Waiting on the Manger: Day 2
Abraham
Unless indicated otherwise, all Bible verses are from the Berean Study Bible (BSB) Translation
“Father Abraham has many sons, has many sons has Father Abraham…”
Abraham is known as the “Father of all faith,” and honestly, with good reason. Galatians 3:6 says, “So also, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Understand, then, that those who have faith are sons of Abraham.” Physically and spiritually, Abraham’s life led to us Christians placing our faith in Jesus today.
Physically, Jesus was the son of David, who was the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham.
Spiritually, the gift of salvation that we have through Christ is eloquently articulated by Paul in his letter to the Ephesians: “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God.” Salvation comes through faith, and because Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, Abraham is also the spiritual father of our faith.
Unlike Eve, the Bible covers Abraham’s life over the span of 14 chapters, giving us more than enough information to glean from. Sidebar: can you tell that I love the word “glean”? It’s so fun! Shoutout to Ruth (see Ruth 2:2). From Genesis 12–25, we get glimpses into Abraham’s life and his relationship with the LORD God.
We are first introduced to Abraham in Genesis 12 while his name was still Abram. “Then the LORD said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.’” God reaffirms this promise to bless the whole earth through Abraham’s offspring in Genesis 22:18: “And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed because you have obeyed My voice.” (See also Acts 3:25). Jesus is that blessing. Jesus is the Offspring that God promised would bless the whole earth. But I am getting ahead of myself—let’s go back to God’s initial call of Abraham.
Some people may wonder, why Abraham? Why was he chosen, called out from his father’s household, and given this blessing by God? Genesis 11 might provide some insight into this question.
Genesis 11:27–32 chronicles the life of Abraham’s father, Terah. Verses 31–32 tell us that “Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan. But when they arrived in Haran, they settled there. Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.”
Genesis 12:4–5 continues: “So Abram departed as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan.”
God initially called Terah to Canaan. Terah set out for Canaan but chose to settle in Haran and died there. Terah did not obey God completely; he stopped and settled in Haran. So, why Abram? Why was he chosen and called? Because he obeyed.
Abram departed from his father’s house “as the LORD had directed him” and went to the land of Canaan. The truth is, Abraham is the father of our faith because he lived his life in obedience to God. Yes, yes, I know someone is probably thinking, “What about Ishmael???” I didn’t forget about the whole Hagar-Ishmael incident, but that doesn’t negate what I just said. Abraham was not perfect—he was still a human being at the end of the day—but the sum of his life was one of obedience to God.
Don’t believe me? Then maybe you will believe God Himself. Let’s look at Genesis 18:19, which says, “For I have chosen [Abraham], so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.” God chose Abraham because He trusted him to raise his children to obey the LORD just as he did.
Obedience is important to God. I know, I know. The word itself probably gives you the heebie-jeebies. It used to do the same to me. Please—I was raised in an African Pentecostal household; I know what it means to be triggered by the word “obedience.” But track with me here. Obedience is important to God. There are so many layers to unpack here, but let’s start with Jesus’s words in John 14:15: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” What does keeping His commandments mean? Obeying Him.
What does it say about you when you obey God? It says you trust Him. You trust His plans for you, His heart, and His character. God doesn’t ask for obedience out of a desire to be a tyrannical dictator. That is simply not His character. He wants good for you. He has good plans for you (see Jeremiah 29:11). As the Omniscient One, He knows everything. He is Alpha and Omega—the beginning and the end. So, when He asks you to obey, it is for your own good. When Abram chose to obey God and left his father’s house, he had no idea what God was going to do, but he trusted God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Today, we can testify that Abraham’s choice to obey God was indeed for his own good.
But obeying God often does not feel good. In Genesis 22, God asks Abraham to sacrifice the son he waited over 25 years for.
“Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ … ‘Take your son,’ God said, ‘your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.’ So Abraham got up early the next morning, saddled his donkey, and took along two of his servants and his son Isaac.”
Abraham is better than me because I don’t think I would have been able to do this! Genesis does not tell us much about Abraham’s mindset during this experience, but the writer of Hebrews provides some insight. Hebrews 11:17–19 says: “By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son, even though God had said to him, ‘Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.’ Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and in a sense, he did receive Isaac back from the death.”
Abraham trusted God so much and had so much faith in Him that when God asked him to sacrifice his only son—the son that he was promised—he got up early the next morning to obey. He did not delay in carrying out this instruction. That is how much he had faith in God. Abraham knew God’s character so deeply that he reasoned one way or another, God would keep His promise. Abraham’s faith was undoubtedly bolstered by the fact that the existence of Isaac itself was evidence that God kept His word. So, even though obeying this instruction from God seemed to threaten the promise of God in his life, Abraham held on to God’s promise that Isaac was the offspring through whom the earth would be blessed.
So, what did the birth of Jesus mean to Abraham? To Abraham, the birth of Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promise to bless the earth through his offspring. For Abraham, Jesus is the reward for a life lived in obedience.
Genesis 15, verse 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 very great reward.”