Carey's Bible Study Notes
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abraham
life of christ: Genesis 12:1-3, 22:1-18
abraham: the beginning of the covenant
introduction
From the beginning of creation until the coming of Abraham, mankind has gone from a state of being blessed to a state of living under a curse. After God created all things, He blessed it; in other words, He declared that because of the good work He had done in creating, the world would live in a state of favor with Him. Soon after the creation though, Adam and Eve brought the curse into the world because of their yielding to the serpent�s temptation. From that time onward, God moved towards bringing creation back into the state of blessedness He had originally created it for.
Instead of progressing though, mankind regressed. The situation deteriorated to such an extent that finally God destroyed with a flood the entire world with the exception of Noah and the rest who were in the ark. Even though God had taken such a drastic measure to restore the world to Himself, mankind relapses into rebellion. It becomes so bad that mankind decides to build the Tower of Babel to assert its claim to deity. God punishes mankind by plaguing it with division. Mankind no longer spoke a common language but instead spoke numerous languages. To break this rebellion, God fractures the unity which He had originally bestowed upon mankind.
With the coming of Abraham, God begins to restore mankind to the state of blessedness for which He had created it. Throughout the story of Abraham, Moses uses the word "bless" or one of its derivatives at least 11 times (see Genesis 12:2, 3; 14:19, 20; 17:16.20; and 22:17). By using the word "bless" or its cognates that many times, Moses is asserting that God is beginning to unravel the effects of the curse. Although the curse will not be completely lifted until God Himself recreates the universe and lives in our midst (Revelation 22:3), the story of Abraham shows us when God began to lift the curse.
the call of abraham (12:1-3)
Without any reason given, God appears to the man Abram (who later becomes Abraham) and calls him to leave his family and country in order to follow Him to a place where He will lead him. If Abraham surrenders to the call, God promises that He will (1) bless him, (2) make his name great, (3) make of him a great nation, (4) bless those who bless him, (5) curse those who curse him�the exact opposite of the word "bless", (6) make him a blessing and (7) make him the source of blessing to all nations.
In this passage we see the beginning of God�s covenant with His people. Just what is a covenant? Basically, it is a contract between 2 entities, in this case, between God and His people. In the Old Testament, you did not "make" a covenant; you "cut" a covenant. Why did they use the word "cut"? Because normally before the 2 parties made the compact, they would cut several animals in two and then form an aisle by placing half of the pieces on one side and the other pieces on the other side. Then as the 2 parties made the covenant, they would walk down the aisle of the animal pieces to signify that if any party broke the covenant, the person who broke the covenant should expect the same fate which met these animals. "Cutting" a covenant was serious business indeed (see Genesis 17:8-18).
According to Paul, God�s covenant with Abraham is the great covenant of the Old Testament (Galatians 3:15-29; Romans 4:1-25). Although God made other covenants with mankind before this passage, this is the first that He makes exclusively with His people; its benefits are only for those who enter into a right relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. Later God will make another covenant with Moses which, if God had intended for it to be equal in significance to the one He made with Abraham, would have contradicted the one He made with Abraham.
Next, we see that God blesses Abraham for the purpose of blessing all the nations. Mankind left to his own devices experiences fractured-ness�the Tower of Babel. Here by bringing a blessing to all mankind and not just the Jewish race, God is intending to restore to mankind the unity He had intended for it all along. This unity comes about only as a result of God�s work and not man�s effort. As God�s people promote her God throughout the world, mankind re-enters into the unity God had originally intended for her. Throughout her history, Israel refused to share the message of God to the other nations. Only by using drastic measures such as invasion and dispersion was God able to spread His Word throughout the rest of the world (the prime example being the story of Jonah).
Although we would benefit greatly by looking at each element of God�s promise to Abraham, due to limited time, we need to focus on only one major aspect. The different aspects of this covenant with Abraham assume one thing�that Abraham would have a son. Abraham cannot become the father of many nations if he is not the father of at least one son. The problem is that not only is Abraham childless but that he is also 75 years old. To complicate matters even more, his wife Sarah is not only 65 years old but is also barren. (Note that through this covenant God touches Abraham where his great need and desire are�the birth of a son.) Believing in hope against hope that God would give him a son, Abraham follows God.
various reaffirmations of the covenant
From Genesis 3 until Genesis 22, God reaffirms His covenant with Abraham at least 4 times. The first time God reaffirms the covenant with Abraham, He promises Abraham that He will give to Abraham and his seed the land of Canaan (12:7). (Although our modern translations use the word "descendants" instead of "seed," it is better to stick with the word "seed" as we shall see later). After Abraham almost jeopardizes his inheritance by offering Lot any part of the Holy Land he desires, God reassures Abraham that he and his seed will inherit all the land of Canaan. Again this presupposes the existence of a son which Abraham does not have (13:15,16). The third time God reaffirms the covenant, Moses remarks that Abraham responded in faith; that is, although no tangible evidence existed that God was going to keep His word, Abraham nevertheless continued to believe Him (15:6). Finally, after Abraham has 2 sons�Ishmael by means of Hagar the slave and Isaac by means of his wife Sarah, God declares that He will fulfill His covenant with him only through Isaac. In other words, the fulfillment of the covenant lies squarely upon God working through Isaac (21:12).
the sacrifice of isaac (22:1-18)
After the miraculous birth of Isaac and after God informs Abraham that the birth of Isaac is the beginning of His fulfilling His covenant with Abraham, God decides to test Abraham. Moses at the very beginning of this account informs us that this constitutes a test in order to allay any suspicion we might have that God is partially evil. It does not matter what it may seem like God is doing, the truth is that God is good and works all things together for good to those who love Him (Romans 8:28). As BF has said several times, when you don�t understand God�s hand, trust His heart.
Moses is a master story-teller in this episode. When God instructs Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, He does not say: "Sacrifice your son"; rather He says, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love . . ." With each phrase God is acknowledging how painful this test is going to be for Abraham. Note one thing: whereas you and I know that this was a test, Abraham did not. He did not know what God was going to do. All he knew was that God had commanded him to sacrifice his son. He simply chose to obey God.
Although such a command would devastate any parent, Abraham in particular would have felt the sting worse than anyone else. Out of regard for his relationship with God, Abraham had given up his past by leaving his family in Ur of the Chaldees. For 25 long years he had patiently waited for God to fulfill His promise�and this as an old man between the ages of 75 and 100. Now at 100+ years of age, God is now asking him to give up his future. When it is all said and done, Isaac was the very purpose for which Abraham had followed God in the first place. The whole covenant God made with Abraham hinged upon Isaac. Part of this test was to see if He was more important to Abraham than Isaac. When it�s all said and done, do we follow God because of what He gives us or because of who He is?
Moses breezes through the 3-day journey it would have taken Abraham, Isaac and their party to arrive at Mt. Moriah. Once they get to Moriah though, Moses begins to relate in detail nearly every step of the way. Abraham is in such pain�he is so emotional at this point�that each and every detail is emblazoned upon his mind. He lays the wood upon Isaac�s shoulders, while he carries the knife which will cut his son�s throat and the fire which will burn the body of his lifeless son.
Two comments Abraham makes reveal what was going on in Abraham�s mind and heart. As they leave the camp, Abraham tells the servants who had accompanied them to Moriah that they would soon return. Not that he would return alone but that they�Abraham and Isaac�would return. Did he think that God was going to renege on His command? There�s nothing in the text that leads us to this conclusion. Rather, the author of Hebrews nails it when he claims that Abraham thought that even though God was going to make him go through with the sacrifice, God was going to keep His promise to Abraham by raising Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:19). That is Christian faith. Faith is not saying that God will renege on His promises which some intimate when they claim that God was testing Abraham to see if he was going to choose Isaac over Him. Rather faith is believing that God is going to keep His word no matter what it seems like He may be doing.
This point is reinforced in Abraham�s conversation with Isaac on the way to the top of Moriah. Isaac naturally is puzzled by what he sees and does not see. Everything points to a sacrifice, and yet they have not brought along a sacrificial victim. When he quizzes Abraham about this, Abraham replies that God will provide. A better translation of this last statement would be: "God will see to it." In other words, it�s going to be OK because God is in the situation.
At the top of the mountain, Abraham and Isaac prepare for the sacrifice. After all has been set, Abraham binds Isaac, places him on the altar, and raises the knife in his hand to cut Isaac�s throat. At that moment, God halts the action. He tells Isaac that now He has seen for sure that Abraham truly reveres God because he did not withhold from Him even his most precious possession son�his son. Abraham discovers a ram caught in some nearby bushes and sacrifices it instead. He renames the place: "Jehovah�jireh" which means "The Lord will see [to it]" or "The Lord will provide."
application to christ
After studying Paul�s view of the Old Testament, one comes away with the distinct impression that for him Abraham�not Moses�is the great man of the Old Testament. The way that he responded to God in faith has earned him the title of being "the first Christian" in the Bible. In fact, he set the precedent for the way a person is supposed to respond to God if s/he is going to be in a right relationship with Him. In order to be in a right relationship with God, a person must be in a faith relationship with God (see Genesis 15:6).
Next, the covenant God established with Abraham supersedes the other covenants made in the Old Testament. First, according to Paul, the Mosaic covenant was temporary in nature; that is, it was supposed to be in effect only from the time of Moses until the time of Christ (Galatians 3:19, 25). God�s covenant with Abraham was designed to be permanent. Second, this covenant is noteworthy because of who God made the covenant with. Several times between Genesis 12 and 22, God mentions that this covenant is between Him, and Abraham and his seed. Old Testament commentators declare that the word "seed" refers to physical descendants of Abraham. Today, the Jews make up the "seed of Abraham"; Paul, however, zeros in on the fact that the word "seed" in the Old Testament is actually singular in number and not plural. In other words, according to Paul the covenant involves only 3 people and not a multitude. For Paul, these 3 involve the Father, Abraham, and Abraham�s greatest son Jesus. The blessing extends only to these 3. The only way that you and I can participate in this agreement is by identifying ourselves with Jesus. If we claim to belong to Jesus, then the blessing God promised Abraham and Jesus applies to us as well; if we are not Jesus�, then we do not participate in the blessings (see Galatians 3:14, 16).
Finally, as people immediately detect, the story of the sacrifice of Isaac on Mt. Moriah especially applies to us as Christians. It is by no mere accident that Mt. Moriah is none other than the same mount that the Father sacrificed His Son Jesus on. Although Jews claim that the altar of burnt offering was the actual site where Abraham offered up Isaac, that same mountain is so large that even Calvary itself was located on it. Whereas Abraham ascended Calvary with his son expecting God to raise his son from the dead, the greater fulfillment of this expectation was yet to come for another 2000 years. At that time God would go ahead with the sacrifice not only of His Son but also of Abraham�s son. Moreover, whereas Abraham only expected his son to be raised from the dead, his future son would indeed rise from the dead so that the rest of Abraham�s spiritual children could benefit from this resurrection.