The Abrahamic Covenant: Genesis
The Yahweh Promise
Before the Abrahamic Covenant, and all the things to come of it, there was a man named Abraham. According to Genesis, one night Yaweh (The Yahwists term for "God") suddenly broke into the consciousness of Abraham. When Yahweh broke into his consciousness he ordered Abraham to leave his home in Haran and to go in an unspecified direction. Abraham did as told by Yahweh but the odd thing about it is that before Yahweh had broken into Abraham's consciousness he was a believer of other Gods. Once gone from Haran Abraham put his faith in the divine promises that Yahweh offered him. Yahweh looked at this trust of what he told him as loyalty to him. In Genesis 14 Abraham became a warrior saving his nephew Lot from an army of Canaanite Kings and after defeating the Kings he paid Melchizedek (A Canaanite sanctuary) ten percent of the money he captured from the kings. Salem, the Canaanite sanctuary is thought to be the future site of Jerusalem.
The Abrahamic Covenant:
In a ceremonial ritual to create the Abrahamic Covenant Yahweh passed between two halves of a slaughtered animal. The covenant that Yahweh created was a promise and pledge to make Abraham one of the ancestors of Israel and other nations. The covenant also gave all of Abraham's descendants the territory of Canaan and to be their God forever. These promised lands extended from the valley of the Euphrates to the valley of the Nile, from the northwest border of Egypt to the northwest border of Mesopotamia. Though Yahweh never asks for anything in return he does introduce a ritual in Genesis 17 that requires Abraham and any of his descendants to be circumcised. Yahweh created this ritual so that there was a physical symbol to recognize someone who was of an Israelites Abrahamic descent.
The information in this article represents the opinions and research that I have collected and does not necessarily represent my own beliefs. I urge you to do your own research and come up with your own opinions to solve all biblical cruces you have.
Bibliography:
COOGAN, MICHAEL. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Understanding the Bible. Boston, Mass. McGraw-Hill, 2007.
Published by Mr. B
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1 Comments
Post a CommentI do not know where Mr Betts got his information from, but I would suggest that he reads the bible from the Hebrew translation and not the King James version. Also he should study the bible from a jewish perspective