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Genesis 26:5
● Gen 26:5 . . inasmuch as Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge:
My commandments, My laws, and My teachings.
Some construe God's statement to indicate that Abraham was included in
the covenant that Yhvh's people agreed upon with God as per Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. But the statement below excludes
him.
"The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our
forefathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, we, all of whom
are here alive today." (Deut 5:2-3)
Were Abraham included in the Jews' covenant; God would have placed
Himself in a serious dilemma.
The problem is: Abraham was married to a half sister (Gen 20:12)
The covenant prohibits marrying, and/or sleeping with, one's half sister. (Lev
18:9, Lev 20:17)
Under the terms and conditions of the Jews' covenant; men who sleep with
their sisters are cursed the moment they do so because "cursed be he" is
grammatically present tense; no delay and no waiting period; viz: the curse
is immediate.
"Cursed be he who lies with his sister, his father's daughter or his mother's
daughter." (Deut 27:22)
Cursed be he who does not uphold the words of this Torah, to fulfill them.
(Deut 27:26)
Well; were God to slam Abraham with a curse for sleeping with his sister,
then God would be obligated to slam Himself with a curse in return.
"The one who curses you I will curse" (Gen 12:3)
Abraham enjoyed quite an advantage. He had a certain kind of immunity. In
other words, seeing as how Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy
were instituted long after Abraham passed away; then none of the curses
listed at Lev 26:3-38, Deut 27:15-26, and Deut 28:1-69 applied to him.
Abraham complied with God's requirements; His commands, His decrees and
His laws voluntarily rather than by compulsion because he wasn't in a
covenant with God that demanded him to do so like his posterity would be in
the days of Moses. (Deut 5:2-3)
The promises God made to Abraham as per Gen 12:2-3 and Gen 17:8 were
not sustained by Abraham's piety. In other words: once God made those
promises, neither Abraham nor his posterity can ever lose them because
they are unconditional
"The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant
previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the
inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has
granted it to Abraham by means of a promise." (Gal 3:17-18)
The "promise" in question reads like this:
"And I will give you and your seed after you the land of your sojournings,
the entire land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be to them
for a god." (Gen 17:8)
That should be really good news to Abraham's posterity because although
the law has a marked effect upon their occupation of the land, it has no
effect upon their entitlement to it.
/
Genesis 26:5
● Gen 26:5 . . inasmuch as Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge:
My commandments, My laws, and My teachings.
Some construe God's statement to indicate that Abraham was included in
the covenant that Yhvh's people agreed upon with God as per Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. But the statement below excludes
him.
"The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our
forefathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, we, all of whom
are here alive today." (Deut 5:2-3)
Were Abraham included in the Jews' covenant; God would have placed
Himself in a serious dilemma.
The problem is: Abraham was married to a half sister (Gen 20:12)
The covenant prohibits marrying, and/or sleeping with, one's half sister. (Lev
18:9, Lev 20:17)
Under the terms and conditions of the Jews' covenant; men who sleep with
their sisters are cursed the moment they do so because "cursed be he" is
grammatically present tense; no delay and no waiting period; viz: the curse
is immediate.
"Cursed be he who lies with his sister, his father's daughter or his mother's
daughter." (Deut 27:22)
Cursed be he who does not uphold the words of this Torah, to fulfill them.
(Deut 27:26)
Well; were God to slam Abraham with a curse for sleeping with his sister,
then God would be obligated to slam Himself with a curse in return.
"The one who curses you I will curse" (Gen 12:3)
Abraham enjoyed quite an advantage. He had a certain kind of immunity. In
other words, seeing as how Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy
were instituted long after Abraham passed away; then none of the curses
listed at Lev 26:3-38, Deut 27:15-26, and Deut 28:1-69 applied to him.
Abraham complied with God's requirements; His commands, His decrees and
His laws voluntarily rather than by compulsion because he wasn't in a
covenant with God that demanded him to do so like his posterity would be in
the days of Moses. (Deut 5:2-3)
The promises God made to Abraham as per Gen 12:2-3 and Gen 17:8 were
not sustained by Abraham's piety. In other words: once God made those
promises, neither Abraham nor his posterity can ever lose them because
they are unconditional
"The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant
previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the
inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has
granted it to Abraham by means of a promise." (Gal 3:17-18)
The "promise" in question reads like this:
"And I will give you and your seed after you the land of your sojournings,
the entire land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be to them
for a god." (Gen 17:8)
That should be really good news to Abraham's posterity because although
the law has a marked effect upon their occupation of the land, it has no
effect upon their entitlement to it.
/