It had been hundreds of years since the final chapter of the Old Testament was penned. Israel was under much political, economic, cultural, and religious duress during the intertestamental period, and Jewish expectations for a deliverer, a Messiah, were high.
Matthew’s Gospel, written to a Jewish audience, opens with this introduction.
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Mathew 1:1
God, “I’d Like You To Meet My Son”
We should allow this opening verse to sink in as God introduces his Son to his chosen people. David was a shepherd, a warrior, and then a king. He was a champion, loved by the people. He brought the ark to Jerusalem and provided the materials for his son Solomon to build the temple. He was one of their own, acquainted with a life of suffering and difficulty, yet he overcame tremendous obstacles to rule over his people. His life was the quintessential underdog story. What was there not to love about this guy?
Abraham, along with David, was also part of this introductory statement. He was a friend of God, the Most High. YHVH actually made a covenant with Abraham, giving him the land over which David would later rule. He was a sojourner, warrior, herdsman, and, remarkably, a priest (recall when he interceded for Sodom). This man was the father of their nation, actually many nations who are blessed to share his faith. Abraham met with and was blessed by Melchizedek, the mysterious king who prefigured the coming Messiah.
Neither of these men was perfect; in fact, they were flawed human specimens uniquely equipped with their own baggage. Still, God had promised to make their names great (Gen. 12:2, 2 Sam. 7:9). Therefore, to introduce his only begotten Son, he calls on David and Abraham as representative figures through which he will introduce his Son, the Jewish Messiah.
Through these two men, the Gospel of Mathew highlights Christ’s two major roles (Priest and King). He is the mediator of the Abrahamic covenant while simultaneously the rightful heir to David’s throne. Let me unpack that last sentence. Think first of Abraham’s calling and the covenant God made with him as foreshadowing Jesus’ first coming two thousand years ago. Secondly, consider Jesus taking his place on David’s throne and dealing with his enemies at the Second Coming as the fulfillment of David’s role. In this post, we will look at the Abrahamic portion.
Prelude to the Cross
Above, we mentioned the phrase “Abrahamic Covenant”; what do we mean by this term? A proper understanding of this topic is vital to unlocking the Biblical narrative. The new covenant is not a recasting of the Mosaic Law and the corresponding covenant that was introduced at Mount Sinai. The new covenant goes back 430 years prior to Sinai to the time of Abraham, i.e., the time of the Abrahamic Covenant. Notice how Paul explains it.
To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.
Galatians 3:15-18
In other words, the covenant God made with Abraham is still in effect at the time Paul wrote Galatians.
Defining Terms
A covenant is a binding, sacred agreement between two parties. It is more than a legal contract; a covenant creates a permanent relational bond, establishing promises of protection and salvation while requiring loyalty and faithfulness from the parties. Elements of a covenant include solemn oaths, a ritual sacrifice, and exchange of tokens between the parties, followed by a communal meal.
Covenant relationships were common and well understood in the ancient world. Two examples can be found in the Old Testament: first, between King Solomon and King Hiram of Tyre in 1 Kings 5, and a second example between King Ben-Hadad of Aram and King Ahab of Israel in 1 Kings 20.
The Covenant Ceremony
God used an ancient, well-understood custom(the Covenant ritual) with Abraham to guarantee that he would perform the promises he was making to him and his descendants. Before going on, please read Genesis 15:12-19.
Abraham was put into a deep sleep, yet he witnessed God passing through the animal portions which he had earlier prepared. Since he was in a deep slumber, Abraham did not participate in the covenant ritual by passing between the animal portions. Still, somehow God allowed him to witness the ceremony (a vision perhaps). We should understand that, although Abraham was fast asleep, there were still two parties to this covenant. The two parties were the smoking firepot and the flaming torch(Gen. 15:17). This was a covenant God the Father was making with God the Son. (For comparison, there are other locations in the Old Testament where these two elements (firepot and flame or torch) of fire appear in proximity; here is a sampling. (Ex. 3:2; Is. 10:17; Zech. 12:6)
In other words, God cut a covenant with himself on behalf of Abraham and his descendants. What do we find in Genesis 15 that God was promising to do for Abraham through the covenantal terms?
- I am your shield and your great reward.
- His descendants would be like the stars of heaven.
- He was counted righteous because he believed God’s word to him.
- I will give you this land to possess.
- Your descendants will serve another nation for four hundred years, but I will punish that nation, and your descendants will come out with great possessions.
Understanding Covenantal Elements
Ritual sacrifice
The sacrifice is described in verses 9-10.
He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.
Solemn oaths | Exchange of Tokens
After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
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And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
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And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
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And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
Genesis 15:1,5,6,7
Parties pass through the animal portions.
When the sun had gone down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”
Genesis 15:17-21
The covenant was presided over by a witness.
When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
Genesis 15:12
When a covenant was established, promises were made, and sometimes gifts were exchanged and/or a meal may have been shared. The shared experiences served to ratify the covenant. The covenant was presided over by a witness or a mediator.
This covenant, however, was highly unusual because, as a witness to the events, Abraham was asleep and two people were not passing between the portions – rather, it was a smoking firepot and blazing torch. If unfamiliar with fire imagery, such as firepot and torch, for the Godhead, you may wish to study that subject.
A Broken Covenant
Once the covenant ceremony was completed, what if one of the parties broke the covenant? In other words, what is the curse of a broken covenant?
In ancient cultures, the consequence of breaking the covenant was the same fate as happened to the severed animal portions. The perjurer or oath breaker would pay the price with their own blood. We may think of the “Akedah” or “Binding of Isaac” in Genesis 22 as an object lesson whereby God demonstrated to Abraham that he could not keep the covenant terms. God the Son, in the form of a “blazing torch” in Gen. 15 or the “ram caught in the thicket” in Gen. 22, would fulfill this sacrifice on behalf of Abram’s descendants when they violated the covenant. In other words, this covenant story in Gen. 15 establishes the covenant between Father and Son on our behalf. But then in Genesis 22 it highlights how Abraham must pay the consequence of a broken covenant with his own flesh, but God steps in in the form of the ram to pay the price on his behalf.
Abrahamic Covenant-Foundation of the New Testament
What happened at the cross was that God the Father and God the Son(smoking firepot and blazing torch) fulfilled the curse of the broken Abrahamic covenant on our behalf. We were dead in our sins(a deep sleep like Abraham). The covenant terms we could never fulfill, God did for us.
To more fully appreciate what God did in Christ, consider the description in the book of Hebrews. Keep in mind the Hebrews were already familiar with the ceremony, so they did not need a complete lesson on the covenant ceremony.
Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
Heb. 9:15
For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”
Heb. 10:4-7
Abrahamic Covenant-The Renewed Covenant
Consider the passage from Jeremiah:
“The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord.
“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”
Jeremiah 31:31–34
Jeremiah is describing a new covenant to replace the Mosaic Covenant, the covenant established at Mount Sinai where the law was given and received by the people.
The word “new” in this passage is enlightening. According to Strong’s concordance, the Hebrew word for “new” is châdâsh, which means a fresh or new thing. However, it is derived from the word châdash, which means to rebuild, renew, or repair. In other words, God used the law to show us our need for a savior. We are unable to live up to his standard of righteousness. Jesus fulfilled that standard on our behalf and, at the same time, paid the penalty for our failures (curse of broken covenant).
While the Abrahamic covenant foreshadowed these things, Christ completely restored and implemented the Abrahamic covenant on our behalf. So this new or renewed covenant is at once both old and new.
Now even as Abraham was asleep while the “covenant was cut”, we were dead or asleep in our sins. And the Lord’s charge to us is:
“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
Eph. 5:14
Conclusion
Does this seem paradoxical, that something can be both new and ancient at the same time? As you will discover, the scriptures are full of such paradoxical teaching. In this post, our goal has been to rediscover the Abrahamic covenant and how Christ, our high priest, makes it châdâsh (new, fresh, repaired, and renewed) for his people today.
“Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.”
Mathew 13:52
What does all this mean? Our relationship with God is now based on faith and belief in God’s promises and the work he has done for us. It is his character and his work, not in our holy duties and religious obligations. Jesus was born and served under a new priesthood and, therefore, a new legal system—one based on grace, compassion, and truth. This new priesthood existed both before and after the Levitical priesthood. Christ satisfied both the demands of the priesthood and the law. This is how he can function as the bridge.
For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed of him, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”
Hebrews 7:12-17
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