Why did God make the covenant with Abram?
God made the covenant with Abram at 2,000 B.C. to bring about the nation of Israel. According to the promises, Israel was to be a nation that God would prepare and use. This Abrahamic covenant is the most important in the Old Testament, establishing the nation through whom God would work.
Les explains that the first eleven chapters of Genesis cover the first 2,000 years of human history, and then Genesis chapter 12 records the giving of the Abrahamic covenant. He teaches that God made this covenant with Abram at 2,000 B.C. to bring about the nation of Israel. According to all the promises of God, Israel was to be a nation that God would prepare and use. Les emphasizes that there is nothing more important in all the Old Testament than this covenant God made with Abram. He notes that Genesis 12:1 begins with God telling Abram to leave his country, kindred, and father's house for a land God would show him.