A Few Lessons from Abraham

“Father Abraham” can often seem like a far-removed biblical persona that rests in the pages of religious history; he can sometimes seem more like an ancestral figurehead of a race of people (and a faith of people) than a real human being. He is the man whom God gave the precious promises to regarding the restoration of man to his created purpose, and he is the man who fathered two separate, opposing sons, from whom came the Middle Eastern people who are still at war all these centuries later. When I think about the Bible’s “plot,” so to speak, and the main points that all subsequent points connect back to, Abraham’s name and story are one of the essential keys.

But for a moment I’d like to put all of that aside and focus on the man and his personal journey of faith as it speaks to me, and the subsequent personal application of his struggles and his victories as they pertain to each one of us.

It could be most beneficial to begin at the end of Abraham’s story, summed up by James’ proclamation of his faithfulness –

James 2:20-24

But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God." 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

This gives me hope: that a mere man (person) can finish this journey of “life” well – a man can attain to the status of “God’s friend” and can have their faith perfected, without that man being “perfect” in all he does. This encouragement should stir all Christians, those of us who are looking for and hungering for the perfection (completion) of our own faith as well –

1Peter 1:6

In this [being born again in order to receive an inheritance that is reserved in heaven for you] you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7 so that the proof [literally, “testing”] of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 obtaining as the outcome [literally, “goal”] of your faith the salvation of your souls.

All Christians have a goal, and all Christians can (and are expected to) reach that goal, which is the perfecting of their faith, and by the perfecting of their faith, the receiving of the salvation of their soul. The receiving of the salvation of the soul is equated to the receiving of life in the age to come [the Kingdom Age], which is realization of, and the culmination of, man’s created purpose – to rule with God.

So back to Abraham. Notice that his faith is perfected (brought to its goal) through his sacrificial act of offering his son – the son whom he loved – to God. This was the very son that all of God’s promises were to come through. God had told Abraham that Isaac would be the one through whom his descendants would be named (and through whom the promises would be fulfilled) and God then subsequently tells Abraham to kill him (“offer him there as a burnt offering” – Gen. 22:2)! Do you think that Abraham would have been able to respond with such faith in the beginning of his journey with the Lord? Do you think that Abraham (who was around 130 years old at the time he offered Isaac up) would have responded in this way to this type of command (a “test”) when he was just 75, when he is first mentioned to have left his home in response to God’s call to him? Hardly. And that is an encouragement to me.

Now I don’t believe that Abraham (then known as Abram) was initially “saved” at this point in Scripture at age 75 (Gen. 12:1) when he answered God’s call to depart Haran and go to the land that God would show him, nor was the previous instance of him leaving Ur of the Chaldees (commented on later in Gen. 15:7; Neh. 9:7) the moment of his “new birth,” since in order to respond in a faithfully obedient way to God’s words one must already have been “born again” into a spiritually “alive” state. So Abram’s point of initial salvation just isn’t mentioned in Scripture, so we really have no idea how long he knew God before he was “called.” A simple detail, but important if we are to relate to Abraham in a personal way.

I’ve been “saved” for quite a while – almost 43 years now – and I first heard God’s voice calling me to leave everything behind and follow His leading about 30 years ago. God mercifully and lovingly showed me at that point that I was lacking in something, and only He could fill that void, but I had to leave something in order to get it. I’m not saying that God was silent for the 13 years prior to that, but I had my own agenda going and I wanted to do things my way and I was pretty happy with the thought that I was “saved,” I was “going to heaven,” etc.  and that was that. But for God, that wasn’t good enough.

With Abram, God spoke to Him with a simple directive and a simple promise. If you’ll notice in Scripture, God doesn’t give a whole lot of details at first as He is speaking with Abram… He simply speaks and Abram is to simply follow. Very cool, and not too complicated. And what’s even more encouraging is that Abram doesn’t even fully obey God in his first act of obedience to Him! God had specifically said to Abram –

Genesis 12:1

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you;

Translation: Leave your relatives behind and leave your father’s house and follow Me to a new land which I will show you. And what does Abram do? First his dad and nephew go with him out of Ur, then after the above proclamation (which is spoken after his father dies in Haran), he still takes his nephew with him. And what does God do? He doesn’t condemn and chastise Abram, but He reiterates His promise as He allows Abram to find the way. I see a picture of a man who, with eyes fixed on God’s words, attempts to obey God in the best way that he knows how to at the time, as he keeps his sights on the one thing he knows for sure – follow God to the land that He will show you. Sure, Abram doesn’t obey God fully, but he does believe God about His promise and he seeks after God, even as he fails along the way. 

A striking example of Abram’s lack of faithfulness as he figures out his journey is in Gen. 12:9-13:4, where we are told of an instance where Abram has an encounter with the Egyptian Pharaoh and because of Abram’s lack of full disclosure in telling the Egyptians that Sarah was not only his sister but also his wife, Pharaoh is struck by the Lord for his actions toward Sarah, and Abram puts himself in real danger. Now according to Scripture we don’t really get any of God’s commentary on whether this was technically wrong or not, but in Gen. 13:3-4 we see that Abram “went on his journeys from the Negev [where he’d been], to the place where his tent had been at the beginning… to the place of the altar, which he had made there formerly; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.” So Abram was journeying, but his actions brought him back to the beginning… and although no physical progress was made, I truly believe that much spiritual progress was. Because the next thing that Scripture records is Abram fully separating from his relatives (Lot), in full compliance with what God had originally spoken. Lesson learned perhaps?

My main point here is that God doesn’t abandon him. Far from it. God patiently waits for Abram to grow in his understanding of who God is. And this is the God that I know, that I experience daily, that I cling to and seek after… a Father who nurses me along my journey (even when, and especially when, I fail at any real visible progress), who reveals Himself to me as I seek after Him, who is faithful to deliver on His promises to me if only I will continue along the path He set out for me. I don’t have to be perfect – Abraham sure wasn’t – but I do have to have the mindset that he had –

Hebrews 11:8

By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; 10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Also simply put by Jesus –

Matthew 6:33

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Continuing with my personal story… about 21 years ago God interjected Himself into my life once again, with another clear directive concerning the inheritance that was reserved in heaven for me… this time giving me a bit more detail about it. He waited for me, as He did for Abraham, and He didn’t jump into my life with a litany of judgments and condemnations (although convictions are a different matter altogether)… He just spoke to me about His promise – about His inheritance for me – and He asked me to follow Him….again. Just like with Abraham, God will lead us on our journey if we choose to follow Him and He will be the One who “perfects” our faith… if we choose to believe His words, and if we choose to act on those beliefs.

Seriously take a look at Abraham’s life. It  may look like he bumbled his way to the promised land, that he half-truthed (or lied, or omitted truth – however you want to look at it) his way through enemy territory (twice), he slept with his wife’s servant and fathered a son that he thought would fulfill God’s promises rather than waiting on the Lord to do it, he kept his nephew Lot around for far too long (in my opinion), and he finally gets to the point where God feels that he is ready for the biggest test of his life – to give his promised son to God, even before Abraham had received any of the promises that God had promised to give him through that son. And Abraham fully obeys… FULLY. Was Abraham perfect at that point?  Did he not have a sin nature anymore? Not at all. He was still the same man from earlier stories – but with a deeper, experiential understanding and knowledge of God, and at this point God knew that Abraham fully believed… FULLY, and Abraham’s faith had already been tested over and over and over, and God had worked in Abraham’s life over and over and over. And so it is said about this sacrifice –

Hebrews 11:17-19

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

We can know that Abraham obeyed God because he fully believed that God would deliver on His promises, and if need be God would raise Isaac from the dead in order to accomplish it. This is total belief and complete trust in God’s faithfulness. 

But this faith wasn’t brought to its goal overnight. And nor will ours. It’s a journey, and it’s going to be messy and fraught with mistakes, and it’ll sometimes look like we’re right back at the beginning again… but progress is made when we listen to the Lord speak, and believe in what the Lord says, and we act according to what He has said, even though our natural, physical eyes may tell us differently.  This, I believe, is why we can confidently say, as Paul did –

Philippians 1:6

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.