Abrahamic Covenant

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Pages: 8

When it comes to the Old Testament, one of the defining features of it would have to be the variously established covenants that the people entered with God. Such covenants helped to establish a sort of treaty between the people and God by listing what was expected of the people as well as stating the conditions that were to be adhered to. Such examples of this include the Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, and New Covenants, all of which served such a purpose between God and those who entered into the covenant. However, another key aspect is that such covenants also have a significant deal of relation between each other which can be observed via making a careful examination. Thus the covenantal system found within Old Testament literature can be …show more content…
The Abrahamic covenant was established between God and Abraham and was centered around promises of land, offspring, and that he would be blessed (Beckwith, 1987). As with the case of Noah, such a covenant was largely influenced by the context which existed for the person involved at the time (Arnold & Beyer, 2015). Abraham was shown to be married to a barren woman, lacked any notable land, and was without much nobility in society (Genesis 12:1–9).Thus the Abrahamic covenant for Abraham was a promise to have his life radically changed for the better (Beckwith, 1987). One of the key aspects to consider how the Abrahamic covenant affects the relationship between God and the people is with regards to how such promises were to take place (Arnold & Beyer, 2015). At the time of his death, many of the covenantal promises were not fulfilled since Abraham had an offspring but it was far from a great nation, he lacked much control over the land, and he was not yet of his notable status as a spiritual forefather (Arnold & Beyer, 2015). This established the notion (as seen in later covenants) that the covenantal promises that are offered to the people but rather may take a significant amount of time to be fulfilled to the point that they may not be in one's lifetime (Arnold & Beyer, 2015). However, as in the case of Abraham, God is still faithful to the covenants that he enters into with his people even if they may take a significant amount of