KING'S BUSINESS PROPHECY SECTION Edited by Dr. Charles L. Feinberg, Director, Talbot Theological Seminary
by Clarence E. Mason, Jr., A.B., Th.M., D.D. Vice-President and Dean, Philadelphia College of Bible
Was the Ab raham ic Covenant
• C o n d i t io n e d ?
passage declares that Abraham had to leave Ur in order to activate this covenant. Perhaps one of the best and clearest statements of this approach is given by my good friend, Dr. J. Dwight Pentecost, in his excellent book, Things to Come. Dr. Pentecost, as well as Dr. John F. Walvoord whom he quotes, is thoroughly committed to the unconditional character of the Abrahamic covenant, just as much as I. Yet the following selection from his book (pp. 74-75) reveals that he places a condition to be fulfilled by Abraham between the promise of God to him in Ur and the actual establishment of the covenant. He says, “While Abraham was living in the home of Terah, an idolator (Josh. 24:2), God spoke to him and commanded him to leave the land of Ur, even though it entailed a journey to a strange land he did not know (Heb. 11:8), and made certain specific promises to him that depended upon this act of obedience. Abraham, in partial obedience, inasmuch as he did not separate himself from his kindred, journeyed to Haran (Gen. 11:31). He did not realize any of the promises there. It was not until after the death of his father (Gen. 11:32) that Abraham begins to realize anything of the promise God had given him, for only after his father’s death does God take him into the land (Gen. 12:4) and there reaffirm the original promise to him (Gen. 12:7). It is important to observe the relation of obedience to this covenant program. Whether God would institute a covenant program with Abraham or not de pended upon Abraham’s act of obedience in leaving the land. When once this act was accomplished, and Abraham did obey God, God instituted an irrevocable, unconditional program. This obedience, which became the basis of the institution of the program, is referred to in Genesis 22:18, where the offering of Isaac is just one more evidence of Abraham’s attitude toward God. Walvoord clearly states this fact when he writes: “ ‘As given in the Scriptures, the Abrahamic Cove nant is hinged upon only one condition. This is given in Genesis 12:1 . . . The original covenant was based upon Abraham’s obedience in leaving his homeland and going to the land of promise. No further revela tion is given him until he is obedient to this com mand after the death of his father. Upon entering Canaan, the Lord immediately gave Abraham the promise of ultimate possession of the land (Gen. 12:7), and subsequently enlarged and reiterated the original promises. “ ‘The one condition having been met, no further conditions are laid upon Abraham; the covenant hav ing been solemnly established is now dependent upon divine veracity for its fulfilment.’ “Whether there would be a covenant program with Abraham depended upon Abraham’s act of obedience. When once he obeyed, the covenant that was instituted depended, not upon Abraham’s continued obedience, but upon the promise of the One who instituted it. The fact of the covenant depended upon the obedience; the kind of covenant inaugurated was totally unrelated to the con tinuing obedience to either Abraham or his seed.” It is with this position that I disagree, namelv, that a (Continued on Next Page)
A l l premillennialists properly insist that the validity of the premillennial position depends heavily upon the unchanging character of the covenants of God with Abraham and with David. It is, indeed, due to these covenants that we insist upon the unchanging continuance of the promises of “ a land,” “ a people,” “ a kingly line,” with a view to the establishment of a future kingdom rul ed over by David’s greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in a period of blessing to “ all families of the earth” ( period later identified as being a thousand years, Rev. 20). The opponents of the premillennial position are just as urgent in saying that the earthly aspects, at least, of the covenants of God with Abraham and David, were dependent for their continuance upon the continued obedi ence of Abraham and David and their respective descend ants. Thus, Israel’s failure set aside any promised rights they had to the land, to an earthly kingdom, and to any particular relationship to Christ in a future kingdom on earth, say the amillennialists. According to this view, Israel’s failure has made them ineligible and has opened the door for the Church to take over and inherit the spir itual aspects of those covenants. Thus Christ is king, but not king of the Jews. He reigns over the hearts of His own in all the world, the Church having superseded Israel as “ the seed of Abraham.” Any “ earthly” promises have been set aside in favor of “heavenly” promises. The premillennialist replies that there is, of course, a half truth in all of this. Israel is blind in part and is temporarily set aside during this age when God is taking out from the nations “ a people for His name,” Jew and Gentile. But Romans 9-11 is just as insistent that God will graft “ the natural branches” back into their native “ olive tree” when Israel repents. Then all the Israel of God will be rescued by the return of “ the Deliverer out of Zion,” and all God’s kingdom promises to Israel, and through Israel to the world, will be fulfilled in accordance with the unchanged Old Testament Scripture. Thus Israel’s failure requires discipline, but the covenants are not can celed, and the Church does not take over permanently. The most casual reading of amillennial and premillen nial literature on this subject will make crystal clear that the real issue is the question of whether the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants are conditional or unconditional. This is a crucial point and there is no cause for premil lennialists to think that they have solved it by over simpli fication and a wave of the hand. Mere asserting that the promise to Abraham was unconditional does not make it so. We shall proceed to an examination of this problem, but first let us refresh our minds with the wording of the first announcement of the covenant of God with Abraham as recorded in Genesis 12:1-3: “ Now the LORD has said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: (2) And I will make thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: (3) And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” The usual approach of the premillennialists to this
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