In chapter 5 Belcher turns to the Abrahamic covenant. He understands Genesis 12 to enumerate the promises of the Abrahamic covenant: blessings of land, a great nation from his seed, a great name, and the bringing of blessing to all the families of the earth. Though the promises are given in chapter 12, the covenant is not cut until Genesis 15. The way God cuts the Abrahamic covenant shows it to be a unilateral covenant. Chapter 17 does not add conditions that Abraham must meet in order for God to fulfill the covenant. Rather, Abraham is instructed as to the way he should live within the covenant. The sign of the covenant, circumcision, is also given in the Mosaic covenant. Belcher understands this to signify the fulfillment of the seed promise, the importance of covenant representation (only the males were circumcised, but females were part of the covenant), and the danger of being cut off from the covenant. He also notes that not everyone who was a covenant member was circumcised in the heart, that is, not all were in a “spiritual relationship with God” (71).
I find myself in substantial agreement with Belcher on these points.