GRACE THROUGH THE AGES
HANDOUT UNIT #5
By: Bradley Anderson
THE COVENANT OF ABRAHAM
INTRODUCTION
The great difficulty in tracing grace through the ages is in how you interpret the vast amount of primeval history (Adam to Abraham), with the relatively limited information that Moses writes of the period.
There are 929 chapters in the bible, covering approximately 4,000 years of history.
In our study thus far we have covered the first 1,900 years of history in only 11 chapters. This accounts for what “young earth” scholars date as 30% of all calendar time, given in only 1% of the bible text.
As a percentage of the bible timeline, the first 11 chapters of Genesis account for 47% of its history in only 1% of the bible text.
Clearly Moses was selective when he wrote the primeval history of Genesis.
But the bible itself does not shy from treating the first 11 chapters of Genesis as foundational. In the accounts of creation, the fall and the flood, all of the elements of God’s plan of redemption are laid out in seminal form.
Adam was created in blessing. “He had been given God’s image and God’s authority over the earth. God had stated his Lordship over Adam and Eve in generosity and command.”
Then the serpent arrived and challenged loyalty to the Lordship of God. The serpent deceived Eve into thinking that:
there is a better life for you in disobedience,
you can be like God if you disobey God,
If you want to be happy you have to reject God’s commandment.
Adam and Eve rebelled against God’s lordship by transferring their trust from God to the serpent.
The children of Adam and Eve will be born as one race of man, but divided in their loyalty (Gen 3:15) to God.
Loyalty to the LORD in the pre flood period was manifested by two customs:
proclaiming on His proper name, Yahweh, in devotion and witness,
the inter-generational teaching of His name and His promise of redemption.
Both of these expressions of loyalty are exemplified in the toledot genealogy of Adam through the line of Seth (Gen 5).
Disloyalty to God is exemplified in the genealogy of Cain.
The fact that loyalty to God is along familial lines should not distress us as it is not owing to any ethnic characteristics, for at this juncture of history man is one ethnicity.
The sinister influence of the deception and rebellion of the serpent grew unabated by violence, while the influence of those who worshiped the LORD in truth diminished down to the one family of Noah.
God destroyed that old generation of man and established a new generation of man from Noah. To Noah, God promised that He will never again destroy the world or man, in spite of the fact that the effects of the fall were not erased by the flood.
Genesis 8:21 [21] And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.
The original creation ordinances in Adam are repeated to Noah with the addition of covenantal responsibility and authority, given as a general covenant to all men, to judge and punish the violent.
Genesis 9:5 [5] And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.
Noah lays the groundwork for new redemptive realities:
The law that is given against violence will help to preserve the remnant of the loyal line so that it will never again be threatened to extinction.
The loyal line will advance in the context of covenant blessings and curses delivered in a patriarchal system (Genesis 9).
Noah is different from Adam:
When Adam sinned, his sin affected all his progeny, not some. But when Noah sinned by drunkenness and nakedness, his sin affected only one of his three sons.
Noah’s sin led to the shame of Ham; the fallout of Ham’s shame affected only one, not all, of Ham’s sons: Canaan.
The toledot form of Noah’s sons is segmented into three lines, showing a divergence of loyalty to the LORD, with the line of Ham leading away from God.
But in the toledoth of Terah, God is narrowing redemption in the calling of one particular family, from out of one of the three sons of Noah, to carry forward the promise of redemption to all people. We may trust that the narrowing of redemption to one family is with the purpose of broadening redemption for all families.
In Abraham, promise is going to be advanced from the simple hope that people had in the promise of the serpent crusher (Genesis 3:15). In Abraham, promise is going to be advanced by a covenant of blessing.
In Abraham the means of the grace that God gave to Adam and Eve after the fall, will come through one family. And God is ultimately going to reach all the races and families of man, with the promise of gracious redemption, through that one family.
Galatians 3:7–8 [7] Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. [8] And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”
John 4:22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
THE CALL OF ABRAHAM
Richard Pratt, formerly of the Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando, now director of Third Millennium Ministries, has identified two intertwining themes in the chiastic literary structure that Moses gives to the life of Abraham:
Abraham’s covenant blessings
Abraham’s interaction with various people groups.
12:1-3 Call to blessing
12:4-14 Interacting with various groups of people
15 The covenant relationship with God
16 The Hagar failure
17 The covenant responsibilities to God
18-21 Interacting with various groups of people
22-25 Future of blessing
Pratt observes that these two themes of Abraham’s life, covenant blessings and interactions with various people groups, relate directly with the experience of the Exodus readers:
They are now becoming the nation that was promised to Abraham.
Pratt notes that Abraham interacted with the descendants of the same people groups that Israel will soon interact with accordingly:
opposing (think of the 4 Canaanite Kings that Abraham routed to deliver his kidnapped nephew)
rescuing, (think of Lot as the father of the Moabites and Ammonites)
mediating on behalf of (think of Abimelech, father of the Philistines, Abraham is the first designated “prophet” in the Bible and this designation is amazingly in relation to his prayer for a Philistine king in Genesis 20)
living at peace among (think of Egypt to the south; think of the Arabs who descend from the 12 tribes of Ishmael, Isaac’s half brother, think of Deuteronomy 20:10–18)
as criticized and feared by (think of Pharaoh and Abimelech)
blessed (think of Melchizedek)
respected (think of the king of Sodom)
When we come to the covenant with Moses, we will ask the question: what would Abraham have done with a civil, moral and ceremonial law code? How would Abraham have managed it all?
The administration of the Law was beyond even Moses’s ability as one man.
70 elders of Israel went up the mountain with Moses (Ex 24).
The burden of leading Israel was too great for Moses, so God consecrated 70 elders to help him (Num 11).
God appointed the tribe of Levi to manage the ceremonial aspects of the Law.
The conquest, occupation and rule of the land is not Abraham’s task. That will be the task for Abraham’s progeny after him. Abraham’s task is summarized in Nehemiah 9:7–8a:
[7] You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. [8] You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite.
We will see that Abraham’s role was in walking before God as the faithful model for his children to follow. This involved exemplifying all the same character qualities that will be required of the generations that will conquer and occupy the promised land as a benevolent nation 400 years later. These qualities include:
faith in God,
faithfulness to the covenant that God made with Abraham and Abraham’s progeny;
as we observe in ancient culture:
the heroes in pagan lore gradate from mythological to historical figures,
whereas the heroes in Hebrew lore are historical; they are ordinary men and women, whose lives adumbrate:
foreshadow and symbolize what it is to be God’s chosen people,
exemplify the role of the Hebrews in God’s redemptive plan.
When the Exodus Reader is reading about Abraham, they are essentially reading about themselves; they are walking in the footsteps of their father Abraham; his pilgrimage is inspirational, instructive and paradigmatic of all the challenges that the Exodus Readers will encounter in their pilgrimage.
Genesis 12:1–3 [1] 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. [2] 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. [3] 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.”
Abraham is here called into covenant blessing with the words And I will make of you a great nation.
We may contrast this to Moses’s background history of the tower of Babel, which told of man’s attempts at self aggrandizing greatness.
God is going to give Abraham’s progeny a land. This fits handily into Meredith Kline’s suggestion that the covenant with Abraham belongs in the category of Royal Grant covenant, for here we have the promise of land and house.
Greatness in God’s economy is about the flow of blessing, to His servant and then through His servant. Blessing is designed to flow to people and also through people.
Abraham is now promised personal blessing with the words and I will bless you and make your name great.
God is going to give Abraham abundance. Some scholars believe that Abraham was one of the wealthiest men of his day.
Abundance carries with it the assumption of grace with respect to sin; that sin has been reconciled.
Abundance includes children. God is going to extend His blessing to Abraham’s progeny. This too fits handily in the Royal Grant covenant model.
This also fits handily in the model of covenant first seen in the Creation narrative, wherein the first words spoken to Adam are words of blessing.
Interestingly the promise of greatness will be repeated in the covenant with David.
In the words so that you will be a blessing. [3] I will bless those who bless you, God now speaks to the second theme of Abraham’s life, which is the flow of blessing from Abraham unto other people groups.
There is here a promise of blessing to those who bless Abraham as if to say in thee the nations of the earth shall bless themselves.
There is also a curse component here, consistent with the Royal Grant covenant, in the words and him who dishonors you I will curse,
We may recall from Unit 1 that there is the threat of a curse to those who would harm the servant in the Royal Grant covenant.
Then there is the promise of ultimate blessing for the whole world in the words and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Is Abraham here commanded to be a blessing, or does the blessing to other nations come entirely from their treatment of Abraham?
Young’s Literal Translations renders verse 2: And I make thee become a great nation, and bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing.
The New American Standard renders verse 2:
And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
The blessing that flows from Abraham to other people is certainly incumbent upon the nations in how they treat Abraham, but the responsibility of Abraham to be a blessing to the other nations is here hinted at.
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 departed from Haran. [5] 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. When they came to the land of Canaan, [6] Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.
God called Abram to Canaan, the land that was inhabited by those who were cursed by Noah as the consequence of when Ham, the father of the Canaanites, had humiliated the nakedness of the Patriarch Noah.
This consequence may seem unfair. But we are not to understand this as fatalism. The Canaanites were making their own decisions and their own sinful choices.
The direct descendant of Abraham that will become the heir of the promise will be named Jacob “supplanter” and later in his life, God will call him Israel “the one who wrestles”. Jacob will supplant Canaan. Jacob will also supplant Isaac’s first son Esau, but the narrative does not place all of this unfortunate turn of events entirely on Jacob’s character. It was also on Esau’s character, of whom it is said “Esau despised his birthright”. In spite of all the advantages of being the first born and the one whom his father loved the most, Esau demonstrated that he was not fit to carry the covenant promises given to his grandfather Abraham.
Genesis 12:[7] Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. [8] From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD. [9] And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.
In verse 7-9 Moses is showing the Exodus reader that the land that they are going to was promised to them through their father Abraham.
The land was occupied by Canaanites [V6] in Abraham’s day, but God protected Abraham from the Canaanites as he passed through the land, here building an altar at the site that Joshua will later conquer.
When Ai resisted Joshua, Joshua knew (Joshua 7) that something was terribly wrong. The focus of the story is in how Joshua later discovered that Achan had violated the rules of holy war. But the fact that father Abraham had worship at this very place, underscored the incongruity of their defeat here. Moreover, the sin of Achan in taking and hiding treasure from the battle at Jericho, was underscored by the fact that Abraham refused to keep the spoils of his victory over the 4 Canaanite Kings (Genesis 14).
Abraham “built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD.” This indicates continuity with the loyal line of Seth for whom it was said: To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD. Genesis 4:26
To call upon the name of the LORD, in the primordial period represented active worship of a God of revelation.
To call upon one of a pantheon of gods would be a pagan act of worship. But when you called upon the “name of the LORD” you were calling upon a God who has made His name known.
To build an altar further indicates that Abraham has a self-awareness to add to his God-awareness; Abraham knows something about his own relational status to his God, namely that sacrifice is critical in his act of worship. In this passage Abraham is modeling two aspects of the three aspects that will develop under Moses for the cultic and liturgical life of Israel.
Temple
Israel had a tabernacle with concentric layers of proximity to God’s presence, beginning with the outer court where all may enter to bring their sacrifice, moving to the inner court where only the priesthood may enter to perform ceremonial services, ending in the Holy of Holies where God’s presence sits.
In the Holy of Holies, Israel has an Ark with a Mercy Seat. The Mercy Seat is empty, signifying that the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands (Acts 7:48). Whereas in pagan cultures the inner chamber of the temple is shaped to hold a statue of the god of the temple. But Israel’s temple will not and can not contain God.
Abraham is worshiping the LORD at the altar that he has built for the service of worship. He is not worshiping at a temple which has been built to house the statue of an unknown god. In this Abraham is exemplifying true temple worship.
Sacrifice
Abraham is bringing a sacrifice with his worship.
This indicates a knowledge of obligation to his God and a knowledge of himself as beholden to God.
The pagan cultures of this period brought sacrifices to feed their gods and to obtain the favor of their gods. There was no moral duty attached to their sacrifices. Abraham is not bringing a favor to the LORD to obtain God’s blessing. Abraham was promised God’s blessing when he was called. So his sacrifice would be from a heart of gratitude and humility. Perhaps even his sacrifice was an expression of contrition? Righteous Job was alive at this same period of history and Job made atonement sacrifices for his children.
Festivals
The festivals of Israel were part of a liturgical and agricultural calendar. At this juncture of Abraham’s existence he is without land and his sustenance is that of a nomad and a pilgrim.
For Abraham the seasons marked the years of waiting on God’s promise. Apart from this we have no indication that Abraham worshiped God on specific festivals. We may however assume that Abraham observed the Sabbath.
The liturgical calendar for Israel will be based on events in the life of Israel (Passover) and on the agricultural calendar. Moses will develop these ceremonial aspects of Israel’s life in Leviticus 23.
[10] Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.
Egypt was the land that could flourish without rain. This is actually very significant and it will play a big part in the story of redemption.
Deuteronomy 11:8–12 [8] “You shall therefore keep the whole commandment that I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and take possession of the land that you are going over to possess, [9] and that you may live long in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. [10] For the land that you are entering to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated it, like a garden of vegetables. [11] But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, [12] a land that the LORD your God cares for. The eyes of the LORD your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.
[11] When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, [12] and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. [13] Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.”
Not long after being told that he would be a blessing, Abraham finds himself in a situation where the principle of being a blessing is tested.
If the expression “so you will be a blessing” in 12:2 simply means In thee the nations of the earth shall bless themselves, then why does the narrative of Abraham’s life abruptly lead him through the promised land directly into this situation, where the principle of being a blessing to a nation is tested?
Also, why does the narrative reflect that Pharaoh is the moral arbiter over what will transpire between his house and Abraham, if the divine assignments of Abraham and Pharaoh are structured respectively in ways that translate toward zero responsibility on the part of Abraham to be a blessing to Pharaoh?
If Pharaoh's assignment is to bless Abraham and Abraham’s assignment is to passively receive the blessing, then the narrative structure of this story does not fit that paradigm. If the flow of blessing is to Abraham and not through Abraham, then the narrative would not depict Pharaoh as disappointed in Abraham’s integrity and Abraham as silent during Pharaoh's criticism.
But as we will read below, the narrative instead reflects that Pharaoh was indignant toward Abraham and that Abraham was not a passive agent in the plagues that came on Pharaoh's house.
[14] When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. [15] And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. [The Egyptian men were especially attracted to the exotic quality of all foreign women.]
[16] And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. [17] But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. [18] So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? [19] Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” [20] And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.
Pharaoh's reaction and Abraham’s silence suggest that Abraham was in the wrong.
But here we also see that Abraham’s exodus from Egypt was a pattern of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. God will deliver his people from Egypt in the days of Moses, just as he delivered Abraham.
Some have suggested that Abraham sinned in asking his wife to act as his sister. Let’s look at another scenario in the life of Abraham which gives us more information into Abraham and Sarah’s arrangement on this matter.
Genesis 20:9–13 [9] Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done.” [10] And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you did this thing?” [11] Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ [12] Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. [13] And when God caused me to wander from my father's house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”
This business of Sarah passing as Abraham’s sister was a family policy that went all the way back to Haran. There is evidence that this was a long standing policy and not one or two isolated events. Abraham calls this a kindness of Sarah.
The Bible places our exemplary characters into desperate situations where we find them behaving how we would probably also behave. And God still works through their methods, teaching us that we are only instruments of His glory. Our methods need not be perfect to accomplish His glory. Is there a lesson here for God’s people? Do we curse our neighbor when we are afraid of our neighbor? Are we most effective in blessing our neighbors when we are not afraid to let our neighbors see us for who we truly are as God’s people?
Genesis 18:16–19 [16] Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. [17] The LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, [18] seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? [19] For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”
In this story the Exodus readers are reading again about themselves in verse 19. They learn:
that they shall surely become a great and mighty nation, because God promised it to their father. Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation.
that they must keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice. “that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice”
that keeping the way of the LORD can not be separated from the promise. This is the great tension in Abraham: the promises are given as unconditional, but not without commands.
As we have already seen in our study of Adam, God’s blessings include imperatives.
When God blessed Adam it was in the form of activities which were incumbent on Adam, e.g. fruitfulness, filling of the earth and dominion (Genesis 1:28). We have worked hard up till this point to see the connection between being blessed by God and obeying God.
We may rightly understand that the imperatives in the blessings are not given so that God will bless us after we have obeyed, rather they are better understood as given to us by a God who has already blessed us, so that we may maximally enjoy the blessings He has already given us. In other words God would be depriving us if He only blessed us without attaching obligations to the blessings. We would be like children who are given everything they want except the ability to enjoy what they are given.
The obligations in the covenants are not to be confused with the virtue ethics of philosophers like Aristotle. While the “good life” is certainly realized in obeying God, the ultimate benefit that comes from keeping the obligations is found in the fuller enjoyment, not just of a better life, but of God!
God does not hide from Abraham what He is going to do, in part because God’s purpose for Abraham’s progeny is global and mediatorial.
“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, [18] seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
Abraham will model this by interceding on behalf of Lot, the father of the Moabites and Ammonites - Israel’s eastern border.
Abraham will also intercede for Abimelech, who is the father of the Philistines, and God will answer Abraham’s prayers for him - Israel’s western border.
In like manner, Abraham had two children: Isaac who is identified with the covenant people and Ishmeal who was not in the covenant. But Abraham nevertheless cared for Ishmael. And God promised Abraham that He would bless Ishmael. The story of Abraham taught the Israelites to honor the Ishmaelites as their cousins.
THE RATIFICATION OF THE COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM
In the Suzerainty Law Treaty covenants there are ratification ceremonies involving oaths and blood. This feature of covenant is included here in the covenant with Abraham. Up till now we have taken note of Meredith Kline’s suggestion that the covenant with Abraham is more in the Royal Grant covenant model, particularly in it’s promise to protect the servant and bless the servant’s loyalty. But now we will see that the covenant with Abraham is ratified in the mode of the Suzerainty Law Treaty covenant. This illustrates the difficulty in shoehorning the covenants into ancient near east traditions. As we have already discussed, the bible covenants are not identical to the ancient near east treaties.
Genesis 15 [1] After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
The fear as mentioned here, could have been the consequence of routing the four Canaanite kings in chapter 14. Abraham is even more conspicuous now then he was before while he was building altars.
To the assurance that God will shield Abraham, God reminds him that He will make Abraham great.
Not belabor the point, but these two features of the covenant, the promise of protection and blessing are consistent with the Royal Grant covenant.
[2] But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” [3] And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”
Abraham’s response is best understood as a faith crisis that is born not from disbelief in God’s promises but from belief in God’s promise.
It has been 13 years since God promised Abram that he would become a nation and he does not even have an heir.
This is the first of two episodes in chapter 15 which together represent the substance of God’s promise of blessing to Abraham in:
Seed, or progeny, in verses 1-6
Land in verse 7-15.
[4] 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.” [5] 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.” [6] And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Abram here exemplifies faith in the promise of God. But his life has modeled a kind of antecedent faith prior to this moment of being formally recognized as a man of faith.
Abram is not described as doing something righteous. His faith is counted (chashab) to him as righteousness. This is the only place in the OT where righteousness is counted apart from a man or a woman having done something righteous.
The important point to draw from here is:
If we are focused on Abraham’s courageous and obedient moments, Moses is making it clear here that these were not the moments in his life that credit his righteousness.
Conversely, if we focus on Abraham’s faith crisis, we see here that it does not cancel him from being credited as righteous.
The righteousness of Abraham is not attributed to his loyalty or his courageous acts, nor is it demerit-ed by his times of fear and doubt. The righteousness of Abraham may be seen here as imputed to him not by his actions but by his faith.
The great controversy over justification and sanctification in the middle ages is especially difficult to resolve from a purely linguistic or philological perspective. But this story helps us resolve the challenges of understanding justification in our NT doctrine. It is almost as though God knew that we would have controversies stemming for problems in discerning soteriology in translations and He here provides the key to those problems with one man’s story. In that sense Abraham adumbrated for the NT believer too.
Both Paul and James will refer to Abraham as the NT model of justification.
Paul will teach that Abraham is justified by faith in Genesis 15.
James will teach that Abraham is justified by works in Genesis 22.
But there is no discrepancy between Paul and James when one considers the chronology of the events.
The justifying faith that Paul alludes to was prior to the justifying works that James refers to. Therefore, James is referencing the good works as indicative of justification, while Paul is referring to faith as causal of justification.
Meredith Kline’s contribution to the study of covenant forms which were contemporary to Abraham, adds another consideration to the debate:
Abraham was a loyal servant to God’s call to leave Ur.
Abraham’s loyalty precedes his justification.
The tension between law and promise, works and grace is everywhere in the scriptures. And there is no easy answer to resolving that tension.
[7] And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
Now follows the second episode in chapter 15 of God’s covenant relationship with Abraham, this one dealing with the land promise.
[8] But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
Here we see that covenants function for our assurance. We are people who need assurance. Our faith is tenuous and in need of regular reminders of assurance.
[9] He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” [10] And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. [11] And when birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
The readers would have recognized this as a common ancient covenant cutting ceremony.
1,600 years later, a covenant cutting ceremony will be recorded in Jerusalem, as a self maledictory oath against the taking of Hebrew slaves (Jeremiah 38).
[12] As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.
Abram is probably thinking “oh great I raised the issue about the land and now I will be required to swear to my own destruction.”
We will see another awful event in the life of Abraham later as he offers up his own son Isaac, but in contrast to this event, Abraham will show no evidence of this kind of dread on the mountain of Moriah.
Is this the kind of dread that a man would have if he thought that he had to merit salvation for himself and for all his progeny?
Is this like the dreadful and great darkness that fell over the earth when Jesus paid for everyone’s salvation?
Then God passed, as a theophany, through the animals. God took the malediction oath upon Himself to vouchsafe the promise. It did not fall on Abraham. There can be no more solemn way for God to secure His promise to Abraham.
[13] Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. [14] But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. [15] As for you, you should go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. [16] And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
[17] When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. [18] On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, [19] the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, [20] the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, [21] the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”
Verses 19-21 names the clans that will be displaced to make a land for Abram’s offspring, after their iniquity fills the cup of God’s wrath (verse 16).
Throughout the scriptures God is scrupulous to tell us why, when He judges people. He names the judged people groups here by clan and He tells you that they are sinning against Him and will continue so for many generations.
Interestingly, there is a minor problem with the geographic designations in this promise, that is not clarified until later in the historical book of 1 Kings. To illustrate the problem, we need to imagine the promise as being stated to a modern American accordingly:
To your offspring I give this land, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River, the land of the Floridians, the Georgiaites, the Carolinians, Virginians and the New Yorkians.
Note that the two bodies of water that are referenced above encompass an area of land which is far greater than the land that is located in the list of states. Note that the promise did not include the land of the Illinoisans, the Indianaites, the Wisconsinites, the Michiganders, or the Tennesseans to name a few states that are located between the Atlantic and the Mississippi.
The area of land that Moses describes encompasses many unnamed people groups which Israel will not be commanded to displace in the days of Joshua and the conquest.
The directions that will be given to Joshua will entail removing and occupying the geography inside of the people groups that are listed, but the marching orders will not specify removing all the people groups inside the full extent of the east - west orientation that is encompassed by the two great rivers.
The difficulty in the two descriptions of the promised land are clarified in 1 Kings 4 where we read what seems to be an acceptable explanation.
1 Kings 4:20–21 [20] Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. [21] Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.
Note that the nation of Israel is flourishing:
as an occupation, in every sense of the promise, during the days of Solomon, within the geographic markers of the people groups that God promised Abraham,
and that Solomon is ruling over the area between the Nile and the Euphrates.
So then we might interpret the land promise to Abraham as a promise of occupation over the land of Canaan and as a promise that included the rule over the lands beyond Canaan to the great rivers. This view would be consistent with the marching orders that are given by Moses for Joshua to execute.
Deuteronomy 20:10–18 [10] “When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. (this would have been through lands that were inside the Nile - Euphrates boundary) [11] And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. [12] But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. [13] And when the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword, [14] but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the LORD your God has given you. [15] Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here. [16] But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, [17] but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the LORD your God has commanded, [18] that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the LORD your God.
The sense is that the land where the Jews will live, must be cleansed of all pagan influence, but in the surrounding lands that they will rule, the people are offered terms of peace. We will study this in greater detail when we come to Moses.
THE HAGAR FAILURE
In following the chiastic literary structure of Abraham’s life suggested by Pratt, the central crisis point is in Genesis 16, where we find Abraham taking matters into his own hand. And this is fresh from receiving the incredible self maledictory oath by God to keep His promises to Abraham.
Genesis 16 [1] Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. [2] And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. [3] So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. [4] And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived.
In Sumerian culture, a great woman, who was barren, was seen as within her rights to tell her husband to take a surrogate woman to provide an heir to the household.
This is not culturally irregular, nevertheless it represents a failure of faith on Abraham’s part.
This is the pivot point on which the story structure of Abraham turns.
(A) 12:1-3 Calling to blessing
(B) 12:4-14 Interacting with various groups of people
(C) 15 The covenant relationship with God
(D) 16 The Hagar failure
(C) 17 The covenant responsibilities to God
(B) 18-21 Interacting with various groups of people
(A) 22-25 Unfolding of blessing
And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. [5] And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!” [6] But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.
There is blame to go all around here. Even Hagar bears some of the blame of this unfortunate story.
It is noteworthy that Abraham says that Sarai may do as she wished with Hagar, but Abraham does not mention anything about the welfare of his child born to Hagar. Here, as in the story of Pharaoh, Abraham comes across as passive in the fallout of what has happened.
If there was any doubt about Abraham’s nobility in the Pharaoh incident, there is no doubt here that Abraham is not acting noble.
[7] The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. [8] And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” [9] The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” [10] The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” [11] And the angel of the LORD said to her,
“Behold, you are pregnant
and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
because the LORD has listened to your affliction.
[12] He shall be a wild donkey of a man,
his hand against everyone
and everyone's hand against him,
and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”
[15] And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. [16] Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
The child that will be born to Hagar will be troublesome.
The Ishmaelites are cousins to the child Isaac who will eventually be born to Sarai, but they will be against them.
If we approach our interpretation of Abraham’s life as adumbrating the life of Israel, then the Israelites must posture their relations with the Ishmaelites with the same kind of patience and forbearance that one would naturally have towards a step brother who has been wronged by the family.
COVENANT RESPONSIBILITIES
Now we come to the point in Abram’s covenant relationship with God where we learn of his covenant responsibilities.
(A) 12:1-3 Calling to blessing
(B) 12:4-14 Interacting with various groups of people
(C) 15 The covenant relationship with God
(D) 16 The Hagar failure
(C) 17 The covenant responsibilities to God
(B) 18-21 Interacting with various groups of people
(A) 22-25 Unfolding of blessing
Genesis 17 [1] When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, [2] that I may make [natan] my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” [3] Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, [4] “Behold, my covenant is with you,
Abraham is assuming that Ishmael is his heir.
There are three names of God used here to drive home the point that God did not need Abraham’s help in giving him an heir:
LORD,Yĕhovah, his personal name, the existing one.
God Almighty, El shaddai, the one who overcomes.
God said to him, El, the powerful one.
We will see the same pattern of God’s name spoken in three ways (Yehovah, 'elohiym, Adonay) in 2 Samuel 7:28, after David had taken it upon himself to increase the LORD’s renown by building a temple.
Abram has been “walking before” others his whole life, to please others, e.g. Pharaoh, Sarai, Ishmael. There comes a point where we learn that we must please God and God only.
But our pleasing Him is not for earning his blessing. God’s blessing is established in chapters 12 and 15.
The verb pairing for covenant here is natan. That I may make my covenant between me and you. It is not making (karat) a covenant or renewing (hakeem) a covenant, rather it is restating a covenant.
God is saying “you have to trust me Abram. I swore to you that I would give you an heir in chapter 15, then in chapter 16 you despaired of my promise and took it upon yourself to jump start the promise. You need to walk before me and be blameless. Understand this Abraham: that there are two sides to this covenant relationship.”
The statement Abram fell on his face may take as a sign of repentance.
In the other episodes of Abraham’s life, particularly those relating to his interaction with various people groups, we saw a lack of courage and trust.
But none of those episodes spoke of Abraham falling on his face. The commentators generally depict Abraham as a man of multiple failures. But here we see the only definite indication of failure, evidenced in Abraham’s response.
Now God begins to lay out all the things that He is going to do for Abram. Here we have the first part of the classic covenant structure of “as for me, as for you.”
[4] “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. [5] No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. [6] I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.
Abram is promised that he will father a multitude of nations.
Hence his name is changed from Abram “exalted father” to Abraham “father of a multitude of nations.”
The multitude of nations would certainly include the Ishamaelites, but is this not the ultimate fulfillment of the promise in 12:3? 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.”
Is this not pointing to Christ, the ultimate son of Abraham and in the blessings that Christ will bring to the whole world?
Let us keep in mind that the idea of blessing carries with it the concept of the reconciliation of sin.
Amazingly, at this point they still do not have a child.
[7] And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. [8] And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
The land promise is restated here.
The land promise is everlasting.
We will look at the land promise in greater detail when we come to Moses.
Now God begins to lay out all the as for you aspect of the covenant.
[9] And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.
This is where we see the mutuality in the covenant with Abraham.
There are elements of obligation in all of the covenants and that is what we are seeing here.
In our study of Adam we noted that God gave Adam obligations, in the form of blessings.
[10] This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. [11] You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. [12] He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, [13] both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. [14] Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
In chapter 15, Abraham cut the animals and God had symbolically passed through the cut animals.
In chapter 17 it's Abraham’s turn to undergo a cutting ceremony.
The symbolism of circumcision was to convey these principles:
The cutting rite cuts Abraham off from the corrupting influence of the world.
But the cutting rite also means that a man may be cut off if he does not obey. Just as the foreskin is cast aside to die, so shall it be for the one who violates the covenant. They will be cut off and cast aside to die.
This is not teaching the possibility of loss of salvation.
Circumcision symbolized that you could not enjoy God’s covenant blessing while you were actively disobeying Him.
In chapter 15 God promised seed and land.
Then in chapter 16 Abram took the fulfillment of the seed promise on himself.
He resorted to the Egypt option.
He stopped trusting in God’s promise and took an Egyptian surrogate woman to give him an heir.
So, in chapter 17 “God comes to remind Abraham that the covenant is still unconditional, insofar as the good that can come out of it rises out of His work, but it is conditional because anyone who claims to be a true covenant benefactor, while flagrantly turning away from God, could not claim the covenant promises, but would find himself instead under the curse of the covenant.”
Circumcision of the flesh will be a sign of the covenant, symbolizing membership in the covenant community. It does not have the power to confirm membership, only faith confirms covenant membership.
Historically, some Christians have said that the OT circumcision is taken over by the sacrament and initiatory rite of baptism in the NT, just as the Lord’s Supper is the proper continuation of OT Passover. Baptists disagree with this view, because the NT nowhere explicitly says that baptism replaces circumcision. But, in Colossians 2:7-12 Paul does seem to put circumcision and baptism in apposition.
Colossians 2:8–14 [8] See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. [9] For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, [10] and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. [11] In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, [12] having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. [13] And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, [14] by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Baptism marks you indelibly as someone who has God’s mark of covenant on you, except the mark we have upon us is the mark of Christ going under the knife as it were. Paul's says that our “old man” was “crucified with Jesus”.
Abraham’s circumcision ties him to the covenant cutting ceremony of Genesis 15 and baptism ties us to the crucifixion of Christ.
In Baptism the symbolism in immersion is of washing away sin. The symbolism in circumcision is in cutting away sin.
We do not subscribe to baptismal regeneration, but we do not reduce baptism to a mere ritual.
It is for the male only in Hebrew culture. But in other cultures circumcision was commonly practiced among both sexes. Only in Hebrew culture is it for men only and without mutilation of women.
In the OT the man represented all the women in his life.
In the NT baptism is extended to the women.
Baptism is the mark, as it were, of entrance into the covenant.
God once again restates His promise to Abraham, in the context of what God would do through Sarai.
Her name had been “My Princess”.
She is no longer the private possession of Abraham, but she is now the matriarch or queen of nations.
[15] And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. [16] I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of people shall come from her.”
Curiously Abraham scoffs at the idea that his ninety year old wife should bear a child. He also pleads that Ishmael might live before God as the promise child and these two responses demonstrate how deeply stressed Abraham was about the promises. It seems that the promise has been a heavy burden for Abraham.
[17] Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” [18] And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!”
Amazingly God is gracious to Abraham in this exchange and God even honors Abraham’s request to bless Ishmael.
Ishmael will be a great man.
Ishmael will be the father of 12 princes.
But God promises that a child will be born according to the plan, through Abraham’s own wife; his own flesh and blood, just as in the garden. Abraham is to expect the child at this time next year.
Then Abraham obeyed God and circumcised his entire household.
[19] God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. [20] As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. [21] But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.” [22] When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. [23] Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. [24] Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. [25] And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. [26] That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. [27] And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
COVENANT RESPONSIBILITIES
Now we come to the end of Abraham’s life where the promises of blessing begin to unfold and where Abraham is settled on the future of blessing.
(A) 12:1-3 Calling to blessing
(B) 12:4-14 Interacting with various groups of people
(C) 15 The covenant relationship with God
(D) 16 The Hagar failure
(C) 17 The covenant responsibilities to God
(B) 18-21 Interacting with various groups of people
(A) 22-25 Unfolding of blessing
Genesis 21:1–7 [1] The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised. [2] And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.
The birth of the promised child was supernatural.
Ishmael would have been a product of Abraham’s efforts to make God’s promise a reality. But God is not going to allow that to happen. Abraham’s entire life is going to model the fact that God is doing everything to bring His promises to pass apart from human ingenuity and effort.
[3] Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. [4] And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. [5] Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. [6] And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” [7] And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
Genesis 22:1–19 [1] After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” [2] He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
It is worth noting here that 2 Chronicles indicates that the temple in Jerusalem was built on mount Moriah.
2 Chronicles 3:1–2 [1] Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. [2] He began to build in the second month of the fourth year of his reign.
Also, tradition teaches that the Last Supper was somewhere on this very mountain, just outside the walls of the old city.
Geographically Mount Moriah is especially significant because it was here that the LORD relented of the calamity that He had brought on the people, for David’s sin in numbering his military force by census.
2 Samuel 24:15–17[15] So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. [16] And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. [17] Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father's house.”
[3] So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. [4] On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. [5] Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”
Abraham seems to believe that no matter what happens on Mount Moriah, both he and Isaac will be coming back down.
This is a strong indication of Abraham’s faith.
[6] And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. [7] And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” [8] Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
Abraham’s knows that God will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.
[9] When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. [10] Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
Abraham’s is fully prepared to slay the son that he waited for and stressed over for all his wandering years.
[11] But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” [12] He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” [13] And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. [14] So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”
This is a difficult story to understand. But it shows that God will provide the sacrifice for those who trust Him for their atonement.
[15] And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven [16] and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, [17] I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, [18] and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” [19] So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.
From a personal standpoint, Abraham’s faith and obedience to God validated his justification. James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
From the standpoint of Israel, Abraham’s obedience secured the promised land for his progeny.
Abraham does not secure his salvation or the salvation of his children with his own obedience, but the Angel said that he secured the nation, for his progeny, from which the Messiah will bring salvation. because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice
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