THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT - 4 of 8

Part 4 of 8 Biblical Covenants
Part 1 of 3 of The Abrahamic Covenant
Scripture References:  Genesis 15:18-21; 12:1-3; 13:14,15.
Main Features of the Covenant:

Genesis 15:18-21

(V18) "In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:"
(V18) Since the Abrahamic Covenant is the most important of all the biblical covenants, we need to look back and glean from the wisdom and knowledge available to us from other associated sections of Genesis.  In chapter 12:1 where the Lord told Abram (later changed to Abraham) to leave his native country, all his kindred, and take a long faith walk from his father's house.  God told him that He would make of him a great nation.  In other words, from one obedient man walking in faith God would bring forth a nation that would become a powerful force to be reckoned with.  Here is where God began to expand the scope concerning Abraham.  He told him that those who blessed him would be blessed and over time his name would become great.  Today the name of Abraham has stood the test of time and still is considered great among the Jews, Christians and Muslims.

(V19) "The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites."
(V19) The Kadmonites are the tribe that God promised Israel would dispossess (Genesis 15:19).  They probably lived east of Canaan.  They may be related to the Qedemites, "the children of the east". 
   Little is known about the Kenites, but according to their traits and style of life, the Kenites could be associated with the descendents of Cain.  Some writers have written that they survived the flood of Noah.

(V20) "And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,"
(V20) According to Genesis 10:15 the Hittites are a Hamitic people and are the descendents of Heath (Heath means "the father of the Hittites)."  In Abraham's time they lived in the area of Hebron and were compared with Egypt in their greatness.  The Perrizzites, whose name actually means "villagers" or "dwellers in open country", were one of the people that lived in the land of promise.  They are one of the nations of Ham and lived around 2300 BC.  They stayed in Canaan prior to the time of the Jews.  They also were one of the tribes that God wanted to cast out from the land that He gave to Abraham and was later conquered by Joshua.

(V21) "And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and Girgashites, and the Jebusites."
(V21) The Amorites were a wayfaring people who lived in the region of Mesopotamia west of the Euphrates River sometime in the third millennium BC.  Some writers believe that devastating droughts caused a mass migration of the Amorites into Mesopotamia in the 21st century BC.  Later on, the rise of the Amorite kingdoms became the way of life.
   Canaan's firstborn son was named Sidon and Heth and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathrites (Genesis 10:15-18: NRSV {New Revised Standard Version}).
   The passages in the Bible tell us about the Canaanites mirror writers a long time after the Patriarchs.  In Genesis chapter ten we find that the people who descended from Noah through his grandson Sidon and Heth are said to be the original inhabitants.  In 2 Chronicles 8:7 and 1 Kings 9:20 the name "Canaanite" was used to distinguish the Israelites from the other tribes living in the land.
   The Girgashites were a Canaanite tribe who joined others that fought against Israel.  It seems somehow this tribe melted into all of the other tribes and lost much of its identity.  To be a Girgasite meant that they were "sojourning with a deity".
   The Jebusites were a clan who originally controlled Jerusalem before David conquered the city.  In the time of the judges Jerusalem was attacked and burned by the men of Judah. (Judges 1:8), but the Jebusites were not expelled (Joshua 15:63; Judges 1:21; 3:5).  In later years David captured the city and made it his capital.  David purchased a stone threshing floor from a Jebusite named Araunah (2 Samuel 24:16-24).  This later became the site for Solomon's temple.  The remnants of the Jebusites became bond servants during Solomon's reign (1 Kings 9:20-21).

This concludes Part 1 of 3 of The Abrahamic Covenant. 
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