Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out
of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land
that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless
thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: Genesis 12:1-2
After these things the
word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy
shield, and thy exceeding great reward. Genesis 15:1
Abraham is a prominent figure in Judaism, Islam, and
Christianity. As with any prominent historic figure he is also a subject of many
fables and manipulations. I have no intension to argue against these falsities
concerning Abraham but instead I would set forth to witness, as did Moses, of
the central teaching of Abraham’s life.
Within the first twelve chapters of genesis Moses has come
against the false gods and histories of the surrounding nations but in chapter
twelve he begins to deal with our own false ideas of what covenant with YHWH
means.
Abraham and his progenitors are not super human examples of
our faith but instead a witness of YHWH’s unfailing ability to make weak feeble
men the vessels of His unbreakable will and work.
Abram was called like every other believer into a way, a
truth, and a life which was completely foreign to all he had before known. The
promise given by YHWH to Abram is the seed carried in the womb of the Jewish
nation which was born into the world as Messiah and matured into eternal
salvation to all that place their trust in Him.
The scriptures say faith comes by hearing and hearing by the
word of YHWH. Abram lives this out before the world. It begins with a call to
leave behind what is known and move into an unknown place with nothing more
than trust in Him who has called you.
The believer should see themselves in Abram. The same human
nature inherent from Adam that we struggle against was also in Abram and also
the same Elohim who formed Abraham from the dust of Adam and breathed into him
the breath of life made him and us living souls.
Abraham’s story begins at his call from YHWH to leave behind
all he has known and considered himself to have come from. The call of Abraham
has a great blessing promised but also a price to be paid. From the time of
Abraham until now the call to those who will walk in faith is the same “come
out from among them”.
Abraham’s obedience to this call is much like our own,
incomplete. It is not for a lack of desire to obey but rather an ignorance of
what full submission entails. Only faith can be blessed and YHWH blesses to the
extent that our trust is in Him. Abram enters into faith by leaving both his
country and fathers house to obtain the promise of YHWH. However the leaving of
his kindred is only partial for he takes with him his nephew Lot.
It is very likely that Abraham did not do this because he
was in any type of disobedience but instead his actions were generated by what
he felt was right. It would be many years later before Abraham would separate from
Lot and begin to experience the full presence and blessings of YHWH.
This is the journey of Abraham’s faith from exuberant action
of obedience into a trust that became the very foundation of Abraham’s being. Abraham’s
path of change from simply accepting a spoken offer of covenant from YHWH to
becoming an embodiment in his very person (a living word) of those things
promised is the same path every believer travels.
In Abrahams call of chapter 12 there is a promise of
blessings for obedience without a description of how the blessings or obedience
will be manifested. In chapter 15 Abraham has come to an experiential knowledge
of YHWH to the degree that he can now understand that the how of what was
promised is in the fact that YHWH is not only his shield but his reward. The
very being of YHWH has been given to Abraham as his. It is this grace that
Messiah has delivered to all those in the household of faith.
The interim events of
these three chapters is not only a story of Abraham’s journey but an account of
YHWH casting out self-trust (from Adams inheritance) and a creation of a new
man in YHWH’s image. I am not saying that Abraham has arrived at chapter fifteen
(life is about relationship not arrival) but instead the effective faith that
would be called righteousness, receive the miraculous, and be tested beyond
comprehension was formed here.
We see in Abraham’s life during this time three things that
dove tail perfectly into the three temptations of Messiah. We should see these
things as a witness of our own maturing into the life of the Father. Of course
Messiah was tempted in all points without sin; neither we nor Abraham can make
such a claim. What Abraham can witness too along with us (in the course of time)
is that YHWH does give beauty for ashes and joy for tears.
In the first temptation of Messiah we see a Man after forty
days of no sustenance tempted to act of His own accord to provide what He truly
needs. In Abraham a famine drives him to leave that place YHWH has called him
into and find his own way of providence.
If we then look at the results of this action we see that
Abraham finds himself not only looking for physical sustenance but in fear for
his life from the hands of those around him. The father of faith found himself
trading his own wife to sustain his flesh. The mercy of YHWH, even in Abraham’s
failure held this shame from being cast on Abraham. Abraham was not forsaken or
abandoned in this failure; instead YHWH taught him of both his mercy and providence.
When Abraham was converted from trust in self leading to destruction into a
more established trust in YHWH the very one Abraham feared would take his life
served to establish him with more than he had entered his failure with.
In the second temptation of Messiah a description of Messiah
from scripture was used to tempt a public display of messiahship to remove any
reasonable argument against believing Yeshua was who he claimed to be. Yeshua could have avoided the strife that plagued
his ministry from those who ran both the temple and the synagogue with a
display of angels catching him from a public leap from the pinnacle of the
temple.
So Messiah is tempted to do that which will bring Him
acceptance from His kinsman to which He answers that YHWH alone can make Him
acceptable. Abraham in order to avoid strife with his kinsman (Lot) gives that
which was not his to give. It is from a motive of doing what is acceptable and generous
but his decision has at its source only Abraham.
It should be noted that despite YHWH’s providence and
blessing Abrahams sin still causes hurt to him, his household and those he comes
in contact with. The covenant of faith does not make us free from the results
of sin but when our eye becomes single we are made free from sin.
That being said we
must always remember that we press for the mark of the prize in Messiah: that
mark was a perfectly complete faith in the Father to be His maker and life. It
is safe to say that Yeshua alone has walked in perfect faith all other
believers are pressing toward that mark.
The third temptation of Messiah deals with the glory of the
kingdoms of the earth becoming His. Messiah is promised those same kingdoms
will be subject unto Him but the Father alone is the possessor of the heavens
and the earth. In a like manner Abraham refuses to be established by an earthly
king; instead trusting YHWH’s promise alone will establish him.
We see a very different Abraham now. YHWH has made in him a
faith by which comes obedience in the form of simple trust.
•get the out of thy country…to a land I will show you (no
provision from Egypt)
•from thy kindred… I will make you a great nation (separation
from Lot)
•from thy father’s house…I will make your name great (no dependence
on man)
