The Covenant - Genesis 22:15-24

22:15-19 - Abraham’s obedience in being willing to sacrifice Isaac as God had commanded was so significant that God institutes a covenant with Abraham. While they were still at the spot for the sacrifice, the angel “called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,” and here are the things that Abraham was blessed with: 1. An abundance of “seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sands” of the sea. 2. This abundant seed “shall possess the gate of his enemies.” 3. That through “thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” The article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com notes a reference from Neal A. Maxwell which says, “Anciently, the vastness of Abraham’s eventual posterity was compared to the sands of the sea, a staggering promise. The Restoration’s revelations and translations accommodate a vast universe; this it is no surprise to us that scientists’ latest estimate of the number of stars in the universe is approximately 70 sextillion- ‘more stars in the sky,’ scientists say, ‘than there are grains of sand in every beach and desert on Earth.’” If we think about the current population of earth at around 8 billion people and this is the most populated that earth has ever been, and a quick google search states that the total estimated population of people ever to lived on earth as 117 billion, then it’s difficult to quantify 70 sextillion people, so be at least as numerous as the stars in the sky. Thus we must deduce that this promise is not simply one of the past 4,000 years here on earth but instead an eternal covenant that will be fulfilled in perpetuity. I don’t really know what “shall possess the gate of his enemies” means, but an article on this verse very bibleref.com says, “In addition, the Lord swears that Abraham’s descendants will conquer their enemies. Put poetically, they will possess the gates of enemy cities. This is a more specific way of point to the day when Israel would conquer her enemies while taking possession of the promised land of Canaan.” Looking at this promise in the eternal perspective as well, I think another interpretation could be more symbolic of when the gospel will reign as the political governing power on the earth, not only in the millennium but also throughout the eternities. Lastly, Abraham is promised that through “thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” The article quotes John Taylor as referencing when the Kirtland temple was dedicated “Elias appeared, and committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, saying that in us and our seed all generations after us should be blessed.’ That was the promise made to Abraham some 3,500 years ago. It was not a promise made to Abraham alone, but through him to others. He and his seed were to be instrumentality, the media through which mankind should be blessed; they were to be the special instruments in the hands of God for the accomplishment of these purposes.” This is the reason for the tribe assignment is patriarchal blessings. All those who accept the gospel are taken into the family and covenant of Abraham, even if not through blood, and therefore are given a responsibility to bless all other members of the human family with the gospel of Jesus Christ. 22:20-24 – Now there is a switch in topics to Abraham’s family’s genealogy, specifically that of his brothers, and this is set out as a kind of foreshadowing of what was coming later. Nahor was Abraham’s brother, and Nahor’s wife Milcah had a son named Bethuel who was the dad of Rebekah which would make Isaac and Bethuel cousins and Isaac and Rebekah some sort of cousins removed or something like that, it’s important coming up.