widened and Abraham was put into a `deep sleep' (verse 12) so that he could have no personal responsibility for its

`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 (the Nile) unto the great river, the river Euphrates' (Gen. 15:18).

Later on in chapter 17:1-8, God repeats His covenant, saying:

`... a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations

of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed

after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan,

for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God'.

And after Abraham's faithful response to the great test of God to sacrifice Isaac, the Lord repeats:

`... because thou hast ... not withheld thy son, thine only son: that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying

I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall

possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast

obeyed My voice' (Gen. 22:16-18).

It is evident that these eternal unconditional promises cover a great range which may be summarised thus:

(1) Abraham's name shall be great.

(2) A great nation would come from him.

(3) To him personally would he given two portions of land, one greater in extent than the other: (a) the land of

Canaan (modern Palestine) and (b) a large stretch of land from the Nile right across to the Euphrates.

(4) His posterity would be so numerous as to be like the stars of heaven or the sand of the sea shore.

(5) That whosoever blessed him would be blessed and whoever cursed him would be cursed.

(6) He would be the father not just of one, but many nations. (7) Kings would proceed from him.

(8) The twofold gift of land would be for `an everlasting possession'.

(9) God would be a God to him and his seed.

(10) The covenant would be `an everlasting covenant'.

(11) His posterity would possess the gate of his enemies.

(12) In his seed should all the nations of the earth be blessed.

The range of these divine promises is wide indeed and we do well to keep in memory that a covenant is a pledge

between two parties and may not be widened to suit human theories and ideas. The two parties are clearly (1) God

and (2) Abraham and his posterity, the children of Israel.

Having carefully noticed the extent of God's unconditional promise to Abraham concerning his seed and the land

they were destined to inherit, the next thing to realise is that the Lord repeated the same promise to Isaac and to

Jacob which makes it even more emphatic. First to Isaac:

`And the LORD appeared unto him (Isaac), and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land that I shall tell

thee of: sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will

give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; and I will make thy

seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all

the nations of the earth be blessed' (Gen. 26:2-4).

Then to Jacob:

`Isaac called Jacob ... and said ... God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou

mayest be a multitude of people (thy seed); and give thee ... the land, wherein thou art a stranger, which God

gave unto Abraham' (Gen. 28:1-4).