Was Abram's Covenant Only for Him? (Genesis 12-13)
How are Christians connected to Abram and his promise with God? There’s more to this promise that directly shapes how you live and walk by faith today.
Genesis 12-13
Today's Scripture Passage
A Few Thoughts to Consider
What is the importance of Abram (soon to be called Abraham), and how are Christians today linked to this name?
To answer this question, we must understand the flow of Scripture and that it is made up of a series of “movements.” Tim Mackie of The Bible Project notes that we have four literary movements from Adam to Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and Jacob’s sons in Genesis.[1] Each movement builds upon the one before and helps us understand God’s plan of redemption.
As Sandra Richter notes, “With Abraham we at last step into datable history,”[2] as he lived around 2,000 BC. Genesis 12 introduces a new movement that builds on Genesis 1-11. In verses 1-3, we see this fascinating narrative unfold with these words:
1 The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
There are a couple of points we should highlight. First, this passage points us back to Hebrews 11 and demonstrates why God hailed Abram as someone of great faith. Notice the progression in intimacy from land to relatives, to father’s house. As Victor Hamilton notes, “The objects in 12:1 are arranged in a sequence of less intimate to more intimate. Each succeeding phrase narrows the base as far as Abram is concerned. In both chs. 12 and 22 God’s directive to Abram falls short of supplying explicit directions; Abram is simply pointed in the right direction.” [3]
Second, notice the parallels to the Babylonians in Genesis 11. Whereas the Babylonians wanted to make a name for themselves, God told Abram he would make his name great. It won’t be because of Abraham’s effort. As Hamilton notes, “If his name is ever to become great it will not be because of any self-initiated effort. The great name will be a gift, not an achievement.”[4]
Third, God was doing something special with this promise that might be greater than we first think. Scholars have varying opinions, but John Walton makes this interesting observation worth noting. He writes,
I propose that before God resolved the Eden problem (sin), he determined to resolve the Babel problem (deity falsely construed). Calvary resolves the Eden problem, but the covenant resolves the Babel problem. It does so by revealing what God is truly like. In this way the covenant fills the gap that stretches between Babel and Calvary. On the Babel side, the problem is that people had a corrupt concept of God. On the Calvary side, God has provided a way to redeem humanity and bring them back into relationship with himself. The covenant is God’s revelatory program. People cannot enter into a relationship with a God they do not know. The needy gods of the ancient world were not the sort that people wanted to be in relationship with. The objective of revelation was a necessary step to reach the goal of relationship.[5]
This brings us back to a fundamental truth of God’s character. God goes to where people are and invites them into his presence in self-sacrificial love. He reveals himself, and then he invites us into a relationship. What is a powerful reminder as we enter before him in prayer.
A Meditation to PRAY
Praise | Thank you for being a God who keeps his promises.
Release | Like Abraham, I release control of my future to you. Send me where you will, when you will, and with whom you will.
Ask | Show me the next right steps to take in my life. Give me the clarity to do your will.
Yield | I surrender my life to you. Use me as you please.
A Challenge to Act Like Christ
In Galatians 3:7-9 the Apostle Paul says, 7 “Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”
Richard Longenecker explains this passage:
“Paul found God’s saving purpose toward Gentiles everywhere in the Old Testament. His missionary experiences of God’s direct, redemptive dealings with Gentiles, of course, had sensitized him to reading Scripture with Gentiles in mind. And he wants his Gentile converts to know that they were in the mind and purpose of God when God gave his covenant to Abraham.”[6]
The beauty of God is that he is what missiologists call a “missional God.” He goes to where people are at. While we do not always understand God’s means of reaching others, we can take confidence that he offers blessings, promises, and covenants to draw all people to himself. He doesn’t play favorites, and through Jesus, he offers each of us a wonderful covenantal relationship.
*Unless you specify otherwise, comments and questions you ask may be featured in upcoming podcast episodes.
[1] https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/movements/
[2] Sandra L. Richter, The Epic of Eden (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008), 52-53.
[3]Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1–17, New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990), 370-371.
[4]Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1–17, New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990), 372.
[5]John Walton, Genesis, The NIV Application Commentary. Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), 401.
[6] Richard N. Longenecker, Galatians, vol. 41, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1990), 115.
