Abraham; for a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And/will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee."

It should be noted that this Covenant was an Everlasting Contract. In regard to this Covenant it is said (in Hebrews 6: 13-20) that because God had sworn to it by an oath and because it was impossible for God to lie, the Covenant is immutable. The Abrahamic Covenant was unchangeable, and everlasting, which means IT MUST EXIST TODAY. Read the entire Covenant in Genesis Seventeen, and you will find it not only concerned the ownership of all the land from the river Euphrates to the river Nile, but, overshadowing all else, it was a Covenant "To be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, in their generations for ever." Can we understand that this means that it has not been revoked? Now note that the Covenant was made not only with Abraham for his lifetime but also with his offspring forever, through Isaac (Gen. 17: 8-24 and Romans 9: 7-9) and through Isaac's son, Jacob. So we find the Everlasting Covenant made by God with Abraham (Gen. 17: 4-8) established in Isaac, (Gen. 26: 1-5) ratified and confirmed to Jacob (Gen. 35: 10-12). Special attention must be made to the fact that the Covenant was absolutely unconditional, unalterable and unchangeable. It was not dependant on what the descendants of Abraham did or did not do. The Covenant stands forever on the oath of God.

Abraham was also promised a huge number of descendants. Three symbols are used in the book of Genesis to describe the number:

1. THE DUST OF THE EARTH: "And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered" [Gen. 13: 16]. "And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed" [Gen. 28: 14].
2. THE STARS OF HEAVEN: "And he brought him forth abroad, and said. Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him. So shall thy seed be." [Gen- 15:5]
3. THE SAND OF THE SEA: "That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore: and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies" [Gen. 22:17]. "And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude" [Gen. 32:12]. God later changed Jacob's name to Israel. (Gen. 35:10) so his descendants who were the inheritors of the Covenant were hereafter known as Israel. Jacob had 12 sons, each the head of his own family. These families developed into the twelve tribed nation of Israel (Gen. 35:22).