"ABRAHAM'S BLESSINGS ARE MINE": MOOD AND MODALITY IN ABRAHAMIC COVENANT AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR COMTEMPORARY CHRISTIANS

Abstract

Against the background of the popular chorus: ?Abraham‘s Blessings are Mine?, this paper attempted a study of the Abrahamic Covenant drawing implications from it for the contemporary Christians. Using the New International Version of the Holy Bible (2011 Edition) as a preferred English version believed to be very close to the original language, the linguistic resources of mood and modality were explored in the Abrahamic Covenant through the reading of Genesis 12:1-3 and Genesis 14:14-17. Two moods were identified in the two texts of the Abrahamic covenant considered in this paper: the declarative and the imperative. Of the nineteen (19) clauses contained in the two texts of the Abrahamic covenant, thirteen clauses (13) were in the declarative mood while only six (6) clauses were in the imperative mood. The declarative mood projects God as the solid force behind the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant while the imperative mood indicates that the partakers of the covenant have a role to play in obedience to the sovereign God who is the declaring party. The paper then concluded that while the contemporary believers in Christ should be reassured that God is personally committed to the fulfillment of the terms of the Abrahamic covenant to which they are now partakers, yet they have a responsibility to respond in obedience as a reflection of their deference for God.