Abraham, The Bridge to God: Part 3

God is not done with the Jews. The only reason they are a people who exist today is because God has willed it. Apostle Paul, a Jew among Jews says, "To them [the Jews] belong the covenants." I want to speak into this from the point of view of Abraham.

In Genesis 15 it says this:

Genesis 15:17–21 "When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your offspring, from the Brook of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River: the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hethites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”"

Why did God make this covenant with Abraham? Was it simply unconditional election? I do not believe that to be the case. Why do I say that? Consider the way Abraham conducted himself. Up until Genesis 12, we get pictures of God speaking to different people at different times. It does seem to be that God was speaking in a more direct and explicit way during that time. Where am I getting that from? Read this article I wrote (which is the first in the series) which talks about God speaking to people in Genesis.

So now we come to Genesis 12. If God made a practice out of speaking to people at the beginning of humanity, but then the voice of God got quieter over time (and I think it has except for certain individuals), then why did God make a covenant with Abraham? For all we know, God spoke to many different individuals during the time of Abraham. It is thought that Job was a contemporary of Abraham, for example. But in Genesis 12, we read,

Genesis 12:1–3

"The LORD said to Abram:

Go from your land,

your relatives,

and your father’s house

to the land that I will show you.

I will make you into a great nation,

I will bless you,

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,

I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt,

and all the peoples on earth

will be blessed through you."

You have to go all the way back to Noah to see such a long dialog from God, seen here:

Genesis 8:20–22

"“I will never again curse the ground because of human beings, even though the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth onward. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.

As long as the earth endures,

seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,

summer and winter, and day and night

will not cease.”"

Noah is a key figure here in this story for God made a covenant with Noah, seen here:

Genesis 6:18

"But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives."

So before we answer the question of why God made a covenant with Abraham, we should answer why God made a covenant with Noah. I can only see one reason why God chose to make a covenant with Noah, which is stated here:

Genesis 6:9

"These are the family records of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God."

So why did God make a covenant with Noah? Because Noah was a more moral person than all of his peers. It's that simple. If you are interested in what it means that Noah "walked with God," I would point you to this article I wrote (which is the second in the series).

So, why did God make a covenant with Abraham? The same exact reason as with Noah! Because Abraham was a righteous man, blameless by his peers. Let's examine how I am getting there. In Genesis, as we saw, it says,

"On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram."

How did Abraham get this favor with the Lord?

Consider first, that Abraham is significant and not just like everyone else. For after Genesis 12:1-3 it says,

Genesis 12:4

"So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran."

Abraham's immediate response to God's call was to do what God told him. But God did not make a covenant with Abraham at that time. Genesis explains a certain narrative about Abraham that demonstrates that he was a righteous man as it says again how Abraham obeyed God here,

Genesis 12:7

"The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him."

So again, God makes a promise to Abraham, and Abraham gives praise to God.

And even when God is not there to reveal something to Abraham, he does the right thing. Here's the narrative the Bible gives leading up to the covenant with Abraham...

Genesis 12:12, 16, 19

"When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me but let you live. He treated Abram well because of her, and Abram acquired flocks and herds, male and female donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels. Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take her and go!”"

Abraham demonstrates his wisdom in this exchange. He knew the Egyptians would kill him if they knew he was married to Sarah. So, because he said she was his sister (which was actually true as it turns out), Abraham not only told the truth but turned the situation to his advantage.

Moving on we see this,

Genesis 13:8–9

"So Abram said to Lot, “Please, let’s not have quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, since we are relatives. Isn’t the whole land before you? Separate from me: if you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.”"

Here, Abraham demonstrates two things:

1) He wants to reduce conflict

2) He wants to be generous to others

What do those things mean? Wouldn't it mean that Abraham was blameless by Lot?

Moving on, we see,

Genesis 14:14–16

"When Abram heard that his relative had been taken prisoner, he assembled his 318 trained men, born in his household, and they went in pursuit as far as Dan. And he and his servants deployed against them by night, defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah to the north of Damascus. He brought back all the goods and also his relative Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the other people."

So not only is Abraham generous and does not want conflict, he also wants justice to be done and does not like seeing the innocent in peril. Again, Abraham proves he is without reproach.

Then it says this,

Genesis 14:17–20

"After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Shaveh Valley (that is, the King’s Valley). Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High. He blessed him and said:

Abram is blessed by God Most High,

Creator of heaven and earth,

and blessed be God Most High

who has handed over your enemies to you.

And Abram gave him a tenth of everything."

Notice again that Abraham shows proper homage to others. Melchizedek gave a spiritual blessing to Abraham and Abraham in turn gave a physical blessing to him. So Abraham respects those in spiritual authority to him. So Abraham is thankful and shows his thanks tangibly.

All of this is why God says to Abraham,

Genesis 15:1

"After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:

Do not be afraid, Abram.

I am your shield;

your reward will be very great."

That's it for this one.

God bless you! Until next time!