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TREASURES OF TRUTH, VOLUME 27
THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT
BY: GEORGE R. HAWTIN
CHAPTERS 1-2 (1-6)
CHAPTER ONE
THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT
In God’s dear book many wonderful things have been written which are seldom taught or even mentioned
among the Christian congregations of our day. Truths, which are pointed, plain, and tremendously vital to
spiritual understanding, are passed by unnoticed and unmentioned as things irrelevant and inconsequential.
Promises, prophecies, covenants and facts which are vital to the age in which we live fill the pages of Holy
Writ, yet they go totally ignored by professing multitudes, counted as inapplicable old wives fables and rejected
out of hand without a pretext of sincere investigation. It is with regret that I myself confess that in bygone days,
while still in bondage to the sectarian systems, I rejected without thorough investigation truth, which I now
know to be pertinent to all spiritual growth and understanding. Like so many others, I was quick to respond with
accredited answers to the questions raised, vainly imagining that such eternal verities could be disposed of by
the threadbare answers of tradition.
All of God’s word is intended to be understood, and though truth is usually presented in such a way that it is
foolishness to the natural man and he cannot understand it, that same truth blazes as the noonday sun upon
the path of him who with an open and contrite heart cries continually, “Open mine eyes that I may behold
wondrous things out of Thy law.” Only then do we know that the invisible things of Him from the foundation of
the world are clearly seen. Truth so vital to us all has been ignored and prejudiced against by the abstruse and
slanted minds of those who believe not. So plain, in fact, has God made these blessed truths that, had not
scholars and churchmen turned them completely upside down and inside out, they would have been seen and
recognized by the multitudes of mankind centuries ago.
In these days, when multitudes are turning away from the truth and their minds are being turned to fables, we
would do well to remember that the Bible is forever the word of God. It does not simply contain the word of
God; it is the word of God, and if it be believed, we will find within its sacred records all the truth necessary for
us to lay firm hold on God’s promises and the hopes that are clearly set before us.
The Christian church as we know it has been living in a fools’ paradise, propounding pet doctrines, arguing the
pros and cons of theories, but almost completely overlooking the eternal purpose of Him who from the
foundations of the ages “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.” Oh, for the hour when all creation
will grasp the eternal message, “From Him everything comes, by Him everything exists, and in Him everything
ends!” It will be a blissful day for you, my brother, my sister, when first your soul becomes thrilled with the
revelation that God, before ever the world began or ever the ages were formed, looked forth from His temple of
wisdom and understanding to chart with infinite care the course and purpose of every age. With omnipotent
power He guides and sustains them according to the purpose of His own will. No purpose ordained by God
from the beginning can possibly go astray or be hindered by the efforts of devil or man. All comes from Him, all
exists by Him, and all ends in Him.
TREASURES OF TRUTH, Volume 27, The Abrahamic Covenant [George R. Hawtin] ~ BOOK
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If you in spirit will stand as “in the beginning” with your all-wise heavenly Father, you will behold the unfolding
of an infinite purpose. You will see the unveiling of God’s divine intention in Eden’s lovely garden. Your heart
will throb as you hear Him say, “The creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him,
who hath subjected the same in hope.” Rom. 8:20 From the lips of God you will be assured that through the
anguish and night of the fall His hope was to bring to manifestation a vast family of sons of God, every one in
the image of Christ. Rom. 8: 18-29 The creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the
glorious freedom of the sons of God. Verse 21. You will see, as you stand with Him, that the tragedy of Eden
was not a tragedy in the sight of God, but an aionian purpose. You will see with unspeakable joy that the
subjecting of the creation (verse 20) to the bondage of corruption was neither a mistake nor an accident, but
the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. You will look upon the agonies of
Calvary and see, not a stark calamity, but a purpose clearly defined and ordained before the ages began – a
purpose by which sin will be forever eliminated from all the universe when God’s plan is complete and all
creation everywhere is lifted from the thraldom of bondage, corruption, and decay into the glorious freedom of
the sons of God.
If you will stand with God in the midst of the ages, you will see the immutable and unerring progress of each
and every covenant He made with man and behold with wonder and admiration His faithfulness in keeping
them unto a thousand generations. With the revelation of the Almighty flooding your soul you will see Him raise
up evil men to oppose and resist His will even as He raised up Pharaoh that His name might be known in all
the earth. Exod. 9:16. You will see Him raise up both men and nations who are destined to be His bitter
opponents that the righteous might come to maturity, having fully come to the knowledge of good and evil.
It is high time that the people of God began to investigate the Bible for themselves. The word of God was
written for you to read and believe. It was never intended to be interpreted for you by men who have a
denominational axe to grind or a sectarian viewpoint to defend. Let God’s people come out from among them
and begin to search the scriptures for themselves, and God will be their Father and they will sup with Him and
He with them. Let us ask the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and before we realize it we will find ourselves digging
deep in a blessed gold mine of truth. Truth was intended to transform men, to make them love God and lay
hold upon His eternal purposes. Truth was never intended to force mankind into the narrow confines of some
sectarian prison cell. Christ Himself is the truth, the light and the way, and He came declaring that the truth
would make us free. Bright is the shining of the sun, yet it is useless to seek its face if we cover our eyes with a
dark veil or throw a blanket over our head. In all the ages of time no heavier veil ever existed than the veil of
human tradition, by which religious men make the commandment of God of none effect. Matt. 15:6 It is only
when this darkling veil is cast away from us that the divine purpose of the ages unfolds before our wondering
eyes.
Upon your desk today there is or should be that book we call the Bible. This book alone reveals God’s secret
plan of the ages. It unfolds with unerring accuracy the mysteries of eons yet to come. It reveals the purpose of
the present fearful turmoil which now on every hand encompasses the world. It points with unerring finger the
way the saints must walk and tells us what the end will be of the world wide distress and tribulation that is
consuming us like a fire. These enlightening discoveries will all be made by those who believe the word of God
and not by those who disbelieve it. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him and He will not disclose
His mysteries to the unbelieving minds of those who hate Him. “Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he
shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that that he hath.”
Matt. 13:12
The reader of this message does not need to be told that we are living in the closing days of this dispensation
of grace. The rapidly multiplying signs, which everywhere give forth their lurid light, are shouting from the
house tops that the kingdom of God is at hand. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. The evil shadows of the
great tribulation hang like a gloom all over the world. Soon, very soon, will the armies of the antichrist
challenge the armies of the Son of God, whose eyes are a flame of fire and from whose mouth goes forth a
sharp, two-edged sword with which He will smite the nations. With this great battle, described in Rev. 19: 11
21, the six days of man’s labor and misrule will end and the kingdom of God will follow to fill the earth with
righteousness for a thousand years. Rev. 20 “Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no
end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with
justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” Isa. 9:7
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For many years I have felt that the day would come when it would be my God given task to unfold, at least in
part, some of the hidden mysteries concerning God’s chosen people, who are he seed of Abraham. Not many
people now reading this message are fully aware that the entire Old Testament from Genesis, chapter twelve
and verse one, to Malachi, chapter four and verse six, together with much of the New Testament concerns
itself with that chosen people – all twelve tribes of them, who are the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This
fact in itself should be enough to demonstrate the vast importance connected with the subject. In God’s holy
word this chosen race is described in such endearing terms as these:
My people Israel. Ezek. 39:7.
Mine inheritance. Isa. 19: 25.
My heritage.
Joel
2:3.
My glory. Isa. 46: 13.
My servant. Isa. 41: 8.
My witnesses. Isa. 43: 10.
My called. Isa. 48: 12.
My nation.
Isa.
Mine elect.
Isa.
51: 4.
45: 4.
My redeemed. Isa. 43: 4.
My firstborn. Jer. 31: 9.
In all the above instances the speaker and declarer is God Himself and the nation concerned is the seed of
Abraham through Isaac and Jacob.
To every thinking person or any Christian with a spiritual mind and an understanding heart it must be extremely
obvious that a nation spoken of in such terms as these, whose history and promise of future glory is the topic
of the entire Old Testament and much of the New Testament, cannot be carelessly set aside or lightly
discarded to suit the whims and fancies of blind leaders of the blind who love to spiritualize or consign to the
past any truth that may upset their established tradition, and so they commit to the garbage any truth that
appears to demand a greater understanding on their part. It is very clear in God’s word that the Israel nations
were declared and ordained by God to be the head and not the tail among the nations of the earth. Deut. 28:
- According to the prophecies and covenants of the Old Testament, the Israel nations were to be the leading
and greatest nations of the earth in the latter days, enjoying the blessings of heaven above, the earth beneath,
and the wealth under the earth. They were to be a blessing to all other nations, lending to all but borrowing
from none. Deut. 28:12
As God may help me, I shall endeavor to explain the purpose of God for these people, both for the present age
and the ages that are yet to come. As God’s inspired word opens before us, we will behold with rejoicing the
unfolding of the words, “In thee and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” I am fully aware
that many will disagree with and even oppose the message I bring, but my sincere prayer and hope before
God is that all who read these lines will become seekers after truth, unafraid to have their understanding stirred
by the unfolding of the truth kept hidden through much of this present age, but ready to be revealed in the last
time. May the Spirit of the Lord open the eyes of all who read to give light and understanding in the knowledge
of His will.
THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT
In the twelfth chapter of Genesis an entirely new era in God’s dealings with mankind is revealed with the calling
of Abram and his descendants to be a special people, a chosen nation for God’s service, that through Abram
and his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed. These descendants of Abram were to be a distinct
and separate people unto God, peculiarly His forever. From them Christ the Saviour and Redeemer would
eventually come. From the seed of Abraham – as I will show you later – the sons of God, the body of Christ,
would come, and from his seed also in that glad millennial day, when “all Israel shall be saved,” (Rom. 11:26),
the bride of Christ will come. “To Abraham and his seed were the promises made.” Gal. 3:16. Thus we must
conclude that even Gentiles, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, become the children of Abraham by faith, as it
is written, “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.” Gal. 3:29
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“Now the Lord had 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: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make
thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth
thee: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” Gen. 12:1-3 It would be difficult to conceive of
any more sweeping and all-inclusive statement than this. Though we will not stop now to analyze its depths, in
these simple but remarkable sentences we have an incredibly sweeping, far-reaching statement that will take
the thousand generations of 1 Chron. 16:15-17 and Psa. 105:8 to fulfill.
(1) Get thee out of thy country.
(2) Unto a land that I will shew thee.
(3) I will make of thee a great nation.
(4) I will bless thee.
(5) I will make thy name great.
(6) Thou shalt be a blessing.
(7) I will bless him that blesseth thee and curse him that curseth thee.
(8) In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
It is extremely important that we grasp the fact here and now that God’s promise and covenant with Abraham
is wholly, entirely, and completely unconditional. It is an indisputable fact that no choice was given to Abraham
either here or in any other place, or were there any conditions attached or demanded of him. God omnipotent,
immutable, eternal commanded this man Abram to get out of his country unto a land that he would later be
shown, and the same immutable, eternal Father tells him what He intends to do with him and his seed after
him. There were absolutely no conditions whatsoever attached. No words were ever spoken to Abram in which
it was inferred that God would bring these blessings upon him in reward for faithfulness, or for works, or for
anything else. Everywhere in connection with this covenant we hear the immutable words of the immutable
Lord, saying, “I will shew thee. I will bless thee. I will make thee a great nation. I will bless them that bless thee.
I will curse them that curse thee. In thee shall all nations of the earth be blessed.” If ever a covenant was made
in which God was supreme and man had nothing whatever to say, it is the covenant the Lord God Almighty
made with his servant Abraham.
The all-wise and eternal God, looking with unerring accuracy through the vista of the ages, was not in the least
ignorant of all the rebellion, the stiff-necked obstinacy, the idolatry and failure of the seed of Abraham, yet He
and He alone made His definite choice. Though now we see through a glass darkly, in that wonderful day,
when the loose ends of all the ages are tied together, we will see all things as plain and clear as God saw them
in the long ago and we will rejoice in the wisdom of Him who made such an immutable covenant with Abraham
and his seed forever.
How good it would be if all God’s people would take time to consider who God really is. In all probability
throughout your life you have honored Him as the Lord God, the Maker of all, omnipotent, immutable,
omniscient, eternal, holy, righteous and good, full of compassion and longsuffering, and abounding in tender
mercies, yet for all that God’s people have by their tradition made this Almighty One appear to be a weak,
insipid being so changeable in His ways and unwise in His purposes that one would surely think the Lord of
glory to be little more than an idol of wood or stone. My friend, when you are contemplating God, you are
pondering Him who is the omnipotent creator of heaven and earth, the eternal, who is the beginning and the
end of all things. You are considering Him who speaks and it is done, who commands and immediately all the
powers of the universe, whether good or evil, begin working together for good that His eternal will might be
fulfilled. Thus then we must conclude that, when He, the all-wise, almighty, begins a good work, He will
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complete it, and in the end we will make the great discovery that even the most violent oppositions of Satan
were part of the infinite plan whereby the Lord worked out His perfect will. For no other reason does the
scripture declare that all things work together for good to them that love God. All things simply means all
things, and nothing can possibly hinder or prevent omnipotence.
When men make agreements and covenants with each other, we often encounter what is commonly known as
small print. Statements are made in ambiguous terms purposely intended to be deceptive. But in God’s great
covenant with Abram there was no fine print nor ambiguous term, neither were there any conditions demanded
of him, because the man had no voice whatever in making the covenant. Abram knew nothing of the future
devised for him. He was not so much as told unto what land he should go. That was to be shown to him later.
But the Lord knew every detail the future would hold. He did not see the children of Abraham as an obedient
people, continually loving and serving God with a pure heart, but looking down the corridor of the years, he
saw a rebellious and stiff-necked people, always prone to wander away from Him, continually digressing to the
worship of some other god, forever breaking the commandments of the Lord. From the beginning, before ever
He made His covenant with them, He saw this people as a people who would be so rebellious against Him that
they would eventually have to be torn from their beautiful land of promise to be carried to captivity and
bondage among godless Gentile nations; yet for all this they were to be forever His people, His heritage, and
His nation.
In the final chapters of the book of Deuteronomy Moses, the servant of the Lord, solemnly warned the nation
Israel as to their calling and responsibility before God. After pronouncing upon them almost indescribable
blessings that would follow their devotion to Him, he warned them of the awful desolation that awaited them for
their disobedience. This is what he said: “For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and
turn aside from the way I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do
evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands.” Deut. 31:29 Yet this
same Moses, even while telling them of their abominations for which they would be scattered among the
nations, saw them still as the children of His immutable covenant and continued thus: “And it shall come to
pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and
thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, and shalt return
unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey His voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy
children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; that then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have
compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath
scattered thee.” Deut. 30:1-3. One would certainly be inclined to suspect that God would cast off this rebellious
nation that they might be forgotten before Him. But this is never so. Israel is a chosen race forever, sealed with
an everlasting covenant, always bearing the judgment of their iniquities but always through God’s judgment
being returned to Him. With the certain knowledge that these chosen people, inheritors of the covenant made
with Abraham, are forever peculiarly the Lord’s, give ear to the triumphant words of the apostle Paul, sounding
like a mighty fiat for ages past and ages yet unborn. “Has God cast away His people? God forbid! …God hath
not cast away His people which He foreknew.” Rom. 11:1-2 Then with triumphant understanding of God’s plan,
Paul writes again, “If the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them
be, but life from the dead?” Rom. 11:15
So everlasting was the covenant made with Abraham that no subsequent failure on his part or on the part of
his seed at any future time could possibly annul the agreement. The only responsibility Abram had was to
obey, and everything else unto the ages of the ages, as we shall see, was in the hands of the Lord. Because
the covenant was made by God and not by Abram, no sin or disobedience on his part could ever possibly
absolve God of His unconditional promises. Because it was God’s promise and not Abram’s, therefore the
carrying out and fulfilling of that promise was the responsibility of God and not of Abram. This fact, I think, was
proved over and over again in the later years of Abram’s life. God made the plans and Abram obeyed them.
When he made mistakes, the Lord corrected him, but the covenant itself was unaltered and unchanged, as
immutable as before.
Henry D. Houghton has most ably pointed out that in most, if not all, human covenants there are five distinct
and essential points, as follows:
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(1) The date of the agreement.
(2) The parties between whom the covenant is made.
(3) The subject and scope of the covenant.
(4) The time and operation of the agreement, limited or otherwise.
(5) The signature.
It will be noticed now that all these five articles of agreement are distinctly visible in this covenant between God
and Abram. Let us note them well and neither detract from them nor add to them, but let us rather accept them
as they are, for that is faith.
It may be well to mention that not all the promises of the covenant are recorded in Genesis, chapter twelve. In
Genesis twelve we have God’s irrevocable promise to Abram, but in Genesis seventeen the terms of the
covenant are laid out in greater detail. This is what it says: “And 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.
And I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his
face; and God talked with him, saying, As for Me, behold My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father
of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a
father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of
thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed
after thee in their generations for and everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of
Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” Gen. 17:1-8
Let us now apply to this statement the five essential points we have outlined above and we will see how
genuine and binding the covenant really is.
First. The date of the covenant is clearly stated as being in the ninety-ninth year of Abraham, or 1898 B.C.
(Usser).
Second. In verse two and verse seven the parties to the covenant are clearly stated and set out: “Between Me
and thee and thy seed after thee.”
Third: The subject and scope of the covenant is clearly stated in verses two, four, five, six, seven and eight. “I
will multiply thee exceedingly. Thou shall be a father of many nations. I will make thee exceedingly fruitful. .
.and will make nations of thee… and kings shall come out of thee. I will establish My covenant between Me and
thee and thy seed after thee… to be a God unto thee. And / will give unto thee the land wherein thou art a
stranger.”
Fourth. The time and length of the agreement is given in verse seven. “…to thee and to thy seed in their
generations for an everlasting covenant.” The agreement is perpetual and endures as long as the ages
endure. I will greatly enlarge on this fourth point later on.
Fifth, and perhaps most important of all, is the signature to the agreement. This is found in verse one. “I am
the Almighty God.” This covenant was made by God. All its promises are of and from God. The covenant is
signed by God. Abram made no promises at all, nor did he sign the agreement. Therefore it is wholly
unconditional in all its aspects and leans hard on the eternal faithfulness of Almighty God.
My soul sings a thousand hallelujahs at the glory of the thing, for I know that He who promised is able to
perform. Salvation is not of man. The promises are not of man. The plan is not of man. The eternal purposes
are not of man. It is God who is the author and the finisher, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last
in every sense of the word. From Him everything comes, by Him everything exists, and in Him everything ends.
Glory to Him forever and ever, unto the ages of the ages, and for eternity as well!
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In the words of this wonderful covenant the Almighty God makes the irrevocable decision that from Abraham
He will create and produce an entirely new race. That race will be His people and His special heritage forever
that through this nation and its seed every family of the earth shall eventually be blessed. I declare without
hesitation that our Lord Jesus Christ came from this race. First He was the seed of Abraham according to the
flesh and declared to be the Son of God with power by the Spirit of holiness and the resurrection from the
dead. Furthermore, the church had its beginning with this race on the day of Pentecost, and it is of tremendous
importance that we see that the one hundred and forty-four thousand sons of God, sealed and chosen as we
read in the book of Revelation, chapter 7:4-8, are from the twelve tribes of this same race. When all Israel shall
be saved, as is clearly stated by Paul and Isaiah in Romans 11:26 and Isaiah 66:8, this race, the seed of
Abraham, will be the principal nation of the millennial kingdom, judged by Christ and those who have followed
Him. Matt. 19:28. This race, saved and washed and forever freed from sin, will be the New Jerusalem,
descending from God out of heaven at the end of the millennial kingdom as a bride adorned for her husband.
“Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. God hath not cast away His people which He foreknew.” Rom.
11:1-2 But their eyes at present are darkened that they may not see and their backs are bowed down for an
age. Verse 10 “Have they stumbled that they might fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is
come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and
the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness! …. For if the casting away of
them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” Rom. 11:11
12, 15. “I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own
conceits; that blindness in part (not total, please note; only in part) is happened to Israel, until the fullness (full
number) of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of
Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungoldiness from Jacob. For this is My covenant unto them, when I
shall take away their sins. Concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the
election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.” Rom. 11:25-28. (The fathers here are Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob.) Please notice with care that Paul here definitely shows that their restoration is in fulfillment of the
covenant made with Abraham.
From the day God made His covenant with Abraham, throughout the book of God, all through the intervening
centuries to this very day and the ages yet to come, God’s choice is certain and irrevocable. Certainly there
has been anger, wrath, rebuke, judgment and punishment sore and terrible upon all the seed of Abraham – so
much so that one might think God’s mercy had departed from them for ever, but that can never be, for above
all the turmoil that has resulted from their abounding iniquities God’s attitude has never changed toward them
and His mercy is ever extended unto them because of the certainty of a covenant made unto a thousand
generations.
Wonderful as was the promise made by God to Abram at the first, I think it correct to say that here and there
along the way the dear Lord added more extensive promises, which may rightfully be included in the covenant.
For instance, Genesis seventeen records deeper promises than Genesis twelve, and then again, when
Abraham was called upon to offer His son Isaac as a sacrifice to God and refused not to obey, the Lord adds
the promise of another seed – a seed that hitherto had not been mentioned, saying, “By Myself have I sworn,
saith the Lord, for because thou has done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son; that 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; and in thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed My voice.” Gen. 22:16-18. The Lord did not say to
Abraham in this passage, “If you do this I will do this,” but, “Because thou hast done this thing, I will do.”
Abraham had no more to do than that which he had already done. Thus I declare that no circumstances
anywhere or at any time can possibly release God from His immutable promise. And who is that man
anywhere in the world who is so vain as to imagine that the Almighty God has any wish to be absolved from
His promise?
A most significant statement is made by the apostle Paul in the book of Hebrews, chapter six, verses thirteen
to eighteen. “When God made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He swore by
Himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had
patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation
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is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew onto the heirs of promise the
immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things (God’s promise and God’s
oath), in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to
lay hold upon the hope set before us.” God’s promise is immutable and His oath is immutable. Thus His
promise to Abraham and his seed is immutable and is confirmed by God’s immutable oath. Hence the promise
is made doubly sure, for He who promised and He who swore is God, who cannot lie. What I am saying here is
so revolutionary in its scope that it demands a complete new understanding of the unchanging purposes of
Him who swore and never repents, who declares and His word stands forever. When the great apostle Paul
declared, “The gifts and callings of God are without repentance,” he was speaking of God’s covenant with
Israel. Surely no one would be hardy enough to deny that, for he says, “As concerning the gospel, they are
enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. For the gifts and
calling of God are without repentance.” Rom. 11:28, 29.
This wonderful covenant with Abraham and his seed forever was not only a covenant with an individual, but it
was most certainly a covenant made with the nation that sprang from that one individual. That nation is Israel.
That nation has twelve heads and, though Israel is but one nation, each of the twelve sons of Jacob was to
become a nation in his own right, or a tribe of one nation. These Israelitish nations may be clearly defined in
our day as “the head and not the tail.” They are without doubt the leading nations of the earth, just as it was
promised to our father Abraham that great nations would come from him and that his name would be great.
It is of utmost importance that we point out that it was not Abraham who sought out God to make a covenant
with Him. It was God who sought out Abram to make a covenant with him. The covenant was sought by God,
and proposed by God, and instituted by Him. The whole intention of the covenant was the inauguration of a
special relationship between God and Abraham and his seed forever. Ages and ages were to pass by, but the
covenant could never be annulled. Dispensations and millenniums were to wax and wane, but the covenant
was to remain absolutely unaltered. Oh, what a wonderful thing that really is! How inexhaustible God’s
resources, wisdom and knowledge are! How unfathomable His decisions are! How untraceable His ways! Who
has ever known the Lord’s thoughts or advised Him? Who has advanced Him anything for which he will have
to be repaid? For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things. Blessed be His name for ever more.
The whole wonderful book called the Bible is the history of Abraham’s race. It does not merely mention the
nation Israel, but the actual history of Abraham and his seed, both natural and spiritual, fills its inspired pages
from Genesis, chapter twelve, to the last chapter of the book of Revelation. And, if I may make so bold as to
say so, I am certain that beyond the millennial kingdom the seed of Abraham, by then all redeemed by the
blood of Christ never to wander or sin any more, will be the blessing and light of those ages in which it is God’s
purpose to gather together in one all things in Christ. Eph. 1:10
In Old Testament times the making of a covenant was always considered a very serious and sacred matter.
None of the parties to the covenant entered lightly into the agreement. So sacred was the covenant in the eyes
of those who made it that it was often sealed by an act of death. As long as a man lives there always exists the
possibility of his breaking a covenant, but after he is dead, there is no longer such possibility. It was therefore
the custom in the Old Testament times, when a covenant was made between two parties, that death should be
implied in the following manner. An animal was killed and the carcass divided in two. The two halves were then
separated a short distance apart. The party making the covenant would then walk between the two halves of
the dead animal. Thus in figure he was walking in the midst of death, and so in the presence of witnesses the
covenant was made irrevocable by the symbol of death.
Now Paul, writing to the Hebrew Christians and speaking of the covenant made by Jesus Christ – that by the
shedding of His blood we should be forgiven of our sins and justified in His sight – made this remarkable
statement: “Where a testament (covenant) is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator
(covenanter). For a testament (covenant) is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all
while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament (covenant) was dedicated without blood. For
when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and
of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying, This
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is the blood of the testament (covenant) which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood
both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood;
and without the shedding of blood there is no remission.” Heb. 9:16-22 From this passage we not only gain a
better understanding of the meaning of the all-essential shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ, but we also
understand more fully why death, either in actuality or in symbol, was necessary to guarantee that a covenant
should be unalterable.
When the Lord made His great covenant with Abram, He made it unchangeable by doing two immutable
things. First, God, who cannot lie, gave His promise to Abram. Second, because He could swear by no greater,
He swore by Himself that blessing He would bless him. But, though additional witness was not needed, the
Lord God Almighty, who cannot lie nor die, added the further assurance of the death symbol as follows: In
Genesis, chapter fifteen and verses one to eight, we have the account of the Lord’s renewing His covenant
promises to Abraham and actually showing him the vast scope of the land he was to possess. In verse six we
are told that Abraham believed in the Lord and He counted it to him for righteousness, but in verse eight
Abraham asked the Lord this one very important question, “Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit
it?” It is very apparent that the Lord considered Abraham’s question to be a very logical one, and without a
moment’s hesitation or a word of rebuke the Lord gave him the one and only absolute answer that could be
given. Behold the wonder of the following words: “And He (God) said unto him, Take Me an heifer of three
years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove and a young
pigeon. And he took unto Him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against
another: but the birds divided he not.” Verses 9-10 Here we see the Lord carrying out in every detail the vital
act of confirming a covenant by death. Now notice what happened. The animals were killed and the halves
divided, the heifer, the goat, and the ram. The birds were not divided, but laid apart on either side. As Abraham
carefully watched to see what God would do, a deep sleep fell upon him and an horror of great darkness, and
he heard the voice of the Lord speaking to him. Then as he watched, “it came to pass that, when the sun went
down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between the pieces.” Verse
17 Then we are told, “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,” Verse 18. What was the
burning lamp that passed between the sections of those slain beasts? Or should I enquire who was it? It was
none other than the Lord Himself, walking amid death as the custom was, sealing His own covenant with death
that it might be unalterable and it might be everlastingly sure to Abram and his seed forever.
There is no possible way by which such a covenant can be suspended. It was made to Abram and his seed
forever and sealed with the blood of death, the Lord Himself walking between the divided carcasses of the
beasts that were slain. We will further notice that it was the Lord and not Abram who said, “Take Me an heifer,
a goat, a ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon.” And it was the Lord, not Abram, who sealed the covenant by
walking in the midst of death that not even the Almighty could ever make the covenant of none effect. The
worth of this covenant lies in the fact that it cannot be broken. No power on earth can break it, for He has
promised, He has sworn by Himself, and He has walked through the symbol of death. Man cannot change it.
Unbelief cannot change it. Parents cannot change it, for each generation inherits its promise from God
because the promise was made to Abram and his seed forever. Even the mighty thunderings of the law at
Sinai, which was four hundred and thirty years after the covenant, could not disannul or make the promise of
none effect, for God gave it to Abraham and his seed forever by His immutable promise.
CHAPTER TWO
THE WITNESSES TO THE COVENANT
Two little clouds one summer’s day
Went flying through the sky;
They went so fast they bumped their heads,
And both began to cry.
Old Father Sun looked out and said,
“Oh, never mind, my dears;
I’ll send my little fairy folk
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To dry your falling tears.”
One fairy came in violet,
And one in indigo;
In blue, green, yellow, orange, red
They made a pretty row.
They wiped the cloud tears all away,
And then from out the sky
Upon a line the sunbeams made
They hung their gowns to dry.
It was almost sixty years ago that our teacher, Miss Robinson, taught our grade two class to recite those pretty
words. Many times as little children we had seen the beautiful rainbow, thrown like a mantle around the
shoulders of a passing storm, but little did we realize that every appearance of its magnificent beauty was
confirmation of the everlasting covenant which God, who cannot lie, made with His beloved servant Noah.
The history of the flood of Noah’s day is not a fable to be believed by some and ridiculed by others. Evidence
of its devastation is found almost everywhere on earth and people who have traveled much throughout the
world testify continually that the tradition of a great flood which once inundated and ravished the earth that then
was is to be found with every tribe and nation of the world. As to the pure all things are pure and to the unholy
and defiled nothing is pure, so to the faithful believer all that God has spoken is true, but to the unbeliever the
gloom of doubt casts its sickening shadow over all God has spoken, even making uncertain the Lord God
Himself.
There is no greater certainty than that there will never be another flood. It was God who opened the windows
of heaven and loosed the fountains of the mighty deep, sending upon the earth a flood to destroy the world and
all its wickedness in the days of Noah, but it was the selfsame Lord who, after the fearful flood of waters was
assuaged, made this covenant with Noah and his seed: “And I, behold, I establish My covenant with you, and
with your seed after you; and with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every
beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish My
covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any
more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between
Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations. I do set My bow in the cloud,
and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a
cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: and I will remember My covenant, which is
between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; an d the waters shall no more become a flood to
destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting
covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah,
This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between Me and all flesh that is upon the earth.”
Gen. 9:9-17
It is not the covenant God made with Noah with which we wish to deal, but the covenant He made with
Abraham. We refer here to the Noahic covenant only that our faith may be greatly inspired to trust the word of
the living and immutable God and that we may be certain that all He has promised He will perform, even to
every jot and tittle, and nothing can let or hinder His faithfulness and power. As God’s covenant with Noah was
unconditional, so also was His covenant with Abraham. Noah had nothing to do and nothing to say about the
terms of the covenant. It was as certain and sovereign as any will that could possibly be made. Though that
covenant was made with all mankind forever and with the beasts and the birds and the earth itself and though
none of these had one word to say about the covenant or its terms, they can enjoy its promise and live in the
knowledge that, however great a storm may threaten the world, never again will the earth or the people in it,
regardless of their sin or wickedness, be destroyed by the waters of a flood. That covenant is just as certain as
God is certain, and it is in His great love and mercy that year after year, storm after storm, He hangs His bow
of sevenfold witness in the cloud that we may know He has not forgotten His promise or in any way altered the
terms of it. Would God that all men and women, boys and girls, would look up to God when the rainbow
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appears in the sky and give thanks to Him whose promises never fail, for all He has promised will surely be
fulfilled.
There is something entrancingly wonderful about a rainbow. It is beyond my understanding. Though its
appearance in the cloud may have a simple scientific explanation that readily satisfies the unbelieving and
unconcerned, when by the eye of faith and trust we look beyond its excellent beauty, we find God and see a
glory that causes believers to worship at His feet. Thus did Ezekiel worship when, clothed by the glory of the
Holy Spirit, he beheld a vision of God so sublime that no man has ever yet been able to fathom its depths or
explain its meaning. “Above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the
appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a
man above upon it. And I saw as the color of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the
appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were
the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in
the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness
of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.” Ezek.
1:26-28
John the beloved was on the Isle of Patmos for the word of God and the testimony of the Lord when he was
caught away in the Spirit. In spirit he saw the glory of the Lord and the fullness of Christ in both the Head and
the body together. Then, in chapter four, he heard a voice like a trumpet calling to him, “Come up hither, and I
will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the Spirit: and, behold, a throne was
set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone:
and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.” Rev. 4:1-3 I cannot explain the
meaning of it. No doubt there are some who can, but in view of the desolation, which John was to behold from
this heavenly vantage point, it is a thing of exceeding wonder that the rainbow of promise was over God’s
throne. The earth and its inhabitants would not be destroyed by the tribulation of water and neither will they be
totally destroyed by the dreadful fires of tribulation that even now are devouring far and near among the hosts
of mankind.
Again in Revelation, chapter ten, the rainbow appears. Six of the seven trumpets of the Lord had sounded and,
following the first of those dreadful blasts, the third part of the trees and the grass were burned up. Following
the second, a mountain burning with fire had fallen into the sea and the third part of the sea had turned to
blood, and a third part of the creatures which were in the sea died, and the third part of the ships were
destroyed. When the third trumpet sounded, a star fell upon the rivers and fountains of water and they became
bitter, and men died of the water. The fourth angel sounded and a third part of the moon and the sun and the
stars were darkened, and an angel flew through heaven proclaiming woe to the inhibiters of the earth. The fifth
angel sounded and a noisome smoke appeared from the bottomless pit, and dire calamities fell upon all who
had not the seal of God in their foreheads. And when the sixth angel sounded, the great river Euphrates was
dried up that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared for the battle in which two hundred million men
would be locked in the final conflict of the age.
But, before the seventh angel sounded, John said, “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven,
clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as
pillars of fire.” When the seventh angel sounded, the mystery of God was to be finished for this age, and there
at the close of that dread tribulation was the rainbow of God’s hope and promise just as it had appeared after
the fearful flood in the long, long ago. God is faithful and He cannot lie. He gives His assurance to man that he
might know that beyond the dreadful storm clouds that gather on every horizon there is promise — a promise
that is fulfilled in God’s wonderful Christ.
We have spoken briefly of the covenant, which God made with Noah and we have seen the Almighty confirm
that covenant by the sevenfold witness of the rainbow. I may be wrong, but it would appear that the seven
colors of the rainbow represent the seven Spirits that are before His throne. Rev. 1:4. These are mentioned in
Isa. 11:2 as the spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of counsel, the spirit
of might, the spirit of knowledge, and the spirit of reverence, or fear. If these be the seven witnesses who
notarized the agreement God Almighty made with Noah, his seed, and all the earth, then do you not think it is a
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most wonderful thing that the prophet Isaiah, speaking to the rebellious house of Judah on the very eve of her
Babylonian captivity, raised his prophetic voice in these words, which without doubt have definite reference to
God’s covenant with Abraham and his seed after him? Listen to these words of promise to that wicked and
rebellious generation of Israel’s seed. “For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I
gather thee. In a little wrath I hid My face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have
mercy on thee; saith the Lord thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto Me: for as I have sworn
that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee,
nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart
from thee; neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.” Isa.
54: 7-10 As God has sworn that the waters of Noah shall never more go over the earth and has confirmed that
covenant by the continual miracle of the rainbow, so has He sworn that His kindness shall never depart from
Israel, nor can His covenant with them be annulled or broken. This, we must all admit, is an exceedingly
wonderful promise and I am sure every reader will heartily agree.
Every covenant to be effective must have one or more witnesses. Thus when God made His covenant with
Noah, He gave a sure, certain and unchanging witness that He would never break His promise. The rainbow
every time it appears is God’s unalterable signature to the agreement. Every time the storm clouds release
their waters upon the earth, God’s signature appears in the beauty of a rainbow to assure us that He has
remembered His ancient covenant and will never flood the world again. What need has God to be reminded of
His covenant? How could He who is omniscient ever forget? Yet listen to what He says regarding the sign of
the rainbow: “The bow shall be seen in the cloud: and / will remember My covenant, which is between Me and
you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And
the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between
God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.” Gen. 9:14-16 “I will look upon it and I will
remember My covenant.” What wonderful words of assurance are these and what a steadfast assurance of His
faithfulness!
As God has sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so has He sworn that He will
remember His covenant with Abraham and Israel, his seed, and that His kindness will never, ever depart from
them. (Please read again Isa. 54: 8-10) When the Lord swore to Abraham that (1) he would be a great nation,
(2) He (God) would bless him, (3) He would make his name great, (4) he (Abraham) would be a blessing, (5)
He would bless him that blessed Abraham, (6) and curse him that cursed him, and (8) in him and in his seed
should all the families of the earth be blessed, because He could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself
(Heb. 6:13) that by two immutable things (God’s promise and God’s oath) we might have strong confidence,
who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope that is set before us. Verse 18. Just as the Lord gave the
rainbow as a witness to Noah and his seed, so also He gave an ever abiding witness to Abraham and his seed
forever.
It will now be to our eternal edification to examine the eight ever present, ever abiding witnesses, which God
has given to assure us that His covenant with the twelve tribes of Israel cannot and will not ever be broken. An
everlasting covenant has need of everlasting witnesses, witnesses that ever live, and signatures that cannot be
erased. It would not have been like God to call upon frail men to witness His agreement. It would not have
seemed fit for the Eternal to have called upon Lot or Chedorlaomer or Sarah to witness the agreement, for they
were only frail mortals, creatures of time that would soon pass from the horizon of all earthly activity and be no
more. Men in future ages might argue as to whether such persons ever really existed, as indeed in our day
they carelessly do. But when God calls upon witnesses to His everlasting covenant, He must have a more sure
witness than the signatures of men. Centuries after the agreement with Abraham and his seed was made, the
prophet Jeremiah told us what those everlasting witnesses were. These witnesses, though silent in their
eternal spheres, shout aloud their witness every morning and hymn their message every night that God has
not cast away His people whom He foreknew. The sound of their witness reaches into all the world, bearing
witness to the extravagant claims of the apostle Paul that “all Israel shall be saved.” Rom. 11: 26
Though God is ever faithful and all mankind should believe His word, yet, alas, alas, men do not believe Him;
neither do they trust His faithfulness. I terribly fear that we shall find the greatest offenders to be those blind
leaders of the blind who profess to be shepherds of God’s flock and keepers of His promise. Not only are these
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an offence unto themselves, but they diligently plant the seeds of doubt and unbelief in the hearts of the
unsuspecting millions who listen to them. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be
established, the Lord declares. But the Lord has added more than two or three witnesses as we shall see –
witnesses that do not die, witnesses that do not lie, witnesses that cannot change their minds with the passage
of time or the turn of events, witnesses that silently and continually declare that all is well, that God is in His
heaven keeping diligent watch over His chosen nation, fulfilling His word, and carrying out His promises toward
them and His purpose in them.
The ten tribes of the house of Israel had been carried away into their Assyrian captivity more than one hundred
years when Jeremiah gave the prophecy I shall now quote. The two tribes of the house of Judah were on the
very eve of their Babylonian captivity when the weeping prophet Jeremiah called on eight everlasting
witnesses to attest God’s faithfulness to His covenant; “Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by
day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the
waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is His name: If those ordinances depart from before Me, saith the Lord,
then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever. Thus saith the Lord; If heaven
above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed
of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord.” Jer. 31:35-37 Then in Chapter 33:23 he continues with
these words: “Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,” Considerest thou not what this people
have spoken, saying, The two families which the Lord hath chosen, He hath even cast them off? Thus they
have despised My people, that they should be no more a nation before them. Thus saith the Lord; If My
covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; then will I
cast away the seed of Jacob, and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be the rulers over
the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.” Jer.
33: 23-26
Eight unimpeachable witnesses to God’s covenant with His earthly people are called upon here to bear witness – the sun, the moon, the stars, the heavens, the earth, the sea, the Jay and the night. As long as these
continue, the Almighty declares, so also will His covenant continue which He made with Abraham and with His
seed, which Jeremiah identifies as the two families, which the Lord has chosen. Verse 24 The two families are
the house of Israel, consisting of the ten tribes, and the house of Judah, consisting of the two tribes, Judah and
Benjamin.
If the rainbow, appearing occasionally in the cloud was to be an everlasting witness that the earth would never
more be destroyed by a flood, what shall we say of these eight ever, present witnesses that are about us,
reminding us continually, both by day and by night, that His covenant with the seed of Abraham can never fail.
Cast your eyes heavenward by day, O man, and you will see the fiery witness of the sun as he smiles the
message: “God will never forget His covenant with His people.” Lift up your eyes to behold the magnificent
heavens at night, for her innumerable lights give the assurance, “The Lord has remembered His covenant with
Abraham and his seed forever.” Praise Him, oh ye sun and moon! Praise Him, all ye stars of light! Praise Him,
oh ye heavens above, that His promise shall endure while lights do shine and be steadfast while they remain
unaltered and unhindered. His promises abide unswayed and unsullied by the failures of carnal man, whose
unbelief momentarily hides His face from theirs. Let him that rideth upon the sea remember forever that her
mighty waves, crashing with violence upon rock and shore, call with their every rising and falling that, while her
waters fill the seas, God’s covenant with His people abideth sure. Let every farmer who plows the earth and
every miner who digs for treasure in the bowels thereof remember the covenant of the Lord, for every plowing,
each lump of coal or nugget of gold that comes from the miner’s digging, bears witness with its silent voice that
God’s covenant with Abraham and his seed is standing sure, and while earth and things therein endure, so
also will His covenant endure. Thus saith God, “While sun and moon and stars endure, my covenant shall
endure.” When these shall be no more, covenants will be needed no more at all.
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God, my Father!
There is no shadow of turning with Thee.
Thou changest not; Thy compassions they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
Summer and winter and spring time and harvest,
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Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Jeremiah did not stop here, however, even with so great promises as these. His heart, though crushed
beneath the load of judgment that had befallen his people, was yet overflowing with the knowledge of the
faithfulness of God. Lifting up his prophetic voice with tears and triumph blending, he cried aloud this
assurance: “Thus saith the Lord; If ye can break My covenant of the day, and My covenant of the night, and
that there should not be day and night in their season; then may also my covenant be broken with David, My
servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, My ministers.
As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of
David My servant, and the Levites that minister unto Me.” Jer. 33: 20-23
Somewhere upon the earth today the families of God’s chosen people exist, both the unbelieving house of
Judah and the rebellious house of Israel. So also must exist the seed of David and his throne, reserved until
He comes whose right it is to reign, and until the day comes when man has opened the earth and measured its
depths, and stretched out his line to measure the expanse of the heavens, he must stop his vain imagining that
God has forgotten his covenant with Israel. When the sun and the moon, the stars and the heavens and the
earth and the sea are all removed, then and not until then may the covenant with Abraham and his seed be
done away. Even then the covenant shall endure but, the promise being fulfilled, will have no further need of
witnesses. Powers of earth, powers of heaven, and powers of hell are impotent in the light of God’s promises.
His promises are sure. None of His words are ambiguous. His covenants are positive, definite and reliable. All
are aionian and as durable as the sun, the moon, the stars, the seas, the earth, and the heaven above.
“If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning,” saith the Lord. “If I do not remember thee,
let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.” God can never cast
off His people – not for all their horrible sins, their unbelief, and their turning to other gods. His covenant to
Abraham is certain and sure, and when He has brought them by the way which we humans cannot fully
understand and their learning is complete, they will be re-gathered according to the word of the Lord.
Hear the word of the Lord as the great prophet Isaiah foretells the days of Israel’s captivity and feel the glory of
the promises and the assurance of their regathering. See how beautifully he looks beyond the shadows of the
dark days that lay before them unto the blessed day when the Lord shall say of them, “Their righteousness is
of Me.” “Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not
travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.
Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy
cords and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shall break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall
inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not; for thou shall not be ashamed:
neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame; for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth;
and shall not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy maker is thine husband; the Lord of
hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall He be called.
For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou was
refused, saith thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a
little wrath I hid My face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith
the Lord thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto Me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah
should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the
mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the
covenant of My peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. O thou afflicted, tossed with
tempest, and not comforted, behold. I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness
shalt thou be established: thou shall be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall
not come near thee. Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by Me; whosoever shall gather together
against thee shall fall for thy sake. Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that
bringethforth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed
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against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This
is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord.” Isa. 54: 1-17
I trust that, as my story unfolds, every devout reader will discover for himself the infinite purpose the Lord had
in mind when He made such an everlasting covenant as this with Abraham His servant and Israel His heritage.
We poor humans with our dull lowland ears and heavy hearts so filled with doubt and misunderstanding are
inclined to think the Lord of heaven and earth could be as changeable and vacillating as we are. Men and
nations, sad to say, willingly enter into solemn covenants only to forget all about them in the first moments of
inconvenience. I wonder how many solemn covenants have been made and broken by men and nations since
that fateful day in 1914 when Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany discarded as a “scrap of paper” his solemn
agreement with England? Men and nations are seldom worthy of trust. Their solemn agreements crumble and
are discarded on every hand. He whose name is faithful and true calls heaven and earth to witness that His
word to men and nations is sure and changeless unto a thousand generations. Deut. 7:9
Now if in our deliberations concerning the Lord and His faithful covenant with Israel we come to the childish
conclusion that the Lord was doing no more than making favorites among nations as some unwise parents do
among their children, then we would have reason to question His wisdom; but when with the eye of faith we
see in this relationship the unfolding of the purpose of the ages, then our spiritual eyes are enlightened and
understanding floods our path way. Who dare challenge the wise Creator if He be willing to plant the seed of
universal blessing and restoration first in one man and then more abundantly to show unto his heirs the
immutability of His promise by confirming it with an oath, that by those two immutable things – God’s promise
and God’s oath – we might have strong confidence to lay hold on the promise before us? If God could possibly
fail in His unconditional promise to Abraham and his seed, then who could ever trust Him? How could we be
certain that His promise to us could not fail? But He is faithful who promised. Five hundred years after
Abraham was dead, He renewed His oath to Abraham’s seed in the Promised Land, saying, “I will never break
My covenant with you.” Judges 2:1
It is through Israel – all twelve tribes of them – that all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Gen. 12:3 All
the families of the earth! How vast and all-inclusive is that mighty promise! The millions; yea, billions, that have
lived and died through ages and dispensations, never once having heard the name of Abraham or his seed,
which is Christ, shall in eons yet unborn receive the blessing of God, for He is faithful who promised, who also
will do it. I cannot believe that the Lord was lacking an eternal purpose when He made man in the beginning,
for He has spoken of the restitution of all things and clearly announces a time when every knee shall bow to
Christ and every creature in heaven and in earth and under the earth will be heard confessing with joy that
Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. I read in God’s word of a vision John saw on the Isle of
Patmos, a scene wherein every creature in heaven and in earth and under the earth and in the sea was heard
glorifying the name of the Lord, saying, “Blessing and honor and glory and power be unto Him that sitteth upon
the throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever.” Rev. 5:13 And Paul, writing by the wisdom of God, spoke of
that redemption wrought by Christ, saying that God by Him has reconciled all things unto Himself. “And having
made peace by the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they
be things in earth or things in heaven.” Col. 1:20 What a glorious plan God has designed! There is coming a
season in the dispensation of the fullness of times in which our heavenly Father has decreed that He will
gather together all things into His Christ (Eph. 1:10), which Christ is the seed of Abraham as I shall later show.
At this present moment blindness in part has happened unto all the twelve tribes of Israel. The house of Judah
is in great blindness, for, while thousands of them know that they are the seed of Abraham and heirs of the
promises of God, they have rejected their Messiah and believed not on the Lord Jesus Christ. How clearly the
word of God describes their blindness and unbelief when the Holy Spirit said, “He came unto His own, and His
own received Him not.” John 1:11 The house of Judah was especially His own – more, in a sense, than the ten
tribes of Israel – because it was of Judah that Christ would come. It is written: “The scepter shall not depart
from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come,” Gen. 49:10 Jesus Christ is the Lion of
the tribe of Judah. He is the root and offspring of David (Rev. 5:5), who also was of Judah. The house of Judah
should have known their Lord, but they knew Him not. “Away with such a fellow from the earth,” was the
malevolent cry of their unbelief. “We will not have this man to reign over us. We have no king but Caesar.” “His
blood be upon us and our children,” they demanded; and truly His blood has been upon them and their
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children, but in spite of their blindness and unbelief they are still “heirs according to the promise,” and the Lord
has not forgotten them.
In God’s holy word the house of Judah is likened unto a fig tree. Jer. 24:1-8, The Jews understood this symbol
in their day as clearly as though the Lord had called them by name. The account of the cursing of the fig tree
(Matt. 21:19) is vivid in the mind of every student of scripture. The story records that Jesus, being hungry and
ready to eat, saw a fig tree afar off having leaves upon it, but, upon coming to the tree, He found to His
surprise that there was no fruit upon it. Though the time of figs was not yet, this strange instance is explained
by the simple fact that, unlike other trees, it is the nature of the fig tree to bear her fruit first and the leaves
afterward. Therefore, since there were leaves, the Lord was right to expect fruit also. What a picture this is of
the house of Judah! Plenty of leaves! All manner of outward show! But no fruit. The children of Abraham on the
outside, but the children of the devil within! So Jesus pronounced a curse upon the fig tree, which is symbolic
of the house of Judah, commonly known as the Jews, saying,’ ‘May no fruit grow on thee to the age.” Matt. 21:
19 (Diaglott). And when they returned and saw the tree the next day, it was dried up. In cursing the fig tree, He
was symbolically cursing the house of Judah unto the age, that is to say, unto the kingdom age. It is not correct
to use the word forever here as in the common version, for Judah will be restored in the kingdom. True to
God’s word the entire age of grace has come and gone, but nationally the Jews are as blind and fruitless as
they were in that day when the Lord pronounced the curse upon them. They rejected God’s Christ and God
has rejected them for this entire age of grace. As a result they have wandered homeless throughout the whole
earth as foretold by Jeremiah. Jer. 24:9-10 Only now are they being gathered in darkness, blindness and
unbelief according to the word of the Lord, for He can never break His covenant with them.
Even the apostle Paul, who upon several occasions, clearly stated that he was a Jew, for the tribe of Benjamin
belonged to the house of Judah, made the significant statement that he was as one “born out of due time.” 1
Cor. 15:8 In other words it was not yet time for Judah to be reborn nationally, but because the Lord elected
him to salvation, his eyes had been opened by Christ in spite of the curse that had been pronounced on the
nation as a whole. This is the clearest possible evidence of the power of election.
Now the ten tribes of the house of Israel, to whom we will make only a passing reference here, have a
completely different story to tell. The house of Judah, blind as they are to Christ, are very much aware that they
are Israelites, of the seed of Abraham and heirs of the covenant. The house of Israel on the other hand is
exactly opposite to this. They know who Christ is, for Christ is the glory of His people Israel (Matt. 2: 32), but
the so called lost ten tribes of the house of Israel are blind as to who they are. They have lost their own identity
and imagine that they are Gentiles. Thus blindness in part afflicts them. The house of Judah is blind to God’s
Christ and knows Him not. The house of Israel is blind to her national identity, knowing not that they are the
children of Abraham and heirs according to the promise. In short Judah knows her own identity but is blind to
who Christ is. Israel knows who Christ is but is blind to her own identity.
The word of the Lord clearly shows that in the end of the age “all will know Him from the least to the greatest”
and all will understand God’s secret purpose for the nation, for it will come to pass that in the same place in
which God said to them, “Ye are not My people,” in that place shall He say unto them, “Ye are the sons of the
living God.” Hosea 1:10 To those who have believed in Christ Jesus our Lord the darkness is past and the true
light now shineth, but it will come to pass that all shall know Him from the least to the greatest, for it is written:
“And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for
they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their
iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jer. 31:34
Christians who permit themselves to see in Israel nothing more than that handful of unbelieving Jews now
returning to Palestine are allowing their spiritual minds to be blinded to one of the most important truths of the
age. The Bible gives more than seventy identification marks by which we may identify the house of Israel in our
day and it is a most remarkable fact that the house of Judah possesses practically none of these identifying
marks. Simeon prophesied, saying that Jesus would be “a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Thy
(God’s) people Israel.” Jesus has certainly not been the glory of the Jews, so we must look elsewhere for
nations who glory in Him. Ask any man in the Anglo-Saxon world, whether he be saint or sinner, and he knows
who Jesus Christ is and, except in the case of some professed atheist, he will tell you plainly that Jesus Christ
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is the Son of God. “He shall be the glory of Thy people Israel;” said the anointed Simeon, and all over the
Anglo-Saxon world every day, week after week, year after year, and century after century millions of people,
both saved and unsaved, lift their voices to sing aloud.
“In the cross of Christ I glory,
Towering o’er the wrecks of time.
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round His head sublime.”
And again we hear them sing:
We love to sing:
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride.
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
Do you not think it is a singularly wonderful thing that all over the Anglo-Saxon world we sing:
Ye chosen seed of Israel’s race,
Ye ransomed from the fall,
Hail Him who saves you by His grace
And crown Him Lord of all.
Certainly these words, though spoken in our blindness, bear witness that Christ is indeed the glory of His
people Israel. Do you not think it is a most wonderful thing that all our lawyers and our statesmen sign their
documents, “In the year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and such and such,” and even the anti-Christian Jews
among us must of necessity date their documents from Jesus Christ. Letters written by the humblest citizen in
our land are dated from the birth of Christ, who is the glory of God’s people, Israel.
Who we are is not the theme of my message in this Chapter. Therefore I shall speak no more of it. My whole
purpose in these two Chapters has been to show that God has chosen a special race from the hosts of all
mankind. These are the descendants of Abraham through his sons Isaac and Jacob. This is the seed through
whom all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. They are the people through whom the promised Redeemer
came. Furthermore, from these covenant people the great host of the body of Christ will come, and in that
great millennial kingdom the remainder of this same people will be purified and prepared as the New
Jerusalem bride of Christ. The twelve tribes of the children of Israel will be the principal peoples during the
millennial kingdom. This, I think, seems clear from the words of Jesus when He said, “Verily I say unto you,
That ye which have followed Me, in the regeneration (that is, the kingdom) when the Son of man shall sit upon
the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” It is during the
millennial kingdom that the bride of Christ is prepared. For this reason Israel comes in for special judgment
during the kingdom age, and at the end of that wonderful age the apostle John was shown the glory of the New
Jerusalem bride descending from heaven, adorned for her husband.
During this present age of grace the body of Christ is being prepared. The body of Christ is composed of the
sons of God. The whole creation is now groaning for their manifestation. The bride of Christ is nowhere in
evidence in this present age. Only the sons of God are being prepared now. The whole millennial kingdom is
for the preparation of the bride of Christ. During that marvelous age “all Israel will be saved.” During the Old
Testament period the Head was being prepared. During the present age of grace the body is being prepared.
During the millennial kingdom Christ the bride is being prepared. The head, the body, and the bride, when
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united, will form one glorious Christ, male and female in one as Adam before the fall. No wonder Paul says the
marriage union is symbolic of Christ and the church!
Following the preparation and presentation of the bride at the end of the millennial reign (Rev. 21:9-27) the
wonder of all ages appears. The twelve gates of the New Jerusalem are swung wide open for all races of
mankind to enter freely, and with the opening of those twelve gates goes forth the message never before heard
in the history of the world: “The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let
him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Rev. 22:17. The opening of
the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem bride of Christ at the beginning of the dispensation of the fullness of
times and the going forth of the message, “The Spirit and the bride say, Come,” will result in the restitution of
all things and the fulfillment of God’s covenant to Abraham,’ ‘In thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the
earth be blessed.”
I am well aware that what I am saying is not the thing that has been generally taught and accepted, but must
truth lie forever concealed because we fear tradition? Must the eternal working of the purpose of the ages be
nothing but a conundrum in our minds because of our unwillingness to see the unfolding of God’s purpose in
the covenant He made to Abraham, a covenant that was to endure as long as the sun and moon and stars
endured, a covenant that could not fail while summer and winter, day and night, seed time and harvest and
ocean still remain as witnesses to it? No! Let God be true and every man a liar. We have only to consider the
nations of the earth who from time immemorial have always sat in heathen darkness and the shadow of death
and we will see that the promises of the Abrahamic covenant never belonged to them nor were the promises at
work among them. The time for the enlightenment of the heathen nations has not yet come and all the
missionary efforts of this present age cannot convert a heathen nation to Christ. It is true that an elect number
will come in from every kindred of the earth, but the time of their national enlightenment will come when the
gates of the New Jerusalem bride are open wide, never to be closed again. Then and only then will the nations
bring their glory and honor into that holy city and the restitution of all things will be on the way.
The purpose of God overwhelms my spirit and my soul rejoices in His unchanging purpose!
Summer and winter, spring time and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Hallelujah! ..3 .
