Covenant 3b: Abraham

Covenant Mediators, Roles, Participants, and Witnesses

Divine Initiative Nature and Structure of the Human Party

God sets up the Context and Speaks to Man

• Gen 12:1–3 - This is what we discussed Last Session

God’s Faithfulness

• Genesis 15:1-6, 12-14: When God first communicates with Abraham, he offers a command followed by a promise. Again, we see God not abandoning and continuing His plan for man's redemption in and through working with man through covenant like interactions. God understands Abram’s humanity and fear. Verse 3 reveals Abram’s anguish: no heir, God knows the magnitude of the gift He is promising

• Abram’s faith is credited as righteousness (Gn 15:6)

Mediator

Abraham: Responds with faith, struggle, obedience, and growth. As patriarch and father of a chosen people, Abraham mediates the covenant by faith—binding his descendants to God through promise, not law. He embodies not just an individual, but the seed of a nation. Transitional mediator between family (Noah) and nation (Moses)

Covenant Expression / Form of Human Party Bounds

Descendants which become tribes

Change and Content of the Blessing, Promise, Curse, Reward, and Signs

Reward If Lived

 From Previous Session: What promises does God make to Abram? (of these we will want to keep track of this as we read on)

• "I will make of you a great nation..." - Kingdom

• "I will bless you, and make your name great so that you will be a blessing." - Exaltation/Glorification

• "I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. - Safety

Genesis 17:1-11 

This marks a decisive deepening of God’s covenant with Abraham: a royal promise, a new identity symbolized by name changes, and the sign of circumcision. Abraham’s obedience leads to the birth of Isaac, the child of promise. In the broader sweep of salvation history, the Magisterium and the saints teach that this covenant ultimately finds its fulfillment in Christ and His Church. The temporal promises foreshadow greater spiritual realities—faith, divine adoption, the gift of the Spirit, and eternal inheritance—brought to completion at the resurrection. Thus, all who believe become the true children of Abraham and heirs to the covenant’s enduring blessings.

Abraham and his household respond with obedience. God is faithful, and within the year, Sarah at last conceives and gives birth to Isaac, the son of the promise (Gn 21:1–3).

We also notice the word "everlasting" used.

Curse If Broken

• In Gen 15:7-10,17-18, God alone, symbolized by the smoking fire pot and flaming torch, passes between the pieces, taking on Himself the death-penalty if the covenant fails, which implies that the covenant curse for a breaker is to become like those slaughtered animals (death, destruction).

• In Genesis 17:10-14 the specific penalty for failing the sign of the covenant (circumcision) is that “that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant,” which is covenant-language for exclusion and, in effect, a death sentence within Israel’s communal life. At first, it may seem like Abram’s misbehavior is rewarded. However, a closer look shows that, like a good father, the Lord is using this as a teaching moment for Abram.

• Later Scripture shows these covenant curses unfolding corporately: when Abraham’s descendants persist in disobedience, they lose the land and experience exile—enforcing covenant curses (e.g., wilderness wandering; destruction of Judah and Jerusalem).

  • Deuteronomy 28:15-24 (the rest is pretty comprehensive in terms of what can go wrong) details this pattern (famine, defeat, exile), all reflecting the same reality: breaking the covenant brings the curse of death, loss, and expulsion from God’s promise.

• Implied in every circumstance in the Old Testament: Self-reliance is nowhere near as fruitful as obedience to God. We need more than positive reward if we follow, by virtue of our fickle nature we also need pain and loss if we stray to remind us God is our only true life.

Signs, In light of Other Parts

Deuteronomy 30:1-6  What might Circumcision be directed at achieving?

• Their hearts were the problem, removing the evil in it is what circumcision is a symbol of and it is the heart that leads them in unity in God/.

• Matthew 5:30

• Any others?

Historical Context, Timing, and Narrative Setting

History Since Last Covenant:

• Genesis 12-14 (covered last session)

  • Melchizedek

• Genesis 16:2–4

  •  What's going on God? It has been ten years and no heir! what the heck man!

  • Adam and Eve overlap (waiting for the fulfillment of desire and attempting to short-circuit that by grasping for control)

    • Ten years go by, and Abram still has no heir. In a moment of desperation, Sarai tells Abram to take matters into his own hands: Sarai gives her maid, Hagar, to Abram to start a line of descendants. Abram doesn’t object; he sleeps with Hagar, as a kind of “surrogate mother.” She conceives a son, Ishmael. This was not what God had in mind, but because this child is Abram’s offspring (and God keeps His promises), Ishmael’s descendants will become an entire nation: traditionally, the Arab people. (see family tree

    • Initially, God seems silent about Abram’s behavior, but the consequences will be revealed later in the details of the narrative. 

  • Immediately after the Hagar incident, the narrative jumps 13 years — to the next time Abram hears God speak.

    • Ismael is about 13

    • 23 years since the first promise

    • God on occasion makes us wait and works with our humanity in the smallest ways to help us follow Him more organically rather than removing our free will even when we think we would prefer Opt-in perfection for its grand, supposed convenience

Immediate Context

Immediate context is most fundamentally noted by God bringing Abraham's faith to Perfection otherwise Spans 23 years from God’s first preparation of Abram 

The Making of the Covenant: Rituals and Ratification

God as Primary Maker and Active Party

Evident from priopr consideration

Human Response: Obedience, Sacrifice, and Failure

Obedience and Reverence:

• Abram(ham) obedience and trusted when it counted most, responding well to successive and then ultimate challenges

Disobedience and Failure:

• Abram still has room to grow even after letting go of Lot

• Faith is real but imperfect - Trust must deepen beyond immediate outcomes

• The Hagar Incident

Purpose of This Covenant

Preparation for Christ

Melchizedek from last Session

Abram as Christ Figure

Obedience in the face of strife and hints of the essential quality of suffering in redemption and how it can bring sanctification to effect.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says

59 In order to gather together scattered humanity God calls Abram from his country, his kindred and his father’s house,[1] and makes him Abraham, that is, “the father of a multitude of nations”. “In you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”[2]

60 The people descended from Abraham would be the trustee of the promise made to the patriarchs, the chosen people, called to prepare for that day when God would gather all his children into the unity of the Church.[3] They would be the root on to which the Gentiles would be grafted, once they came to believe.

61 The patriarchs, prophets and certain other Old Testament figures have been and always will be honored as saints in all the Church’s liturgical traditions.

[1] Gen 12:1.

[2] Gen 17:5; 12:3 (LXX); cf. Gal 3:8.

[3] Cf. Rom 11:28; Jn 11:52; 10:16.

The Sacrifice of Isaac

Genesis 22:1-19 - Safety/Anticipates Resurrection Logic

Abraham must have thought, "Wait what? But I just got him. He is the one thing that fulfills God's end of the bargain" You will want to note the idea of the gift of the son. Abram only became "who" he is now because of the promise God made him and the follow-up on that promise in the person of Isaac. God asks Abraham to sacrifice the content of the promise, all that he had gained/benefited from having the relationship with God until this point what is God getting at here?

• Realize the sublimity of the Covenant

• We will look more into this as we approach the New Covenant and then

• God may very well be asking the question "is this gift the end for Abraham?" Did He treat God as a means to an end? Does He now have all that he wanted?

  • What Abraham does reveals this is not the case, that He truly loves God more than His gifts

    • "Peter, do you love me?"

  • Abraham, in a concrete way, demonstrates his love for God, commitment to the covenant, and ready to spare nothing in the name of the love of God

Now we take another step in this story, Let us look at Joesph, Abraham's Great-grandson (The Son of Jacob, who is Isaac's Son). 

FOCUS Notes:

We learned that God made three promises to Abram, each one corresponding to the next three covenants in the story of salvation. God elevates these promises to covenants that extend to Abram’s entire tribe. We also discussed Abram’s struggle to let go of Lot and how we need to let go of our own “Lot” in life. Finally, we discussed Abram’s faithfulness, even though he couldn’t see how God was going to fulfill His promises. The symbol of the stars reminds us to be faithful, even when we can’t see how things are going to work out.

 It is important now to consider the scope of this covenant in comparison to the past covenants.

The Betrayal of Joseph is introduced and also prefigures Christ

Genesis 39:1-2; 7-15; 19-23

Abram had Ishmael with Hagar and Isaac with Sarai. Isaac had Jacob and Esau through Rebekah. Jacob's children, born to Leah and Rachel, formed the tribes of Israel, while Esau's descendants became the Edomites. Joseph, born to Rachel, was the son of Jacob and great-grandson of Abraham.

Lot's descendants, through his daughters, formed the Moabites and Ammonites, with Moab and Ben-ammi, respectively (Genesis 19:36-38).

Sometimes, the enemy uses the little righteousness we have against us, trying to undermine our trust in God's omnibenevolence, omnipotence, and omniscience. In our world today, innocent people can be falsely accused, and often victims are believed more readily than the accused. Yet, regardless of external circumstances, we are called to make the most of our situations, not just for ourselves but for others. This dynamic also addresses the problem of evil—God always redeems sin, even our worst decisions.

The theme of false accusations and the punishment of the innocent will emerge in other stories throughout this study, especially in minor Biblical narratives. This particular event occurs after Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery when he was about 17 (Genesis 37:2). Thirteen years later, Joseph rose to power as vice-regent in Pharaoh's court, becoming co-steward of Egypt. The plot deepens as we continue...

Genesis 42:1-9

Joseph, in the heat of the moment, uses temporary deception to test his brothers. Is he justified?

Moral theology answer: Unknown, but questionable. While the deception leads to positive outcomes—perhaps ones that wouldn't have occurred otherwise—it’s important to recognize that lying is generally not a moral action. However, given the context, where his brothers had previously sold him into slavery rather than killing him, it is understandable that Joseph would feel the need to test their sincerity before fully trusting them, especially considering their past betrayal.

Genesis 42:29-36

The more He lets this charade continue the worse effect it has. However, again, we see something of a test like that of Abraham and Isaac in Chapter 22. Let us continue.

 Genesis 44:4-13

Now it is certainly crossing a line, we continue some more.

 Genesis 44:30-45:3

He finally ends the charade and confesses to being Joesph and forgives His brothers who wrong him. If your family sold you into slavery and you were suddenly apart for 13 years, and they need your approval, what might your reaction have been?

Hebrews 11:8-12

Wraps this up well

Restoration and Redemption of Humanity

• Perfection is not a mere opt-in but an on-going, active dialogue and reciprocal relationship with God, accomplished through and not in spite of suffering, difficulty, and questioning.

• Hope in the face of concern

• Action, living witness, and sacrifice of personal attachments and cultural concepts of safety in favor of the the eternal safety God offers

• Change of Heart/Faith

Growth of Communion and the Kingdom

Abraham is the patriarchal hinge point between God's chosen being a handful or less to a multitude.

Obedience and Faith are clear themes in the Story of Abraham

Consider Reading Acts 14:15-17, 22-31

“Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. In past generations he allowed all the nations to follow their own ways; yet he has not left himself without a witness in doing good—giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.”

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us.

For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,

‘For we too are his offspring.’

Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”