The Covenant Between God and Abram
Bi-lateral, Conditional, and Everlasting
As I mentioned in Tuesday’s post, I believe we can gain significant additional insights into the Everlasting Covenant – the one that governs our Redemption, the restoration of our inheritance – by examining in greater detail the covenant God made with Abram. It was made over the course of several years – more than thirty to be precise – and spanned from the end of the Age of the Father to the beginning of the Age of the Son. The final phases of the revelation of this covenant were in fact the initiation of the Age of the Son: the promise of Isaac and the seal of the circumcision (Gen.17:1-22) and the three-fold declaration of the covenant’s Everlasting nature, with the type of Christ’s sacrifice, as seen with Isaac in Genesis 22:1-19.
Abram’s first declared encounter with God was after his father, Terah, had set out with Abram and his wife, Sarai, and Abram’s nephew, Lot to enter the land of Canaan. Their journey was a long one and they had much wealth, so they followed the Euphrates for at least the first four hundred plus miles. Just as we are not told directly when or why they left Ur, we are also not told why they settled in Charan – though it could be inferred that it was due to Terah’s health, since it is there that he dies. We know that they dwelt in the city of Charan (near the border of Turkey and Syria on today’s map) until Terah’s death at which time the Lord speaks directly to Abram.
Genesis 12:1-3:
Now the LORD said to Abram,
“Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
And 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 will be blessed.”
(Some commentators, based on Acts 7:4, suggest that the recorded conversation between the Lord and Abram in Genesis 12:1-3, which we are told occurs while he is dwelling in Charan, was a repeat of what had caused them to set out from Ur. The language of Acts 7:4 may actually be saying that it was before he lived in Charan AND the Lord had said to Abram the words Stephen quotes that the Lord first spoke to Abram (as supported by Gen.15:7) – though we are not told exactly what the Lord had said. Either way, we know that God either by speaking to Abram and Terah or Abram alone, influenced their departure from Ur.)
For all intents and purposes this is the first occurrence of covenantal promises being made to Abram – though the term “covenant” is not used. But it should be noted, the beneficiaries of the promises of blessing were not Abram or his descendants only but “in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” God’s intent was always to pour out His blessings on all of Mankind, made in His Image and Likeness: His covenant with Abram was the means He would (and did) use.
Abram, at the time, is 75 years old. It will be nearly 25 years and several more encounters before the fulness of the covenant language is shared and as much as another 33 years after that before the final “price” of the covenant is actually paid with the symbolic sacrifice of the heir of promise, whom the Lord refers to as “your son, your only son, whom you love.” Whether this “officially” constituted a covenant or not, Abram is given a condition which he fails to fulfill: he was to “Go forth...from your relatives” but instead he takes Lot with him. This failure would impact Abraham’s progeny for generations.
In the next encounter, God speaks briefly to Abram (12:7) affirming that he had come to the place of which the Lord had spoken – acknowledging the “official” start of the sojourning that will, in all, last 430 years (Exodus 12:40-41; Galatians 3:17). After he receives this confirmation, Abram builds an altar to the Lord – and though not directly stated, it would be expected that the building of an altar included the offering of a sacrifice and therefore the first indication of the price/blood of the covenant.
It is only after Lot and Abram separate that the Lord speaks to Abram again (though He did intervene regarding Sarai when they went down to Egypt because of the famine). In our chapter 13:14-17 of Genesis, the LORD reiterates His promises.
The passage begins with, “And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him…”; the condition from the LORD to “go forth from your relatives” was serious enough for his eventual obedience to it to be noted as the reason for this next encounter and likely caused the delay of several years between them.
“Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever (this is the same word translated “everlasting” in later encounters associated with this covenant). “I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. “Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.” Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD.
A second altar that points to the second “payment” of the price of the covenant is also seen in this encounter.
As I mentioned above, and of importance before we examine his next encounter, Abram’s life sits on the cusp between the Age of the Father and the Age of the Son (which Philip Mauro and Martin Anstey place at about 2141 years after Adam was created). The significant events during the Age of the Father include creation (which acts as His language to Mankind during this time); the curse of Cain; the sons of God; the taking away of Enoch; the flood; and the dividing of the earth and the sea and the tongues of men.
It would have been about 1963 BC (or 2083 An. Hom.) when Abram was called by God – Abram whose name meant “exalted father”. The exact point of the end of the Age of the Father is hard to determine – for with the Lord’s day of a 1000 years, one year – give or take – would be less than 86 seconds on our scale. But a reasonable mark would be when the LORD changes his name to Abraham. It is at this time that his belief and confidence in the promises of God are accounted to him for righteousness, and shortly after – relatively speaking – that He accepts the symbolic offering of Isaac as a foreshadow of the sacrifice of His only Begotten Son.
His standing on the cusp of the ages is highlighted by the fact that Abram was born about two years after Noah died and would have likely met his ancestors Shem (Noah’s son who lived until Isaac turned 50) and Eber, after whom the name “Hebrew” was derived – hearing second hand from them what the world was like before the flood and before the lands were separated. Abram also lived to see the birth of Isaac’s twin sons – and to watch them grow up for about 15 years.
Without any direct information, we can only guess at how unusual Abram’s experience was compared to his peers; how rare – or common – it was to be addressed by God Almighty. When God first spoke to him at the age of 75, the world was likely one of oral traditions that had roots in the unimaginable – the power of God in the flood and the breaking apart of the land mass would still likely be seeding mythologies and superstitions among the various tribes and tongues.
If we accept, as is likely, that Abram was a near contemporary of Job, then Job’s experiences would provide additional context to the culture in which Abram was raised – and as to how God interacted with Man and his creation. In describing Job – God declared standards and expectations for what it meant to be blameless and upright and the importance of fearing God and turning away from evil.
What is certain to us by reviewing Abram’s experiences, is that God had spoken to him, but that he struggled to embrace the fullness of the implications in what he had heard. He leaves Charan, the place that was only intended to be a stopover, but by taking his nephew with him, errs in obeying the conditions. When he does arrive to Canaan, God briefly confirms that he was in the right place – and in the brevity, Abram’s struggle was likely reinforced.
He was a rich man when he left Charan – he is even more well off after God spares him in Egypt (despite Abram’s fears of men) and Pharaoh sends him away, allowing him to keep the wealth received as compensation for Sarai. After finally separating from Lot, God reiterates, fully, the promises of the covenant, which encourages Abram to relocate and to build an altar. It is shortly after this that Abram is told of Lot’s capture as a spoil of war. Abram’s household at this time included 318 trained men, who, with Abram, are able to defeat the kings who had plundered Sodom and the surrounding five kingdoms. It is on his return, with Lot and all of the spoil, that his next encounter occurs.
The details and depths of the next encounter are supported by the accounts in the New Testament letter to the Hebrews relative to Melchizedek. It is there that we are provided confirmation that this is in fact either a symbolic encounter with God or (and the more likely) what is referred to as a “Theophany” or more specifically a “Christophany” – a manifestation of God in bodily form prior to the incarnation of Jesus.
In the “King’s Valley” Abram meets Melchizedek (which means “King of Righteousness”), the king of Salem (“peace”) who is also referred to as a priest of God Most High – the name is El-Elyon, one of the Creation names of God. This man, whoever he is, blesses Abram, referring to him as “Abram, of God Most High the Possessor of heaven and earth.” Together they eat bread and drink wine and to him, Abram gives one tenth of all. Much more could be uncovered, but for the purposes of our review of the details of Abram’s covenant encounters, we will leave the mystery of Melchizedek for another time.
“After these things” (being: rescuing Lot and meeting Melchizedek) we are told in Genesis 15:1-21 that Abram experiences a vision of great import and length. A study in itself, this exchange presents the fourth encounter between God and Abram in the revelation of the full details of the covenant God is making with him. Based on what comes after this conversation with the Lord, it is likely that this occurs about ten years after Abram’s very first encounter – the one that sends him forth from Charan to Canaan. It is clear by the words Abram speaks that he is having some doubts about the means (the “how”) of the fulfillment of God’s promises – and as much as the LORD gives him in the way of depth and detail – he does not address what seems obvious to Abram – how will an heir be produced?
What we are provided is a dialogue that includes an expansion of the promise that just might also be a metaphor of his prophetic role as the father of all who believe. Abram then performs an act of worship that seems almost mystical: if by “vision” this entire passage is to be read as if it were more dreamlike than real (which, however, the language does not support) then so be it. If it is a vision of the kind Ezekiel eventually sees, then what is described either occurred over nearly 24 hours or revealed the supernatural, realm of the Spirit to Abram.
Here is what I mean. After bemoaning the current state, that a servant of his house is the only heir that could benefit from God’s promises, God takes Abram outside and asks him to count the stars – i.e., anything that produces light that is not the moon (Gen.1:14-16):
“…if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then he believed (he “supported and confirmed”) in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. And He said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.” He said, “O Lord GOD (“Adonai YHVH”), how may I know that I will possess it?” Gen.15:5b-8
(By the way – it is that last statement from the Lord that Stephen is likely recounting in Acts 7:4; the LORD confirms His involvement in their departure from Ur, without giving the exact means or messages He used.)
If I read this right, Abram fully accepts the promise of uncountable heirs like the lights in the heaven. That acceptance is accounted as his being right and approved in the sight of the LORD – on the spiritual side. But when the Lord follows that up by talking about possessing the land on the natural side of the promises – Abram asks for proof; this new level of confidence in the Lord’s promises being fulfilled would seem to be isolated to the heirs of faith.
So, He said to him, “Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds. The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. Gen.15:9-11
As a quick aside, this would be considered the third sacrifice that Abram has made in connection with the price of the covenant.
Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.
God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.” Gen.15:12-13
The timing here is related to his descendants and since Abram has none, this clock has not started. Also, the operative is “strangers” and the sentence could read: ‘your descendants will be strangers in the land in which they live but do not possess, during which time they will be enslaved and oppressed.’
“But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.
“As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. “Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.” Gen.15:14-16
The LORD then calls out a specific, singular nation that will be judged. This stands in conflict with the list below of nations that will be dispossessed, at the appointed time (vs.18-19). The fulfillment of these promises is seen (and described by Mauro’s work) first as the time from Isaac’s weaning in 1933 BC to the Exodus in 1533 BC. And second when we are also told in Genesis 46:12 that Hezron, the son or Perez, the son of Judah was among those who went down to Egypt with Jacob in 1748 BC AND that Nahshon the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram the son of Hezron, was the standard bearer for the tribe of Judah when the spies entered the land (Number 10:14) – he is of the fourth generation which will “return here”.
We are also presented with a very clear proof that though the LORD is in the process of identifying the nation that will be entrusted with the oracles of God (Rom.3:2) and will produce the line of Christ through to His mother and to Joseph, the man who will raise the Son of God, He was and still is the LORD of the whole earth. What we are not told but what can be inferred is that the Lord was also dealing with the Amorites (descendants of Canaan, son of Ham) during this same four hundred plus years. God never surrendered His rights as Creator and Owner of all He created!
It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying,
“To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.” Gen.15:18-19
This is the first actual mention of the covenant, though as we have noted, the promises and sacrifices involved in the prior encounters have all the earmarks of covenant. Also, Abram was told to go out and count the stars if he could, in verse 5. Here in verse 17, “the sun had set…it was very dark”. In between was his gathering and preparing the sacrifices and chasing off the birds of prey: this encounter seems to have covered at least 24 hours – which may explain Abram’s deep sleep a bit earlier in this second evening as noted in verse 12.
The fifth encounter regarding details of the covenant is found in our chapter 17 of Genesis, in verses 1-22 of that chapter (the entirety, with comments, are below). Another 14 years has gone by since Abram’s vision and the LORD’s declaration of his faith-based righteousness – a total of 24 years since Abram first received the promise and charge from God.
In that time, he and Sarai agreed that the source of God’s means of fulfillment would need to be other than her – and so Abram took Hagar, Sarai’s maid whom she had attained in Egypt, to wife and she bore Ishmael to Abram. It should be noted that the first time the Hebrew word for messenger (“malak”) is used (though for some reason the errant transliteration from the Greek word for messenger is inserted) comes in association with the strife that resulted from Sarai and Abram’s decision. In chapter 16:7 of Genesis, Hagar, after having fled from the harsh treatment of Sarai, is on the way to Shur and has stopped by a spring in the wilderness. There she meets the messenger of the LORD.
He said:
“Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from and where are you going?” Hagar replied, “I am fleeing the presence of my mistress Sarai.” Then the messenger of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority. “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count. “Behold you are with child and you will bear a son; and you shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has heard your affliction. He (her son) will be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; and he will dwell before the face of all of his brothers.” Gen.16:8-12
After this exchange Hagar “called the name of the LORD who spoke to her “You, God, see me” (El-roi-raah). So, this messenger, who has told Hagar: to return to Sarai; that she is expecting a son; that she is to call his name Ishmael; and that her seed (the word translated descendants) will be too many to count; was YHVH – Whom she declares to be “You, God, see me”!
And then Abram’s fifth encounter occurs:
Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him,
“I am God Almighty; Walk before Me and be blameless.
“I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”
Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you will be the father of a multitude of nations. “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. “I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. “I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojourning, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. “This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. “And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. “And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants. “Whoever is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus, shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. “But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah, her name. “I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear?”
And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!”
But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
“As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. “But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.”
When He finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. Gen.17:1-22
Three times in this encounter the promise of an everlasting covenant is given. The term we first saw with Noah and the covenant God made with Mankind and all of the beasts and birds who came off the ark, is repeated here – three-fold!
So, we have the expansion of the parties – with the inclusion of Isaac and of Sarah (the confirmation of Sarah’s inclusion is given to us in Gen.18:9-15). We also are given further clarification and expansion of the promises of the covenant, along with the admonition to be blameless like Job. Lastly in this encounter, we are given the proof of adherence – what can only be accounted as a fourth “payment” of the price when the shedding of blood is our basis.
I do want to address the second reference of the everlasting covenant, where the proof or sign of circumcision is noted as proof that the covenant will “be in their flesh for an everlasting covenant.” It is important to note that this statement gains a new perspective when the covenant is fulfilled (not abolished) at the time that the New Covenant is established in Christ.
Paul – trained as a Pharisee and one-time persecutor of Christians – writes in Romans chapter 2 verse 25, as a part of his treatise to the Gentile believers of Rome, that circumcision (which was instituted before the Law) is of value if (and only if) you practice the Law, and adds in verse 29, “But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter…”. In 1Cor.7:19 – a letter likely written at or around the same time as the one to the Romans – he says, “Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing” and goes on to encourage each man to “remain in the condition in which he was called.” In his first written letter, to those in Galatia, Paul wrote, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.” And then to those in Colossae, a few years after his letter to the Romans, Paul states, “and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands…by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in submersion, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith…” (see Col.2:8-15).
The fulfillment of natural proofs or signs, and their replacement with the spiritual, will also be seen in other notations regarding the everlasting covenant, as was noted in the previous post.
The review of the Abrahamic covenant has taken some time – its simplicity, was quickly wrapped in its complexity. But before we finish there is one more encounter worth reviewing.
For most expositors this story, though significant, is not considered in light of the covenant between God and Abraham – for my part I see it as the capstone, the crowning glory of all of the everlasting implications of this covenant that is based on the faith of a man – of each Man – in his (and our) Creator.
The entirety of the story is provided in our chapter 22 of Genesis – in verses 1-19. I will summarize the story but will include the portion that, in my reading, adds this to Abraham’s covenant with God.
God called to Abraham. He had a test for Abraham – and since God knew the end from the beginning, the test was literally “for” Abraham; for his sake. The test:
“Take now your son, your only son whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”
Up to now, there has been no indication that God was even accepting of – let alone requiring of human sacrifice. There is indication that such practices were common in some lands and that those practices focused on the sacrifice of the pure and innocent (so, often young children). We will learn in the Laws that God gave to Moses to share with His people that it is forbidden, but through the 21st chapter of Genesis the topic has actually not been addressed.
For this to be asked of Abraham would have shaken him to his core – even if the requirement was for one from a number of his sons. We can hardly imagine the effort that he must have gone through – mentally and emotionally – to reconcile this request with his prior experiences with God. (We can only imagine because we are given no indications whatsoever.) Instead, we are just told that he rises early, saddles his donkey gets two of his young male servants and Isaac – having split the wood for the fire – and heads out.
And then we are told that “on the third day, Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place. (I am not a Hebrew scholar, but it struck me that the word for “tested” and the word for “raised” are homonyms and therefore transliterate the same way in English (“nasah”). The point only being that, as can often be noticed – especially in passages that demonstrate, at least, surface-level controversy – that a certain amount of poetry or even word play can be found.)
At this point the two servants are asked to wait while Abraham and “lad” go up to worship and return. (The use of the term “lad” is likely why we, in our culture, think of Isaac as being relatively young, though the word itself is used more often to describe a young man (or men), as opposed to a youth.) Abraham, the father, had faith and with his faith he knew that they would return. God’s promises had been made and they included Isaac. Just as our Father in heaven knew, that when He led His Only Begotten Son up to calvary, that He would return. And just as Jesus bore His cross of wood up the hill, so too does Isaac: Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, and the two of them walked on together. (I can easily imagine the Father walking together, though unseen by Man, with Jesus, His Son, up the hill of Golgotha.)
And then his son, his only son asked, “Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” To which Abraham replied, “God will see for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering my son,” so the two walked on together.
It should be noted, that if my perspective is correct and Isaac’s age mirrors that of Whom he is a type, then he too is demonstrating faith – faith in God and faith in his own father. How else could what we are told happens next, occur; Isaac must have cooperated!
“And then Abraham “stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son.”
But the messenger of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind, a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will See, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the LORD it will be seen.”
Then the messenger of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
As we have noticed, this encounter includes all of the primary elements of covenant: participants, promises, price (both Isaac symbolically and the ram), and proof – where the proof here is as declared by the statement “now I know” – keeping in mind that God knows it all – but in the miracle of interacting with us within the confines of time, He uses language that implies a learning.
One point of significance in validating my position on Isaac’s age for this event. Immediately after this story, we are told that Abraham is made aware of the birth of children and grandchildren to his brother Nahor; followed by the death of Sarah at 127 years (the only woman whose age at death is provided in the Old Testament), so when Isaac is 37 (Gen.23:1). We also know that Isaac is older than 5. Apart from those two boundaries, Isaac’s age is not declared at the time of his “sacrifice”. That he might be any age between those two boundaries other than 33 ½ years is clear; that he might have been 33 ½ is also clear – but would also add another very powerful implication to this prophetic type of the sacrifice that the Only Begotten Son of God will make at that age.
And so, we have in the Abrahamic Covenant a reflection of both the simplicity and the complexity of the covenants between God and His creation.
As a student, it is simpler if everything is presented in a nice, well demarked format that facilitates recall. In God’s interactions with Man, the object is not convenience or ease of recall, but of revelation and understanding. Though God’s side of any obligation and promise can always be counted on, He often places conditions on His promises. We saw that even very early on with Abraham – there was no further revelation until he had separated from Lot, finally fulfilling that condition. And we also saw that with the people of Israel who were offered the ability to be a kingdom of priests, but because of their fears, settled for Moses as their intermediary and the Levites as their priests. God knew that they would reject His offer – He made it nonetheless for their benefit and for ours.
We live under the New Covenant – the covenant that fulfilled (not abolished) all other covenants and the one that directly represents the Everlasting Covenant within the confines of time. Within that covenant is both our means for release from the bondages of sin and death through the acceptance of the Ransom price Christ offers all Mankind AND our hope for the Redemption, the restoration of all that was lost when Adam surrendered our inheritance.
As we noted in the previous post, the Everlasting Covenant was established by God, and with God was signed with His everlasting Name. It governed how God would interact with His creation; laying out His intention and the cost He would pay (and did pay in the Eternal Now) in order to make His desires come to pass. His desires are dramatically demonstrated in His acts and described in His covenants. It is the legal contract that provides the grounds for His plan for Mankind.