2011-05-06
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Today, I’m led to begin writing about the Seed and the Land, as parts of the Abrahamic Covenant. Last week, there were some important things said and observed about the difference between what God meant as the Promised Land in GN 15: 18-21 and what it is today. Land by Divine right is something different in mankind’s estimation than it was originally meant by God. Now, we should focus on what is meant by the seed and the Seed. As the word “seed” was used to apply to mankind in ancient times [rather than the seeds of plants], it was a way of expressing the children of a parent. Thus, Abram was the seed of Terah, for example. However, when the word is capitalized, Someone else is distinctly denoted…the Lord Jesus Christ, the second personality of God. GA 3: 16, “Now, God made His promises to Abraham and to His Descendant. The Scripture [GN 12: 7] does not use the pleural ‘descendants/ seed,’ meaning many people, but the singular, “Descendant/ Seed,” meaning one Person only, namely Christ.” It can’t be clearer than that.
Let’s look at the NIV Bible to see what it says in GN 12: 7. “The Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give the land.’ So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.” This was the first of several altars built in places where he had memorable spiritual experiences. Abram acknowledged that the land of Canaan belonged to the Lord in a special way. This way is revealed in EX 20: 24, which shows us the importance of building altars to the Lord and not building them to false gods. “Make an altar of earth for Me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause My name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you.” JS 22: 19 gives Joshua God-driven instructions to the eastern tribes which are returning home. “If the land you possess is defiled, come over to the Lord’s land, where the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and share the land with us. But do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar for yourselves, other than to the Lord our God.” Anyone who has read the books of 1 or 2 Kings and 1 or 2 Chronicles in the Scriptures knows that in each case the human qualities of kings were delineated by whether or not they built altars to false gods.
However, we should not get too far ahead of ourselves here. Before completing this subject of the Land and the Seed, there is still our need to look at this remarkable man, Abram from the point of view of his spiritual and geographic journey. He was the son of Terah, and was raised in Ur of the Chaldeans [another name for Mesopotamia, SE Iraq] to worship many gods [Paganism]. GN 11: 31-32, “Terah took his son, Abram, his grandson, Lot, son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law, Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.” Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor [named after Terah’s own father], and Haran. Haran was Lot’s father. While Terah was still alive, his son, Haran, died in Ur. [GN 11: 27-28]. Abram and Nahor both married, Abram to Sarai and Nahor to Milcah. Milcah was the daughter of Haran. Sarai had yet to have children (30). God was bringing a new humanity into being, of whom Abram was to be the father. The fact that Sarai hadn’t yet been able to bear children points out God’s hand in this purpose. The moon goddess of Paganism was worshipped in Haran, and since Terah was an idolater, he probably felt comfortable in that place. With all this genealogy in place and the background of Paganism in this family, God steps out on a limb-He calls Abram and Sarai to a new and unique belief in Him as the One and Only God! Abram is justified for His willingness to obey this directive, which we saw in GN 15: 6. We don’t really know if Sarai obeys it until GN 17: 15, “God also said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai, her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations, kings of peoples will come from her.” There is an independence of Abraham’s spirit, which we see when at age 99, he laughs in response by overhearing the Angel of God [a theophany of Christ] when he stands with Abraham and His companion angel outside the tent and tells him that the next year Sarah will bear him a child. Remember, Sarah is age 89 at the time. Later, this “son of the promise” is named Isaac, which means “he laughs” [GN 17 :17; GN 21: 3].
Abram expressed his desire that his first son, Ishmael [13 years older than Isaac and Abram’s son by Sarah’s handmaiden, Hagar] might live under God’s blessing in GN 17: 18]. But Ishmael can be referred to as Abraham’s “son of the flesh,” rather than “of the promise.” That is because of the human-crafted plan that led to his birth. This plan was not in keeping with God’s will, and Abram and Sarai showed impatience in concocting it in the first place. There is a lesson here in our need to wait for God. As the descendants of Abraham through Isaac come, such people as Jesse and his son, David, come on the scene long in Abraham’s future. IS 11: 1 makes it clear that “a Shoot from the stump of Jesse” will one day be King, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. “From his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” This, then, was the cosmic purpose of this special man, Abraham’s life, and it shouldn’t be lost on us.
PRAYER: O Lord, we must understand the lessons in and the value of the Abrahamic Covenant. Abraham’s life as the “father of nations” is really all about establishing a people, the Jews, who were unique in their belief in monotheism. These at the time were to be God’s only chosen people. Of course, we know from RO 11: 16-24, that You added believing Gentiles to Your chosen people much later on. The Abrahamic Covenant is an example of You obligating Yourself to believers. You promised Abram, a people [the Jews- GN 12: 1-3; GN 17: 2], land [the Promised Land as defined in GN 15:18-21], and a King, that would arise out of the lineage of Abram’s family [GN 17: 15-18; 1 SAM 7: 12-13; IS 11: 1]. That is how Your Son will experience His earthly incarnation-being reared as a Jewish person, His three year ministry, and then, His Atonement- which blesses all believers in Him with salvation and the many other gifts of Your magnificent grace [ JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25; RO 4: 3; RO 8: 14-16]. We cannot separate the three elements of Your amazing covenant with Abraham from the history of believing peoples. We must learn the lesson of our need for obedience to You and its importance in the larger picture of the immediate and cosmic purposes for our lives. There is this lesson in the trouble that arose from the loins of Ishmael, the handmaiden, Hagar’s son for the Jewish people. Today, Israel is surrounded by Arabs, Ishmael’s descendants, who want to annihilate her and wrest her territory from the Jewish people. All of that arose out of Abram and Sarah’s disobedient plan that led to Abraham’s “son of the flesh.” There are so many lessons to learn from history, that we are left, Dearest Abba, with the question: why doesn’t mankind learn from these past lessons? Only You, in Your infinite wisdom, can answer it. In the meanwhile, You continue to bless those who turn to You in sincere faith. We thank and praise You for Your righteousness and the good You do for us. In Christ’s holy, mighty name, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: There are some principles which are the basis of the Abrahamic Covenant that bear examination. That will be the subject of next week’s devotion. In the meanwhile, we can’t help but be impressed by the lengths our loving God goes to in granting blessings to His people. He cares for us as the Good Shepherd of His flock [JN 10: 14-15]. PS 95: 6-7, “Come, let us bow down to worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.” He strengthens us when we are faithfully obedient. 1 PET 5: 10, “And the God of all grace, Who called you to God’s glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will, Himself, restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast.” God’s love for us is so great that 1 JN 4: 12 tells us, “…If we love one another, God lives in us, and His love is made complete in us.” PS 33: 5, “The Lord loves what is righteous and just; His constant love fills the earth.” When worried or afraid, He says to us in IS 41: 13, “For I am the Lord, Your God, Who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, ‘Do not fear; I will help you.’” Can we just feel His loving and compassionate presence? We should, because it’s real! He helps us make decisions when we pray to Him. PS 32: 8, “I will instruct you and teach you in the sway which you should go; I will guide you with My eye [advise you].” He gives us hope in JER 29: 11, “I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you not to bring disaster, plans the give you the future for which you hope.” And He gives us much-needed Divine counsel, guiding us on that hard path to eternal life. PS 73: 23-24, “Yet I am always with you; You hold me by the right hand. You guide me with Your counsel, and afterward You will take me into glory.” Be encouraged and comforted, strengthened and aware of His powerful love. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15