According to the Flesh

In the fourth chapter of his letter to the Romans, Paul begins by asking an important question about the patriarch Abraham. “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?” (Rom. 4:1, NAS) The answer would provide a fundamental insight in support of his argument that faith righteousness trumps works of the Law.

But the issue I want to focus on here is the curious phrase Paul inserts into the midst of that question, which most Christians probably read right over. The one that says, “our forefather according to the flesh.”

Have you ever considered what Paul meant by that phrase? Was he suggesting, as it seems to imply, that Abraham is literally the flesh-and-blood forefather of all believers, whether Jew or Gentile?

Or can it be understood another way?

Since commas are not used in the Greek, but are inserted by the translator, maybe the second comma could be moved so it reads: “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, according to the flesh has found?” (Or “...has found according to the flesh?”) Meaning, what did he learn through his worldly experience and carnal wisdom that he can tell us?

But that doesn’t make much sense, since the reason Paul was asking the question was so that he could reveal the profound spiritual insight Abraham had gained – namely that righteousness comes by faith, not by obedience to the Law. Hardly an insight one learns from our daily adventures in this world system. That kind of information comes only through revelation to our spirit.

What about the odd way the King James translates it? There the commas are moved and the phrase is translated, “as pertaining to the flesh.” It reads: “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?”

Posing the question that way obliterates any thought the phrase has to do with a physical connection. Rather it suggests Paul is merely asking us to consider how a still-to-be-revealed insight that Abraham had learned pertains to, or can be applied to, the physical world we live in. But again, what does understanding that righteousness comes only through faith have to do with the physical world? That piece of information can only be applied to our spiritual life. Which is why I believe the King James has rendered this verse poorly.
 

Papa Abraham

Most Christians at this point would no doubt say that Paul was simply including Gentiles into the family in a spiritual sense, nothing more. But wait a minute! What about that little phrase in the first verse? Paul didn’t say Abraham was our spiritual forefather. He specifically said he was “our forefather according to the flesh.”

So let’s think about this. If Paul is speaking to both Jews and Gentiles and telling us that Abraham is “our forefather according to the flesh,” then isn’t he telling us that Gentiles who come to Christ are actually Abraham’s kin somehow? For me, that is the inescapable conclusion he is leading us to in this chapter. It tells me that Paul’s reason for including the phrase, “according to the flesh,” was to bring us a revelation from God. And even though he couldn’t have said it any more plainly, it has remained hidden from our understanding all these centuries, waiting for the time when the Holy Spirit would give us eyes to see it. I believe that time is now. So I’d like to direct your attention to Paul’s words in verse 16.

“For this reason it is by faith, that it might be in accordance with grace, in order that the promise may be certain to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law [the Jews], but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham [the Gentiles], who is the father of us all” (Rom. 4:16).

Did you catch it? He’s implying Gentile believers are physical descendants before we become believers in Jesus as Savior. He is suggesting that God looked down through the corridors of time and saw that many of Abraham’s physical descendants would not be living under Law. They would be living as Gentiles, “separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in this world” (Eph 2:12). Yet He wanted to make certain that those descendants who “were far off” would still be eligible to receive the promised inheritance.

Therefore, as Paul reveals, God declared in advance that faith – not Law - would be the key to receiving the inheritance. Faith, and faith alone, would insure that all the chosen scattered descendants of Abraham, whether Jew or Gentile, could receive their inheritance. “For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith” (Rom 4:13).

Therefore, going back to verse 16, it could be translated this way: “For this reason the inheritance is by faith, so that it might be a free gift in accordance with grace, in order that the promise may be certain to all the physical descendants of Abraham who are chosen by God, not only to those physical descendants who are Jews, but also to those physical descendants who are Gentiles who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.”

Are you starting you see it? And if you keep reading in Romans Four, you see that Paul then supports his contention that Gentiles can be counted as descendants by reminding his readers of the original promise God made to Abraham

He writes: “It is written, ‘A father of many nations [or Gentiles] have I made you’ in the sight of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which did not exist. In hope against hope he believed, in order that he might become a father of many Gentiles according to that which had been spoken, ‘So shall your descendants be’” (Rom. 4;17,18).

In other words, Paul reminds the Romans that the promise to Abraham was that he would have a son who would beget a line of descendants so numerous they would be like the sand on the seashore. And so widespread that it will be said of Abraham he was “the father of many nations – or “of many Gentiles.” That was the promise Abraham believed God for, even though he was way past age and his wife was barren. And to make sure he never forgot that promise, God changed his name from Abram, meaning “exalted father,” to Abraham, meaning “father of many Gentiles.”

Of course, being a natural descendant of Abraham doesn’t mean much unless two other things are present. First, we must be in the chosen line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. “For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel” (Rom. 9:6).Unless we have been chosen by God, we are not considered heirs of Abraham. Just ask Ishmael and Esau. There is a chosen Israel within Israel.

And second, this chosen Israel who would inherit would have to go through God’s car wash first and be delivered of their sin problem through a spiritual rebirth. Faith in Jesus, the son of David, is the way God provided for us to get clean, receive the righteousness of God, and come into the understanding we are among the chosen seed of Abraham.

Kata Sarka

Now maybe you are still skeptical about all this physical connection to Abraham. After all, that is a lot of understanding to hang on that little phrase, “according to the flesh.” Maybe that phrase was translated incorrectly? Let’s see.

In the Greek, the phrase translated in the New American Standard Bible as “according to the flesh” is kata sarka.” Paul uses the phrase eight times in the Book of Romans. It’s pretty straightforward. Kata means “according to” (Strongs #2596). And sarka is a form of the word sarx (Strongs # 4561), meaning “flesh,” which can refer to the physical body or our human nature with all its frailties. Sentence context will determine which meaning is in play.

Of the eight times Paul uses the phrase, four times he uses it to refer to the carnal nature (our “old man”), and four times to physical lineage. The four references to our carnal nature all appear in the eighth chapter of Romans where he contrasts our walking “according to the flesh” to our walking “according to the spirit.” But the other four times he is clearly speaking about physical lineage, not our “old man.” They are Romans 1:3, 4:1, 9:3 and 9:5. All eight times the phrase is translated in the New American Standard (NAS) as “according to the flesh.” But in the New International (NIV) and the King James (KJV) the translators uses different words almost every time.

I will quote the passages as translated in the NAS, followed by the NIV. I won’t include the KJV for brevity sake, but I encourage you to check it out also. As well as other translations.

In Romans 1: 3, Paul wishes to establish the lineage of Jesus. He writes, “...concerning His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh.” The NIV translates it, “who as to his human nature was a descendant of David.”

In Romans 4:1, our key passage that addresses both Jews and Gentiles, Paul declares, “Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh.” The NIV, obviously puzzled by the use of the phrase in this context, simply omits it altogether. The boldest translation I found was the Wycliffe Bible Commentary, which translates 4:1 as, “Abraham, who physically is our forefather.”

In Romans 9:3, Paul, heartsick that most of the Jews have rejected Jesus, wishes he himself was “separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsman according to the flesh, who are Israelites.” The NIV says “for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race.”

In Romans 9:5 he continues speaking of the Jews, “whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever.” The NIV says “from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ.”

So you can see that Paul uses the phrase kata sarka in a lineage sense in 1:3 to establish that Jesus and David are kin. In 9:3 to establish that he and the Jews are kin. In 9:5 that Jesus and the Jews are kin. And in 4:1 that all the true followers of Jesus and Abraham are kin.

Which brings us to the $64,000 question:  Since Gentiles are not Jews, how can they possibly be considered Abraham’s physical descendants?

The Mystery of the Gentiles

The mystery that Gentiles could actually be Abraham’s physical seed isn’t such a big mystery once you get your head into it. And the reason we haven’t gotten our head into it is due to our ignorance of biblical history, a number of mental stumbling blocks, and the simple fact that it wasn’t God’s timing for us to see it sooner. Even though it has been in His Word all along. And even though I’m certain God had a witness to this truth, as well as every other truth, in every generation. But there comes a time for the majority of the church to see it with such overwhelming certainty that from then on it is treated as biblical bedrock. Much the same way we have again embraced the born again experience, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, tongues, healing, deliverance, the offices of prophet and apostle, and the fact that Jews were never rejected by God, etc. – all Scriptural truths that the enemy obscured with religious theology for centuries.

Let me address first our general ignorance of biblical history. Most Christians don’t realize that Israel suffered a major schism after the death of King Solomon. I won’t go into all the details, which can be found in 1 Kings 11 and 12, but ten of the twelve tribes broke off from the nation that had been ruled by a succession of leaders from the Tribe of Judah - namely David, Solomon, and now Rehoboam. The breakaway ten tribes then formed their own nation, called the Kingdom of Israel, that was separate from the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which became known as the Kingdom of Judah. These two kingdoms existed side by side as independent nations until 721 BC when the Kingdom of Israel, because of its flagrant idolatry, was exiled by God with the help of the Assyrian army.

At that time God declared through the prophet Hosea (see Hosea. chapter 1) that the northern kingdom would no longer be His people, or He their God. In effect, He was divorcing them and turning them into Gentiles and sending them out to live among the nations. The one bright hope in all this judgment was that God promised He would have mercy on them again someday and bring them home and reunite them with their former brethren, the House of Judah. “For behold days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah. The Lord says, I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers, and they shall possess it” (Jer. 30:3).

Paul even quotes one of these restoration promises by the prophet Hosea to explain the inclusion of the Gentiles into the body of Christ. “Even us, whom He has also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. As He says in Hosea, I will call those who are not My people, ‘My people’ ” (Rom 9:24, 25). Paul here connects the promise spoken to the banished ten tribes to the Gentiles who are turning to Christ, thereby giving us another huge clue to solving the mystery of the Gentiles.

And in case you were wondering, this promised restoration of the northern kingdom with the southern kingdom has never occurred. So the descendants of the northern kingdom of Israel are still out there living as Gentiles. And when you consider they represent five-sixths of the family, and that they have been marrying and multiplying for centuries, you realize that Abraham has plenty of descendants among the Gentiles for Jesus to find and bring home. Descendants, who themselves have no clue who they are, except they have been found by Jesus, the Messiah of Israel, and now call themselves “Christians.” In addition to these lost descendants, there are many Jews who have also been absorbed into the Gentile or Christian culture who could be added to the pool of potential candidates. For example, many Jews were forced under penalty of death to convert to Catholicism during the infamous days of the Spanish Inquisition. And during the Holocaust, thousands of Jewish children were separated from parents and placed with Christian families.

So you can see that the mystery of how Gentiles could be the physical seed of Abraham isn’t such a mystery after all.

Let’s look now at some of the other mental hurdles that have kept us from seeing the truth.

Eight Stones of Stumbling

Now I’ve already touched on a couple of these hindrances, but because they have tripped up so many for so long, they need to be clearly discussed.

#1: The term, “Israel.”

In the Bible, the term Israel has several meanings, and unless you know which “Israel” is being discussed, it can be very confusing. Basically, “Israel” can refer to three entities: the whole nation, part of the nation, or an individual.

The individual, of course, is Jacob, the patriarch whose name was changed to “Israel” by God (see Gen. 32:28). Jacob, as we know, fathered twelve sons who became known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel. It could also be applied prophetically to Jesus, as in Isaiah 49:3 – “And He said to Me, You are My Servant, Israel, in whom I will show My Glory.” As the “seed” of Abraham to whom the inheritance was promised (Gal. 3:16), Jesus embodies the spiritually reborn nation that will one day be gloriously manifested as the Israel of God.

The “Israel” that refers to the whole nation means all twelve tribes. Although that name would apply to the family when it was in the wilderness under Moses, it primarily refers to them living as a fully constituted nation in the Promised Land in a united brotherhood, a period which lasted from Joshua through King Solomon.

However, the “Israel” representing just part of the nation is the most difficult to define. I see four different uses that would apply.

(1) It can refer to the Kingdom of Israel, also called Ephraim, that came into existence following the death of Solomon. This usage is found primarily in the history and prophetic books. So, for example, when we read in 2 Kings 15:1, “In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel...,” the writer is not referring to the whole nation but only the leader of the northern kingdom.

(2) It can also refer to the descendants of the southern kingdom of Judah, following the gentilization and banishment of the northern kingdom in 721 BC. Why? Because they were the only ones left of the nation still considered by God to be His people. They inherited the title by default. This is the “Israel” we encounter in the New Testament when speaking of the Jews. Although they were now officially Israel, they still only represented part of the nation in light of the prophetic promise to find and bring home the rest of the tribes. They were the part of Israel Paul said had been temporarily hardened in heart (for their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah), “until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and thus all Israel would be saved” (Rom 11:25, 26).

(3) It can refer to that part of Israel that is chosen of God. This “chosen Israel” represents a smaller number than all those biologically descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. “For they are not all [chosen] Israel who are descended from Israel [Jacob]” (Rom 9:6). As I said earlier, there is an Israel within Israel that is true Israel, who “like Isaac, are children of [the] promise” (Gal 4:28).

(4) It can refer to the modern state of Israel that came back onto the world scene in 1948. This “Israel” is obviously not mentioned in the Bible, but represents a continuation of the Jewish people who have returned to their ancient homeland. This Israel, I believe, represents God’s first step in restoring the whole nation as all the prophets spoke.

#2: The term, “Jew.”

The Jews again are just the descendants of Abraham from the southern Kingdom of Judah. They come from either the tribe of Judah or the tribe of Benjamin. They were first called Jews after they themselves were exiled to Babylon in 586 BC. Therefore Jews do not represent all the descendants from the line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but only two/ twelfths.

Also, when I suggest that former Gentiles like myself who believe in Jesus have Abraham’s DNA, I am NOT saying we are “Jews.” Only Jews are Jews. Unless we know for certain we are of Jewish descent, then we are descendants from one of the other ten tribes. You could call us “Israelites,” I suppose, which is not the same as being an Israeli, who is a citizen of the modern state of Israel. But I don’t think it really matters right now. Just knowing we are physically and spiritually included into the Israel of God is the important thing.

#3: The term, “Christian.”

That is the name those who believe in Jesus have been called for centuries, whether you were Jew or Gentile. But the truth is it is a meaningless term. It adds no information to your identity in Christ. In fact, it robs you. Did you know the term “Christian” only appears three times in the entire New Testament (Acts 11:26; Acts 26:28; and 1 Peter 4:16)? That’s how unimportant it is. It was never used by Paul to describe believers. It was actually a pejorative term used by our enemies to ridicule us. Tacitus, a Roman historian, reported that “the vulgar call them Christians.” We only started to apply the name to ourselves after the second century. The term “Christian” simply marks you as one who follows the religion of Christianity – not as a true follower of Christ, necessarily. You probably considered yourself a “Christian” even before you really were one because you grew up in a church. Since a true follower of Christ doesn’t have a religion, but a relationship with God through Jesus, the name “Christian” is really a misnomer.

More importantly, it obscures our true Hebraic identity and thereby hinders us from seeing ourselves as part of the Israel of God because we think we are something else.

Isaiah prophesied that one day we will be given a new name, which should clear things up. “And the nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; and you will be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will designate” (Isa. 62:2).

#4: The term, “church.”

This is another weed in our garden. “Church” is the English translation of the Greek word ecclesia found in the Bible. But it really isn’t a good translation. Ecclesia, which literally means “called out ones,” would have been better translated as “congregation” or “assembly.” That’s what Tyndale, the man who first translated the Bible into English, used. But the religious scholars in London later changed it to “church” when they printed the King James Version. And we’ve been stuck with it ever since.

The problem with the word “church” is that it makes the gatherings of New Testament descendants appear to be different from the gatherings of descendants in the Jewish Bible (which we call the Old Testament). But the same word, ecclesia, is used in both testaments for both congregations of God’s people. (If you’re wondering how a Greek word could be found in the first testament which was written in Hebrew, seventy Jewish scholars translated it into Greek and wherever they found the Hebrew word for assembly they correctly translated it with the Greek word ecclesia.)

So this word “church” has caused another mental separation to come between the chosen descendants who lived before the coming of Messiah (Joshua, Ruth, David, Elijah, etc.), and the ones who came afterwards. The fact that the same word is also used to describe the buildings Christians worship in, has only compounded the problem.

#5: The term, “Spiritual Israel.”

This term does not appear anywhere in the Bible. It is a relatively new theological invention to try and explain the mystery of the Gentiles. The religious scholars of former centuries saw that all the promises made to Abraham and his offspring could be applied to the followers of Jesus (see 2 Cor. 1:20 and 1 Pet. 2:9) – even Gentiles followers – and it baffled them. They mistakenly assumed that since we inherited the promises to Israel that the church had then replaced the Jews as Israel (called Replacement Theology).They argued that the Jews had been rejected by God for their rejection of Jesus (refuted by Romans 11:1,2,15,28). This resulted in centuries of anti-Semitism. So in the 20th century when that teaching was finally shown to be false, the scholars were forced to come up with another explanation that allowed us to receive the promises to Israel – but without actually replacing Israel. Not understanding that Jesus was gathering up the actual scattered physical descendants of Abraham, they termed Gentile believers “spiritual Israel.” But that unscriptural category has only added to the confusion and kept us from seeing we are all one family.

#6: The term, “heaven.”

The idea that heaven is our reward and final destination is another stumbling stone that has kept us from entering into the hopes and dreams of the Abrahamic vision. Nowhere in the Bible is heaven ever held out to be our final resting place. It is only our temporary resting place until Jesus brings us back to earth with Him in our new resurrection bodies. Remember that when Jesus taught us to pray to the Father, He told us to pray “Thy kingdom come....” Our confusion about heaven has us thinking we will be leaving the planet permanently, while the Jews are all focused on a piece of promised turf here on Terra Firma. So because we have different destinations, we never get on the same bus. But as I quoted earlier, “the promise to Abraham or to his descendants [was] that he [and we] would be heir of the world...” (Rom 4:13). Now it is true that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, but this new earth will be our home – not the new heaven. “And Thou has made them to be a kingdom of priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth” (Rev. 5:5). So we need to get our destination clear. That will begin to put us all, Jews and “Christians,” on the same page.

#7: The term, “Old Testament.”

Whoever separated the Bible into “Old” and “New” Testaments put a major interruption into the ongoing story of Abraham. It turned this single narrative into two stories. It implied that the tale of historic Israel had ended, and God was starting something “new.” Well, the coming of Jesus was certainly a major new development in the salvation story of Israel, but it wasn’t so new that it meant the people with their divine hopes featured in first part of the story were now irrelevant. No. When Jesus arrived He came as the promised Messiah representing the great hope of Israel for a king like David, and also a Savior. One who would fulfill all the prophecies to restore the Kingdom of Israel and defeat all her enemies. The fact that He only fulfilled the role of Savior, and did not come as ruling King (at least not visibly), just means that the rest of His ministry to punish Israel’s enemies is still future. This is what the “wrath of God” and “the great tribulation” is all about.

Therefore, we should read the Bible as a continuous story about the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham and his descendants, through whom He will redeem the whole universe from the corruption of Satan’s influence.

#8: The term, “chosen.”

Most Christians believe they chose Jesus when they “accepted Him” as their Savior. Because that’s how it was presented to them. But Jesus Himself said, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16). It was the free gift of grace from God that drew us to Him so we could get saved. And it was the Father who chose to give us that grace. Jesus clearly tells us: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44).

If we chose Jesus than the whole concept of God having a chosen people goes right out the window. We’d be in charge of the process. Paul puts the final kibosh on that false concept when he informs us by the Spirit that, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4).

With this more biblical understanding we can then see how God the Father could easily regather the chosen descendants of Abraham, whether Jew or Gentile. He would know where in the world we all went and simply draw us to Jesus in whatever century, country, race or nationality we were born into - at the appropriate time in our lives. Eventually, we would all be rounded up and the Kingdom of God could then come and the promised inheritance received.

In hindsight we can see that He chose first to restore those offspring of Abraham who were among the Gentiles. That’s why He caused the Jews to reject Him by hardening their hearts. This drove the gospel out into the nations where the lost Gentile descendants lived. Once He has found and gathered in all those who are called according to His name from among the Gentiles, then He will show mercy to those descendants from the House of Judah, “and thus all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:25,26).

It’s important to note that the term “all Israel” mentioned here does not mean “all of Israel.” Don’t get confused and think Paul is saying God will save every Jew and every scattered descendant of the lost House of Israel. Only those physical descendants who are chosen for glory are considered part of “all Israel.” The rest are not. (See Romans 9: 18-24.) That’s what Jesus meant when He said it was the will of the Father, “that of all that He has given Me, I lose nothing” (John 6:39). And it is these Jeremiah and Isaiah were speaking of when they prophesied that “none would be missing” (Jer. 23:4 and Isaiah 40:26).

Obviously, there are a fixed number of Abraham’s descendants who have been pre-chosen, and only God knows who they are. That’s why the gospel must be preached to all men without prejudice. Those who are His sheep will know His voice and respond. And when all of His lost sheep have finally come to salvation through faith in Jesus, then will salvation break forth for all creation. “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom 8:18-21).

Although that last verse may speak in terms of the “sons of God” and the “children of God,” we know these are referring again to the chosen sons of Abraham. “For you are all sons of God through faith in Messiah Jesus...And if you belong to Messiah, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Gal. 3: 26, 29).

 Because of all these stumbling stones (and others), Christians have developed a very narrow view of the ministry of Jesus. We look at the cross as His whole ministry and miss the fact that His sacrificial death did not happen in a cultural vacuum. When He came, He came as Israel’s Messiah, the Son of David. He came to His own people in the land of His heritage. His birth announcement by the angel Gabriel, specifically stated: “And the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end” (Luke 1:32,33).

But Christian theology tends to discount the importance of His Hebrew heritage and focus mainly on His atonement. As far as we are concerned He could have been crucified in any country. All that matters is that He took away our sins and squared things between us and the Father. But the truth is He also came to inaugurate a new covenant with “the House of Israel and the House of Judah” (Jer. 31:31; Heb 8:8), and only with them. This covenant was not, and never will be, with any other people. If you take Israel out of the story, His death and resurrection lose their historical perspective and importance. He must be seen as the “seed” to whom the promises to Abraham were actually made (Gal 3: 16) to understand who we are in Him and where we are going. And to understand why we must separate from every other mindset, including the one that informs us we belong to another religion called Christianity.

In Conclusion

 I realize this may be a lot to absorb if you’ve never heard it before. But hopefully I have given you a few things to chew on and digest with the help of the Holy Spirit.

The main point I want to leave you with is this: “If you belong to Christ, you [truly] are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Gal 3:29). For too long we have overlooked the truth revealed in that Scripture. We have said, “That’s nice, but what’s it got to do with me?” and moved on to the deeper things of God. But believe me, there aren’t many things deeper than this. God has hidden a great spiritual truth in a physical reality – a specific land promised to a people chosen by God who were born “according to the flesh [of Abraham].”

We have ignored this truth until now because such talk of earthly things makes us uncomfortable. It doesn’t sound spiritual enough. It feels like “old covenant.” But it is not. It is just God keeping a promise He made over 4000 years ago to an old man who had great God-given faith.

And to his yet unborn descendants. You and I.