Genesis 12 - 15 and Psalm 33
In summary:
Abram teaches us the correct response to Yahweh's promises.
Abram teaches us the correct response to Yahweh's promises.
In more detail:
Genesis 11 ends with an introduction to a key man in Yahweh’s plan for the nations. Abram was a descendant of Shem and a son of Terah, brother of Nahor and
husband to Sarai. He lived in a situation that will be a source of tension for the coming chapters: Now Sarai was barren; she had no child (Genesis 11:30). After Terah’s death, Yahweh’s voice breaks into the narrative clearly:
“Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your
father’s house to the land that I will show you’” (Genesis 12:1). Notice the provision of land, an unnamed place at this point, a land that will be the center of geographic attention for the entire Bible. It is a land that will replace some of the elements of the Garden of Eden, a land where Yahweh’s chosen people will be able to live in a close
relationship with Him similar to the one that was lost through Adam and Eve’s
disobedience. Notice, too, that near the end of the Bible, the author of the letter to the Hebrews is impressed by Abram’s response to Yahweh’s call: “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8). As we will see, the entrance into this land and its settlement by faith in Yahweh will be a major theme of the books following Genesis and fundamental to understanding the entire Bible.
“And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). What an impressive promise to a 75 year-old man, and one whose wife is sterile! Not only will he have a son, he will be the father of a great nation. This promise will be fulfilled by Yahweh’s power (“I will bless
you”). Abram will have honor and influence that he has never experienced up to this point in all his 75 years (“I will… make your name great”) and through him, Yahweh’s plan will reach all of the nations listed in Genesis 10 and dispersed in Genesis 11 (“you will be a blessing”).
“I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). Yahweh will elevate Abram and his descendants to the focal point of His plan for humanity; they will have an essential role in mediating Yahweh’s just dominion over the earth.
In the next reading and its explanation we will see how Yahweh formalized these promises in a covenant. For now, we will concentrate on Abram’s response to Yahweh’s call. We’ve already seen that the author of the letter to the Hebrews was impressed by his faith in obeying the call: “So Abram went, as the LORD had told him... And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:4, 5). The unidentified land of verse 1 is now named, a relatively small region of immense geographic variety, located between the Mediterranean Sea and the desert, a land where nearly all of the travelers between Egypt and the Ancient Middle East must pass, a place that joins the enormous continents of Asia and Africa. It was populated by the descendants of Canaan, the grandson whom Noah cursed in Genesis 9:25-27. And they are much more numerous that the tiny group formed by Abram, his wife, his nephew and their servants: “Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land (Genesis 12:6). But Abram has something that the Canaanites do not – Yahweh’s promise: “Then the LORDappeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’” (Genesis 12:7). As is his custom, Abram responds in faith and worship: “So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him” (Genesis 12:7).
Near the end of today’s reading, we see an outstanding example of Abram’s faith.
After his travels and the events of chapters 12 – 14 we read, “The word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: ‘Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great’” (Genesis 15:1). Notice that the declaration “I am your shield” is a personal confirmation of the promise to protect that Yahweh had given him in 12:2-3, a protection that Abraham experienced in Egypt in chapter 12 and in his victory over Chedorlaomer and the other kings in chapter 14. Notice, too, that “your reward shall be very great” is a generous blessing of much comfort when we consider that Abram has just refused to take any of the goods from Sodom’s king at the end of chapter 14.
But Abram is perplexed: “’O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’ And Abram said, ‘Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir’” (Genesis 15:2-3).
“And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: ‘This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.’ And he brought him outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’” (Genesis 15:4-5).
The next verse declares two outstanding reactions. First, “And he believed the LORD” (Genesis 15:6). As the apostle Paul will observe many generations later in the letter to the Romans, “In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he
had promised” (Romans 4:18-21).
In the second surprising step, “And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Righteousness, the legal state of Yahweh’s complete acceptance, was credited to Abram by faith, not by any work he did. And as the apostle Paul will explain to us in Romans 4, this faith is an example to us, too, that our righteousness before God does not come through works but by faith, faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins.
Therefore, in today’s reading we see not only Yahweh’s promises that soon will be formalized in a covenant but also the correct response to these promises – faith in them, trusting the faithful and powerful Being who declared them. Such is our response to the promises of God given in Jesus Christ. And we see Yahweh's crediting of righteousness to those who, like Abram, respond in unwavering faith to His promises.
Genesis 11 ends with an introduction to a key man in Yahweh’s plan for the nations. Abram was a descendant of Shem and a son of Terah, brother of Nahor and
husband to Sarai. He lived in a situation that will be a source of tension for the coming chapters: Now Sarai was barren; she had no child (Genesis 11:30). After Terah’s death, Yahweh’s voice breaks into the narrative clearly:
“Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your
father’s house to the land that I will show you’” (Genesis 12:1). Notice the provision of land, an unnamed place at this point, a land that will be the center of geographic attention for the entire Bible. It is a land that will replace some of the elements of the Garden of Eden, a land where Yahweh’s chosen people will be able to live in a close
relationship with Him similar to the one that was lost through Adam and Eve’s
disobedience. Notice, too, that near the end of the Bible, the author of the letter to the Hebrews is impressed by Abram’s response to Yahweh’s call: “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8). As we will see, the entrance into this land and its settlement by faith in Yahweh will be a major theme of the books following Genesis and fundamental to understanding the entire Bible.
“And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). What an impressive promise to a 75 year-old man, and one whose wife is sterile! Not only will he have a son, he will be the father of a great nation. This promise will be fulfilled by Yahweh’s power (“I will bless
you”). Abram will have honor and influence that he has never experienced up to this point in all his 75 years (“I will… make your name great”) and through him, Yahweh’s plan will reach all of the nations listed in Genesis 10 and dispersed in Genesis 11 (“you will be a blessing”).
“I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). Yahweh will elevate Abram and his descendants to the focal point of His plan for humanity; they will have an essential role in mediating Yahweh’s just dominion over the earth.
In the next reading and its explanation we will see how Yahweh formalized these promises in a covenant. For now, we will concentrate on Abram’s response to Yahweh’s call. We’ve already seen that the author of the letter to the Hebrews was impressed by his faith in obeying the call: “So Abram went, as the LORD had told him... And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:4, 5). The unidentified land of verse 1 is now named, a relatively small region of immense geographic variety, located between the Mediterranean Sea and the desert, a land where nearly all of the travelers between Egypt and the Ancient Middle East must pass, a place that joins the enormous continents of Asia and Africa. It was populated by the descendants of Canaan, the grandson whom Noah cursed in Genesis 9:25-27. And they are much more numerous that the tiny group formed by Abram, his wife, his nephew and their servants: “Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land (Genesis 12:6). But Abram has something that the Canaanites do not – Yahweh’s promise: “Then the LORDappeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’” (Genesis 12:7). As is his custom, Abram responds in faith and worship: “So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him” (Genesis 12:7).
Near the end of today’s reading, we see an outstanding example of Abram’s faith.
After his travels and the events of chapters 12 – 14 we read, “The word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: ‘Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great’” (Genesis 15:1). Notice that the declaration “I am your shield” is a personal confirmation of the promise to protect that Yahweh had given him in 12:2-3, a protection that Abraham experienced in Egypt in chapter 12 and in his victory over Chedorlaomer and the other kings in chapter 14. Notice, too, that “your reward shall be very great” is a generous blessing of much comfort when we consider that Abram has just refused to take any of the goods from Sodom’s king at the end of chapter 14.
But Abram is perplexed: “’O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’ And Abram said, ‘Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir’” (Genesis 15:2-3).
“And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: ‘This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.’ And he brought him outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’” (Genesis 15:4-5).
The next verse declares two outstanding reactions. First, “And he believed the LORD” (Genesis 15:6). As the apostle Paul will observe many generations later in the letter to the Romans, “In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he
had promised” (Romans 4:18-21).
In the second surprising step, “And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Righteousness, the legal state of Yahweh’s complete acceptance, was credited to Abram by faith, not by any work he did. And as the apostle Paul will explain to us in Romans 4, this faith is an example to us, too, that our righteousness before God does not come through works but by faith, faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins.
Therefore, in today’s reading we see not only Yahweh’s promises that soon will be formalized in a covenant but also the correct response to these promises – faith in them, trusting the faithful and powerful Being who declared them. Such is our response to the promises of God given in Jesus Christ. And we see Yahweh's crediting of righteousness to those who, like Abram, respond in unwavering faith to His promises.
