Abraham
By Liaf
After the flood, we see the righteous line through Shem’s descendents. From this particular lineage came Terah, the father of Abram (later renamed Abraham by God). Abram once lived in the cultured and religious city or Ur (about 2000 BC) in Mesopotamia but he left with his family to reside in Haran. From there, Abram got a call from God to leave his family to follow God and to inherit a land that God would give to him, along with other numerous promises! Notice that the place he left was religious. I’m sure there were many devout people there. But as with Cain, they worshipped as they saw fit. He chose Abram and clearly said, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred…" The call was to follow God and presupposes that beforehand he and others were not. Please, folks. As sincere as one is, and as honorable as one is, do not confuse religiosity with acceptance in God’s eyes. As I stated before, the Bible stresses the need to do things God’s way.
What did God promise Abram starting in Genesis 12? He was to become a great nation, to receive and to give blessings, and to have a great name. Through his "seed" all nations were to be blessed. This foreshadowed his seed, Christ, which through his work would bless all nations and save fallen man. But we must be careful not to apply these promises solely to spiritual fulfillment only. Abram understood God to mean a physical nation that would become great and indeed God meant just that! This was called the Abrahamic covenant and God made reiterations and additions to these blessings throughout the later chapters.
The basis for Abram’s receiving of the promises was based on faith according to St. Paul and Abram’s faith set the mode that God’s people were to operate by. We will see later on the purpose of the law given to his descendents, the Israelites, which did not require faith to obey. Abram’s faith set the stage for a nation of people who would be God’s light bearers and oracle people to the fallen world. They were to become God’s holy nation and priests here on Earth.
How did Abram’s faith journey start? Already by Genesis 12:10 we see famine in the land he was to inherit. In addition, Abram went down to Egypt and passed his wife off as his sister so that the jealous Egyptians would not kill Abram over her. I often take heart in passages such as these. Abram and God were not off to a good start at all. Circumstances often block the eyes of faith, but that is the very reason faith is needed. Faith is "the evidence of things not seen" according to Hebrews 11. Indeed we see this faltering of Abram throughout his life but in Genesis 15:6 the Bible says that "he believed in the LORD and he [the LORD] counted it to him [Abram] for righteousness." By Genesis 13 and 15, God added to Abram’s blessing the promise of many, many descendents (as the dust of the Earth) and also God reiterated the promise of the land. However, in Genesis 15:8 Abram questioned God, "Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" The Bible just got done saying what faith Abram had and now he had to blow this one! God effectively said, "Ok, if you want a sign, I’ll give you one. Your descendents will be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and serve them 400 years. After that, they shall come out richer than when they went in. What’s the odds of that happening by chance, Abram?" This is why Israel dwelled in Egypt 400 years. Many folks learned their Sunday school lessons well but were unaware that this familiar story about Israel in Egypt was due to Abram’s lack of faith.
God added more promises. Abram was to receive an heir from his own body through his barren wife Sarah. Abram’s intention was to perpetuate his inheritance through Ishmael, as any good parent would do. But Ishmael came through his handmaid Hagar. No. God would not do things that way. God always wanted to work through promise, which required faith. Isn’t that like most of us? We need to "help" God out a little. "My one wife is barren, but here’s an heir to perpetuate your promises through Hagar, LORD!" In my words, God said, "No way, Abram. And by the way, you will now go from being called Abram [exalted father] to Abraham [a father of MANY nations], for you will be a father of many nations. KINGS [as in multiple rulers at one time, not a succession of rulers] shall come from you. The same goes for Sarah." Later in Genesis 22 when Abraham was willing to offer this child of promise (who was Isaac) as a sacrifice, God rewarded Abraham’s faith because Abraham knew God would resurrect Isaac there on the spot in order to carry out his promises. Therefore, God also reiterated promises and added the promise of strategic power and might of his descendents by saying "thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies" (see also Genesis 24:60). So what is the recap of the promises to Abraham? He was to become a great nation, blessed, have a great name, blessing to all nations (accomplished through his heir of promise), inherit specific land, have many,many,many [can’t say that enough] descendents, many NATIONS and KINGS were to come from him, and possess the gates of his enemies. These great promises were understood to be to PHYSICAL descendents and by EXTENTION to the spiritual seed of Abraham through Christ. One erroneous doctrine taught today is replacement theology. The reasoning is that since the Jews rejected Christ, these promises go to the church. Wrong! They coexist together. As a matter of fact, WHEN did these promises ever get fulfilled in the Jew, Christ, or the church? Some, maybe but not all. We shall see ways they were fulfilled later on. For now, God laid the groundwork for faith, promises of a great people, and ultimately Christ.