God promised to care for Abraham
and his descendants in every way—
spiritually, physically, financially,
socially. In Genesis 17:7 God said to
Abraham, “And I will establish my
covenant between me and thee…to be
a God unto thee, and to thy seed after
thee.” The Hebrew name for Almighty
God is El Shaddai. El means “supreme;”
Shaddai means “the breasty one.” In
other words, God was promising to be
their father, their mother, their nurse—
the supreme provider of everything
they would need in life. He spoke the
words of the covenant and swore by
Himself to keep it. This was an ironclad
agreement.

The people of Israel badly trampled
the covenant at Mount Sinai, but
through Moses’ intervention, God forgave
them. At this point, God handed
down the Law and instituted the Levitical
priesthood to help repair the damage
that had been done. God was sworn
to their destruction for breaking the
covenant, but instead He allowed sacrificial
offerings to cover their sins. The
Levitical priesthood was brought into
existence for one purpose: to bridge the
gap between God and mankind.

Hebrews 9:22 states that “without
shedding of blood is no remission
(of sin).” There had to be a mediator
between God and Israel because of the
existence of the blood covenant. The
first mediator was the Levitical priesthood.
The last mediator was Jesus—
our High Priest who ever liveth to
make intercession for us (1 Timothy
2:5; Hebrews 7:25).

In Deuteronomy 28:1-14, Moses
recorded God’s law and the articles of
the covenant, listing the blessings of
God promised to those who will put
His Word first place in their lives.

And it shall come to pass, if thou
shalt hearken diligently unto the
voice of the Lord thy God, to observe
and to do all his commandments
which I command thee this day,
that the Lord thy God will set thee
on high above all the nations of the
earth: And all these blessings shall
come on thee, and overtake thee, if
thou shalt hearken unto the voice
of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt
thou be in the city, and blessed shalt
thou be in the field. Blessed shall be
the fruit of thy body, and the fruit
of thy ground, and the fruit of thy
cattle, the increase of thy kine, and
the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall
be thy basket and thy store. Blessed
shalt thou be when thou comest in,
and blessed shalt thou be when thou
goest out. The Lord shall cause thine
enemies that rise up against thee
to be smitten before thy face: they
shall come out against thee one way,
and flee before thee seven ways.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

Let’s look at Genesis 17:1-5 for a
moment and examine this agreement
God made with Abram:

And when Abram was ninety years
old and nine, the Lord appeared to
Abram, and said unto him, I am the
Almighty God; walk before me, and
be thou perfect. And I will make
my covenant between me and thee,
and will multiply thee exceedingly.
And Abram fell on his face: and
God talked with him, saying, As for
me, behold, my covenant is with
thee, and thou shalt be a father of
many nations. Neither shall thy name
any more be called Abram, but thy
name shall be Abraham; for a father
of many nations have I made thee.

Notice particularly that God said,
“As for me….” You see, Abram did not
have to accept God’s deal. He was not
being forced to do anything—it was
his own free choice. God laid out His
proposition and Abram accepted it. It
gave God access to the earth and gave
man access to God. At this time man
had no real knowledge of God’s nature.
People only knew what their fathers
had passed down to them. After
Adam died and several generations
passed, no one really knew much
about God anymore.

You need to understand the authority
that was placed in the covenant. This
was an absolute agreement
between God and Abram, sealed on
both sides. God sealed His side of the
agreement by swearing by Himself
(Genesis 22:16). In other words, there is
no higher state that God can swear by,
so He swore by Himself. Technically, if
He ever broke the covenant, He would
have to destroy Himself.

The Hebrew word covenant means
“to cut where blood flows.” This is the
strongest agreement in any language.
A covenant is a contract, or agreement,
made between two parties and sealed
by the shedding of their blood. Once
this is done, the covenant can never
be broken. Every heathen tribe on the
face of the earth has a blood covenant.
The blood covenant between God and
man was marked and sealed in man’s
flesh through circumcision (Genesis
17:10-14). In other words, circumcision
was “the cut of the covenant.”

From that time forward, Abram was
a covenant man with God. God even
changed his name to Abraham. In
Genesis 18:17-33 we find God consulting
with His covenant man about the
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Can you see the strength of this covenant?
It was powerful!

Kenneth Copeland Ministries