Among the 21 elements of the promises to Abraham, identified in article one (7/93, pg. 284), are “I will bless you,” “I am your shield” and “I will establish my covenant…to be God to you and to your descendants…and I will be their God” (Gen. 12:2; 15:1; 17:7,8 RSV, as all quotes). To Isaac, not Abraham’s first son but the first of his spiritual offspring, these aspects of the promises are conveyed as, “I will be with you, and will bless you” (26:3).
Many components of the Abrahamic covenant can be traced through the covenant with the people of Israel and the new covenant in Christ. In this consideration, we concentrate on “I will be their God” and “I will be with you,” conveyed by the figure of God dwelling with the faithful.
To Jacob, the promise is confirmed, “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go…for I will not leave you…” Awestruck, Jacob responds, “Surely the LORD is in this place…This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” His amazement is evident in his solemn vow, “If God will be with me( !), and will keep me in this way…then the LORD shall be my God…” (28:15-21). In these words, the promise is accepted and treasured; the desired response is offered. (Some read Jacob’s response as negotiating with God: if God will first prove faithful then Jacob will obey His commands. This does not harmonize with the awe expressed in verses 16-17. We suggest the sense is, “Since God will be with me…therefore the LORD shall be my God”).
Jacob’s part
“Walk before me and be blameless (perfect, KJV)” is the essence of the response God desires (Gen. 17:1). This message to Abram is echoed in Christ’s words to us, “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt. 5:48). To Israel the exhortation was, “You shall be blameless (perfect, KJV) before the LORD your God” (Deut. 18:13); “Be holy; for I the LORD your God am holy” (Lev. 19:2).
The promise to the nation
The basic promise to the patriarchs was given to the people of Israel in terms of God dwelling among them: “Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.” “There I will meet with the people of Israel…and I will dwell among the people of Israel, and will be their God” (Ex. 25:8; 29:43,45); “I will make my abode (tabernacle, KJV) among you…and I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people” (Lev. 26:11,12).
“The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deut. 33:27). “The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them…the LORD is near to the brokenhearted” (Psa. 34:7,17); “I dwell…with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit” (Isa. 57:15).
The promise to the kings
The blessing of the divine presence was available to the kings. Initially God was with Saul. “May the LORD be with you as he has been with my father,” were Jonathan’s words to David (I Sam. 20:13). The Psalmist acknowledges, “He leads me…thou art with me…” (Psa. 23:2,4). Benaiah seeks the same blessing for Solomon, “as the LORD has been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon” (I Kgs. 1:37).
A conditional promise
The salutary examples of Saul and Solomon draw our attention to the conditional aspect of the promises. Sadly, “the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul” (I Sam. 16:14). Why? “For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you…” (15:26).
Regarding the building that would replace the tabernacle as the symbol of God’s presence, Solomon is told, “Concerning this house…if you will walk in my statutes and obey my ordinances and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then…I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel” (I Kgs. 6:12,13).
This prompts Solomon’s prayer, “The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers; may he not leave us or forsake us; that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways” (8:57,58). The prayer is accepted; the promise is reaffirmed, with the added warning, “But if you turn aside from following me…then I will cut off Israel…and the house which I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight…” (9:3-9).
To those who are Christ’s
The same promise is extended to us, on the same terms. “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home (abode, KJV) with him” (John 14:23). We are “…members of the household of God” which “grows into a holy temple in the Lord…for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:19-22). “We are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will live in them and move among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” ‘ (II Cor. 6:16 citing Lev. 26).
The apostle Paul reminds us that the lessons of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 have a lasting relevance. “If you obey the voice of the LORD…all these blessings shall come upon you…he will bless you…the LORD will establish you as a people holy to himself…and I will walk among you, and will be your God and you shall be my people” (Deut. 28:1,2,8,9; Lev. 26:12). “But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD…all these curses shall come upon you…if you spurn my statutes…so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant…I will set my face against you…” (Deut. 28:15; Lev. 26:15,17).
The basic principles of the everlasting covenant are unchanging. The primary promises and the fundamental requirements are the same today as they were for the patriarchs and for the people of Israel.
A holy nation
“Like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a people for his possession, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were no people; but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy” (I Peter 2:5,9,10).
Thanks be to God that the blessing promised to Abraham and offered to faithful Israelites is now extended to us. Called out of the darkness of ignorance and sin, we are justified by grace, through faith. And, if we walk in His way, the Lord will be with us, making His home with us. For, as God is one, “there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon him” (Rom. 10:12).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One