Gentiles and the Abrahamic Covenant

In Genesis 12:1-3, God initiated what would become the Abrahamic covenant (for its full development, cf. Gen12:1-7; 13:14-17; 15:7-21; 17:1-8).  This covenant was made by the LORD with Abram (i.e., Abraham), and it was unconditional; in it God made commitments to Abraham and put no obligations on him in order to receive its promises other than the faithfulness of God Himself.  The question today is, what is the relationship of Jews and Gentiles to the covenant God made with Abraham?

First, the Jews are a party to the covenant and stand to inherit all of its promises in the most literal way.  In Genesis 12:2, God viewed Abraham as more than merely a man, but as the “nation” He intended to make from him.  Furthermore, God extended the covenant to Abraham’s son Isaac (but not Ishmael; cf. Gen17:19), then to Isaac’s son Jacob (but not Esau; cf. Gen28:13-14).  No distinction is made after Jacob, such that all of Jacob’s descendants are included in the covenant (cf. Ps105:8-11).  In Romans 11:28, the Apostle Paul says that “as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sake”, where “the election” is Israel as God’s chosen nation (Isa45:4), and “the fathers” are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exod4:5).  Today, the Jews are the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, some of which have been gathered to the nation of Israel reestablished in 1948, but many of which remain scattered throughout the world.

Second, the Gentiles are not a party to the covenant.  Nevertheless, their salvation is provided through it; namely, “in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen12:3; Gal3:8), since “salvation is of the Jews” (Jn4:22).  Furthermore, in the covenant there is an obligation for the Gentiles to “bless” Abraham and his descendants (i.e., the Jews), for which they are promised a blessing from God, as well as a threat that those who “curse” Abraham and his descendants will be cursed by God.  At the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, He will judge the Gentiles who survive the 7-year Tribulation period alive according to this standard (cf. Matt25:31-46).  Those Gentiles who “blessed” the Lord’s “brethren” will be granted entrance into “the [Millennial] kingdom” (Matt25:34,40), whereas those who “cursed” them are not (Matt25:41).