pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: Abram


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Covenant Faithfulness

Readings: Genesis 15, Genesis 16, Genesis 17

Genesis 17:7-8 – “I will be your God and your descendants’ God after you. I will give you… the whole land of Canaan.”

Today we begin with God’s promise to Abram of a biological heir. To illustrate the abundance of God’s promise, Abram is invited to look to the stars – “this is how many children you will have.” A sacrifice seals the covenant promise. As fire, God passes through the sacrifice, sealing God’s commitment to the covenant. Within this section God also reiterates and ties in the promise of this land for Abram’s descendants.

In chapter 16 we see Abram and Sarai taking matters into their own hands. It has been about 15 years since God first promised them descendants. Abram sleeps with Hagar, Sarai’s slave girl. Her pregnancy creates a rift in the family. Treated harshly by Sarai, Hagar runs away. God meets her there and promises Ishmael a large family, land… Hagar names God “El Roi” – the God who sees me. She returns to Sarai and Abram with God’s assurances of blessings.

Chapter 17 brings a reaffirmation of the covenant promises. “El Shaddai” – the God of power and might – invites Abram to walk with God. Abram becomes Abraham and Sarai becomes Sarah. This name change signals a new era and status for them. God initiates circumcision on the 8th day of life as a symbol of the covenant, saying, “Your flesh will embody my covenant as an enduring covenant.” That very day Abraham will circumcise his entire household, including himself at 99 years old. God assures Abraham and Sarah that the covenant will be fulfilled through their son Isaac. God tells them that Ishmael will be blessed too, but the covenant will run through Isaac’s descendants.

Reflecting on Abraham’s actions in these chapters, I wonder which Abraham I am most often like. Am I more often like the one who takes things into his own hands? Or am I more often like the one that acts on God’s word right then and now?

Prayer: Lord God, most of the time Abram/Abraham was a great example of faith. Guide me to be so obedient and faithful. At times, though, he stumbled and failed. At times, I do too. As you did with Abraham, continue to walk with me. Amen.


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Abram – A Model Faith

Readings: Genesis 12, Genesis 13, Genesis 14

‭Genesis‬ ‭12:4-5 – “Abram left just as the LORD told him… Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all of their possessions.”

As we begin chapter 12 the stories become more personal. We explore the relationships between God and Abram and between various human characters. The relationship between Abram and God reveals the ideal human relationship with the divine. All of the relationships between the human characters run the gamut from faithful and true to selfish and power-hungry. In many ways these human relationships mirror our relationships today.

Chapter 12 begins with God directing Abram to leave Haran to go to “the land that I will show you.” Abram doesn’t know the destination or the time frame. Yet in verses 4-5 we read, “Abram left just as the LORD told him… Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all of their possessions.” Living out a radical faith and obedience, Abram heads out. Abram leaves everything to follow God’s word. He is the model of faith in the Old Testament and beyond.

But Abram isn’t perfect. That’s another thing that character after character reveals in the Bible. Famine forced Abram and family to Egypt. He lies about who Sarai is to save his own life. She becomes part of Pharaoh’s house. This brings plagues on Pharaoh and his house. Abram is figured out and expelled from Egypt. While living there, however, God has abundantly blessed both Abram and Lot. This becomes a problem when they get back to Canaan. Splitting up is necessary and Abram graciously gives Lot the first choice. He greedily chooses the best land. It is near Sodom, a place of sin and evil.

Lot then becomes a victim of a local war. He and all he has is taken away as plunder. A survivor tells Abram who goes and rescues Lot. On the way home they meet Melchizedek, who blessed them in the name of El Elyon – the God of heaven and earth. Abram returns the blessing by giving the priest a tenth of the plunder.

The question I’m left with today is this: Do my relationships with God and others seek to emulate the relationships modeled by the good and faithful Abram?

Prayer: Lord God, were I to be as obedient and faithful as Abram, how my life and faith would change! When I lean towards being selfish or sinful, bend me back to your will and ways. When you bless me, O God, turn me to others so that I may bless them in turn. Amen.


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Center Stage

Readings: Genesis 9:18-39, Genesis 10, Genesis 11

Genesis 11:4 – “Come, let’s build for ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves.”

Continuing in chapter 9 today we see that sin hasn’t left the world with the flood. Noah grows grapes and makes wine. He gets drunk then naked. Ham sees his father naked and instead of covering him up, he tells Shem and Japheth about it. They do the right thing and later receive Noah’s blessings. Ham, by contrast, is cursed because he did not honor his father.

Chapter 10 details the most of the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. They are listed a variety of ways – names, families, languages, lands, nations. This creates a kind of early ethnic map of the ancient world. Shem’s genealogy is found again in chapter 11. But it diverges in verse 18 as it follows Peleg’s branch of the family tree. This branch ends with Abram and family in the land of Haran. Sarai and her barrenness is also mentioned. This is a sharp contrast to the long list of children and descendants found in chapters 10-11.

In the middle of these genealogical lists we find the story of the Tower of Babel. In this story we see that the human tendency towards pride and arrogance survived the flood. At Shinar the people begin to scheme, saying to one another, “Come, let’s build for ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves.” They want to build a tower that reaches to heaven. It could be to connect with God or it could be to be like God. It’s likely the second as they also desire to be famous, to be recognized for their skill. As a means to counter this pride and sin, God confuses or jumbles their languages and then dispersing this prideful bunch all over the earth.

When we try to take center stage for ourselves, how does this affect our relationship with God and with one another? How does God normally respond?

Prayer: Lord God, in my thoughts, my words, my actions, may I honor you and bring all the glory to you. When I’m tempted to bring the focus to me, remind my heart of you, my audience of one. Amen.


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Go in Faith and Trust

Reading: Genesis 12:1-9

Verse 4: “So Abram went, as the Lord had told him.”

Photo credit: Markus Spiske

As we pick up the story of Abram it seems like we’ve found another person who hears from God and responds immediately. This is often the perceived narrative of the call stories in the Bible. It is the narrative for Matthew when we turn to his call story on Thursday. In reality, though, responding to a call of God is not so simple.

Abram was a descendant of Shem, one of Noah’s sons. For generations his family has worshipped God. As Shem’s clan grew in size, they spread to the south and east of Canaan. Abram’s father Terah decided to return to their ancestral homeland but only got as far as Haran. After Terah dies, God comes to Abram and says, “Leave your country, your people, and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” God is asking Abram to leave all he knows. God offers Abram a wonderful blessing and Abram leaves, stepping into the unknown, fully trusting God as he goes.

Now, hypothetically, if God said to an atheist, ‘Pack up all your stuff. Load up the U-Haul and go to the place I will show you,’ how many would go? Let’s increase the odds. If God said the same thing to a nominal Christian, how many would go? Maybe 1 or 2 in a million? You see, that’s the thing about Abram. He was a devout follower of God. He knew exactly who was speaking to him. It is in faith that he receives the call and the blessing. It is in faith that he sets out. May it be so for you and for me when God calls.

Prayer: Lord God, the steady, daily, intimate walk of faith builds our relationship with you. It increases our willingness to follow your voice. Day by day, strengthen and encourage our walk, preparing us to respond in faith and trust when you call. Amen.


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Child of God

Readings: Genesis 12:3 and Romans 4:16-17

Verse 16: “The promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring… He is the father of us all.”

Early in the story of the Bible, Abram is called to step out in faith, to go “to a land that I will show you.” God promises Abram a blessing. He will be the father of a great nation and the world will be blessed through him. Abram went in faith. This step of faith is a foundational example for three traditions. Once Abram was established in Canaan, Ishmael is born to Abram. This the branch of family tree is the origin of the Muslim faith. Many years later Jesus is born from the line of Abraham too, beginning the branch of the Christian faith. As Paul writes, “He is the father of us all,” he is speaking primarily to the Jews and Christians of his day, but we can certainly include others in this family tree. And if we step outside of the biological connection, we know that all people are creations of God, all woven together in the womb, all carrying the spark of the divine within.

You might not dip the bread in the cup tomorrow. You might use real wine. You might hold a different understanding of baptism or Sabbath or prayer than I do. You might not hold any of these practices sacred. None of this makes you any less or more a child of God. Going to worship tomorrow might be the further thing from your mind. Your plans for tonight might be wild and your hopes decadent. None of this or anything else makes you less a child of God. We are all connected. We are all loved by God.

As Abram did, may we too step out in faith, trusting in where God will lead us, knowing and treating all people as the child of God that they are, living as the child of God that we are.

Prayer: Lord God, use me today to express your love for all people. Guide me to love without barriers or filters, without prejudice or distinction. Wipe any limiters from my mind and heart. Guide me to love as you love. Amen.


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Go…. Go??? Go!

Reading: Genesis 12:1-4

Verse 1: “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.”

Photo credit: Jon Tyson

Abram lived in the land of Haran. He was born in Ur but has been in Haran for about 60 years. It is home. He has established a life for himself and for his wife Sarai among his father’s household. Then Terah, his father, dies. It is then that Abram hears these words: “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” Haran was home to Abram and everyone and everything he knew and loved. At his father’s passing, he would’ve been in charge of all the Terah owned.

God also adds some promises to the command to go. God will make Abram’s descendants into a great nation. Did I mention that Sarai is barren? God will make his name great and all people of the earth will be blessed through him. Did I mention that as Abram leaves home and security, he only has Sarai and his nephew Lot to bring with him? The promises seem great. But they’re a lot like “the land that I will show you.” It is a lot to consider. Yet in verse 4 we read, “So Abram left.”

Abram receives these words from God and off he goes. In a situation full of unknowns, Abram is full of trust in God. Willing to follow God’s direction wherever, Abram sets out. Willing to follow God’s leading until whenever, he begins his journey. Willing to go until God tells him to stop, Abram moves forward. These are the lessons for us in this passage. This example of faithful discipleship is ours to follow.

Maybe God will ask you to load up and go to a new place. Maybe God will nudge you towards that person you’ve been struggling with. Maybe God will put a call on your heart to serve someone. God asks us to go in many different ways. With a full trust in God, may we too go.

Prayer: Lord God, it’s easy to think I’d simply go. But that’s probably not really true. At least a lot of the time. So Lord, deepen my trust in you. Build up my willingness to go whenever and wherever. Amen.


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May We Too Believe

Reading: Genesis 15:1-6

Verse 5: “Look up at the heavens and count the stars – if indeed you can count them… So shall your offspring be.”

Photo credit: Greg Rakozy

At 75 Abram was called by God to leave Haran, the place he had lived all his life, to travel to an unknown land. Abram and company traveled until God told them they’d arrived. There Abram built an altar and gave an offering to God. Years later God comes to Abram in a vision and says, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your great reward.” Children were seen as one’s reward. One’s impact, one’s legacy, one’s worth was evaluated through their offspring. Abram says to God, “but I remain childless.”

We can find ourselves saying something along these lines. Our struggle may be having children too. It may be finding love or contentment in a relationship. It may be finding fulfillment and satisfaction in our work. It may be limited resources even when we’ve been so faithful. It may be illness or unwanted change even as we’ve sought to be righteous and humble. We too can, do, and will say, “but… um… God?”

In response to Abram’s questions and doubts, God takes him outside and says, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars – if indeed you can count them… So shall your offspring be.” Have you ever tried counting the stars? “If indeed you can count them…” It is impossible. To Abram, that task could feel as impossible as him having descendants like those stars. God was inviting Abram to see with God’s eyes, to trust in God’s vision.

When God asks us to be faithful in where we’re being led, to see with God’s eyes, are we willing? Do we choose to trust the path that God is asking us to step onto? If our eyes remain focused on the seemingly impossible that God has laid before us, we will not experience the miraculous that God has in store. In his moment with God, Abram chose to believe. God credited Abram with righteousness. In our moment, may we too believe.

Prayer: Lord God, give me the courage to step forward in faithful witness. Give me eyes to see your possibilities, trusting in you alone. Amen.


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Covenant God

Reading: Genesis 17: 1-7

Verse 7: “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant… to be your God and the God of your descendants”.

Photo credit: Geda Zyvatkauskaite

Yesterday as we looked at this passage we focused on how we are to keep the covenant. We are to “walk before God and be blameless”. God set this as the goal and Jesus lived out the example, giving us a goal to aim for, a model to follow. This is “how” we are to live out the covenant. Today we turn to the “why”.

God chose Abram to be the father of not only many nations but of God’s children. This was not something Abram decided and then set out to accomplish. God is the one who offers covenant relationship to Abram and Sarai. God is the one who invites them to be a partaker in the covenant. God is the one who upholds the covenant as God rules over the earth. The question for Abram and Sarai is this: will they trust God to be the covenant keeper?

Abram falls face down before God. He recognizes that God is supreme, almighty, all-powerful. This is Abram saying “yes” to God’s invitation into covenant relationship. In response God changes his name to Abraham, which means “father of many”. Later in the story God also changes Sarai’s name to Sarah, reflecting her role as the mother of nations. God defines the covenant this way: “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant… to be your God and the God of your descendants”. God will be the God of Abraham and Sarah and their descendants forever. The time frame of the covenant again reinforces who is in control and who is the covenant keeper. Like Abraham and Sarah, we are finite, limited, human, flawed. God is eternal and forever and perfect. Abraham and Sarah would seek to walk blamelessly before God, just as we try to do. They would not be perfect, just as we are not perfect. Down through the generations, Abraham and Sarah’s descendants would break the covenant over and over. Again and again, God would keep the covenant of grace, loving us forever. Over and over we end up at the table of grace, being made right again, being restored back into relationship again. This is God’s nature, it is his character. God remains our God. God will always be our God. This is his covenant promise, sealed by his love. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: Loving God, you are forever, you are in total control. You are steadfast and true in keeping the covenant to be our God – to be my God. You love us no matter what. Thank you, God, for loving even me. Amen.


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Blameless, Walking

Reading: Genesis 7: 1-7 and 15-16

Verse 1: “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless”.

Photo credit: Sarah Berriman

Our passage for today and tomorrow begins with these words: “When Abram was 99…” Sarai, his wife, is almost as old. The rest of our passage is about the promise of God’s action in their lives and about what God will require of them. In the rest of verse one God says, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless”. El Shaddai, God almighty, tells them to be faithful and to be blameless. This was God’s desire for Abram’s and for Sarai’s life. It is God’s desire for you and for me too.

What does it mean to “walk before God”? It is the intentional effort to live all of ones life transparently before God. At times we can pretend that God can’t or won’t see what we are doing or want to do. This becomes a pass to give in the the temptation. To walk before God would prevent such decisions and actions. Knowing that God is almighty means that all is laid bare before him anyway, but making the commitment to walk in his presence says we are ready and desire to live in an honest and intimate relationship with God all of the time.

The second command is to be “blameless”. The execution of this command is like the first – it is the target, the goal, our desire, our hope. But just as it is impossible to always walk before God, so too is it impossible to always be blameless. The intent is the same though. We strive to get up each day and to walk with God every moment, being blameless in his sight. This effort and desire also tells God, ‘yes, I want to be in relationship with you; yes, I want to be like Jesus’.

Up to this point in their lives Abram and Sarai were not perfect or blameless – far from it. Nor would they be blameless or walk with God all the time going forward. God already knew this about them yet still made the promise, still offered the covenant. Why? Because God loves his children and created us to be in relationship with him. Nothing is more pleasing to God than when we love him and seek to live in relationship with him. This day and every day may we seek to walk with God, blameless before him.

Prayer: Lord, today may I walk each moment with you. May my steps be on the path you place before me today. Continue to create in me a pure heart and a willing spirit. Amen.


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By Faith Alone

Reading: Romans 4: 1-5 and 13-17

Verse 13: “It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise… but through the righteousness that comes by faith”.

As Paul and the rest of the earliest church were sorting out just how Jewish one must first be to become a follower of Jesus Christ, he penned these words that we read today. Before becoming an apostle, Paul was known as Saul. In that phase of his life he was a self-proclaimed Jew among Jews. He was a very devout Pharisee who knew and followed the letter of the law. As the early church grew and began to add Gentile believers, a huge debate arose over just how much of the Jewish faith must be followed to become a Christian.

In our reading for today Paul points to Abraham, the father of the Jewish people. Paul chooses him for two reasons. First, he is one of the pillars of Judaism. His faith is one of the models. God declares Abram righteous because of his faith. As we’ve been reading, God called and in obedient faith, Abram went where God led. He stepped out and followed God. Second, at the time there was no law. It had not been given yet. Paul is saying that one can be saved by faith apart from the law. Paul, known as the apostle to the Gentiles, is not in favor of applying Jewish laws to the Christian faith. Paul himself became a believer when he met the risen Lord and then entered into a personal saving relationship with Jesus Christ. For Paul it had nothing to do with the law. In the next chapters Paul will go on to argue this point further. Martin Luther will pick up these texts many hundreds of years later as he works out his “justification by faith alone” doctrine that will rock the church.

Even though the New Testament clearly spells out that one is saved by faith alone we can often feel like we must do good works or follow some set of prescribed steps to be saved. God does not have a giant balance scale that one day weighs out our good versus bad. We know from the scriptures that as soon as we confess and give our sins to God, they are wiped away – they are no more. Nothing is being stacked up on the “bad” side of some mythical scale. Yes, our faith will lead us to do good things. That is how we live out the love of God within us. It is the model Jesus set for us. As we follow Christ, living out our faith, may his ‘why’ become our ‘why’. Jesus loved others because the love of God within him overflowed into the lives of others. May we do the same. May the sharing of God’s love be our grateful response to our God who saves.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for your unconditional love and grace. It is certainly not deserved but you pour it out upon me anyway. I definitely cannot earn yet it is still there in unending abundance. It is an amazing love, an amazing grace. Thank you. Amen.