
In changing Abram’s name to Abraham that he might be the father of many nations, God’s intention was to gain a kingdom through him. The nation of Israel in the Old Testament, the church in the New Testament, the coming millennial kingdom, and the new heaven and new earth in eternity, all constitute the kingdom of God which God intended to have through Abraham. Therefore, nations were to be made of him. Furthermore, kings were to come out of him (Gen. 17:6). In the Old Testament there were David, Solomon, and others as kings of Israel; in the New Testament there is the Lord Jesus as the King in the church; in the coming age there will be the overcomers as co-kings of Christ; and in eternity there will be all the redeemed ones, as constituents of the New Jerusalem, reigning as kings unto eternity. They all are descendants of Abraham; hence, kings were to come out of him.
Not only did God make a covenant with Abraham, but He also appeared to Isaac and Jacob, descendants of Abraham, to confirm His covenant (Gen. 17:19; 26:2-4, 24; 28:13-14) as the eternal covenant (Gen. 17:7). Although there was a negative effect on this covenant because of the law that came four hundred thirty years later (Gal. 3:17), it was reconfirmed unto eternity through the enactment of the new covenant by the Lord Jesus’ shedding of His blood on the cross (Gal. 3:17, 22b). In this covenant God promised that He would be the God of Abraham and of his seed. Therefore, God is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Gen. 26:24; 28:13; Exo. 3:6, 15), the God of all the families of Israel (Jer. 31:1), the God of all the believers in the New Testament (John 20:17), the God of the saved Israelites at the coming back of Christ (Heb. 8:10), and the God of all the redeemed, who are the constituents of the New Jerusalem in eternity (Rev. 21:7).
God promised once again to give the whole land of Canaan to Abraham and to his seed as their eternal possession (Gen. 17:8). This land was the good land (Exo. 3:8; Deut. 8:7-10), a type of the all-inclusive Christ. Since Christ is eventually realized as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b), in the New Testament age the Spirit as the realization of Christ in our experience is the good land (see note 142 in Gal. 3) for us to inherit God as our inheritance unto eternity.
In this covenant God required Abraham and his seed to be circumcised (Gen. 17:10-11). This was an evidence of God’s making a covenant with Abraham in order to confirm His covenant. While God was faithful to His covenant, Abraham was not faithful because he had used his natural strength with Hagar to produce Ishmael, rather than begetting a son through Sarah according to the grace of God’s promise (Gen. 16). Therefore, God required him to be circumcised, that his flesh, his old man, and his natural strength might be put off. Thus, the all-sufficient God might come to visit him and to enter into him to be his all, that by God’s grace he might give birth to Isaac through Sarah for the fulfillment of the covenant which God made with him.
God also changed the name of Sarai, Abraham’s wife, to Sarah, who would bear a son for Abraham and who would be a mother of nations, of whom kings would come (Gen. 17:15-16). “Sarai” means “my princess” and “Sarah” means “princess.” To change Sarai to Sarah means to change “my princess” to “princess.” By “my” being removed, she was changed from being narrow to being broad, thus becoming a mother of many nations. Furthermore, God blessed Sarah so that Abraham would have a son of her. At that time Abraham’s body had become old, even as good as dead, and Sarah had lost her function. Now that they had become nothing, God promised that Sarah would bear Isaac. This means that the birth of Isaac was not the result of Abraham and Sarah’s energy; it was absolutely the result of God’s gracious visitation.
After God made a covenant with Abraham the fifth time, Abraham learned to know grace for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. Following this, he was ushered into a glorious stage of his experience—living in fellowship with God. In this stage God did not appear to Abraham as the God of glory or as the Most High God, the Possessor of heaven and earth, nor did He come to him as El-Shaddai; He came to visit him in the form of a mortal man to be his friend (James 2:23; Isa. 41:8; 2 Chron. 20:7) and to have sweet fellowship with him. In such a sweet fellowship with God, Abraham received revelation from Him regarding the birth of Isaac and the destruction of Sodom. On the one hand, God confirmed the promise regarding the birth of Isaac, that Sarah would give birth to Isaac at the time of life, at the appointed time (Gen. 17:21; 18:10-14); on the other hand, He caused Abraham to learn of His concern about Lot and to intercede for Lot according to the divine revelation. After this, Abraham journeyed again toward the south, repeating his old failure (Gen. 20:2; 12:11-13) and exposing his hidden weakness (Gen. 20:11-13). Yet in a shameful intercession (Gen. 20:17-18) he experienced God’s twofold answer. Not only did God heal Abimelech’s wife and maidservants so that they bore children, but He also visited Sarah according to His earlier promise and caused her to give birth to Isaac at the appointed time (Gen. 21:1-2). After Isaac grew up, God tested Abraham, telling him to offer to Him Isaac, whom He had given him in grace (Gen. 22:1-2). Abraham obeyed immediately because he believed that God was able to raise him from among the dead, from whence he also received him back in a figure (Heb. 11:19; Rom. 4:17). This was the highest point of his living in fellowship with God and of his obedience to God by faith, thus bringing satisfaction to God. Hence, God came to make a covenant with him the sixth time.
God promised Abraham that He would bless him greatly (Gen. 22:17). In speaking of the covenant made the first time we said that this blessing eventually is the promise of the Spirit and that the Spirit is the consummation of the processed Triune God, the very God Himself. Therefore, God’s intention was to give Himself to Abraham as the great blessing.
God promised Abraham that He would multiply his seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is upon the seashore, and that they would possess the gate of their enemies (Gen. 22:17). Stars signify the heavenly children of Abraham, the believers in the New Testament; sand signifies the earthly children of Abraham, the children of Israel in the Old Testament. These two peoples eventually will be built together, constituting the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth in eternity. They will reign as kings to rule over the nations forever.
God also promised that all nations of the earth would be blessed in Abraham’s seed (Gen. 22:18). God did not say that all nations would be blessed in Abraham’s seeds, as concerning many, but in his seed, as concerning one, who is Christ (Gal. 3:16). In God’s eyes Abraham has only one seed, that is, Christ, in whom all nations will be blessed. In Christ man is justified (Rom. 5:18-19), in Christ man is sanctified (1 Cor. 1:2), and in Christ man receives the promise of the Spirit (Gal. 3:14). Every spiritual blessing given by God (Eph. 1:3) is received by man in Christ, the unique seed of Abraham. Therefore, the promise that all nations of the earth would be blessed in the seed of Abraham has been fulfilled in Christ through His redemption by the cross and through His coming as the Spirit.
Abraham kept the covenant that God made with him. He got out of his country, from his kindred, and from his father’s house; his name and his wife’s name were changed; and he was circumcised and all the men of his house were circumcised with him. However, he left the land of God’s promise twice. Once he went down to Egypt because of a famine; there he sinned by lying in order to save his own life. However, he experienced God’s keeping grace and learned the lesson that God took care of him in everything and that everything was in God’s hand (Gen. 12:10-20). Another time, acting on his own, he left the place of fellowship with God at the oaks of Mamre in Hebron and went down to Gerar, which was between Kadesh and Shur (Gen. 20:1). There he repeated the old failure, exposing his hidden weakness. Again, preserved by God’s sovereign care, he was able to deal with the circumstances, that the testimony of God’s grace might be maintained. Moreover, he begot Isaac through Sarah when he experienced God’s twofold answer to his shameful intercession.
Because there was a severe famine over all the face of the earth, except in the land of Egypt (Gen. 41:54, 56-57), and because his son Joseph was a ruler over Egypt and he was eager to see him (Gen. 45:28), Jacob, a descendant of Abraham, brought his whole household to Beersheba and offered sacrifices to God. God said to him, “I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes” (Gen. 46:4). Thereafter Jacob and his sons left the land that God had promised to them and went down to Egypt (Exo. 1:1-5). Then when a new king arose who did not know Joseph, they fell under the tyranny and bondage of Egypt (Exo. 5:9, 14, 17-18). This was a fulfillment of God’s prophecy in the covenant which He made with Abraham the fourth time, that his descendants would suffer for four hundred years.
When the descendants of Noah violated the covenant which God had made with Noah, forming nations to oppose God and eventually falling into idolatry, Jehovah, the God of glory, came to call Abraham (Abram) as the head of a new race and to make a covenant with him, the fourth covenant that God made with man. God made a covenant with Abraham at six different times, the contents of which mainly included the following items: first, God would make him a great nation, and nations would be made of him and kings would come out of him; second, God would bless him and make his name great; third, God would give the land of Canaan to him and to his seed for an eternal possession; fourth, God would cause Sarah, his wife, to bear a son, would multiply his seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is upon the seashore, and would make him the father of many nations and Sarah, a mother of nations; and fifth, God would give him the promise of grace that all the nations of the earth might be blessed in him and in his seed. The result was that although he kept the covenant, he left the land of promise twice. Furthermore, the house of Jacob, his descendants, all left the land of promise and went down to Egypt, falling under the tyranny and bondage of Egypt.
