Genesis 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river, of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
Now remember, Abram as of yet, has no children. God now defines the boundaries of the land: "Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates."
I'd like you to note that God promises the land to Abram over and over again.
The promise was first to Abram, then to his seed, then God makes a covenant, and defines the boundaries of the land.
Now, a covenant is a contract or agreement between two parties. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word berith is always thus translated. Berith is derived from a root barrah, which means: "to cut." Hence, a covenant is a "cutting," with reference to the cutting or dividing of animals into two parts-and the covenanting parties passing between them; thus making a covenant.
Genesis 17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
Not only will he have a son, but God will establish his covenant with Isaac, an it will be an everlasting covenant with his seed after him.
Now, I am aware of Ishmael. However, Ishmael was born after Genesis 15:18.
Genesis 16:1-5 1Now Sarai Abram's wife bore him no children:, and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 2And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. 3And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. 4And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. 5And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.
Sometimes we try to help God out. Abram was 86 when Ishmael was born. That would have put Sarai around 76 or so.
Genesis 16: 15-16 15And Hagar bore Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.Genesis 17:1-5 1And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. 2And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 3And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, 4As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. 5Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
Abraham pleaded with God for Ishmael, however God told Abraham that Isaac would be the one God had chose to make the covenant with.
Genesis 17:15-19 15And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. 16And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. 17Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? 18And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! 19And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
God did remember Ishmael.
Genesis 17: 20-22 20And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. 21But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. 22And he left off talking with him, and God went up from, Abraham.
As a parent, I can appreciate verse 22. In other words, that ended the conversation.
Sometimes you don't find God until you get to the end of yourself!
When you have exhausted all of your resources, then we think, Oh, God! There wasn't anything more to say and God left. There are some things you can discuss with God, and He will give on; and there are some things that when He says, "That's it!" He won't budge.
This was not foreign to Abraham.
Genesis 18:17-33 17And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; 18Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.20And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; 21I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. 22And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.23And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? 25That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? 26And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. 27And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: 28Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. 29And he spoke unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake. 30And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. 31And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake. 32And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.33And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.
Here we see Abraham bargaining with God, and God harkened to Abraham's request. However, when it came to Isaac, there was no bargaining.
Later, when Abraham goes and offers Isaac to God, an angel of God calls out to him and stops him from sacrificing Isaac.
Genesis 22:15-17 15And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
Here we see the promise expanded to include the gate or the gates or land of their enemies. The New International Version is a little clearer here on the word gates.
NIV Genesis 22:17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,
The promise was first to Abram, then to his seed, then God makes a covenant, then He defines the boundaries, then the promise of a son and the covenant established with his seed forever. Then the boundaries were expanded to the lands of their enemies.
I would like you to note that this was the hope of Abraham, and all throughout the Old Testament. Israel carried this hope. The hope of inheriting the land.
This is defined and expanded one more time that I am aware of.
Romans 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Here, when we get to the New Testament, we see that God expands the promise to include the entire world (Earth).
To be continued… ÿ