Sabbath: An Everlasting Covenant
Image © Pacific Press
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Exod: 3:14; Gen: 17:1-6; Gen: 41:45; Dan: 1:7; Gen: 15:7-18; Gen: 17:1-14; Rev: 14:6-7.
Memory Text: “I [God] will establish my covenant between me and you [Abraham] and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you” (Genesis 17:7, RSV).
How many remember distinctly in our childhood a sickness or a touch of pneumonia that made us very sick, with the potential for something even worse? In the long feverish night, we would awaken from a half sleep to see our mother or father sitting in a chair beside our bed in the soft glow of the night-light.
Just so, in a figurative, human sense, God sat by the bedside of a sin-sick world as moral darkness began to deepen in the centuries after the Flood. For this reason, He called out Abram and planned to establish through His faithful servant a people to whom He could entrust a knowledge of Himself and give salvation.
Therefore, God entered into a covenant with Abram and his posterity that emphasized in more detail the divine plan to save humankind from the results of sin. The Lord was not going to leave His world unattended, not with it in such dire need. This week we will look at the unfolding of more covenant promises.
The Week at a Glance: What is the name of God? What does it mean? What was the significance of the names God used to identify Himself to Abram? What names did He use to identify Himself? Why did God change Abram’s name to Abraham? Why are names important? What conditions, or obligations, were attached to the covenant?
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, April 24.
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And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. Galatians 3:29 NLT
Are there any specific covenant promises given to Abraham that you are glad you can claim for yourself? A couple of years ago I was visiting a church member who said a witch had put a curse on her house. I assured her if she believed in Jesus she could claim the promise given to Abraham, "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt." Genesis 12:3 NLT
William- you said; 'Are there any specific covenant promises given to Abraham that you are glad you can claim for yourself?'
When the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, I believe is was both a literal/physical as well as a figurative/spiritual covenant promise. Abraham asked the Lord if the promise will be fulfilled through his heir because he and his wife were old and had no children. We knew what happened. What about today, can anyone without children claim the physical covenant promised to Abraham?
I think Abraham promises are specific to Abraham. Can we literally claim Abraham promises? The Jews in Jesus time did, what did Jesus said to them?
Lynn, we all have the same Savior Abraham had. Galatians 3:29 tells us we are heirs of the promise. Meanwhile I know of childless couples who wanted children who gleaned hope from Abraham and Sarah as well as Hannah.
Hi William, The question you asked, Are there any specific covenant promises given to Abraham that you are glad you can claim for yourself? I have one! 15 years ago I have a heart attack the Doctors went in and placed a stent in one of my arteries. I believe that I am blessed! Because I believed just like father Abraham that God Is!
I believe that here in the stages of the covenant with Abraham we see the principle of the LORD's progressive revelation of His Character and His relationship with His chosen people.
The Word of the LORD describes the relationship with Adam and Eve without naming it. We learn more about the LORD in His relationship with the inhabitants of the Earth before and after the Flood and the LORD called His relationship a covenant.
Now we understand that all these relationships were progressive revelations of the LORD's Everlasting Covenant that the LORD desires to have with all the humans that He created for His pleasure (Rev 4:11 KJV).
I believe that all the successive covenants that we find in the Word of the LORD are further revelations of the Everlasting Covenant.
What is the essence of the Everlasting Covenant?
a) the revelation of the true character of the LORD
b) the promise to transform our character to be like His
c) to be our God and us to be His people, a committed, dedicated, exclusive relationship
d) to invite the rest of the world to join us
e) provide a remedy for mistakes to be pardoned
The LORD's character doesn't change and nor does His Everlasting Covenant which is grace-based, gospel-bearing, faith-inducing, mission-directed, so we will find these principles in all His covenants with His chosen people.
Ps 103:17 from everlasting to everlasting the loving devotion of the LORD extends to those who fear Him, and His righteousness to their children’s children.
Ms. DeBeer, thanks for the commentary. my only edit would be to (e)provide a remedy for mistakes to be pardoned. i think change would be (e) provide a remedy for sin.
Mark, my intention for point (e) was to describe "forgiveness" in other words.
I believe all 5 points together are the remedy for sin which is a broken relationship between the LORD and humans.
I believe our world to be in a unique situation, its experiences potentially effecting the universe throughout. I do not know of other worlds within the universe of the Creator who might experience circumstances similar to ours. After all, these *earth shattering* circumstances arrived because of disobedience by a heavenly Angel of Light, a distinguished entity endowed with powers significant enough to influence the development of humanity. If there are other worlds experiencing similar circumstances, I am sure the Creator will use our example to instruct His heavenly hosts about the devastating effects their rebellion has on His creation.
I am beginning to ask myself why so much attention is placed on that which could be taken for granted? How else could a loving, caring, Creator communicate with His creatures endowed with a will to choose and a mind to think and reason with, other than through progressively specific Covenants?
Man became estranged from His Maker; it required the Father to start from scratch, so to speak. He needed to re-establish in the mind of His special creature, made in His Image and placed in charge to ‘subdue’, lead and administer His will in this earth, the correct way to do so.
The Creator had to re-introduce Himself, establish with humankind to have trust and faith in His benevolent nature, and so demonstrate to man how to rightly live according to the Father’s Will.
I am beginning to see that it is not so much that the Covenants were made, but rather that our caring, loving Creator God choose to do so in order to rescue humanity from the devastating effects of that which took place so long ago.
I can see God choosing this covenant-relationship-format to so introduce Himself anew and establish His relationship with humankind. How else could man learn to ultimately relate to his God in a familial way, calling Him our heavenly Father, and desire willingly to know and do the Will of his Father?
Like the lesson writer points out, I am finding myself more and more as an individual member of the Family of my loving, heavenly Father, rather than a member of a group believing in an overbearing Almighty God, Lord and Judge of our imperfect lives.
I think humanity has been brought an extraordinarily long way to, once again, be able to engage in a loving relationship with the Father. Something extraordinary changed regarding humanity's lost estate and need for guidance; our awareness that we have a heavenly Father who loves His children.
His committed love for humanity motivated Him to come to earth, to take the form of those who struggle to survive, experiencing our heavy burdens in His own Person, and so showing us the way in which we can trust to lead us Home! His Spirit patiently assists those who come to Him, teaching the living souls how to discern right from wrong.
This earth's last age for humanity is coming to its close. The curse of our presumption to know right from wrong, not desiring to seek and do the Will of the Creator Father who established the laws governing RIGHT and WRONG, has been broken. His everlasting Covenant with man, rooted in His Love for His Creation, has won the victory over sin and death – hallelujah! Rev.22:10-14KJV.
I see everyone comment and no one answer the question that was ask about God.
Horace, the lesson asks several questions about God, and some of the comments address some of the questions. Which question in particular would you like to see discussed? Better still, maybe post your own idea about the question to open up the discussion a bit. Here is a question for you: Why do we use a generic name for God in the English language? Is that laziness on our part, or is our use of "God" for "God" making a statement in itself?
What is the name of God? What does it mean? What was the significance of the names God used to identify Himself to Abram? What names did He use to identify Himself? Why did God change Abram’s name to Abraham? Why are names important?
I believe Horace is referring to the above questions.
Caleb and Horace, thank you for your comments, that is the reason for this blog, to have interactive discussions.
the study guide said "Week at glance" and then outlined those questions that would be answered during the week, I believe that some of them have already been answered, if not please ask for more clarity under the relevant topic.