CHAPTER 1
Successful athletes know that to succeed in sports they must first master the fundamentals. The same is true with Biblical prophecy. A person cannot turn to the Book of the Revelation and expect instantaneous understanding of the End Times. It is, after all, a complex and multifaceted subject. Before we can begin to make sense of it, we too must work on some fundamentals.
Fortunately, the most important fundamental is already a familiar one. I am referring to the covenants. Anyone who has married, signed a lease, or agreed to mow a neighbor's lawn has made a covenant. It is simply an agreement (like a contract) between two or more people. Naturally, it defines what each person is supposed to do. These are the terms or provisions of the covenant.
A distressing characteristic of today is that covenants are no longer taken seriously. A generation ago, business was done on a handshake. Now, two lawyers and a notary public are required for every transaction. The practice of the day is that people break agreements whenever it is to their advantage; athletes renegotiate their contracts after a good year; politicians renege on promises as soon as the elections are over.
It was different in the ancient world of the Bible. The people of that day would sooner die than break a covenant. To them it was the most solemn and binding agreement in existence. To understand why, we need to see how the practice began. The use of covenants is traced back to an ancient Semitic rite known as blood covenanting.
A form of mutual covenanting, by which two persons enter into the closest, the most enduring, and the most sacred of compacts, as friends and brothers, or as more than brothers, through the inter-commingling of their blood, by means of mutual tasting, or of its inter- transfusion. The rite is still observed in the unchanging East; and there are historic traces of it from time immemorial, in every quarter of the globe.1
In the late 1800's the famed explorer, Henry Stanley, had success among primitive African tribes because he understood the power of blood covenants. Over 50 times Stanley opened his veins, mixing his blood with tribal leaders in the cause of civilization. Many times dangers were averted thanks to his faithful covenant partners, all of whom would rather die than break their covenant vows to aid Stanley.
In ancient times, when two people wished to make a covenant, they entered into a solemn ceremony. Since blood letting was usually involved, it was referred to as "cutting a covenant." The ceremony itself was filled with acts which emphasized the permanent nature of the covenant. Observing an ancient blood covenant ceremony makes one realize how deeply they were committed to their vows. Here are some of the common elements of that ceremony:
Perhaps by now, you are wondering what this has to do with Biblical prophecy. The answer lies in one indisputable fact: God used this concept as the foundation for all His redemptive plans. It didn't matter whether He was dealing with a nation or an individual. Anything pertaining to salvation was conveyed through a covenant. Since God's plan of salvation required that men trust Him completely, He couched it in terms of a blood covenant. In that way, men were encouraged to trust God as completely as they would any human covenant partner.
As little as a century ago, this concept was a keynote of theology. Strangely, today the Covenants are virtually ignored. Perhaps an over emphasis on the "dispensation" of the church age has brought on the change. Whatever the reason, the result has been a confused understanding of the Bible.
The first eight chapters of Genesis cover the period from Creation to the days of Noah and the Flood. One of Noah's descendants was named Abram. It was through him that God began His plan for man's redemption, and at the heart of that plan was a covenant.
Genesis 12 records how God told Abram to leave his country and his father's house to go to a land which He would show him. As part of that call, God made some momentous promises to Abram. First, He promised that Abram's descendants would become a great nation, and they would be as numerous as the stars. In addition, God promised all the land of Canaan to Abram and his descendants as an everlasting possession. He also said that all those who blessed Abram would be blessed, and all who cursed him would be cursed (see Genesis 12:3).
All these blessings were Abram's if he would but enter into a covenant with God. Although common between men, no one had ever heard of a covenant with God. As a permanent symbol of that covenant, Abram was later circumcised. There was also a combining of names. The letter in God's name which corresponds to our "H" was added to Abram's name, making him Abraham (Abra" HA"m). In the same way his wife, Sarai, became Sarah.
A casual reading of this Covenant shows something surprising; it was entirely unconditional. To emphasize that fact, after Abram cut the sacrificial animals in two, God put him to sleep! Although there were no terms for Abram, there were several for God. Because of its one-sided nature, this Covenant is often called the "promise."
Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and his seed...For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise (Galatians 3:16,18).
Several years later, God again appeared to Abram. It was then that He expanded the Covenant to include Abram's descendants. Although everyone is aware of the Covenant with Abram, most seem to forget that the same Covenant applied to Abraham's descendants. On this point, the Bible could not be more explicit.
And, I will establish My Covenant between Me and you [Abram] and YOUR DESCENDANTS after you through out their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to YOUR DESCENDANTS after you (Genesis 17:7).
Some thirty years after that, God decided to test Abraham. If he was serious about their Covenant, Abraham would be willing to do whatever God (his covenant partner) asked. In place of the usual animal sacrifices, God asked Abraham to offer his son, Isaac! Though the request was immense, Abraham did not hesitate. Immediately he prepared to offer his son on the altar. God intervened, however, and prevented Abraham from slaying Isaac.
The primary point of this event is usually overlooked. Much more than obedience is being pictured. After all, Abraham had already proved he was obedient when he left his home in Mesopotamia. The real significance of his willingness to offer Isaac was that Abraham proved that he was a faithful covenant partner. That is confirmed by God's next words. Immediately after the testing, God expanded the Covenant promises He'd previously made. Before, God had said Abraham was to be blessed—now he was to be GREATLY blessed! Before, God promised his seed would be numerous—now they would also possess the gate of their enemies. What's more, God added a new promise. Now, through Abraham's seed (his heirs), all the nations of the earth would be blessed!
The Bible records other covenants after Abraham's. No where does it say, however, that the original one with Abraham and his descendants was changed or set aside. Galatians 3:17 says the "promise" to Abraham has never been nullified. God called that Covenant "everlasting," and that is exactly what He meant. In fact, He swore an oath to that effect.
For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, in order that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement (Hebrews 6:16-18).
In spite of that, some theologians are teaching a view called Replacement Theology. They contend that because the sons of Israel proved unworthy, they were replaced by "spiritual descendants" of Abraham—namely, the church. By their way of thinking, every promise to Abraham's descendants now belongs to the church.
It is not hard to discover problems with that view. At the time God made His Covenant with Abraham's descendants, He undoubtedly knew they would fail a future covenant. Nevertheless, God, who cannot lie, chose to call this Covenant an everlasting one. The prophet Jeremiah addressed the possibility that God would one day replace Abraham's descendants. Even after Israel and Judah had been carried into captivity for breaking a future covenant, the prophet penned these words:
"If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I [God] will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done," declares the Lord (Jeremiah 31:37).
Replacement theology would have us believe that, contrary to what Jeremiah wrote, God has indeed cast off Abraham's descendants and replaced them with the church. They don't believe God was speaking plainly when He made promises to Abraham about his descendants. Rather, they maintain that God had in mind an entirely different group of people—a people living 1,500 years in the future whose only tie to Abraham was a similar faith.
This method of interpretation is called spiritualizing. For one reason or another, the plain reading of Scripture is rejected. In its place, some private interpretation or higher meaning is substituted. The problem is that this approach only leads to more confusion. For instance, consider the land which God promised to Abraham's descendants. Was that a literal promise or a symbolic one? If it was symbolic, why were the boundaries so specific? If it was literal, and the church has indeed replaced Israel, why aren't the Baptists and the Presbyterians striving to possess the land instead of the Jews?
He has remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations, the covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac. Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, to Israel as aneverlasting covenant, saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion of your inheritance" (Psalms 105:8- 11).
A foundational truth in prophecy is that God's plan never changes. For that reason He never has, and He never will, set aside the Covenant with Abraham's descendants! No one has replaced the "offspring of Israel," and that includes the church. To accept that view, you must come to an unthinkable conclusion—namely, that men might be faithful to their covenants, but not God! Speaking of Israel and this very issue, the Apostle Paul said,
...but from the standpoint of God's choice they [Israel] are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:28-29).
Why is this so important? Well, consider the consequences if God should break His Covenant with Abraham. Would you trust Him if He offered to make a covenant with you? As we will discover when we examine the New Covenant, this is more than a rhetorical question.
In summary, covenants cannot be changed—not by future covenants, and certainly not by reinterpreting the old ones. What's more, if it is an everlasting covenant, it can never expire. So, as we begin this study of prophecy, we start with three basic truths:
Notes on Chapter 1