God's Covenant with Abraham

This morning we will be reading about God's covenant with Abraham; however, before I offer my reflections and comments on today's reading, let me briefly describe what has happened since we left the garden of Eden in Genesis 3. After the disobedience of Adam and Eve in chapter 3, the rest of the primordial history (Genesis 1-11) deals with the aftermath of sin, including the murder of Abel at the hands of his brother Cain (Genesis 4); the story of Noah's ark and the great flood that destroyed the earth (Genesis 6-9); and the towel of Babel (Genesis 11). The narrative of Genesis takes a dramatic turn at the beginning of chapter 12 with the calling of Abram (later to be renamed Abraham). The initial stages of Abram's journey with the Lord are described in Genesis 12-14.

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Finally, we arrive at Genesis 15 and the establishment of God's covenant relationship with Abram and his descendents. The promise given to Abram is one of both progeny and land. First, God promises that Abraham's decendants will be more numerous than the stars of the sky. In the gospel according to Matthew, the geneology of Jesus is traced back to Abram. Second, the covenant includes the promise of land, which Abram's descendents will inherit. As we will see, God will call Moses to lead the people of Israel into this promised land, the land sworn to Abram.

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In Genesis 17, the Lord changes Abram's name to Abraham and Sarai's name to Sarah. As one biblical scholar observes, "the name changes of the ancestors to Abraham and Sarah imply both the authority of the giver of the name and the new destiny or mission indicated by the new name." So, by changing Abram's name to Abraham, the Lord claims Abraham as his own. Likewise, the Lord gives Abraham a new mission, namely to be the "father of many nations," which is the very meaning of the name Abraham.

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Finally, a word about covenants. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew idiom for establishing a covenant is to "cut a covenant," which implies that a covenant requires sacrifice. Therefore, in Genesis 15, we find that Abram cuts the animals in half and the Lord passes through the carcasses. In Genesis 17, we find that the cutting of the covenant is connected to the act of circumcision (ouch!).

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The covenant between God and Abraham is an extremely important part of our journey through the Bible, because it is through the descendants of Abraham that God's purposes are accomplished and ultimately the Messiah, the Christ, is born.