COVENANT OF PROVISION

Increase Revival

I.                   THE POWER OF COVENANT

1.     Covenant Breeds Confidence

Hebrews 6:16

¹⁶ For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. NKJV

a.       In Abram’s day, the blood covenant signified an absolute and unbreakable guarantee of a man’s word.

b.      When two families made a covenant together, they gave to one another everything they had and all they represented.

c.       They were no longer two, but one.

d.      Families bound themselves together in blood agreements in order to fill in the gaps created by each other’s

e.       Weaknesses and needs were met by the stronger one

·        At least three large animals were sacrificed.

·        Their carcasses were split down the spine, and the halves were placed on the ground opposite each other

·        This left a trail of blood between the halves. This path was called “the way of blood.”

·        Exchange of coats – Mutual exchange of authority.  (“All that I do, all that I have is now yours.”)

·        Exchange of Weapons – My strength is now your strength, my enemies your enemies

·        Walk of blood - Twice the representatives walked through “the way of blood,” stopping in the center. There they pronounced their pledges of loyalty, making promises to each other that could never be broken. This pronouncement was called “the blessing of the covenant.”

·        Swore by their god

·        Pronounced curses for disobedience

·        Cut the Covenant – Cut wrist and mingled blood together (becoming one)

Ate Covenant Meal (bread and wine) – Symbolized all they were and willingness to lay down their lives for each other

2.     Abraham’s Covenant

Genesis 12:1-3

Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. ² I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

a.     Land as an Eternal Inheritance

b.     Great Nation

c.      Great Name

d.     Be a Blessing

e.      All Families Blessed

f.       He and seed blessed

Genesis 12:10-20

¹⁰ Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land…¹⁵ The princes of Pharaoh also saw her (Sarai) and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁶ He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels ¹⁷ But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸ And Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now, therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.” ²⁰ So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.

Genesis 13:1-14

Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. ² Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold…Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. 3 And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord. 5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶ Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together. ⁷ And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.⁸ So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. ⁹ Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.” ¹⁰ And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. ¹¹ Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. ¹² Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. ¹³ But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord. ¹⁴ And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; ¹⁵ for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. ¹⁶ And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.

Genesis 14:14

¹⁴ Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan… ¹⁵ He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.¹⁶ So he brought back all the goods and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people. ¹⁷ And the king of Sodom went out to meet…¹⁸ Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. ¹⁹ And he blessed him…And he (Abraham) gave him (Melchizedek) a tithe of all. ²⁰ And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”

And he gave him a tithe of all. ²¹ Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.” ²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, ²³ that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich”

3.     Abraham’s Unbelief

Genesis 15:1-8

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” ² But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!” ⁴ And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” ⁵ Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” ⁶ And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. ⁷ Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.” ⁸ And he said, “Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”

4.     God Cut’s Covenant with Abraham

Genesis 15:9-18

⁹ So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰ Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. ¹¹ And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. ¹² Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³ Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. ¹⁴ And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward, they shall come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ But in the fourth generation, they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” ¹⁷ And it came to pass when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. ¹⁸ On the same day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants, I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—

5.     Abraham’s Transformation

Romans 4:18-21

¹⁸ (Abraham) who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” ¹⁹ And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. ²⁰ He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, ²¹ and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.

 Genesis 22

Hebrew 11:17-19

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, ¹⁸ of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” ¹⁹ concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

II. OUR BETTER COVENANT

Hebrew 8:6

⁶ But now He (Jesus) has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.

Galatians 3:16

¹⁶ Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.

·        As God was binding Himself in Covenant with Abraham, He was also binding himself in Covenant with Jesus in Heaven.

·        God made Covenant with someone He knew would keep it thereby removing the need for curse

Galatians 3:29

²⁹ And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Romans 8:17

¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

·        Through the new covenant, God has promised to care for us the same way He would love and care for Jesus.

II.                DAVID AND COVENANT

1 Samuel 17:26,37

²⁶ Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” ³⁷ Moreover, David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”

·        We have a better Covenant than David had

Matthew 6:25-34

²⁵ “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? ²⁸ “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹ and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.