Abraham lived well over two hundred years before Moses and the making of the Old Covenant. Therefore, the covenant God made with Abraham (the Abrahamic Covenant) is NOT a part of the Old Covenant. Though the Old Covenant was set aside and replaced by the New Covenant, no scripture even indicates that the Abrahamic Covenant was ever set aside, replaced or abrogated in any fashion. In fact, the scriptures state quite clearly that the covenant God made with Abraham and all of his descendants, especially his spiritual descendants – all true Christians – is continuous, on-going, and one hundred percent valid and still in effect to this very day and will be in effect until Jesus Christ returns to this earth and, quite possibly, even long after that event occurs! Some might think, “So what?” or “Big Deal!” Well, let me tell you, reader, it IS a big deal. It is an event of the greatest importance to true believers. And pastors who do not carefully explain this covenant to their respective congregations do them a great disservice. It would be similar to your holding a winning lottery ticket and never learning that your ticket was the winning ticket of the power ball lottery! Believe me, I am not exaggerating using that comparison.
Most Christian pastors have great gaps in their understanding of the scriptures. Ask the average church pastor, “What was the Abrahamic Covenant? What did God promise Abraham and his descendants in that covenant? Is that covenant still in effect today or was it set aside by the cross? Are Christians regarded as Abraham’s descendants by God?” I am afraid most pastors if asked such questions would hem and haw, fumble and probably say, “Let me get back to you on that.” And that is a crying shame. Pastors should put away their golf clubs and fishing poles, turn off their televisions and cancel their trips to the Holy Land and start reading their Bibles slowly and carefully – every word, every begat, and every “thus saith the Lord.” Their responsibility toward their respective congregations goes far beyond the responsibility a heart surgeon has toward a patient with severe heart problems. The heart surgeon can only cost you your physical life. The Christian pastor can cost you a whole lot more. God have mercy on the ignorant pastor and on the ignorant Christian.
What if the executor of your deceased father’s estate was so inept at his job of executor that he failed to inform you that your father’s estate was worth many millions of dollars. Instead he gave you the impression that the total value of your father’s estate was actually less than $10,000.00. Would you be upset? Would you seek to have another more competent executor appointed? I believe you would be more than a little upset and would immediately seek out another executor. Well, any pastor ignorant of the Abrahamic Covenant is just such an executor. His incompetence costs you more than you can ever imagine.
God made a covenant with Abraham and ALL his descendants, yes, even his spiritual descendants – all true Christians. This covenant is in full force yet today and will be in force many centuries into the future – so says your Bible. Those who remain ignorant of this fact, and of the conditions of this covenant, lose out big time in their daily lives. Pastors and Bible teachers who do not understand this covenant, and who do not share the benefits of this covenant with those who look to them for spiritual enlightenment and instruction ought to be selling insurance, or teaching American history to high school students, or managing a Walmart store – ANYTHING but setting themselves up as spokesmen of the Most High God.
Satan is many things. He is a slanderer, defaming God’s people again and again. He is a deceiver, deceiving the unsuspecting believer into accepting gross error as divine truth. And he is something else: scripture says he is a thief and a robber, stealing the truth from men’s hearts and minds. He has stolen knowledge of the Abrahamic Covenant from the minds of millions of believers. Ask the average believer his opinion of the covenant God made with Abraham and notice the blank look on his face. He has no idea what you are talking about. Well, I’m not the average believer, folks. Stay tuned as this executor will shortly read to you the will and inform you of your inheritance, an inheritance available to you in the here and now. But you must claim it yourself. I have been claiming mine for years.
The covenant God made with Abraham many centuries ago has been changed by God Himself in only one aspect, whereas when first inaugurated it required all male partakers of that covenant to be physically circumcised. (See Genesis 17:10-14), that covenant now requires all the spiritual children of Abraham – male and female – to be spiritually circumcised! Many do not realize that the word “everlasting” in the Hebrew scriptures is often qualified by the context in which it is found and often merely means “continuous,” or as long as one lives. The one change in the Abrahamic Covenant is that the circumcision is no longer in the flesh, but in the heart, and no longer concerns only the males bur ALL believers, male and female. The apostle Paul in Romans 2:29 explains that circumcision “is of the heart by the Spirit…” Other than that there has been no change in the covenant God made with Abraham and his descendants. The apostle Paul clearly stated that all truly converted believers are regarded by God as children, or descendants, of Abraham? (See Romans 4:1, 16-17 and Galatians 3:14, 29). There is a good reason why Paul repeatedly pointed this out to those who came to have faith in Jesus Christ. He did not want them to miss out on the many benefits of being children of Abraham. Just as there are many benefits to being the son or daughter of the royal families of this earth, there are many more benefits to being the children of Abraham!
But God added one all-important condition, or stipulation, to His covenant with Abraham: “Walk before me and be blameless” (See Genesis 17:2). Satan, in his cleverness, knowing the fantastic benefits attached to being a child of Abraham, also is well aware of this one condition to that covenant. So, what does he do? He uses deceived ministers to convince Christians it is impossible to walk before God and be blameless! “You gotta sin, folks. It’s the human condition. We all sin every day in thought, word and deed,” so they say. God says, “Be holy as I am holy. Be perfect as I am perfect,” and these preachers say, “It’s impossible. Don’t even try..” (See I Peter 1:15-17 and Matthew 5:48). Jesus says, “Go, and sin no more,” and these blinded “ministers” say, “Forget it. There’s no use even trying.” Many preachers are going to have a lot to answer for when they come face-to-face with Jesus Christ.
God’s promise to Abraham was “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you AND YOUR DESCENDANTS AFTER YOU FOR THE GENERATIONS TO COME TO BE YOUR GOD, AND THE GOD OF YOUR DESCENDANTS AFTER YOU….AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD!” (Genesis 17:7-8). Do you realize all that entails? Being our God means that the Almighty will do for us anything and everything we cannot do for ourselves. He will forgive us all our sins. He will cleanse and purify us. He will heal us when we are sick. He will protect us when we need protection. He will guide us in our day-by-day lives. He will avenge us when we come under attack by our enemies. He will even resurrect us when we die!
“O descendants of Abraham, His servant…He is the Lord our God, His judgments are in all the earth (in Ohio, in New Jersey, in Kentucky). He remembers His covenant forever, the word He commanded FOR A THOUSAND GENERATIONS (and not even a hundred have passed since God made that covenant with Abraham), 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” (See Psalm 105:6-10 and Hebrews 6:13-20). Remember that the apostle Paul points out that true Christians are and comprise spiritual Israel in God’s eyes. (See Ephesians 2:11-21).
God have mercy on all those well-intentioned men and women who have set themselves up as Jesus Christ’s representatives and who know nothing whatsoever of what God is doing down here below on this earth. They counter-work our Lord and His true spokesmen around the clock, insisting one cannot break with sin, declaring that God does not see the believer’s sin, teaching that one is “locked-in” to their salvation, that believers go immediately to heaven when they die, that God’s eternal sabbath has been set aside and replaced by Sunday, that God doesn’t heal anymore, and a host of other diabolical errors. They will answer to Jesus Christ someday for their arrogance and false teaching. And their followers love to have it so as they scorn the truth and belittle God’s true servants. Yeah, folks, I’ll stand by many a grave before any one stands beside my own. I serve Abraham’s God and through Jesus Christ I am a direct descendant of Abraham, enjoying fully all the benefits that attach thereto.
In Psalm 105 God’s covenant with Abraham AND HIS DESCENDANTS was commanded by God to continue for a thousand generations? (Psalm 105:6-9). In Matthew 1:17 we are told that from the time of Abraham until the time of Jesus’ birth only 42 generations had passed. Between the time of Jesus Christ earthly sojourn and today only a similar amount have passed. That’s less than 100 generations, yet God, who cannot lie when making a promise, said His covenant with Abraham and His descendants would continue to a thousand generations. Read all 45 verses of the 105th Psalm. It is a declaration of what God has done and will continue to do for those who are participants in the Abrahamic Covenant IF they walk in a blameless walk before Him. That is the one condition and that is what is meant by the phrase “circumcision of the heart.” Our heart, or mind, is severed from the sinful desires and interests of this world and given over to God’s control and guidance. If and when we fall, give in to some sin, all we need do is confess and turn away from that sin and we instantly regain our blameless walk before the Most High.
The 105th Psalm enumerates the many fantastic things God did for the descendants of Abraham generation after generation, and then in the final verse of that Psalm, verse 45, He says why He did all that He performed, “that they might observe his statutes, and keep His laws.” That is what is uppermost in God’s mind in His dealings with the spiritual descendants of Abraham. It is His declared intention to bring us into a continuous lifestyle of observing His statutes and keeping His laws. That is why right off the bat, at the very start of His earthly ministry, Jesus stated clearly and plainly “think NOT that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy but to fulfil (Greek pleroo, meaning “to execute, or fully preach”) for truly I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled, whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven, but whosoever shall DO (that is, KEEP) and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” He then quotes two of the Ten Commandments word-for-word in order that there be no mistaking which commandments He is speaking of. He quotes the sixth commandment (“Thou shalt not kill”) and He quotes the seventh commandment (“Thou shalt not commit adultery”).
Please note that Jesus said not one jot or tittle, not the smallest change will be made in any of the Ten Commandments! Therefore, it is ludicrous to think that the fourth commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,” has been changed to “Remember Sunday to keep it holy!” Sunday has never been made holy. No one can find a single verse of scripture that says Sunday is holy or sacred time. Only God can make something holy. And God has never made Sunday holy. Only God can desanctify something He Himself has sanctified, and no scripture even suggests God desanctified His holy ETERNAL Sabbath! Men are playing with fire when they tread on God’s holy eternal Sabbath day and try to convince others God’s Sabbath was moved to the day that for centuries was set aside to honor the Sun god of antiquity. It doesn’t matter if every professing Christian on earth abandons the Sabbath and calls Sunday a holy day, they are in gross error and remove themselves thereby from enjoying the benefits of the covenant God made with Abraham. No wonder Sunday keepers don’t even know about the Abrahamic Covenant. It really does NOT apply to them as God sees them as rebels, not blameless followers of His statutes and laws. He, therefore does not bring his covenant to their remembrance or enlighten them to its perpetual nature.
Folks, I cannot force-feed God’s truth into your minds. You either have ears to hear or you do not. You either accept the plain, clear words of Jesus Christ or you do not. Jesus says plainly that not one jot or tittle will pass from His eternal Ten Commandment law, so deceived men say one whole commandment was dropped – the only commandment of the ten that begins with the word REMEMBER! And, yes, I will admit I am staggered by Satan’s deceiving power. He is a deceiver without peer. He is at the top of his game with the ability to take out a writer of scripture (Solomon) as well as an apostle (Judas), and believe me he can take out ten thousand times ten thousand preachers and pastors. And he may well have taken out your own………
Christ’s Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley