The Covenant Continued Through Isaac and Jacob

The Covenant Continued Through Isaac and Jacob

 

The covenant God made with Abraham did not end with Abraham’s death. Scripture carefully shows that the promises were carried forward through a particular line: from Abraham to Isaac, and from Isaac to Jacob.

This matters because the Abrahamic Covenant is not merely the story of one faithful man. It is the beginning of a covenant history that runs through the nation of Israel and continues to appear throughout the New Testament.

God had made promises concerning Abraham’s seed, the land, nations, kings, blessing, and inheritance. As Genesis continues, we see those promises repeated and confirmed.

“In Isaac Shall Thy Seed Be Called”

Abraham had more than one son, but God specifically identified Isaac as the son through whom the covenant would continue.

When Abraham was concerned about Ishmael, God answered:

“In Isaac shall thy seed be called.”
—Genesis 21:12

This is an important distinction.

God certainly promised blessings to Ishmael, but when speaking of the covenant itself He said:

“But my covenant will I establish with Isaac.”
—Genesis 17:21

Therefore, the covenant line was not determined simply by physical descent from Abraham. God Himself designated the son through whom the covenant promises would proceed.

This same principle appears repeatedly in material preserved at Christogenea dealing with the promises to Abraham: the covenant promise is traced specifically through Isaac and then through Jacob.

God Repeated the Promise to Isaac

After Abraham died, God did not leave Isaac wondering whether the promises still applied.

During a famine, God appeared to Isaac and said:

“Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee.”
—Genesis 26:3

Then He repeated the covenant promises:

“For unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father.”
—Genesis 26:3

Notice that God refers directly to the oath He had sworn to Abraham.

The covenant was continuing.

God then declared:

“And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries.”
—Genesis 26:4

The promises of multiplication and inheritance are repeated almost word for word.

Then comes the promise of blessing:

“And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”
—Genesis 26:4

The same promise first spoken to Abraham was now spoken to Isaac.

The Covenant Passed to Jacob

Isaac had twin sons, Esau and Jacob.

Before they were born, God told Rebekah:

“Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels.”
—Genesis 25:23

The covenant line would continue through Jacob.

Later Isaac blessed Jacob and said:

“And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people.”
—Genesis 28:3

Then he added:

“And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee.”
—Genesis 28:4

That expression is unmistakable:

“The blessing of Abraham.”

What God had promised Abraham was now being passed to Jacob.

Material hosted at Christogenea repeatedly emphasizes this succession of the covenant through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Jacob’s Vision at Bethel

When Jacob left home and travelled toward Haran, he stopped for the night and slept with a stone for his pillow.

There God appeared to him in the famous vision of the ladder reaching from earth to heaven.

God identified Himself immediately:

“I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac.”
—Genesis 28:13

Then He promised Jacob the land:

“The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed.”
—Genesis 28:13

Again came the promise of multiplication:

“And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth.”
—Genesis 28:14

Then came a remarkable geographical promise:

“And thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south.”
—Genesis 28:14

And finally:

“And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
—Genesis 28:14

The promise given to Abraham had now been explicitly confirmed to Jacob.

Christogenea’s material gives particular attention to the parallel language between Genesis 12:3 and Genesis 28:14, treating the blessing promised through Abraham as continuing through Jacob’s descendants.

Jacob Became Israel

Later, Jacob’s name was changed.

Genesis records:

“Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel.”
—Genesis 32:28

This is the point at which the covenant promises to Abraham become inseparably connected with the name Israel.

God confirmed the name again in Genesis 35:

“Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name.”
—Genesis 35:10

Immediately afterward God repeated the covenant promises:

“Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins.”
—Genesis 35:11

Here once again we find the same major themes:

Multiplication.

A nation.

A company of nations.

Kings.

Then God spoke of the land:

“And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.”
—Genesis 35:12

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are now joined together explicitly in one continuous covenant promise.

Nations and Kings Were Part of the Promise

Sometimes people think of the Abrahamic Covenant only in spiritual terms.

But the promises in Genesis are very concrete.

God promised descendants.

He promised land.

He promised multiplication.

He promised nations.

He promised kings.

Genesis 17 says to Abraham:

“I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.”
—Genesis 17:6

Genesis 35 repeats the same idea to Jacob:

“A nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins.”
—Genesis 35:11

This repeated language shows that the national aspect of the covenant was not accidental.

God intended Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and Jacob to develop into peoples, nations, and kingdoms.

Paul Still Referred to These Promises

Centuries later, Paul continued to discuss the promise made to Abraham.

He wrote:

“Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.”
—Galatians 3:16

And later:

“And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
—Galatians 3:29

Paul’s argument throughout Galatians depends upon the fact that the Abrahamic promise had not disappeared.

He even reminds his readers that the law came 430 years afterward and could not cancel the covenant already confirmed by God.

The promise remained.

Christogenea’s extensive treatments of Galatians and the Abrahamic inheritance similarly place Paul’s arguments within the earlier covenant promises of Genesis.

God Remembers His Covenant

The great lesson is that God does not make careless promises.

He spoke to Abraham.

He confirmed His word to Isaac.

He repeated it to Jacob.

Jacob became Israel.

From Jacob came the twelve tribes.

Generation after generation passed, yet Scripture continued returning to the promises made to the fathers.

When God swore the oath, He knew exactly what He intended to accomplish.

And when circumstances seemed impossible, His promise still stood.

The Abrahamic Covenant teaches us that God’s purpose unfolds across generations.

Men may live and die before seeing everything fulfilled. Abraham himself did not live to see nations and kings arise from his descendants.

But the promise did not die with Abraham.

It passed to Isaac.

It passed to Jacob.

It continued with Israel.

And the New Testament still speaks of “the promise.”

For when God establishes His covenant, time does not weaken His word.

What God has promised, He remembers.