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Listen "#46 | Father Abraham Part 4"
Episode Synopsis
In this episode we finish the story of Abraham offering his son Isaac. The interesting thing about the way this story ends is that it seems like God is still "making" a covenant with Abraham, which goes along with the other episodes in Genesis where it seems like God "leaks" out different aspects of his covenant with Abraham, establishing it in incremental stages. For example, God starts the covenant in Genesis 12, and in chapters 13, 15, 17, and 22 it seems like God continues establishing that very same covenant. What would normally take place in a few hours in a covenant making ceremony in the Ancient Near Eastern culture gets spread out over about 30 years between God and Abraham.
As usual, when we place this story in the larger context of the story of Abraham, there's an opportunity to see things we otherwise would not see. In Genesis 11 the nations reject God and do not allow him to rule over them. So God hands the nations over to members of his divine council. (Deuteronomy 32:8-9; Psalm 82) He then turns to Abraham to build a nation out of him from scratch. If you know anything about building something, the foundation is absolutely critical to the sustainability of the building. God moves slowly with Abraham, developing his covenant relationship with Abraham step by step, year by year. This not only develops God's relationship with Abraham ("now I know...") but it also develops Abraham's relationship with God. Faith and trust are being built in both God and Abraham - it's a real relationship. Because death became a part of human experience through the fall, and cuts our developmental process short, having a resurrection kind of faith that believes God can bring life out of death goes to the very core of what God is looking for in his relationship with us. This kind of resurrection faith creates the relational environment for God to start reversing the effects of death in this life, and ultimately in the next.
This resurrection faith of Abraham gets brought up again (in addition to Romans 4) in Hebrews 11 where it says that Abraham when he believed that God could raise Isaac from the dead, received him (Christ) in a figurative sense. And as Hebrews 11 frames it, it is faith that pleases God.
Key Passages
Genesis 22:13-18
Hebrews 11:17-19
Explainer Video on how to use www.biblehub.com and www.blueletterbible.org
Leave us a question or comment at our website podcast page.
* Intro Music: "Admirable" Carlos Herrera Music
As usual, when we place this story in the larger context of the story of Abraham, there's an opportunity to see things we otherwise would not see. In Genesis 11 the nations reject God and do not allow him to rule over them. So God hands the nations over to members of his divine council. (Deuteronomy 32:8-9; Psalm 82) He then turns to Abraham to build a nation out of him from scratch. If you know anything about building something, the foundation is absolutely critical to the sustainability of the building. God moves slowly with Abraham, developing his covenant relationship with Abraham step by step, year by year. This not only develops God's relationship with Abraham ("now I know...") but it also develops Abraham's relationship with God. Faith and trust are being built in both God and Abraham - it's a real relationship. Because death became a part of human experience through the fall, and cuts our developmental process short, having a resurrection kind of faith that believes God can bring life out of death goes to the very core of what God is looking for in his relationship with us. This kind of resurrection faith creates the relational environment for God to start reversing the effects of death in this life, and ultimately in the next.
This resurrection faith of Abraham gets brought up again (in addition to Romans 4) in Hebrews 11 where it says that Abraham when he believed that God could raise Isaac from the dead, received him (Christ) in a figurative sense. And as Hebrews 11 frames it, it is faith that pleases God.
Key Passages
Genesis 22:13-18
Hebrews 11:17-19
Explainer Video on how to use www.biblehub.com and www.blueletterbible.org
Leave us a question or comment at our website podcast page.
* Intro Music: "Admirable" Carlos Herrera Music
In God we trust