Abram and the Promise

Genesis 12-16

Go forth from your country and from your family and from your father's house to the land which I will show you. I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you. Genesis 12:1-3

Yahweh looked throughout the earth and saw humanity in rebellion against Him. No one desired to follow Yahweh’s will. No one wanted to submit themselves to Yahweh. Instead, humankind had chosen to honor the national powers and idols made of human hands as king instead of Yahweh himself. But Yahweh remembered that he had promised the humans to rule over the earth. And he remembered his promise to Noah not to judge the earth with the waters. And so Yahweh chose a new plan—a plan to reform humans away from their rebellion and back to himself.

Abram was a man who had everything the world had to give. His father was about to die and grant him a large inheritance and he had a wife and many servants. However, he did not have a son to continue his inheritance. Yahweh spoke to Abraham and cut a deal with him: “Abram, this is Yahweh, the great God of the heavens. I want you to leave your inheritance and leave your family and just go. I will tell you where to stop when you get there, but you need to just leave with all you have. If you do this, I will make you one of the great men on earth. I will give you a great reputation and all of the peoples of the earth will bless you. Should anyone curse you, I will protect you and cause them to fail.” Abram accepted this and left his family and began to wander with his wife and servants and flocks.
Eventually, Abram wandered to Canaan, between the great nations of Egypt and Mesopotamia. At this place, Yahweh told Abram to stay and said that his children will own this land. And Abram worshiped Yahweh in that place, honoring him for his promise.

Abram had also brought his nephew, Lot with him to this land, who also had servants and flocks. Unfortunately, Abram’s servants and Lot’s often quarreled about the resources of the land—the water and grazing land. Abram took Lot to a tall hill and said to him, “Look at all the land there is. Lot, you chose what land you like and I will go somewhere else.” Lot rudely chose the best land for himself, near the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. As Lot left, Yahweh spoke to Abram and said, “Abram, you are righteous even in light of unrighteousness. Look all around you. All of this land I will give you and your children—everything you see. Now wander about the land and look at all I will give you.”

As Abram wandered, he heard that a great army had gone and attacked Sodom and his nephew, Lot, and had taken them all away. Abram gathered up his servants and chased the army, attacked them and freed the captives. The king of Sodom insulted Abram and Abram indicated that he would have nothing to do with Sodom. However, the king of Salem (later called Jerusalem) called Melchizedek blessed Abram, and Abram gave him one tenth of his possessions.

After this, Yahweh spoke to Abram and said, “Don’t be afraid of anything, Abram, for I will protect you.” Abram replied, “This is true—but how are you going to keep your promises to me? You said that my children would receive this land—but I have no children! My head servant will receive my inheritance! All because you have given me no children.” Yahweh answered, “I know that you are old, Abram and that your wife cannot have children. But listen to me, Abram. I will make sure that you have children—so many children that they cannot be counted. I brought you from a distant country in order to gain this land—and so shall your children receive it.”
Abram listened to God and trusted that God’s word was true. Because of Abram’s faith, he was considered righteous before Yahweh and was allowed to approach Yahweh before His throne. In the meantime, Abram waited for God’s promise to be fulfilled for 24 years.

In the midst of this 24 years, both Sarai and Abram became impatient for God’s promise to come true. So Sarai offered a compromise with Abram, “Look, you know that I am much too old to have children. Why don’t we just have a surrogate mother instead? You can just impregnate my slave, Hagar, and then her child will be ours.” Abram thought this idea was fine, so he and Hagar had a child.

Once she was pregnant, however, Hagar no longer acted like a slave, but a proper wife to Abram, and started to treat Sarai with contempt. Sarai was very angry and began to beat Hagar, so Hagar ran away. As she was by herself, wondering what to do next, an angel appeared to her. “Hagar, where are you going?” She replied, “I’m leaving my mistress Sarai—you wouldn’t expect me to live under those kind of conditions do you?” The angel said, “You are carrying Abram’s son, and if you return to live with them—even under such conditions—then God will bless you. You will call your son Ishmael and he will be the father of many generations and nations. And you will be cared for. Just try to endure under the difficulties for now.” Hagar praised God and returned to Sarai. And she gave birth to a son and his name was Ishmael. But Ishmael was not the son God had promised.

Why did God need another plan?
Because even though violence was abated among humans, they were worshipping many gods who did not represent the Most High God at all. People will worshipping their national spiritual guardians and the sun and the moon—but Yahweh was not worshiped or obeyed at all. He needed to set up a new people, devoted to worshiping Yahweh alone and keeping His word.

Why did God chose Abram?
First of all, God chose Abram because he was willing to listen to Yahweh. He was willing to hear what others would not hear—that the Most High God wanted worshippers all to Himself. Abram’s father probably worshipped the moon, but Abram rejected that worship to only worship the Most High God. Secondly, God gave Abram a test. He told Abram to just leave his inheritance to receive God’s inheritance which he was not told what it was. So, in obeying God’s command, Abram, in a sense, also chose himself. Abram was the one who heard God and obeyed Him, even when it didn’t make sense.

Why did Abram make war?
Abram was committed to protecting his nephew, Lot. So he wanted to deliver Lot from slavery. But when Abram made war, he committed to an impossible war—300 men against thousands. Abram knew that he couldn’t win the war on his own. So he was depending on God to win this war for him. This was just another act of faith for Abram.

Why did Abram commit adultery?
The customs of ancient times are different than today. Today, we can have surrogate motherhood not through a sexual union, but through medical procedures. Well, in those days, this procedure—with a woman owned by one’s wife—was completely legal and considered moral. We do not consider it so today, and God was not satisfied with the process. This is why Ishmael was not given Abram’s blessing, but a different one. But what was the real problem is trying to force God’s hand through a human procedure. This isn’t faith, it is manipulating God. When God makes a promise, He will fulfill it himself.

What blessing did Ishmael receive?
Ishmael and his children received a few blessings from God. You can read them in Genesis 16:11-12; 17:20; 21:18; and Isaiah 60:1-7. It says that Ishmael will be many huge nations and that they will, in time, worship Yahweh and offer his people gifts. The sons of Ishmael, today, are the Arabic peoples which are mostly Muslim. They are the inheritors of God’s blessing to Ishmael, and they can receive even the full blessing of God through Jesus.