THE BIBLE UNZIPPED WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? SESSION 3

What are the overall impressions you receive from Genesis 1-11? Disaster, unbelief, separation between God and human race. What are the overall impressions you receive from the Abraham story? Hope, promise, covenant relationship with God. Mercy is going to win the day, and Abraham is going to play a central role in the restoration of humanity’s broken relationship with God.

Look at chapters 15 and 17. Two covenants. Why two covenants?

Read Genesis 15. The Covenant With Abraham The stand-out verse, with NT hindsight’ is 15:6 “Abraham believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness.” Discuss: What did “Faith” mean for Abraham? ( don’t be too romantic and easy-believe-ist !)

Genesis shows that... faith began by demanding a radical break with the past and facing the terrors and enigmas of the unknown.” – Karen Armstrong from “In the Beginning: A New Interpretation of Genesis.”

Is the following a fair assessment? “Faith was neither easy, comforting, nor life-enhancing.. The divine did not reveal itself to Abraham in lucid, incontrovertible apparitions or in clearly defined doctrines. Abraham had a constant struggle to make sense of his circumstances, catching, at best, glimpses of the sacred that sometimes seemed baffling and even hostile. Blessing was neither effortlessly bestowed nor effortlessly received. Abraham’s story was dominated by anxiety about the Promise, which seemed constantly in danger of miscarrying.” - Karen Armstrong

Chapter 15 falls into two parts which have in common the subject of inheritance. Whereas verses 1-6 are concerned with Abraham’s immediate and future heirs, verses 7-21 focus on what shall be inherited. The two parts of the chapter parallel each other structurally. There is: # a divine statement (15:1; 15:7) # a question from Abraham (15:2: 15:8). # God’s response involving an appropriate sign (15:4-5; 15:9-17), # a concluding comment by the narrator (15:6; 15:18-21).

Chapter 15 falls into two parts which have in common the subject of inheritance. Whereas verses 1-6 are concerned with Abraham’s immediate and future heirs, verses 7-21 focus on what shall be inherited. Abraham is reassured by God (a) that he will have a son of his own from whom shall come numerous descendants, (b) that he will have countless offspring, and (c) that after several centuries these descendants will take possession of the land of Canaan.

Features of this covenant are (a) It guarantees unconditionally what the LORD has stated to Abraham. (b) The structure of the chapter suggests that there is a link between the promise and the faith (c) The terms of the covenant mention only descendants and possession of the land; there is no reference to blessing being mediated to others. There is something missing...

Read Genesis 17 What are the characteristics of this covenant? (a) It is a conditional covenant, dependent upon Abraham’s continuing obedience to God. After identifying himself as El Shaddai (God Almighty), the LORD says to Abraham, `Walk before me faithfully and blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and increase your numbers’ (b) It is an eternal covenant. While the covenant of chapter 15 is a divine guarantee to Abraham that his descendants will possess the land of Canaan, this covenant involves a continuing special relationship between God and Abraham’s `seed’: Isaac but not Ishmael. (c) Whereas chapter 15 is focused upon descendants and land, the covenant in chapter 17 considers Abraham as the father of many nations (vv. 4-6) (d) Abram becomes Abraham

Faith, expressed in obedience, is the hallmark of Abraham’s relationship with the LORD.

Who do you think you are? Children of Abraham. What is the characteristic of Abraham? Faith What is your characteristic? Faith

How does the New Testament use Abraham? 1)Paul uses Abraham to support the concept of justification by faith rather than by works of the law (cf. Rom. 4:1-5; Gal. 3:1-9) 2) James uses Abraham to show that “a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone” (2:24). 3) Hebrews highlights Abraham’s faith as an example of `being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see’ (Heb. 11:1). 4) Paul argues that the divine promises made to Abraham find their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. To arrive at this conclusion Paul focuses on the concept of `seed’.

Conclusion: Chapter 17 is a conscious extension of Chapter 15. It is not enough to restrict the blessing to the people of God and “their” promised land. The promise and blessing is to extend through them to the world. It is a promise and blessing that does not find its fulfillment until Jesus.