Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac;
The verse recalls the pledge God made to Abraham and swore to Isaac, remembered and confirmed onward to Jacob as a law and to Israel as an everlasting covenant, commanded as a word to a thousand generations. It is His holy moral law, the Ten Commandments including the Sabbath, written on stone for Israel to keep, while those who held it otherwise taught that it is the covenant of circumcision. The same covenant is the everlasting gospel pledge of saving men, whose Seed is Christ and whose heirs are people of faith, distinct from the ceremonial law of types and shadows. Its inheritance is not exhausted by past events but is the world itself, ultimately the new earth and the heavenly city, which Abraham, Isaac and all the faithful heirs through Christ will receive together beyond the resurrection, while those who held it for literal Canaan taught that Israel by descent must possess that land on condition of obedience. Its blessings rest on obedience, since Abraham kept God's charge and commandments, yet because all have broken the law and stand under its curse they come only through Christ redeeming from the curse, received by believing as Abraham believed and walking in his faith.
Words and Historical Setting
The verse recalls the covenant made with Abraham and the oath sworn to Isaac, continued onward as the covenant remembered, confirmed to Jacob for a law and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, commanded as a word to a thousand generations. That onward confirmation joins the original promise to Abraham to his obedience to commandments, statutes and laws, and links the covenant both to the promise of the land and to the commanded law. Its promises give Abraham the world as an inheritance, ultimately the new earth and the heavenly city with foundations, the heavenly Jerusalem, where Abraham and his seed keep the everlasting covenant. The same covenant is the everlasting gospel covenant whose Seed is Christ and whose heirs are people of faith, with the Ten Commandments presented as its basis.
The surrounding passage embraces two distinct but closely connected things, a law and a promise, the commanded word and the promise to give the land of Canaan for an inheritance stated in verse 18. The command must be distinguished from the land grant even as both belong to the covenant account, for the promise is based on the commandment and together they make up the covenant. That law confirmed to Jacob for a law, to Israel for an everlasting covenant, the word commanded to a thousand generations, is the Ten Commandments.
The verse belongs to the psalm David gave to be sung in prayer and praise when the ark containing the Ten Commandments was brought to Jerusalem from the house of Obed-edom and set in the tent David pitched for it. The passage in 1 Chronicles 16:8-22 gives the same words as Psalm 105:1-6, being the first fifteen verses of Psalm 105. As Hebrew poetry its statement of the covenant made with Abraham and the oath to Isaac uses figurative expression and poetic diction that must not be construed with severe literalness as if it were prose.
The phrase commanded to a thousand generations denotes perpetuity, as in showing mercy to thousands of them that love God and keep His commandments, not confined to any number. It does not prove the end of the world is far off.
Covenant Identity and Law
The covenant made with Abraham and sworn by oath to Isaac is God's holy covenant, His moral law, the Ten Commandments including the Sabbath commandment. It is the word commanded to a thousand generations, confirmed to Jacob for a law and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, written on two tables of stone for Israel to keep and to be remembered always. Its precise sense as commandments is decided by its connection, since the surrounding verses join it to what was confirmed for a law and declared as covenant at Sinai. Breaking that everlasting covenant by transgressing the laws and changing the ordinance is why the curse devours the earth in desolation by curse and burning in the plagues.
The same Abrahamic covenant is the everlasting gospel covenant, the Lord's pledge and purpose of saving men. Its Seed is Christ and its heirs are people of faith, those who have faith in Christ being counted as Abraham's children and heirs of the promise fulfilled in Christ. It is based on God's moral law, with the Ten Commandments presented as its basis and Abraham's obedience to God's commandments connected to the promise. It is distinct from the ceremonial law of types and shadows.
The covenant made with Abraham is not the covenant of circumcision, for the verse says nothing about circumcision and makes no allusion to it. Circumcision was given to Abraham as a sign or token of the covenant made with him. Where circumcision is called a covenant the word is used in an accommodated sense meaning sign, so the sign cannot itself be the covenant.
Those who held the other reckoning taught that the covenant commanded to a thousand generations is the covenant of circumcision made with Abraham and confirmed by oath to Isaac, not the covenant of Ten Commandments. Their reason was number, since only about one hundred generations have passed since creation. On that counting, to take it as the Decalogue would require the Decalogue to be kept for nine hundred generations still to come, while those who require it also hold that the coming of Christ will soon end generation.
Promise and Inheritance
The covenant embraces the gift of the land of Canaan to Israel for an inheritance, made when the heirs were but few and strangers in the land before they became numerous. It was held to require that Israel possess literal Canaan for many generations. That possession rested on obedience, for the Ten Commandments given to Israel were the conditions associated with the promised land.
That promise is not a grant of literal Canaan to the Jews by natural descent, but belongs to those who are Christ's. If literal possession of Canaan were required, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the other faithful of the old dispensation would have to be raised to receive it. Christ's followers would then also have to go there to share it.
The covenant promises Abraham the world as an inheritance, ultimately the new earth and the heavenly city that has foundations, the heavenly Jerusalem, making him heir of the world. It was not exhausted by past events, but gives the heirs of promise hope because God confirmed it by an unchangeable oath. Abraham and the faithful who are heirs through Christ will receive the promised inheritance together in the future, beyond the resurrection. There Abraham and all his seed will keep the everlasting covenant, with the Sabbath commandment included and without exception.
The everlasting covenant is the pledge and purpose of saving men, including atonement and oneness with God. It includes forgiveness of sin and eternal life and immortality. Its inheritance is a sinless earth where the enemies of God's people are banished.
Obedience Faith and Gospel
God’s promises to Abraham and his seed were given because Abraham obeyed God’s voice and kept His charge, His commandments, His statutes and His laws, and the word commanded to a thousand generations is the basis and condition of the promise confirmed to Jacob for a law and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, so the Abrahamic promise with the gift of Canaan to Israel when its few descendants were strangers before becoming numerous, and all its gospel blessings, rest on obedience to the Ten Commandments as the conditions associated with the promised land. The covenant remembered through Israel therefore embraces two distinct but closely connected things, a commanded law and the promise of the land for an inheritance, with the law by metonymy also called a covenant. The phrase commanded to a thousand generations denotes perpetuity as in showing mercy to thousands who love God and keep His commandments, not confined to any number.
The Ten Commandments did not originate at Sinai but were known to Abraham and Isaac, as shown by comparison with Genesis 26:3-5 and Deuteronomy 4:12-13 and by the psalm sung before the ark containing the Ten Commandments after it was brought from the house of Obed-edom and set in the tent David pitched for it, and they were only there confirmed to Jacob and Israel for a law and an everlasting covenant. In that sense the covenant is made with Abraham as the condition of the promise made to him, and being commanded to a thousand generations and standing fast forever and ever it continues and is not abolished with the Sinaitic agreement, did not end at the cross, and is unlimited in duration, including the Sabbath which is binding as long as that covenant lasts. Those who held otherwise taught that the law as such came four hundred and thirty years after Abraham by Moses, that the commandments, statutes and laws Abraham had and obeyed and for which he was favored were not in every respect the same as the law from Sinai, that Abraham never saw the Sabbath, and that the verse rests only on the common elements shared by what Abraham had and the later Sinai law and is poetry not to be taken as a strict legal statement that the Ten Commandments as given in covenant at Sinai were the condition of the promise.
The curse of that law stands between the transgressor and the blessing of Abraham, so those who are transgressors and under its curse cannot inherit until the curse is removed. Since all, Jews and Gentiles, have broken it and forfeited all right to the blessing, it can be restored only through Christ redeeming from the curse of the law by faith, and that faith does not make the law void. The blessing of Abraham is identical with the blessing of the gospel, so a transgressor is not entitled to the blessings of the gospel apart from that redemption, and to inherit requires walking in the steps of Abraham’s faith by keeping that law.
Abraham entered the covenant by believing God and his faith led him to obey, and the promised inheritance comes through righteousness by faith. The covenant blessings come through Christ, Abraham’s Seed, in whom the holy everlasting gospel covenant promise is fulfilled, and those who belong to Christ by faith are counted as Abraham’s children and heirs of the promise. Believers now stand related to God’s covenant commanded to a thousand generations just as Abraham did.
Warning and Mission
The covenant made with Abraham and confirmed by oath to Isaac is the holy covenant, the moral law, the word commanded to a thousand generations, confirmed to Jacob for a law and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, even the ten commandments which are the basis of all covenants God ever made with man. Breaking that everlasting covenant by transgressing the laws and changing the ordinance is why the curse devours the earth. That breach brings desolation on the inhabitants of the earth by curse and burning in the plagues. Indignation against that holy covenant set up the man of sin, the abomination that makes desolate.
Because that covenant with Abraham confirmed by oath to Isaac endures and stands fast forever and ever, it proves the law of God is sure and unlimited in its duration. God's commandments and covenant stand forever. The ten commandments are the covenant commanded to a thousand generations, which is the old covenant containing the Sabbath, so the Sabbath is binding as long as that covenant lasts.
Israel's duty in the psalm to declare Jehovah's glory among the nations, the Gentiles, shows God gave His truth to Israel not for themselves alone but for the whole world. That entire nation was to be His priest to the world by so living the law that other nations would be won. Their living of the law was the means by which the Gentiles might be converted.
The verse recalls the pledge God made to Abraham and swore to Isaac, remembered and confirmed onward to Jacob as a law and to Israel as an everlasting covenant, commanded as a word to a thousand generations. It is His holy moral law, the Ten Commandments including the Sabbath, written on stone for Israel to keep, while those who held it otherwise taught that it is the covenant of circumcision. The same covenant is the everlasting gospel pledge of saving men, whose Seed is Christ and whose heirs are people of faith, distinct from the ceremonial law of types and shadows. Its inheritance is not exhausted by past events but is the world itself, ultimately the new earth and the heavenly city, which Abraham, Isaac and all the faithful heirs through Christ will receive together beyond the resurrection, while those who held it for literal Canaan taught that Israel by descent must possess that land on condition of obedience. Its blessings rest on obedience, since Abraham kept God's charge and commandments, yet because all have broken the law and stand under its curse they come only through Christ redeeming from the curse, received by believing as Abraham believed and walking in his faith.
Words and Historical Setting
The verse recalls the covenant made with Abraham and the oath sworn to Isaac, continued onward as the covenant remembered, confirmed to Jacob for a law and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, commanded as a word to a thousand generations. That onward confirmation joins the original promise to Abraham to his obedience to commandments, statutes and laws, and links the covenant both to the promise of the land and to the commanded law. Its promises give Abraham the world as an inheritance, ultimately the new earth and the heavenly city with foundations, the heavenly Jerusalem, where Abraham and his seed keep the everlasting covenant. The same covenant is the everlasting gospel covenant whose Seed is Christ and whose heirs are people of faith, with the Ten Commandments presented as its basis.
The surrounding passage embraces two distinct but closely connected things, a law and a promise, the commanded word and the promise to give the land of Canaan for an inheritance stated in verse 18. The command must be distinguished from the land grant even as both belong to the covenant account, for the promise is based on the commandment and together they make up the covenant. That law confirmed to Jacob for a law, to Israel for an everlasting covenant, the word commanded to a thousand generations, is the Ten Commandments.
The verse belongs to the psalm David gave to be sung in prayer and praise when the ark containing the Ten Commandments was brought to Jerusalem from the house of Obed-edom and set in the tent David pitched for it. The passage in 1 Chronicles 16:8-22 gives the same words as Psalm 105:1-6, being the first fifteen verses of Psalm 105. As Hebrew poetry its statement of the covenant made with Abraham and the oath to Isaac uses figurative expression and poetic diction that must not be construed with severe literalness as if it were prose.
The phrase commanded to a thousand generations denotes perpetuity, as in showing mercy to thousands of them that love God and keep His commandments, not confined to any number. It does not prove the end of the world is far off.
Covenant Identity and Law
The covenant made with Abraham and sworn by oath to Isaac is God's holy covenant, His moral law, the Ten Commandments including the Sabbath commandment. It is the word commanded to a thousand generations, confirmed to Jacob for a law and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, written on two tables of stone for Israel to keep and to be remembered always. Its precise sense as commandments is decided by its connection, since the surrounding verses join it to what was confirmed for a law and declared as covenant at Sinai. Breaking that everlasting covenant by transgressing the laws and changing the ordinance is why the curse devours the earth in desolation by curse and burning in the plagues.
The same Abrahamic covenant is the everlasting gospel covenant, the Lord's pledge and purpose of saving men. Its Seed is Christ and its heirs are people of faith, those who have faith in Christ being counted as Abraham's children and heirs of the promise fulfilled in Christ. It is based on God's moral law, with the Ten Commandments presented as its basis and Abraham's obedience to God's commandments connected to the promise. It is distinct from the ceremonial law of types and shadows.
The covenant made with Abraham is not the covenant of circumcision, for the verse says nothing about circumcision and makes no allusion to it. Circumcision was given to Abraham as a sign or token of the covenant made with him. Where circumcision is called a covenant the word is used in an accommodated sense meaning sign, so the sign cannot itself be the covenant.
Those who held the other reckoning taught that the covenant commanded to a thousand generations is the covenant of circumcision made with Abraham and confirmed by oath to Isaac, not the covenant of Ten Commandments. Their reason was number, since only about one hundred generations have passed since creation. On that counting, to take it as the Decalogue would require the Decalogue to be kept for nine hundred generations still to come, while those who require it also hold that the coming of Christ will soon end generation.
Promise and Inheritance
The covenant embraces the gift of the land of Canaan to Israel for an inheritance, made when the heirs were but few and strangers in the land before they became numerous. It was held to require that Israel possess literal Canaan for many generations. That possession rested on obedience, for the Ten Commandments given to Israel were the conditions associated with the promised land.
That promise is not a grant of literal Canaan to the Jews by natural descent, but belongs to those who are Christ's. If literal possession of Canaan were required, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the other faithful of the old dispensation would have to be raised to receive it. Christ's followers would then also have to go there to share it.
The covenant promises Abraham the world as an inheritance, ultimately the new earth and the heavenly city that has foundations, the heavenly Jerusalem, making him heir of the world. It was not exhausted by past events, but gives the heirs of promise hope because God confirmed it by an unchangeable oath. Abraham and the faithful who are heirs through Christ will receive the promised inheritance together in the future, beyond the resurrection. There Abraham and all his seed will keep the everlasting covenant, with the Sabbath commandment included and without exception.
The everlasting covenant is the pledge and purpose of saving men, including atonement and oneness with God. It includes forgiveness of sin and eternal life and immortality. Its inheritance is a sinless earth where the enemies of God's people are banished.
Obedience Faith and Gospel
God’s promises to Abraham and his seed were given because Abraham obeyed God’s voice and kept His charge, His commandments, His statutes and His laws, and the word commanded to a thousand generations is the basis and condition of the promise confirmed to Jacob for a law and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, so the Abrahamic promise with the gift of Canaan to Israel when its few descendants were strangers before becoming numerous, and all its gospel blessings, rest on obedience to the Ten Commandments as the conditions associated with the promised land. The covenant remembered through Israel therefore embraces two distinct but closely connected things, a commanded law and the promise of the land for an inheritance, with the law by metonymy also called a covenant. The phrase commanded to a thousand generations denotes perpetuity as in showing mercy to thousands who love God and keep His commandments, not confined to any number.
The Ten Commandments did not originate at Sinai but were known to Abraham and Isaac, as shown by comparison with Genesis 26:3-5 and Deuteronomy 4:12-13 and by the psalm sung before the ark containing the Ten Commandments after it was brought from the house of Obed-edom and set in the tent David pitched for it, and they were only there confirmed to Jacob and Israel for a law and an everlasting covenant. In that sense the covenant is made with Abraham as the condition of the promise made to him, and being commanded to a thousand generations and standing fast forever and ever it continues and is not abolished with the Sinaitic agreement, did not end at the cross, and is unlimited in duration, including the Sabbath which is binding as long as that covenant lasts. Those who held otherwise taught that the law as such came four hundred and thirty years after Abraham by Moses, that the commandments, statutes and laws Abraham had and obeyed and for which he was favored were not in every respect the same as the law from Sinai, that Abraham never saw the Sabbath, and that the verse rests only on the common elements shared by what Abraham had and the later Sinai law and is poetry not to be taken as a strict legal statement that the Ten Commandments as given in covenant at Sinai were the condition of the promise.
The curse of that law stands between the transgressor and the blessing of Abraham, so those who are transgressors and under its curse cannot inherit until the curse is removed. Since all, Jews and Gentiles, have broken it and forfeited all right to the blessing, it can be restored only through Christ redeeming from the curse of the law by faith, and that faith does not make the law void. The blessing of Abraham is identical with the blessing of the gospel, so a transgressor is not entitled to the blessings of the gospel apart from that redemption, and to inherit requires walking in the steps of Abraham’s faith by keeping that law.
Abraham entered the covenant by believing God and his faith led him to obey, and the promised inheritance comes through righteousness by faith. The covenant blessings come through Christ, Abraham’s Seed, in whom the holy everlasting gospel covenant promise is fulfilled, and those who belong to Christ by faith are counted as Abraham’s children and heirs of the promise. Believers now stand related to God’s covenant commanded to a thousand generations just as Abraham did.
Warning and Mission
The covenant made with Abraham and confirmed by oath to Isaac is the holy covenant, the moral law, the word commanded to a thousand generations, confirmed to Jacob for a law and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, even the ten commandments which are the basis of all covenants God ever made with man. Breaking that everlasting covenant by transgressing the laws and changing the ordinance is why the curse devours the earth. That breach brings desolation on the inhabitants of the earth by curse and burning in the plagues. Indignation against that holy covenant set up the man of sin, the abomination that makes desolate.
Because that covenant with Abraham confirmed by oath to Isaac endures and stands fast forever and ever, it proves the law of God is sure and unlimited in its duration. God's commandments and covenant stand forever. The ten commandments are the covenant commanded to a thousand generations, which is the old covenant containing the Sabbath, so the Sabbath is binding as long as that covenant lasts.
Israel's duty in the psalm to declare Jehovah's glory among the nations, the Gentiles, shows God gave His truth to Israel not for themselves alone but for the whole world. That entire nation was to be His priest to the world by so living the law that other nations would be won. Their living of the law was the means by which the Gentiles might be converted.