LET us quote Genesis 12: 1-4 and give some explanatory comments in brackets: “Now the LORD had said unto Abram (high father), Get thee out of thy country [the land of Ur of the Chaldees], and from thy kindred [relations], and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee [the land of Canaan]: And I will make of thee a great nation [first, Real Fleshly Israel, and second, Real Spiritual Israel], and I will bless thee [God promised that He would greatly benefit him], and make thy name great [would give him a great reputation, a great office and a great position among God’s people]; and thou shalt be a blessing [he would give benefits to many]: And I will bless them that bless thee [those that will do good to this high father God will bless], and curse him that curseth thee [those that reject this high father, who often represents God, God will curse]: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed [herein the promise is made that all the families of the earth are going to be blessed by the seed of Abraham]. So Abram departed [out of Ur of Chaldea], as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot (covering) went with him [accompanied him on his journey).”
From the above passage, we see that while Abraham was still in Ur of the Chaldees God offered to make the Covenant with him (Acts 7: 2, 3); but He attached certain conditions that Abraham had to fulfill before he would make the Covenant with him. These conditions were that he leave: (1) his own country; (2) his kindred; (3) his father’s house; and (4) go to the land to be shown him, which proved to be Canaan (Genesis 12: 1). It was only after Abraham fulfilled these conditions that the Covenant became his (Galatians 3: 17).
The Abrahamic Covenant a Summary of God’s Plan
God used Abraham and his three wives – rather the one wife, Sarah, and the two concubines, Hagar and Keturah (Genesis 25: 6), to type matters regarding the three great covenants. This original and all-embracing covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12: 2, 3) consists of seven parts or promises, and is a summary of God’s plan. All of God’s later covenants are made operative by what it promises. Its first promise, “I will make of thee a great nation,” applies antitypically to all the seed in general, but it more especially applies to the Christ, Head and Body, the fruitful and holy nation (Matthew 21: 43) (1 Peter 2: 9). This first promise is elaborated in Genesis 22: 16-18, which is called the Oath-bound Covenant, because God added His oath to it (Genesis 22: 16) (Hebrews 6: 13-20).
It has two features, a heavenly and an earthly feature, implied by the expressions, the seed like the stars of heaven, and the seed like the sands of the sea shore. Each of these seeds is divided into two classes: the heavenly into the Little Flock and the Great Company, and the earthly into the Ancient Worthies and the Youthful Worthies. Ultimately the full seed will include the faithful restitutionists, especially the Jews in their capacity of blessing mankind (Romans 11: 29) (Matthew 25: 34-40). That part of the Oath-bound Covenant which applies to the Christ is typed by Sarah (Galatians 3: 15-29; 4: 23-31) (Romans 9: 7-9).
The Law Covenant Typed by Hagar
The Law Covenant is typed by Hagar (Galatians 4: 23-31). The first promise of the Abrahamic Covenant was given 430 years before the Law, which was pictured by Sarah being Abraham’s real wife years before Hagar was taken as a concubine. But as the concubine bore her son before Sarah bore hers, so the Law Covenant developed Fleshly Israel before antitypical Sarah developed Spiritual Israel. Later, at the weaning time of antitypical Isaac (the Christ Class) during the Jewish Harvest, the Law Covenant and its product – Fleshly Israel – were cast off (Galatians 4: 29, 30) and remained cast off (Romans 9-11) (Galatians 4: 29, 30), just like Hagar and Ishmael remained cast off during the rest of Sarah’s life, antityped by Israel’s hardness and consequent rejection by God until the full number of the Elect be won (Romans 11: 25-27).
The New Covenant Typed by Keturah
After Sarah’s death Abraham took, as a concubine, Keturah, who types the New Covenant. So, after the Gospel Age, when the Sarah Covenant will have ceased operating, God will take another covenant, as a symbolic concubine. Abraham had six sons by Keturah (Genesis 25: 2), which types the six classes that will be developed by the New Covenant during the Millennial Age Kingdom.