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PSALMS 105:8-10 niv 8 He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations, 9 the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac. 10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant:

Been trying to find out were God had sworn to Isaac but could only find the oath given to Abraham

Genesis 22:15 NIV

15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,

Genesis 24:6-7 NIV

6 “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. 7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring[a] I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there.

This is further reiterated in the book of Hebrews

Hebrews6:13 NIV

13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”[d] 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

Did God give an oath to Isaac as alluded?

2 Answers 2

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The oath that God Swore to Abraham (Gen 12:7, 15:18, 24:7) was repeated regularly in subsequent generations. The contents of this oath and covenant are tabulated in the appendix below. It essentially consisted of the promised land and progeny, including Messiah.

Note how regularly the oath and covenant is repeated:

  • Gen 12:7 - Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

  • Gen 15:18 - On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates

  • Gen 24:7 - [to Abraham] The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me from my father’s house and my native land, who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—He will send His angel before you so that you can take a wife for my son from there.

  • Gen 26:3 [to Isaac] - Stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.

  • Gen 28:13-15 [to Jacob] - And there at the top the LORD was standing and saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you now lie. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and east and north and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. Look, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

  • Gen 35:12 [to Jacob] - The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”

  • Gen 50:24 - Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely visit you and bring you up from this land to the land He promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

  • Ex 33;1 - Then the LORD said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of the land of Egypt, and go to the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’

  • Num 32:11 - ‘Because they did not follow Me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years of age or older who came out of Egypt will see the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

  • Deut 9:5 - It is not because of your righteousness or uprightness of heart that you are going in to possess their land, but it is because of their wickedness that the LORD your God is driving out these nations before you, to keep the promise He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

  • Deut 29:13 - and so that He may establish you today as His people, and He may be your God as He promised you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

  • Deut 34:4 - And the LORD said to him, “This is the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you will not cross into it.”

Thus, there is abundant evidence that God swore an oath to Isaac as the inheritor of the Abrahamic covenant.

APPENDIX - Covenant with Abraham

The Abrahamic Covenant is stated in two places, Gen 15 & 17, 13 years apart (and repeated in Gen 18:9-15, 22:15-18 without using the word “covenant” nor formal sacrifices) and consisted of the following: Gen 15

  • God promises Abram a biological son
  • God promises Abram uncountable descendants
  • God promises Abram’s descendants the land of Canaan, “from the wadi of Egypt to the great river Euphrates”.
  • God promises to return Abram’s descendants to Canaan after Egyptian slavery of 400 years
  • God promises to punish the Egyptians
  • God promises great possessions to Abram’s descendants when they leave Egypt
  • The covenant was initiated and signified by a ceremony (significant to the culture of Abraham) of cutting several animals in half and God passing between the halves, and (and so solemnly promising) to keep the provisions of the covenant.

This ceremony of cutting sacrificed animals in half is a direct allusion of the word “berith” (= “covenant”), meaning, “to cut”. That this covenant was a covenant of grace is confirmed by Gen 15:6, “Abram believed the LORD and he credited it to him as righteousness”. (See also Rom 4:3, Gal 3:6, James 2:23.) Gen 17, 18:9-15

  • God promises a biological son by Sarah, viz. Isaac
  • God promises to greatly increase Abram’s numbers
  • God promises Abram that he would be the father of many nations
  • God promises Abraham the land of Canaan
  • God promises that Ishmael would also be fruitful
  • Abraham and his descendants must promise to be faithful to God
  • The covenant is signified by the token/sign (Heb: “oth”, Gen 17:10, 11, 13, Rom 4:11) of circumcision (= circular cut), Acts 8:7, and a change of name from Abram to Abraham. It is immediately clear that this covenant is a re-statement, with only slight variations, of the covenant in Gen 15, and was an eternal covenant, Gen 17:7, 13.

NOTE 1: The promise of the land of Canaan, “from the wadi of Egypt to the great river Euphrates” (Gen 15:18) was only ever fulfilled during the time of King Solomon (1 Kings 4:20-25, 2 Chron 9:26). However, because of Israel’s unfaithfulness, Isaiah prophesied that they would lose all the land (Isa 27:12), which finally happened when Babylon conquered them (2 Kings 24:7). Israel has never regained all this territory.

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Did God give an oath to Isaac as alluded in Psalms 105:8-10?

THE ANSWER IS "YES"

Genesis 26:1-3 (NASB)

Isaac Settles in Gerar

26 Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. 2 And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Live for a time in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your [a]descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham.

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