Journey Through Genesis- Abraham (Gen. 12-22) by: Francis Jackson

Abraham begins our first major person in the breaking down of the Genesis storyline. This does not imply a lesser significance of all the others mentioned prior to Abraham, but those prior to this point all were within the scope of the 4 events. After the tower of Babel, with everyone being scattered, God selects Abraham as being the one who would be the start, or the father rather, of God's chosen people (Gen. 12:1-3). So God makes a covenant with Abraham in reference to his biological descendants (Isaac, Jacob, tribes of Israel-Heb. 11:8-10) which was irrevocable (Gen. 15:7-21). We are children of Abraham spiritually by faith, not biologically (Gal.3:7). During this time, an unconditional covenant was confirmed by the splitting of these animals and the person(s) under obligation of the covenant was to walk between the split parts. This confirms the agreement that if the person(s) who walks through them does not fulfill their end of the covenant, they too would be split in two like the animal parts (Jer. 34:18-19). We know that God doesn't have a body (Jn 4:24), but that's not the point. The point is that He used a common tradition of the time to communicate the guaranteed fulfillment of His end of the bargain. Prior to this, after God's calling of Abraham in Gen. 12, he and his wife were approaching Egypt. Fearing the mighty Egyptians more than the Lord at that moment, he asked if his wife Sarai pose as his sister since she was beautiful so that the Egyptians wouldn't kill Abraham and take his wife to the pharaoh (Gen. 12:11-13). God causes issues with the pharoah because of Sarai being in his possession and he along with all the company withhim were sent out of Egypt (vv. 17-20). Impatient with God's promise, Sarai gives Abraham Hagar, her servant. Abraham goes into her and she conceives Ishmael which means "God hears"(16:11). God then reassured Abraham that his seed would come from Sarah (17:19) not Hagar and she was sent away (21:10-14). After Abraham had given birth to Isaac, the heir in which God's covenant was made, He then tested Abraham's faithfulness using the life of his only son (22:1-19). In this passage, Abraham's faith was not in the act of him killing his son, or believing that God would stop him since He did say His covenant would be through Isaac specificly (17:19). The faith accounted to him was that God would bring him back to life after being killed (Heb. 11:17-19). The Chaldeans have a tradition of child sacrificing in their culture. God used a tradition of Abraham's native culture as a test. The only difference is unlike those whom the Chaldeans were sacrificing to, God was actually able to bring him back. Abraham trusted God which is why he told his men with him to wait and watch his donkey, and he and the boy would return (Gen. 22:5). So Isaac was spared and it was accounted to Abraham as righteousness. We as Christians, prove to be children of Abraham when we also act in his faith (Gal. 3:7).