RTW 2023

Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant. Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.”
Genesis 17:9-14

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And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.
Genesis 15:6

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• The story of the Bible is told within the frame story of covenants.
• The story unfolds through God’s covenants.
• God relates to humans by covenants.
• Beriyth: Hebrew: Covenant is a solemn, binding arrangement between two parties and entails a variety of responsibilities, benefits and penalties depending on the specific covenant which is being studied.
• Diatheke: Greek: usually translated “covenant” in English versions of the Bible, is a legal term denoting a formal and legally binding declaration of benefits to be given by one party to another, with or without conditions attached. In secular contexts it was most often used of a “last will and testament.” In the Greek version of the Old Testament διαθηκη  was used as the ordinary rendering for the Hebrew word beriyth.
• Blessings for obedience.
• Curses for disobedience.
• A covenant often has some kind of sign to indicate a covenant has been established.
• To enter into a covenant is to join into a binding relationship with someone.
• When two nations enter into a covenant, the weaker nation would walk in between animal carcasses that were cut in half.
• God passed through the divided animals.
• God promised to take the curse of the covenant upon Himself.
• Jesus, the Son of God, took the curse upon Himself and died on the cross so that we can receive the blessings.
• Galatians 3:7-14

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Remember that God is faithful, no matter what.