Quote:
Originally Posted by mark  Thanks, pastor. I looked up Gen 22:18 and it looked like a plural ending. Are you sure it's not plural? Thanks for looking.
Also, what is your opinion on the inclusion of Ishmael in the covenant ( he was immediately circumcised to fulfill vv.9-14); but then God says the covenant is made with Isaac only? Thanks again. |
b-zera-ka "in-seed-of you"; the ending is "of you", speaking to Abraham.
The
substance of the covenant is made with the
elect.
Quote:
WLC Question 31: With whom was the covenant of grace made?
Answer: The covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam, and in him with all the elect as his seed.
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However,
we don't know who the elect are.
Now, depending on one's interpretation of how much God was revealing to Abraham about Ishmael's faith-condition, or eternal destiny, in Gen 17, God may have been telling him that Ishmael wasn't among the elect at all, but God was clearly telling Abraham Ishmael was neither the Elect (Christ) or his forebear). It is in this detail that God declares Isaac is the elect son, the one by whom the line of Messiah will be propagated.
Regardless, Ishmael was a party to the worldly
administration of Abraham's covenant. "In that respect" he was in the covenant. He had a duty to find himself in the "tents of Isaac," and not chasing his own glory and ends. If he had, then he would have given us much more hope of his election in the one (Isaac) or One (Christ) with whom the covenant was made.
__________________
Rev. Bruce G. Buchanan
ChainOLakes Presbyterian Church, CentralLake, MI
Made both Lord and Christ--Jesus, the Destroyer
Acts 2:36 - 1 Cor. 10:9-10 & 15:22-26 - Hebrews 2:9-15 - 1 John 3:8 - James 4:12
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