Life Project Blog

Genesis 16

The Christmas Story would never be complete without an examination of the friction between human customs and traditions and the promises and ways of God. In our text, Sarai is getting old, yet she has never conceived a child. She knows that God has promised a son to her husband, but so far, God hasn’t come through with the heir. Custom in those days dictated that if an important person like Abram didn’t have an heir by his wife, then she could conceive a child through her slave girl, and Sarai encouraged Abram to use this option− to help God get the job done, one might say. Abram took his wife’s advice, and Hagar, the slave girl, became pregnant.

From this point forward, there would be no end of grief for Abram and Sarai; there are consequences to such things as they had done.

Hagar, realizing that her stock was rising, became unpleasant with her mistress, and Sarai complained of this to her husband who seems to have tried to wash his hands of the entire matter. Sarai sent the pregnant Hagar away into the wilderness… where Hagar had an encounter with the angel of the Lord. It would seem that God was disapproving of such treatment as Hagar had received at the hands of Sarai.

For our purposes in this survey, I will leave the details of this continuing saga for you to read on your own should you choose to do so. I must point out however, that there is a great lesson for us to apply as we celebrate Christmas, for in doing so, we must come face to face with the awesome promises of God, promises that have been fulfilled as well as a few which have yet to be culminated. At the same time, we deal every day with human custom and tradition, especially at this time of year, and sometimes these come into conflict.

I am curious to see if you have any thoughts on this: This Christmas season, when custom, tradition and God come into conflict− which will we choose? I know that in my personal case, I always say that I will choose God’s promises over tradition and custom, and yet I often find myself under pressure to compromise so that we can have both. There’s always a way to justify doing things, don’t you agree?

Yet this is what Abram and Sarai did, they compromised, and they came to regret that compromise, in fact it nearly tore them apart at one point.

Or… maybe you don’t see any conflicts at all. If so, I’m sure we’d be interested to hear about that view as well.

Genesis 15:7-21

In this passage, the conversation of our last post continues, this time Abraham asks God how he can be sure that God will give him the land of Canaan, an amazing question all things considered. God’s reply is even more amazing: He swears out a covenant.

So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. (15:9-11)

God’s response was to tell Abram to gather certain animals together, which Abram did and cut them in half, laying the carcasses out with the halves side by side. In doing so, Abram consented to the covenant in blood without swearing an oath which is not the Old Testament norm.

Then, God swears an oath:

Beginning in verse 13, God tells Abram that his descendants will be taken to Egypt where they will be enslaved 400 years which is a part of the Covenant we don’t often bring up in Sunday School. Abram will not be involved in that phase as he will have died at a ripe old age. Then God will save the people out of Egypt after they become enriched from the wealth of that land (15:13-16).

Next, God passed through the carcasses in the form of fire, swearing that He gives the Land to Abram’s descendants (15:17-21). Normally both parties would march through the bloody carcasses, symbolizing that if they broke their covenant, this would be their fate, but here only God passes through. Why was it done this way?

There was no way for Abraham to avoid sinning against God because there was no provision for atonement for sins in this covenant; that would come along much later. When you step back and consider these incredible events, you quickly find yourself in one of those “Wow” moments, for God had sworn and passed through the blood on Abram’s behalf. This means that God took the penalty for the sins of Abram and those who would follow upon Himself, setting the stage for our Christmas Story, for when the Lamb of God appeared as a babe in that manger, God was fulfilling His obligation to Abram to pay for his sin.

Merry Christmas indeed!

After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
your very great reward.”

But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

Genesis 15:1-3

After Abram and his small band defeated the kings and rescued Lot, after the glorious encounter with Melchizedek, God comes to Abram and Abram shows a bit of cheek, questioning God’s intentions…

Another way of looking at this would be to say that Abram shared the great concern of his heart, for he believed God’s promise, yet he was not a young man, and he felt safe enough in God’s presence to ask that question which was burning within him…

Personally, I think it was the second one; Abram trusted God so much that he was comfortable asking that burning question, not in a demanding or selfish way, but because it was giving him a great deal of grief. Most likely, the answer as to how God would interpret the question is found in His reply:

Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:4-6

God didn’t seem to have a problem with Abram’s question, for God obviously knew the concerns of his heart and so He answered the question and brought comfort to him. Since Abram is a model of faith for us to follow, we should all take comfort in this. Abram, as we have already seen, was not a perfect man; he had his share of faults and weaknesses. Yet he believed God’s promises, and in spite of his faults, placed his priority on his covenant relationship with God, and that is what God is looking for in us. He isn’t looking for ways or reasons to cast us off; He is looking for our faith in Him.

And… this is so awesome… God is big enough to handle our questions and doubts and fears.

In the end, Abram believed what God told him, and that belief was credited to him as righteousness. Another way of saying this is to say that Abram believed what God told him, and that made Abram righteous in God’s sight, even though Abram was a sinner.

The same would be true for us today, that God will view us as righteous, in spite of our shortcomings, if we believe His promises: Do we believe His promises?

Genesis 14

Abram remained conscious of God’s promises; he remained in Canaan and prospered. Lot saw a financial advantage and left Canaan to live on the Jordan plain, taking up his headquarters in Sodom, a town filled with wickedness against God. I don’t know whether or not he prospered there, but in the end, he surely came to regret his choice as war swept into the region and Sodom was defeated along with Gomorrah and their possessions, and Lot himself was carried away by their foes. When word came to Abram, he raised an army of 318 men and went after a vast army, defeated them and seized everything they had, including Lot. Abram was a warrior-hero and the king of Sodom offered him a reward that Abram refused to accept; he would only take his share of the spoils and no more, for his trust was in God alone. Another king came to see Abram, this time it was the King of Salem.

Let’s take a closer look at this King of Salem:

This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

Hebrews 7:1-3

The story of Melchizedek and Abraham is found in Genesis 14:17-20, and he isn’t mentioned again, except for an obscure reference in Psalm 110 that is only understood when it is quoted in Hebrews 7.  He came suddenly out of nowhere, and was gone just as quickly, and many scholars believe that Melchizedek is a pre-incarnation appearance of Christ (called a Christiophony).  Clearly there are similarities between the two, but without more evidence, I’ll only say that he was a “type” of Christ.

Don’t go too fast in this passage; you don’t often come across a guy who is both king and priest, in fact that is not the Jewish model at all; only Jesus Himself comes to mind quickly for these two offices.  Note also the similarity of names. Melchizedek is called “king of righteousness” and “king of peace” while Jesus is called “Righteous King” and “Prince of Peace.”   He has no genealogy, no beginning of days or end of life… Very interesting. Here is a comparison chart for Melchizedek and Jesus:

Isn’t it interesting also that the author says that Melchizedek resembles the Son of God.  I’m having a hard time thinking of another text that makes this kind of statement…

Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descended from Abraham. This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.

Hebrews 7:4-10

Up to this point in Hebrews, we see that Jesus is superior to the angels, and we see that Jesus is superior to Moses, but now we see that Melchizedek is superior to Abraham; in Jewish tradition, nobody is superior to Abraham! Yet when you consider the author’s evidence, it would seem that he has a valid point. Abraham paid a tithe to Melchizedek, this can also be rendered “tribute” which is always paid by the lesser to the greater.  Under the Law, a tithe is paid to the Levites, the priests, and yet the father of all the Israelites paid a tithe to this Melchizedek centuries before the Law, and in a sense, Levi himself was involved in the payment, since his ancestor paid it.

The really amazing statement that the author makes in this section is this: In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. (7:8) I don’t mean to be overly simplistic, but you just don’t come across writing like this very often; who is this guy?  It’s becoming easier to understand why many scholars have concluded that he must be Jesus pre-incarnation. Of course, the point was also made in verse 7 that the lesser is blessed by the greater.  Clearly, Melchizedek is superior to Abraham, as mind-boggling as that must have been to a Jewish audience.

Before I wrap this up, I think we need to recognize here and now that this section is entirely intentional in the letter, for our author is building up to a massively important crescendo.  As we continue, we will see that not only was Melchizedek greater than Abraham, but that Jesus is like Melchizedek, and as a result, He is also a high priest superior to the Levites, administering a covenant superior to the Law of Moses, and theologically speaking, that’severything.

Genesis 12:10-20

After God called Abram, he packed up everything and everyone in his rather considerable household and set off for a destination God would show him, and as we discussed in the last section, this is one of the great examples of faith in the Scriptures. They set out and God leads the party right through Canaan and into Egypt because of a famine in Canaan. When they approached Egypt, Abram became concerned about his wife Sarai, for she was a beautiful woman: He devised a plan:

As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.” (12:11-13)

Was Abram having a crisis of faith or did he just not quite comprehend what God had promised him? Of course, we have no way to know for sure what was going on in Abram’s head; we can only note that he had fallen from his high ground of extraordinary faith into a very deep valley at that moment. One might even expect that God might inform him that their deal was now off.

Yet God didn’t do that.

God did take notice of the fact that Sarai had been taken into Pharaoh’s household as his wife, and He intervened in a rather interesting way; He sent sickness into the household and made Pharaoh aware of the real relationship between Abram and Sarai and Pharaoh was horrified at the deception. Here we might expect Pharaoh to kill Abram, and yet once again God intervenes, and rather than kill Abram he shames him when he takes the position of being the righteous one and expresses his disgust at Abram’s behavior. Then he returns Sarai to Abram and has the two and their entire household, including the gifts Pharaoh had given them, escorted out of the country.

What an adventure!

It’s even more interesting when we take note that in Old Testament prophecy Egypt represents this world. Taking an apocalyptic view, we could say that before God fulfilled His promise to give the Land to Abram, he led Abram into this world where Abram fell into sin, and then God redeemed him out of it, a theme that will be repeated throughout Scripture.

That theme also plays a big role in the “Christmas Story”, for through Christ we have all been redeemed, and received God’s promises, yet in this world, we continue to stumble around in our sin; yet God remains faithful to His promises even when we are so very weak.

When you come right down to it, isn’t that the whole point of the “Christmas Story”?

Abram’s adventures aren’t nearly over yet and in the next chapter he will once again manage to find the high ground; see you next time!

Maybe I’m crazy but I think Abraham is someone we should remember when we consider the “Christmas Story”. Oh, I realize that the birth of Christ came some 2,000 years after he died, so I’m not suggesting he’s a character in that part of the story. No, where I’m going with this is that Jesus didn’t just come along for no reason; there was a definite reason for His birth and ministry, and that reason is that He came to fulfill God’s covenant with Abraham.

They don’t tell you that in Sunday School, do they?

All right fine; they usually don’t tell you that.

Anyway, not only did Jesus come to fulfill God’s covenant with Abraham, but Abraham is a prime role model for our Christian walk as evidenced by the fact that he is named more than once in the New Testament as such. Consequently, I thought it might be fun to survey his career. Please note that my emphasis is on survey; this isn’t a biography or a commentary on each verse… not even on each scene, just the most important points for an understanding of his role as covenant partner and role model.

We begin our story as Genesis 12 opens; God’s Call of Abraham:

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”

Genesis 12:1-3

So, there is God’s call, coupled with promises, and thus began a remarkable journey for the 75 year old Abram. Personally, I think that the most remarkable part of the entire story is contained in the very next line:

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him (12:4a)

Did you see it? God told Abram to pack up everything and go… and so he did it. Abram actually took God at His word, and took action. It wasn’t any small action, he put everything on the line and set off somewhere and trusted God to keep His promises.

Who actually does that?

Our answer should be that we all do… but would that be a truthful answer?