Abraham a journey of faith, and ours as heirs of the promise.
The thing with Abraham and his journey of faith was that it was just that. A journey of faith.
God had told Abraham when he was still Abram, yip before the name change this: Check out Genesis 12 verses 2-3.
“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
And all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
When he makes his covenant with Abraham at the time of the name change. God tells Abraham, “No longer will you be called Abram, your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.” Genesis 17:5 God also told Abraham that he would get, “the whole land of Cannan, where you are now an alien, I will give you as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you, and I will be their God.”
So at the time of the covenant, Abraham had God’s promise that he would be the father of nations. He already had one son with his wife's maidservant Hagar, the son’s name was Ishmael, and then Abraham had the word from God that he would have a son by Sarah his wife and the boy’s name was to be Isaac. This occurred when Abraham was ninety-nine years old.
Now we had the whole epic of Isaac’s near-death experience covered by Dr Stephen last week. So, the thing that I want to focus on this week is that passage about the land that Abraham and his descendants would receive from God as an “everlasting possession” and how this relates to the faith of the man and the faith of some who would come after him.
If you recall the passage about Lot and Abraham going their separate ways in Genesis thirteen. And after Lot chose the land in the Jordan Valley that looked really impressive as it was green and fertile. After Lot went down into the Jordan and settled his tents near Sodom, The Lord said to Abraham “Lift your eyes from where you are and look North and South, east and west. All the land that you see I will give you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.” (Genesis 13:14-17).
In chapter 15 we have God enter into a covenant with Abraham, I won’t read it all but animals cut in half, a heifer, ram and a goat plus a whole dove and a young pigeon also sacrificed. God says to Abraham, after he has complained that one of his servants will inherit all his worldly goodies because he and Sarah don’t have any kids. God says no, you will have descendants as many as the stars you can count in the sky, for this happened at night, shows the value of not watching tele or at least going outside for a look at the stars. Note “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” This is important to remember.
God tells him, and there’s a bit of the Moffatt paraphrase here; that he was brought out of Ur of the Chaldeans to be given the land of Canan and take possession of it. Abraham says, “Lord how can that happen.” You were probably wondering that yourselves. God gives Abraham a heads up on how this will happen. Verse 13-15; Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” if we look at verse 17 of chapter 15, the sun is setting and the halves of the animals have a smoking fire pot and torch (Indicating Gods presence, pass between them. This was a sign of God’s covenant with Abraham, this was a covenant that would occur between kings of that time and “That was the ancient practice of karath beriyth. You didn’t even need to say anything. You could have had two nations that didn’t speak each other’s language and if... two kings simply walked in between the split carcasses it was understood that they made a covenant (of peace).” genesis - Why does God tell Abram to bring THESE animals? - Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange, What God was saying in this act, was, if I don’t keep my word, may what happen to these animals happen to me. Chapter15 is wound up with God saying “To your descendants I will give this land, then there is a big list of all the ‘ites’ whose land it currently was. God sees the whole picture; in the chapter we see that something was happening between God and the Amorite people regarding their sin and that is why the four-hundred year wait. But in all this God was faithful to his promises as four hundred years Moses led the Israelites, a name they didn't get for another two patriarchs, out of slavery in Egypt and Josuah led them into the Promised Land, a name that Israel is still referred to as.
God’s promises are fulfilled often in ways quite different to how we or others expect the promises to be fulfilled. I often think that maybe I am where I am in my faith journey due the faithful prayers of elderly ladies and men, who perhaps did not know that God has answered their prayers before they went to be with him. I detract, back to the land purchase. If we flick over ten chapters to chapter 23. Let’s have a wee read of this chapter, Read chapter 23. So, Abraham spent his hard earned four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weight current among the merchants of the time and ended up with the deed to the field, burial cave and all the trees within the borders of the field. This occurred in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the city gate. He was then able to lay Sarah to rest in the cave.
After this land deal, in chapter 24 Abraham has a bit of a yarn with the chief servant of his household about arranging a wife for Isaac from his own people, from where he had come from in Ur, but not letting Isaac stay there. Abraham says this “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.” There is a great description of how the chief servant then heads off to find a wife for Isaac, he discussed how this will occur with God and it happens as he prayed that it will happen. Rebekah fits the bill. She is Abraham, Nahor’s brothers daughter, a bit of a stunner, never been intimate with a man and also had a servant heart. She agreed to travel back to Isaac sight unseen and marry him. Then...wait for it Abraham, has another wife, has a bunch more kids, leaves all he owns to Isaac, lives to 175 and then up and dies.
Abraham dies not with the whole land of Cannan, he has one burial cave, a field and the trees that bound the field.
This was all that Abraham had gained in regard to land that he possessed. This Cave is known as the Cave of the Patriarchs, it still exists as do the tombs of Abraham and Sarah; Issac and Rebeccah and Jacob and Leah. More about that in the coming weeks.
So, God was faithful to his promises to Abraham, as he is faithful to all of us. The thing with Abraham is that he discovered that he was not justified with God by works but by faith, as were the other Patriarchs, as are we. Paul the apostle sums it up this way in Romans 4:2-3; “If in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about-but not before God. What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
The promises of God are not something to be taken lightly, we see that in the life of Abraham and the story of his family, even to this day. We have a part in this and of this, the way we respond to God's promises for he faithful. Wait to the end of my message.
About the faithfulness that Abraham and also one of the pointers to Jesus divinity and good verses to refer to if you are ever challenged about Jesus never stating that he is God, are these from John eight where Jesus was being challenged by the pharisees as to not being a man of God, and being demon possessed he said this In John 8, verses 49-59:
“I am not possessed by a demon,” ... “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.” At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon- possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”
Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
“You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.
The reason I read that passage from the Gospel of John is that Jesus mentioned one of the promises of God, one that was realised by Abraham and that Abraham because of his faith saw Jesus day. It is great significance as we approach Easter. Jesus told the Pharisees this; “Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.” Jesus came to defeat sin and death, we know hie is the fulfilment of the law and the prophets, in that he defeated sin and death on the cross bringing many in his train, as in following him into eternal life. There is the part of the sentence where he says “Whoever obeys my word will never see death.” We live in the meantime between Jesus having been and his return, we will most likely die in this form, but spiritually not, as we pass from life to life, earthly to eternal, and like Abraham see Jesus at the right hand of the Father. However, there is more to Jesus' statement as he said Abraham has seen my day and that before Abraham was “I am” Jesus at this moment is claiming to be God, he is claiming to be timeless. Abraham believed that from him all the nations of the earth would be blessed, it is a rabbinical belief that “Abraham knew that that the Messiah of God would come from his family line and rejoiced in that promise.” (P 34, William Barcley, John Vol 2)
The Pharisees wanted to stone Jesus as John recorded, because Jesus was claiming divinity. Before Abraham was I AM. I AM as we know is a name of The One True God.
The rescue plan of God started with Abraham and Sarah at chapter twelve of Genesis. Abraham was a man faithful to God and responsive to God’s promises. He was obedient to God’s direction for his life, he saw that. I often think of the danger even the horror of being separate from God as the old self without Christ is a damned thing without salvation. I leave you with some promises of God, for he is always faithful to his promises. These all relate in some way to Abraham, his faithfulness and his belief in God that was credited as righteousness. These are also promises for us and we have a part to play in responding to God's promises to us for he is faithful.
Psalm 100:5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. [As it did through Abraham’s family line]
2 Samuel 7:28 Sovereign Lord, you are God! Your covenant is trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant. [God does not falter when he has made a promise to his people]
Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
John 1:12 -13 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. [Our path to salvation was put in place by God, well before our existence and we see it through the life of the Patriarchs and their descendants]
Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. [ It is through faith that we have right relationships with God]
And lastly
Galatians 3:29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Related Benediction: If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:29)
May your life be one of faith,
Embracing the knowledge that Abraham saw, may you also see the day of Christ and eternal salvation,
To God be the glory!
Amen.
