Abrahamic Covenant​—Basis for Eternal Blessings

7, 8. What sort of covenant did Jehovah make with Abraham? (1 Chronicles 16:15, 16)

⁷ The patriarch Abraham, “the father of all those having faith,” was “Jehovah’s friend.” (Romans 4:11; James 2:21-23) God swore to him with an oath, setting out a covenant that is basic to our receiving eternal blessings.​—Hebrews 6:13-18.

⁸ While Abraham was in Ur, Jehovah told him to move to another land, which turned out to be Canaan. At that time Jehovah promised Abraham: “I shall make a great nation out of you and I shall bless you and I will make your name great; . . . and all the families of the ground will certainly bless themselves by means of you.”a (Genesis 12:1-3) Thereafter, God gradually added details to what we rightly speak of as the Abrahamic covenant: Abraham’s seed, or heir, would inherit the Promised Land; his seed would lead to unnumbered offspring; Abraham and Sarah would be the source of kings.​—Genesis 13:14-17; 15:4-6; 17:1-8, 16; Psalm 105:8-10.

9. How do we know that we can be involved in the Abrahamic covenant?

⁹ God called it “my covenant between me and you [Abraham].” (Genesis 17:2) But we certainly should feel that our lives are involved, for God later amplified the covenant, stating: “I shall surely bless you and I shall surely multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens and like the grains of sand that are on the seashore; and your seed will take possession of the gate of his enemies. And by means of your seed all nations of the earth will certainly bless themselves.” (Genesis 22:17, 18) We are part of those nations; a potential blessing is in store for us.

10. What insights do we get from the covenant with Abraham?

¹⁰ Let us pause to consider what we can learn from the Abrahamic covenant. Like the Edenic covenant before it, this points to a coming “seed,” thus suggesting that the seed would have a human lineage. (Genesis 3:15) That would be of the line of Shem, down to Abraham, and through his son Isaac. This line would involve kingship, and it would somehow allow for a blessing for not just one family but humans of all lands. How was that covenant fulfilled?

11. How did a literal fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant come about?

¹¹ Abraham’s descendants through Jacob, or Israel, multiplied to become a great nation. As an unnumbered literal seed of Abraham, they were dedicated to the pure worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Genesis 28:13; Exodus 3:6, 15; 6:3; Acts 3:13) Often the Israelites turned from pure worship, yet “Jehovah showed them favor and had mercy upon them . . . for the sake of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and he did not want to bring them to ruin.” (2 Kings 13:23; Exodus 2:24; Leviticus 26:42-45) Even after God accepted the Christian congregation as his people, he continued for a time to show special favor to the Israelites as a people who were the literal seed of Abraham.​—Daniel 9:27.

Spiritual Seed of Abraham

12, 13. How did Jesus prove to be the primary part of the seed in the spiritual fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant?

¹² The Abrahamic covenant had another fulfillment, a spiritual one. This greater fulfillment would not have been obvious before Jesus’ time, but we can be happy that it is clear in our time. We have the explanation of its fulfillment in God’s Word. Paul writes: “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. It says, not: ‘And to seeds,’ as in the case of many such, but as in the case of one: ‘And to your seed,’ who is Christ.”​—Galatians 3:16.

¹³ Yes, the seed would come through just one line, or family, which was true of Jesus, born a natural Jew, a literal descendant of Abraham. (Matthew 1:1-16; Luke 3:23-34) Additionally, he was part of the family of the Greater Abraham in heaven. Recall that with deep faith the patriarch Abraham had been willing to sacrifice his son Isaac if God wanted that. (Genesis 22:1-18; Hebrews 11:17-19) Similarly, Jehovah sent his only-begotten Son to earth to become a ransom sacrifice for believing mankind. (Romans 5:8; 8:32) It is thus understandable why Paul identified Jesus Christ as the principal part of the seed of Abraham according to this covenant.

14. What is the secondary part of the seed of Abraham, and to what further discussion does this lead?

¹⁴ Paul went on to indicate that God would ‘multiply Abraham’s seed’ in the spiritual fulfillment. He wrote: “If you belong to Christ, you are really Abraham’s seed, heirs with reference to a promise.” (Genesis 22:17; Galatians 3:29) Such ones are the 144,000 spirit-anointed Christians who form a secondary part of the seed of Abraham. They are not in opposition to the primary part of the seed but “belong to Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:2; 15:23) We know that many of them cannot trace their ancestry to Abraham, for they are from non-Jewish nations. More crucial in the spiritual fulfillment, though, they are not naturally part of the family of the Greater Abraham, Jehovah; rather, they come from the imperfect family of sinner Adam. So we will need to see from later covenants how they can qualify to become part of “Abraham’s seed.”