By My Word

 Week 2  

Terms of the Agreement   

   Act 1 - Actors: God above, four humans and the demons below. 

   Only one of the first four people we know about seems without fault, yet God allowed that he would lose his life. 

   Act 2 - God above, Noah and his family, and the demons below.

   God made a covenant with Noah. There were commands, promises and obligations. Noah built the ark on faith, before there was rain. 

   Hundreds of years later, his descendants had begun to subdue the earth. Some knew their Creator. Others worshiped stars and nature. God had in mind a special man for a special place and a special purpose: 

   Act 3 - Abraham... another covenant with commands, promises and obligations (Genesis 15). Abraham believed and (mostly) obeyed - not just "joined the church." God accepted him as father of a new people, whose purpose was to tell the world there is one true God, and He is good. 

   Abraham passed a severe test with his son, Isaac, foreshadowing God the Father giving his Son as a ransom for sins. "The angel of the Lord" spoke to Hagar, promising a future for her son.

   Acts 4 & 5 - God included Isaac in the covenant, and spoke separately to his wife, Rebecca. Later, He included Jacob in the covenant. In a dream, He emphasized, "I am the Lord."

   In Genesis 17 this was called an "everlasting covenant." The covenant people ultimately failed to follow the terms of the agreement, releasing God from his promises. Israel will be great in the Millennium, under Christ, but father Abraham's covenant was null and void by the 6th century B.C. 

   
   The old serpent was having his way, but he knew his head will be crushed. God had laid the foundation for a future covenant, to be communicated to the ends of the earth. 

   Wednesday: Voice in a burning bush