Faith and hope

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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

“Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.”

Even though we saw, in the last chapter, that Abraham believed God and he counted it to him for righteousness we find that Abraham has a crisis in hope. Hope and faith are different: in Heb 11: 1 we read that faith is the substance of things hope for, the evidence of things not seen. This tells us that hope has to do with things that we can see while faith relies on the facts, that is, things that we cannot see. There are some facts that we know by faith: God created the heavens and the earth and all things were created by the Word and without him was not anything created that was created. We know by faith that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We know by faith that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. We know that His blood was shed to cleanse sinners from their sin. We know that after three days and three nights He rose again from the dead. We know that if we believe in Him we have everlasting life. All these things are facts to be believed by faith. However, hope has to do with feelings and we can struggle with hope. Abraham believed God but Abraham and Sarah (Sarai)  had trouble with hope. They didn’t have a child and they felt bad. We will always have trouble with hope when we wander through our wilderness periods and we may even do foolish things that lead to bad consequences in our lives but the facts will never change. We are relying on the Lord Jesus Christ and He has already done everything that needs to be done. A crisis in hope will not jeopardise our eternal salvation and it will not alter the fact that we are kept from day to day by the grace of God. After all we are relying on the Lord Jesus Christ and He declared that the work is finished and that He is satisfied with the work that He has done.

The binding contract

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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

“But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

This section is full of grace. The Lord delayed His judgment on the Canaanites because their iniquity was not yet full. The Lord always deals in grace and He always gives people time to repent, even though they may not take advantage of this. The second part of this section refers to a very ancient rite and confirms that this part of the Bible is very old. It was written long before the Israelis went into Egypt and then came back into the Land. This rite concerns the making of a binding contract. When two people wanted to make a contract they would sacrifice an animal and then cut the animal in half. Each half of the animal was laid on the ground and the parties to the contract would walk between the two parts of the carcass. The implication was that the person who broke the contract would forfeit his life. In this case, however, the symbolism shows that the Lord was the only One to bind Himself to the contract for Abraham did not pass between the animals in the vision. The smoking furnace and the burning lamp signify the Lord’s presence. This means that the Lord committed Himself to this binding contract at the cost of His life. Later, the Lord Jesus Christ gave His life, His blood was shed as a sacrifice, this was so that the contract would be kept. Now that the blood has been shed the contract is binding for eternity and no one has to make any contribution because the Lord Jesus Christ did everything.

A deep sleep fell upon Abraham

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“And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”

This is the foundational incident for the preamble to the Law as found in Exodus 20: 2. In that case the Lord said that He is the God that brought Israel out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. This connects the Law back to the promise that the Lord made to Abraham here. In this case he told him that his seed would be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and they shall serve them for four hundred years and then they would come out with great substance. This happened exactly as the Lord promised Abraham. But, you may ask, why on earth did God allow this to happen? Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac and, to this day there is warfare between the descendants of those sons. Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob and there was warfare between the Edomites and the Israelites till the Edomites disappeared from history. In fact, Herod the Great, who tried to murder the Lord Jesus Christ was an Edomite (Idumean). However, Jacob had two wives and two concubines who gave him twelve sons. This should have been a complete recipe for disaster but because they spent the years in slavery in Egypt they became one nation and that nation still exists today. God knew exactly what He was doing and He knows what He is doing today. God has a plan and a purpose and has worked throughout history to deliver salvation by faith alone. Notice that, earlier in this chapter, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness, that is righteousness imputed by faith alone.

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And divided them in the midst

“And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.”

Abraham was suffering from issues relating to his hope. He was feeling as though nothing was happening because he couldn’t see the way forward. On the other hand, God reminded him of the facts. God brought Abraham out of the land of his birth and took him to the land that he was going to inherit. After that the Lord told Abraham to take some animals and kill them then lay them out on the ground in halves. Each of these animals was a sacrificial animal that was later used in Temple sacrifices. Notice that he didn’t divide the birds and the sacrificial birds were not cut in the Temple sacrifices either. God was preparing the ground for a sacrificial system that would be the basis of the relationship that Abraham’s descendants had with the Lord. This happened after Abraham believed God and the Lord counted it to him for righteousness. However, righteousness can only be legally purchased with the shedding of blood. First came faith and then the shedding of blood for without the shedding of blood there is no remission (Heb 9: 22). However, in our case the blood has already been shed and now the remission of sin and being counted as righteous comes from believing in the Only Begotten Son (John 3: 16).

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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Counted to him for righteousness

“And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So

shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”

Abraham was worried but he spoke to God and told Him all about his problem. He knew that God would answer his questions and keep his promise , he just didn’t understand how. At that stage, Eliezer of Damascus, a slave, was his heir but the Lord promised him that this man would not be his heir. The Lord told him that he would have a son and Abraham believed God; that was all he needed to do. When God knew that Abraham believed Him He counted Abraham as a righteous man. This is the definitive illustration of faith, Abraham believed God... In Romans and Galatians Paul talks about Abraham and faith. It is quite clear that Abraham had not done anything yet to show God how good he was at works. The worst thing about salvation by works is that we would have to take our works with us into the new heaven and the new earth. If that were the case then the new heaven and the new earth would be polluted by left over sin, which was carried there as the baggage of works. If salvation is by faith alone, and it is, then the only thing that we take with us is God’s righteousness and the new heaven and the new earth will be polluted by nothing but Christ’s perfection. 

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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Thy exceeding great reward

“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. And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.”

Even though Abraham chose to trust God, in doing so he obeyed the words of Psalm 118: 8 (It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man), he still had some issues to deal with. He was suffering from a crisis in confidence rather than a crisis in faith (see 1 Cor 13: 13). Faith has to do with accepting the facts as God has revealed them while hope has to do with feelings. We may know the facts but we can still struggle with issues we face each day of our lives. In this case, Abraham knew that the Lord promised that he would have many descendants but he still didn’t have a child at all. He showed his faith by leaving Haran and becoming a nomad but he just wasn’t sure how all these things will happen. Even if a person has faith they may still, from time to time, struggle with problems relating to hope. Just remember that the facts never change and we can trust God to keep His word. If you are struggling with hope then you will suffer but concentrate on the facts and trust God. If your mind is stayed on the Lord you will know perfect peace (see Isaiah 26: 3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

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I will not take

“And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men  which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”

This section is about obligation: if we rely on other people and not the Lord then we are obliged to follow their priorities rather than those we get from the Bible. In this case, Abraham (Abram) rescued his nephew Lot from danger but he wasn’t interested in taking the spoils which, naturally, should have been his. The reason he didn’t do this was because he had been caught up in other circumstances where he was dependent on the good will of other people and he was no longer completely free to follow the Lord’s calling. The Lord had promised to bless Abraham and his descendants and he was relying on the Lord’s promises rather than the good will of other people.

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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Eternal and unconditional promises

“And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.”

This passage is expounded in Hebrews 7: 1-10 where we see that Melchizedek is the first member of a priesthood, which is not descended from Aaron or Levi. This priesthood is very important because Christ belongs to this priestly order and He is a legitimate priest to the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth. This priesthood is special because members of this priesthood don’t have to offer sacrifices for their own sins and they are free to act on behalf of sinners.

There is a fulfilment of God’s promise here as well. The Lord told Abraham that he would be blessed and, here, this priest of the Most High God blessed Abraham. However, this blessing was just the first of many blessings that came to Abraham. It is important to remember that God made an eternal and unconditional promise to Abraham, a covenant of blessing. God made a conditional and temporal covenant to Abraham’s descendants for possession of the Land but this second promise doesn’t undo the first. God also made an unconditional and eternal promise to David concerning an eternal kingship ( 1 Chron 17: 11, 12) but later He made a conditional and temporal promise to Solomon concerning the kingship of Israel (later Judah, the remnant of Israel, see 1 Kings 9: 5). It is important for us to remember that eternal and unconditional promises will never be undone by, later, temporal and conditional promises. The greatest of all the eternal and conditional promises that God had made is found in John 3: 16.

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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

There came on that had escaped

“And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram. And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.”

Even though Lot had been taken captive and everything must have seemed to be disastrous to him, someone escaped and brought the bad news to Abraham. Actually this was good news for Lot because Abraham was in a position to do something about it. God was in control, as He always is. Abraham was a nomadic herdsman living in a region where the tribes were inclined to live by plunder so he had his own small army to protect his stock. These people were ready to do battle at a moments notice. However, how could a small force of three hundred and eighteen men defeat the armies of four kings which had just completed a successful incursion? After the battle the armies of those kings were enjoying the battle spoils and were not prepared for another raid. Abraham’s small army was prepared and caused panic among his enemies and they fought against each other as well as against Abraham’s forces. They also ran away and left most of the spoil behind. This episode is disputed by some modern scholars, who after three and half thousand years say that this could not have happened. This account was written by Abraham’s sons, they were the scribes of an eye witness to these events. In every case an eye witness is preferable to someone citing an unknown source written at an unknown time who lied about his name.

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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)