God's Covenant with Abraham - Genesis Part 32

Al Jazeera Magazine, here's what they said, and I quote, Now as we return to our verse-by-verse study in the book of Genesis, this is what we want to talk about today. We want to talk about the land that God promised the Jewish people, therefore we call it the Promised Land. But before we do that, let's do a tiny bit of review. We're in Genesis chapter 15.

Let's just everybody catch up. In the beginning of this chapter, God promises Abraham a son, and then through this son, God promises to give him, Abraham, a multitude of descendants. Verse 5 of Genesis 15, Then God brought Abraham outside and said, Look now towards the heaven, and count the stars if you're able, so shall your descendants be. Then Abraham believed God, and God credited it to Abraham's account. God imputed it to him as righteousness. Now we just finished a five-part series entitled Our Salvation in Jesus Christ, where we talked about imputed righteousness, and we talked about eternal security, and we talked about our glorification in heaven and a lot of other things. And if you missed some of that series, I urge you to get the CD out in the lobby or go on our website and download or podcast it, but we're ready to move on now in Genesis 15.

So here we go. And the Lord said to Abraham, verse 7, I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldees to give you this land to inherit it. Now here in Genesis 15, God actually is reiterating what he's already promised Abraham in Genesis 12. That was 10 years earlier.

Let's go back. Genesis 12, verse 5, Then Abraham came to the land of Canaan, and the Lord appeared to Abraham and said to your descendants, I will give this land. God repeated this promise to Abraham in Genesis 13, verse 14. After a lot in Abraham had separated, the Lord said to Abraham, Lift up your eyes, and from where you're now standing in the land of Canaan, look northward, southward, eastward, and westward. For all the land you see, I give to you and your descendants.

Say the last word forever. And you know, God promised this to Abraham again in Genesis 17, verse 1. When Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, As for me, behold, my covenant is with you and with your descendants after you, and it shall be an everlasting covenant. I give you and your descendants after you the land in which you are now living as a stranger, all the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession. The point, my friends, is that any person who reads the Bible in a straightforward, unbiased, literal way, which is exactly how the Bible is supposed to be read, cannot come up with any conclusion except that God promised to give the land of Canaan to Abraham's descendants forever. And then God goes on to tell Abraham and us the borders that are included in this land that he's giving them. Look, Genesis 15, verse 18. On the same day, the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying to your descendants, I have given this land from the river of Egypt. What river is that? The Nile. Yeah, there's only one there.

That's it. The Nile to the great river Euphrates, which is in modern day Iraq, to include the land of the Kenites and the Kenizzites and the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Gergashites and the Jebusites. You say, all right, Lon, I got that. But listen, the Arab peoples, aren't they also Abraham's descendants?

Well, yeah. So you say, well, so then how do we know for sure that this promise God's making was to the Jewish people and not to the Arab people? Well, that's a great question.

So let's answer it. Remember, the Jewish people are descendants of Abraham's son, Isaac, while the Arab peoples are descendants of Abraham's son, Ishmael. So watch Genesis 17, verse 18. And Abraham said to God, Oh, that Ishmael may live before you. Ishmael was already born at this point.

Isaac wasn't. Then God said, No, Sarah, your wife shall bear a son and you shall call his name Isaac. And I will establish my covenant with him, with Isaac for an everlasting covenant and with his descendants after him. God says, As for Ishmael, I have heard you, Abraham. Behold, I will bless him and I will make him fruitful and I will multiply his descendants exceedingly. And I will make him a great nation also. Hey, hasn't God done that with the Arab peoples of today? Yes. God kept that promise.

Watch. God goes on to say, But my covenant I will establish with who? Isaac.

Right. Whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year. Friends, it may surprise you to know that actually the Bible tells us Abraham fathered eight sons, not just two. But God makes it clear in the Book of Genesis that his covenant regarding the Promised Land is limited to only one of those sons, and that is Isaac. But there's more because God further limited the covenant regarding the Promised Land to just one of Isaac's sons. Isaac had two sons, Jacob, Esau. Only one of those sons got the covenant regarding the Promised Land, and that was Jacob.

Genesis 28 verse 13. Then God appeared to Jacob in a dream and said, I am the God of Abraham, your father and Isaac, the land on which you are lying, I will give to you and your descendants. In Genesis 35 12, God said to Jacob, the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I give to you and to your descendants after you. I give this land and Jacob's descendants are the Jewish people of today.

So what have we seen so far? Well, we've seen that God promised the land of Canaan from the Nile to the Euphrates to one specific line of Abraham's descendants. And that line was through his son, Isaac, and then through Isaac's son, Jacob, and therefore to the people we know today as the Jewish people. Now, after God makes this promise, this covenant with Abraham, the next thing he does is he ratifies it. So let's look back in Genesis 15.

Here we go. Verse eight. Then Abraham said, Oh, Lord God, how shall I know for certain that I will inherit the land? So God said to him, Bring me a three year old heifer, a three year old female goat, a three year old ram and a turtle dove and a pigeon. So Abraham brought these animals and cut them in two down the middle and placed each half of the animal opposite the other.

So there was like a little aisle in between. And the Bible says that now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abraham. And it came to pass when the sun went down and it was dark that behold, there appeared a smoking fire pot and a burning torch that passed between the pieces down the aisle between these halves of the animals on each side. And on this day, the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying to your descendants, I have given this land. Now, folks, back in Genesis Chapter nine, when we were talking about Noah, you may remember that we talked about covenants and the kinds of covenants that God makes with the human race.

And we said that there are two different kinds. There are conditional covenants. First of all, these are covenants based on the word if God says if you do such and such, I will then do so and so. The point is that this kind of covenant is conditioned upon.

It is valid only if we keep our end of the deal. The other kind of covenants are unconditional covenants. These are covenants that are not based on the word if God says I am going to do so and so, regardless of what you do, you don't have to do a thing. This covenant is completely valid regardless of any human action of any kind, because it is based one hundred percent on the faithfulness and the promise of God. Now, what kind of covenant did God make with Abraham right here?

Well, friends, he made an unconditional covenant. And you say, well, how do you know that? Oh, I'm going to show you. And this is good. This is really good.

Wait till I show you this. You know, here in America today, we have certain ceremonies that are kind of standard for ratifying covenants, different kinds of covenants. For example, how about the marriage covenant? We have a ceremony that's fairly standard. The bride buys a special dress and she comes down an aisle, usually in a church, escorted by her father or someone standing in for her father. And then she stands next to the groom at the front and they say, I do. And they exchange rings and they give each other a kiss and then they join arms and they walk back up the aisle. Standard procedure.

Yes. OK, well, we know from archaeology that in the time of Abraham, there was a standard procedure that was followed when two people made a covenant in order to ratify that covenant. And what they did is they would take several animals. They would cut these animals in half. They would place them across from each other, making an aisle in between, just like Abraham did.

And then the two of them together would walk between the pieces, would walk down this aisle. The implication being the symbolism being that the two of us are making this deal. And if either one of us breaks it, may the other person make the one who broke the covenant like these hacked up animal pieces on both sides.

You got you got the implication. OK. And this is why in the Hebrew language, the expression is never you make a covenant. That expression doesn't exist, nor does the expression in Hebrew exist. You sign a covenant, nor does the expression exist that you shake on a covenant. In the Hebrew language, the expression that's always used is that you cut a covenant.

You understand why now? It's always we cut a covenant. Now, by cutting up these animals and walking through the pieces, God's covenant with Abraham was now ratified. It was now completed. But here's the great part. Here's what I want you to see.

Remember, we're still trying to decide was a conditional or unconditional. Look at verse 12. It says now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abraham and it came to pass when the sun went down and it was dark. That behold, there appeared a smoking fire pot and a burning torch that passed between the pieces.

This smoking fire pot and burning torch representing God went down the aisle through the pieces. But Abraham didn't go with it. Where was Abraham? He was fast asleep. That's exactly right. God went through the pieces, but Abraham didn't go with him.

And you know why? It's because this covenant was not two people, two equal partners, each having to keep their end of the bargain for the covenant to work. That's not what was going on here. This was an unconditional covenant based solely on God's faithfulness and God's promise. And that's why God went through the pieces and ratified the covenant. Abraham did not go with him because none of this depended on Abraham. And the promise coming true about the promised land didn't depend on Abraham's descendants either, which is why Abraham didn't go through the pieces with God. Only God went through.

You got it? All right. Menachem Begin, prime minister of Israel, said this land is ours, not ours by permission, but ours by entitlement from God. And when he said that, he was referring to Genesis 15 and to the fact that God promised this land to the Jewish people and ratified the covenant.

And it's unconditional and it's all based on God doing what he said he's going to do. Now, you say, well, Lon, even in the biggest days of the Jewish empires, King David's time, King Solomon's time, the Jewish people never controlled all that land that you had in the square that you showed us. Well, you're right. They never have.

You say, well, so what's up with that? Well, I believe that they're going to control that land. That's going to be their kingdom in the Millennial Kingdom when Christ rules and reigns here on Earth. But friends, whether it's in the Millennial Kingdom or whether it's in our lifetime, the Jewish people will one day own every square inch of the land that God promised them right here in Genesis 15.

And, brother, you can bet your 401K on that, whatever's left of it. Praise the Lord. Okay, now you say, but Lon, I still got a question. And my question is, you know, what about the fact that Jewish people rejected their Messiah of 2000 years ago and most of them still rejecting today? I mean, did this cause them to forfeit these covenants they had with God?

Did the church inherit the promises and the covenants that God had made with the Jewish people because they rejected Christ? My friends, that is such an excellent question, and we're going to answer it. Guess when? Next time. You are so smart. I love you people.

You're so smart. But we do have another question that we're going to answer right now, and we all know what it is. So all of you at Loudoun and Prince William and Bethesda and Edge and around the world on the Internet and here at Tysons, are we ready? Are we ready? All right, come on. Now, here we go.

One, two, three. Yeah, you say so what? You say, Lon, this is great. I'm so happy for the Jewish people. What does any of this make to me?

Well, we'll talk about that. You know, one of my very favorite verses in all the Bible is Revelation Chapter three, verse seven. Here's what the verse says. Jesus speaking, he says, What God opens, no man can shut. And what God shuts, no man can open. And I love this verse. You know why?

Because this verse assures me that when God opens a door, there is nothing and no one alive who can shut that door for us when God opens it for us or when God opens it for anyone. You know, for example, I think of the establishment of the of the modern state of Israel. There was never, perhaps in all of history, a more improbable, unlikely, impossible looking event than the rebirth of the modern state of Israel before World War Two.

The Jewish people were scattered all over the globe, mostly in ghettos. They had no centralized leadership. They had no financial power. They had no political power. They had no military power. They had no diplomatic power.

They had no legislative power. And then to make matters worse, during World War Two, over six million of them were killed. Almost half the population in the world of Jewish people was were killed. But then in 1948, God opened a door for his people and the United Nations passed a resolution supporting a homeland for the Jews in Palestine.

And immediately after that, David Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel, declared the independence of the modern state of Israel. And immediately 300 million Arabs said, Oh, no, you don't. We're going to close that door. Egypt said, No, we're closing that door. And Syria said no. And Lebanon said no. And Iraq said no. And Saudi Arabia said no.

And Jordan said no. And Yemen said no. And Libya said no. And Sudan said no. And Morocco said no. And Tunisia said no.

But God said yes. And friends, don't you worry about Iran getting dangerous weapons. And don't you worry about Hezbollah and Lebanon having all these rockets. I'm here to tell you that God has opened a door for his people. And the nation of Israel is staying right where it is.

It's not going anywhere. Praise God for that, huh? Amen. And, you know, when I think of God opening a door, I think of the resurrection. God said, I'm going to open a door for Jesus to rise from the dead. And the Jewish rabbis and the Roman soldiers and Pilate with all their wax seals and all their nasty schemes said, Well, we'll just see about that.

Well, we know how this ended, right? In fact, Psalm 2 tells us that the very fact that all these people thought they could close the door for Jesus rising from the dead, that God had opened, that that idea was so ludicrous and so ridiculous. Psalm 2, verse 4, that he who sits in heaven laughed at them. He said, Are you serious?

You really think you can close a door I've opened? That's funny. And God laughed at them.

Check it out. And then I think of Pharaoh. God said to him, You know, I'm going to open a door for the Israelites to leave Egypt.

And he said, Well, we'll just see about that. I'm closing that door. Hey, friends, by the time the dust had settled, Yul Brynner was sorry he'd ever met an Israelite. Let me just say that. And then I think of Haman and I think of Goliath and I think of Jezebel and I think of Nebuchadnezzar and I think of the Nazis and I think of Mussolini and on and on the list goes. All these peoples put their hands on their hips and said, I'm closing that door. Well, hello.

It didn't end well for them. And friends, the point is our world is full of people who believe that they are the immovable object in this universe. Maybe you have a boss who sees themselves this way or a professor or a relative or neighbor or coworker, and they're determined with their hands on their hips to keep shut whatever door it is that you desperately need open. Or maybe it's just a situation that looks so impossible that an open door seems hopeless in that situation. Ah, my Christian friend, don't you worry.

Don't you worry. King Nebuchadnezzar tried to shut a door. God opened and he learned a very important lesson.

Here's what he said. Daniel four, verse thirty five. He said, God is the one God is the one who does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. And no one, no one can hold back his hand. Friends, God is the irresistible force in this universe. And when God decides to open a door for us, listen to me. No stone, no seal, no soldier, no boss, no coworker, no relative, no Pharaoh, no Jezebel, no three hundred million Arabs and no impossible looking situation.

I don't care what it is. Nothing is going to shut that door when God says I'm opening that door. Amen.

Amen. And listen, we as followers of Christ, we should ask for this kind of power to be shown in our life and we should rely on God showing this kind of power in our life. God has the last word in this universe, friends. And so often we bang our heads and bang our heads and bang our heads trying to get things done and doors to open. When if we just back up and say, Lord, open a door for me, no man can shut and let God do it.

Friends, doors open and they don't shut when God does it. You know, my wife and I had scheduled way back a trip that we were going to take outside the United States. And we decided a week or so ago that we were going to cancel it. And the ticket I had was on American Airlines.

But it was the way it worked out was kind of weird. But it was a one way ticket to fly back from this country that we were going to back to the United States. So I thought, well, this is simple. I'll call American up. I'll cancel the ticket. I'll pay my, you know, change fee.

And then I'll use the residual value to fly somewhere here in the United States. I called up American Airlines. I told them what I want to do. And the agent said, I'm sorry, sir.

She looked at it. She said, I'm sorry, we can't do that. And I said, why not? She said, we're not allowed to change the country of origin for the ticket. And this ticket is originating outside the United States. And I said, well, yeah, I understand that. But I said, all I'm going to do is turn around and use this same ticket to buy another ticket on American.

I mean, you're going to get your money. I don't understand the problem. She said, I'm sorry, sir.

This is a hard and fast rule that we cannot, we do not break. I said, well, could I talk to a supervisor? She said, well, I'll talk to him for you. She came back on and she said, the supervisor said, this is a hard and fast rule and we do not break it. I said, all right, okay, thank you very much. Hung up, called right back. I thought I'd get a different agent. And I did. So I went through the thing with the agent and the agent said, I'm sorry, this is a hard and fast rule.

We never break this rule. I said, okay, would you ask a supervisor? She said, all right, hold on. She came back and said, the supervisor said to tell you she already told you no once. How was I supposed to know I'm going to get the same supervisor? I said, all right, okay, I'll wait and call back tomorrow when the supervisors have changed. They've, you know, and so I did. I called back the next day.

I got an agent. She said, you know this. I said, I know I know it's a hard and fast rule. You never break.

I know that. Would you ask a supervisor? Supervisor came back and said, no, I'm sorry.

It's a hard and an onion onion onion. So I hung up and I'm sitting there and I was going to call back. And it was like the Holy Spirit tapped me on the shoulder and said, hey, hey, Lon, you can keep doing this if you want and just banging your head up against these people. Or you know what you could do?

You could stop and ask me to open a door that they can't shut. I said, Lord, that's a really good idea. And so I did. I prayed and I said, Lord Jesus, I just need you to open in the heart of some supervisor a door that they can't shut to want to reissue this ticket for me.

Amen. And so I called back the next day and I got an agent and the agent said, this is I as a hard and fast rule that I understand that. I said, could I talk to a supervisor? So they said, hold on. So while I'm holding on for the supervisor, I'm praying, Lord Jesus, open a door no man can shut in this person's heart.

Open a door no man can shut in this person's heart. Lord, I'm relying on you. So the supervisor came on and she gave me her name and I said, ma'am, I said, are you having a good day? And she said, well, so far, why?

And I said, well, I need to ask you for a special favor. And I went through the whole thing with her. And she said, well, hold on a second. And she came, got off the phone, came back. She came back on and she said, sir, she said, I'm sorry, I cannot reissue this ticket for you. It is a hard and fast rule.

We never break. And I went, doggone it. She said, but she said, what if I just cancel the ticket altogether and send you a travel voucher for the value that you can use anywhere you want, in any country you want, anytime you want? I said, oh, that would be wonderful. And she said, you know, I just need to tell you, sir. She said, I don't even know why I'm doing this for you. And I said, well, ma'am, that's okay. I just want to assure you, you are doing the right thing. And so today I hold in my sweaty little palm a voucher from American Airlines.

Yeah. Anywhere I want to go, anytime I want to go there. Friends, listen to me. How often do you and I sit there and bang our head and bang our head and bang our head trying to get doors open? Instead of turning to the Lord and saying, hey, Lord, here's a door I really need open. Can you open this door no man can shut? And I'll tell you, friends, there are impossible looking situations that some of us are facing that we cannot get the door open.

I'm here to tell you there's another way to go at this. Why don't you let the living Christ of the universe open the door for you? And there are people standing right in the doorway like Pharaoh, like the like pilot, you know, with their hands on their hips saying, oh, no, this door is never opening for you.

Well, we know somebody bigger than them, don't we? We know somebody who says, when I open the door, I don't care how many people are standing in front of it with their hands on their hips. If I open it, it's open for you. Why don't we use this great power that the Lord's granted us?

Use this access. And why don't we go to the Lord and stop depending on ourselves and depend on him? You be shocked the doors God will open for you if you'll just give him the chance.

I hope you will. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, thanks for talking to us today about real life problems. We've all got doors sitting here today that we need open some desperately.

And we've tried everything we can think of and we failed. I'm so glad, Lord Jesus, that's not the end of the story. I'm so glad that those of us who know Christ can turn to you. And as you said, when you open a door, nobody shuts that door. And so, Lord Jesus, teach us not to depend on ourselves, but to depend on the living Christ for whom there's never been a door that he can't open. If you could do it for the state of Israel, if you could do it for the Jewish people coming out of Egypt, Lord, if you could do it for Christ in the tomb, you can do it for us. And so change our whole strategy this coming week regarding closed doors and for the rest of our life. And thank you that the last word in this universe does not belong to our friends, our co-workers, our relatives, our friends. The last word belongs to you. We're grateful for that. Help us to depend on that power in our everyday lives. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. And God's people said what? Amen. Thank you.