Jacob defends his actions to Laban, who then proposes a covenant between them:
So now come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me." (Genesis 31:44)
Jacob sets up a pillar and has his kinsmen gather stones into a heap as a witness of the covenant between them. Laban and Jacob then part ways. The covenant details are not recorded in Scripture, but the general gist is that the covenant is one of peace between Jacob and his family and Laban and his family.
G-d's Covenant with Jacob
In Genesis 17, G-d tells Abraham that He will establish His covenant with Isaac as "an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him" (Genesis 17:21). The first of these descendants would have been Jacob. The details of G-d's covenant with Jacob are the same as those of G-d's covenant with Abraham.
The Covenant
- Introduction- Genesis 17:1-3
- Parties-
- The covenant is G-d's (Genesis 17:4)
- The covenant is made with Jacob (Genesis 17:19)
- The covenant is made with Jacob's descendants (Genesis 17:19)
- Covenant Responsibilities-
- Required actions-
- Every male of his household shall be circumcised (Genesis 17:10-11)
- Every male child of his household in the future shall be circumcised when he is eight days old (Genesis 17:12)
- Servants or slaves who are purchased who are not of his lineage shall be circumcised (Genesis 17:13)
- A male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people (Genesis 17:14)
- Prohibited actions-
- Benefits
- G-d will make him exceedingly fruitful
- He will become nations (Genesis 17:6)
- Kings will come forth from him (Genesis 17:6)
- The Land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river Euphrates; the land of the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite, is given to him and his descendants after him (Genesis 17:8).
- G-d will be the G-d of his descendants (Genesis 17:7, 17:8)
["...to be G-d to you...", "...and I will be their G-d."]
- G-d will make him exceedingly fruitful
- Penalties-
- An uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people (Genesis 17:14)
- Required actions-
- Conditions for perpetuation
- The covenant is specified to be for Abraham and his descendants throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant [l'brit olam] (Genesis 17:7)
- Enumeration of witnesses - none given
- Covenant sign- circumcision of males' foreskin on the eighth day (Genesis 17:10-13)
- Covenant seal- none given
Observations
The Covenant Belongs to G-d
Twice G-d refers to the covenant with Isaac as "My covenant" (Genesis 17:19, 21). As was noted previously in this series, the ownership of and authority in His covenants is G-d's alone. Only He has the authority to initiate a covenant and can bring something of value to the covenant. We have nothing to offer Him except that which is already his.
A Covenant of Grace
As with all of G-d's covenants, this covenant with Jacob/Israel is extended as a measure of G-d's grace and sovereign election. Jacob did nothing to merit this covenant with G-d. Continuing in the theme of the series and paraphrasing the l'olam y'hay adam prayer of the ancient believers, "it is not in the merit of Jacob's righteousness but in the merit of G-d's abundant mercy" that Jacob was shown grace and G-d established His covenant with him.
It is interesting to note that, however, that, consistent with his past behavior, Jacob attempts to wrestle the blessing from G-d (Genesis 32:26) rather than allow G-d to bestow it in His own timing and fashion.
We might be tempted to think that Israel did somehow merit the covenant since he was the son of Isaac. For example, it was somehow in the merit of his biological lineage that Jacob was given the covenant of his fathers. However, we should be quick to point out that there were two sons of Isaac. So in what merit was Jacob chosen over Esau?
None!
Genesis 25:23 records G-d had chosen before the sons were even born when He declared, "The older shall serve the younger."
An Everlasting Covenant
In 1 Chronicles 16:17 and Psalm 105:10, G-d describes His covenant with Jacob/Israel as an "everlasting covenant" [בְּרִ֣ית עוֹלָ֔ם - brit olam]. As I previously noted in this series, the Hebrew word olam is also used in various passages to describe G-d's eternal and everlasting nature.
A Covenant of the Land
This is not a salvation covenant. Instead, it is the covenant through which G-d promises the Land of the Kingdom being extended to Abraham's son, Isaac, and now to Isaac's heir, Jacob.
Jacob's Name Is Changed
Jacob wrestles with G-d (Genesis 32:24-25) and is renamed Israel (literally- he has power [as a prince] with G-d). At this moment of renaming, I believe the baton of the covenant originally made with Abraham is passed to his grandson, Jacob.
Traditional marriage was noted as a modern-day example of covenant in the first part of the series. We see that example pictured here as well. Like a bride is given a new (last) name by her husband when she marries, so, too, Jacob was given a new name once he entered into a covenant with G-d.
There is much debate among commentators about exactly what Israel means. The name "Israel" first appears in the Bible as the name given by G-d to the patriarch Jacob (Genesis 32:28), which can be translated as "God contended." However, commentators differ on the original literal meaning. Some say the name comes from the verb רָדָה rada ("to rule, be strong, have authority over"), thereby making the name mean "God rules" or "God judges." Other possible meanings include "the prince of God" (from the King James Version) or "El fights/ struggles."
Without regard to the exact meaning of his new name, my primary observation is that Jacob's name was changed as he entered into a covenant relationship with the G-d of his fathers.
Generations
As we examine the generations involved in this covenant, we see:
- G-d chooses Abraham so that he will instruct his children in the way of the Lord (Genesis 18:17-19)
- G-d gives Abraham a single son, Isaac, through whom the covenant will be passed (Genesis 17:19, 21)
- G-d gives Isaac two sons, but before they are even born, G-d determines the one with whom He will establish His covenant. The elder son, Esau, despises his birthright (Genesis 25:34), so the firstborn's covenant and blessings are given to the younger son, Jacob.
Not everyone descended from Abraham is a partaker of the covenant. Abraham had Ishmael (through Hagar), who was not a party to the covenant. Abraham also had six other children through his second wife, Keturah (Genesis 25:1-2), who were also not a party to G-d's covenant. Isaac had two sons; only one participated in the covenant with G-d. Paul points out this very fact in Romans 9:
But it is not as though the word of G-d has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: "THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED." That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of G-d, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. For this is the word of promise: "AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON." And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that G-d's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, "THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER." Just as it is written, "JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED." What shall we say then? There is no injustice with G-d, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION." So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on G-d who has mercy. (Romans 9:6-16)
The history of the patriarchs and their children shows that G-d chooses with whom He will covenant. This fits perfectly with the Hebrew meaning of covenant: choosing and illuminating a selection.
G-d Blesses Jacob
As I noted elsewhere, G-d established his covenant with Isaac to honor the oath made to Abraham. The Scriptural passages that record when the covenant was established with Isaac do not include the Hebrew word בְּרִית [brit]. However, the covenant is described using that specific word elsewhere in the Tanakh.
Readers of Scripture face the same dilemma with Jacob's covenant. There is no clear, detailed record of G-d establishing a covenant with him, yet there are specific references to G-d's covenant [brit] with him. For example:
If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me- I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land. For the land will be abandoned by them, and will make up for its sabbaths while it is made desolate without them. They, meanwhile, will be making amends for their iniquity, because they rejected My ordinances and their soul abhorred My statutes. (Leviticus 26:40-43)
Similar declarations are made in Exodus 2:24, Exodus 2:24, 2 Kings 13:23, 1 Chronicles 16:17, and Psalm 105:10-11.
In Genesis 32:9-12 we see Jacob beseeching G-d for deliverance from Esau's hand. Jacob reminds G-d of His promises (in Genesis 28:13-15) using the same language G-d used in His vow to Abraham: "I will prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea." The verse in chapter 32 uses the "sand of the sea" phrasing, although the earlier verse (in chapter 28) uses slightly different wording ("dust of the earth"). The terminology in this passage is consistent with G-d's promise to Abraham:
And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, "I am the LORD, the G-d of your father Abraham and the G-d of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 28:13-14)
In this "promise" passage, we see both aspects of the covenant with Abraham extended to Jacob: the land and descendants to inherit it. It is based on this promise that Jacob appeals to G-d for deliverance.
The subsequent few references to covenant [brit] found in Scripture point back to the G-d's covenant with the patriarchs (Exodus 2:24, 6:4-5). After those, Scripture conveys the next instance of brit in G-d's covenant at Sinai.
