The Abrahamic Covenant
A covenant is a promise or vow between two (or more) parties. They can be either conditional (dependent on both parties fulfilling their end of the deal) or unconditional (only dependent on one party fulfilling their end of the deal). In the case of the Abrahamic Covenant, it is an unconditional covenant between God and Abram.
Genesis 12:1-3 was the covenant. God told Abram: “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” This is the promise God made. Notice all the “I will” language. God is the one who will show them the land, who will make him a great nation, who will bless him, who will make his name great, who will bless those who bless him, and will curse those who dishonor him. God will do all of it and it is without conditions on Abram’s part.
Although 12:2-3 reads like it is conditioned upon 12:1, it is not the case. Walvoord & Zuck rightly think, “The call had two imperatives, each with subsequent promises. The first imperative was to get out.”[1] Describing the interaction and imperative, however, does not indicate a condition on the covenant. In so far as the Abrahamic Covenant, there is no amount of obedience or disobedience that would hinder the promise of God to come about. This is made clear in Genesis 15.
The blood ritual in Genesis 15 is not the covenant, it is a ceremony. Like how a wedding is not the marriage, but it is a ceremony of the marriage. The wedding could happen elsewhere if they intended it to. Abram asked God, “How am I to know?” God demonstrated his promise in the ceremony. The animals that were sacrificed and split indicated the consequences of breaking the covenant. The fact that only God passed through the aisle indicated that it was solely dependent on the Lord and no conditions were on Abram. Vogt reinforces the unconditional element of the Abrahamic Covenant, “Confronted with the fact of human sin, Yahweh chooses Abram, through whom he will bless all nations (Gen. 12:1–3). Though there are many obstacles and threats to Yahweh’s plan to bless all nations through Abram and his descendants (including, especially, the actions of those descendants themselves!), Yahweh protects and preserves them.”[2]
Genesis 17 documents the gift of circumcision. Like a ring is for a marriage or baptism is for salvation. Circumcision was a sign of the Abrahamic Covenant. It was to remind Abram and the preceding nations that they belong to God and are dependent on him alone. In addition, God changed Abram’s name to Abraham as another sign in Genesis 17:5. Even more, God explained the territory that he was to give Abraham and his family in Genesis 15:18-21. When God promised to give him a name, he did. When God promised to give him a family, he did. When God promised to give him a nation, he did.
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[1] Allen P. Ross, “Genesis,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 47.
[2] Peter T. Vogt, Interpreting the Pentateuch: An Exegetical Handbook, ed. David M. Howard Jr., Handbooks for Old Testament Exegesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic & Professional, 2009), 64.
