Covenant:
The
bible dictionary defines covenant to sometimes be an agreement between two
people but most often it is between God and man. When our covenant is with God
it is NOT a relationship of equal contractors. God sets the terms and we decide
if we want to accept them. With acceptance there are powerful blessings, but we
are under strong obligation and responsibility to honor our part of the
commitment. The gospel is arranged so that principles and ordinances are
received by covenant.
Why was the choice of Abram to marry
Hagar righteous?
In Genesis 16:1-3 Sarai
gave her handmaiden to Abram to be his wife so they could obtain children. D&C
132:34,65 clarifies these verses by giving us additional information. It
was custom of the time and lawful for the wife’s handmaiden to be given as a
wife to bear children. Because Sarai was barren this helped to fulfill the
covenant promises to Abraham of being the father of many nations. It was also a
commandment from God that Abram take Hagar to wife. This shows us that Abram
was being righteous and keeping the commandments of God.
In
this blog, I refer to Abraham as both Abram and Abraham. His wife is both
Sarai and Sarah. God came to Abram when he was age 99 and made a covenant with
him. As a token of that covenant, all males were to be circumcised. He told him
that his wife Sarai would bear a son (she was 90) God also changed their names
to reflect this covenant. These are the meanings of the names:
Abraham - Father of multitudes
Abraham - Father of multitudes
Abram
– Exalted father
Sarah
– Princess
Sarai - Contentions
Genesis 17:17 Then Abraham
fell upon his face, and laughed, and
said in his heart, Shall a child be
born unto him that is an hundred years
old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
Genesis
18:10-14 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time
of life; and, lo, Sarah thy
wife shall have a son. And Sarah
heard it in the tent
door, which was behind
him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be
with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed
within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord
being old also? And the Lord said
unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying,
Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is any thing too hard for the Lord?
At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life,
and Sarah shall have a son.
Abrahamic Covenant
What Abraham Promised to do:
Walk
uprightly before God and become perfect
Accept
baptism
Take on Priesthood responsibility
Enter
into celestial marriage
What the Lords promised:
Baptism
brings salvation
Higher
priesthood and celestial marriage brings exaltation
Eternal
increase
His
posterity would receive certain choice promised lands as eternal inheritance
Exaltation
and eternal increase renewed with each member of House of Israel who enter the
order of celestial marriage (
Details of Land Promise:
Temporal: Land of Canaan (Palestine) promised to
Abrahams descendants. The land would spread forth as far as necessary for them
to receive and inheritance.
Eternal: Righteous descendants will inherit the celestial
earth
Details of Posterity Promise:
Temporal: Numberless posterity
Posterity
of Isaac the covenant son - the nation of Israel
Posterity
of Ishmael - the Arabs
Posterity
of 6 sons born through Keturah – Midianites and others
Population
of Arab, Moslem, and Israeli world with all their deceased ancestors and future
posterity
Past,
present and future members of the Nephite/Lamanite cultures
Lost
ten tribes
Eternal: Posterity will have no end because
righteous descendants will go through eternity bringing forth eternal increase
Details of Priesthood Promise:
Temporal: Abraham received the priesthood
The
mission of the covenant people is to serve the Lord by blessing others with the
gospel.
In
Abraham and his seed all the families of the earth should be blessed.
Prophets
were descendants of Abraham
Christ
came through his line
The
12 apostles were descendants
Lehi
and his family
Joseph
Smith
Eternal:
Descendants
who remain true and faithful bless their own family and others with the
blessings of the gospel and will continue throughout eternity
They
will be heirs to all the Father has through Christ
Why is the Abrahamic Covenant
important to me?
Through
the power and authority of the priesthood passed down through righteous
prophets and priesthood holders through the generations of time since Abraham,
I am counted as one of Abrahams covenant posterity because of my choice to take
on the same commitments that Abraham did. I have taken on the commitment of
baptism and of celestial marriage. Because of that same covenant made with Abraham
that applies to his posterity, I can also receive the same blessings. Those
opportunities apply to my children as well. Because of my covenants the Lord
will seek after my children and multiple opportunities will be provided to them
to take upon themselves these same covenants. With the blessings and covenants
comes responsibility. I have committed my life to serve the Lord, to walk in
righteousness to the best of my understanding and ability, and to continually
work on becoming perfect. I receive multiple blessings from the Lord in this
life. One of the most important things is having His spirit with me to guide
me, teach me, comfort me, warn me, strengthen me and give me confidence in my
daily walk with Him. He gives me multiple opportunities to serve and bless the
lives of others and inspires me continuously. In the next life he has promised
that I will inherit all that He hath and my family will continue forever.
These
same blessings and opportunities are available to anyone willing to
take upon themselves these covenants under the direction of the proper
priesthood channels.
Scriptures for further study:
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