Moses made sure that the Israelites did not forget why they were able to occupy the land of Canaan, “It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” (Deut 9:5) Moses then pleaded with his listeners to understand that LIFE is in the balance if they heeded God’s law and thus participated in the blessings of God’s promises to Abraham. “,,,by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.” (Deut 30:20)
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob gave the land of Canaan to Israel under the leadership of Joshua. There is once again only one reference to Abraham in this book, and it should not be lost on us. “Joshua said to all the people, thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, from ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him through all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac.” (Josh 24:2-3) Joshua continued to summarize the history of God’s dealing with Abraham’s descendants. Israel’s great conquest of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua all happened as a part of God’s grand promises to Abraham.
Hundreds of years pass in the historical narrative from Joshua’s mention of Abraham until the next time Abraham’s name is recorded in the Old Testament. The Book of Judges records three hundred years of Israel’s cycle of faithfulness to unfaithfulness to God, and no mention of Abraham. In First and Second Samuel, during the reigns of King Saul and King David, no trace of Abraham’s name is found. Of all places Abraham’s name resurfaces in the dark ages of the divided kingdom of Israel when the wicked Ahab and (could it be possible) the even more hard hearted Jezebel ruled. In the battle between the prophets of Baal and Elijah, a prophet of God, Abraham’s name is recalled. “At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word.” (1 Kings 18:36) To be sure the mention of Abraham is simply found in the now familiar phrase, “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel” (Jacob’s name was changed to Israel by God
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National pride is such a powerful emotional pull on our hearts. What a wonderful romantic notion, to be of the same blood as Abraham, the father of nations and the father of the anointed one to come. Jesus shatters this pride. Just being from the nation of Abraham means nothing if one does not actually believe in THE ONE who came from Abraham, and indeed, existed before him. Proving that Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham was therefore the challenge and goal set before the apostles of Jesus.
After proclaiming Jesus to be the Christ on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), the second occasion the apostles had to preach Jesus was when Peter and John healed a lame man in the name of Jesus. The crowd gathered in Jerusalem to find out why this familiar beggar was jumping around and praising God. Peter repeated the same evidence as in his first message (Acts 3:11-21) Then Peter tied Moses’ prophecy of THE PROPHET to Jesus. Peter also emphasized Jesus as the fulfillment to God’s promise to Abraham, “It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’ For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.” (Acts 3:25-26) Pull the string of fulfillment from Gen 12:1-3 to Acts 3:25. All peoples of all nations and cultures and families can be blessed by putting their faith in Jesus, the son of Abraham.
Despite this wonderful news, the carriers of this gospel, the apostles and evangelists, such as Stephen, were persecuted and even murdered for preaching this (Acts 7). The Jewish and Pharisaical thought of the day was so prevalent that even when Jewish people believed in the evidence that Jesus was the Christ, they struggled with the concept of salvation in Christ alone. The New Testament letters such as the Roman and Galatian letters dealt in detail with this confusion. In Romans chapters three and four the apostle Paul addressed how we can be saved by one of two systems. Either we keep God’s will perfectly and are saved by WORKS of the law, or we are saved by FAITH in Christ Jesus. Paul argued that none of us are be saved by WORKS of the law because we all sin and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). Paul affirmed that it is by faith in Christ Jesus that we can be saved (Rom 4:5). To be sure it is a working faith that saves us. James 2:14-26 clearing states how Abraham himself was approved of God by his active, obedient faith in God. The book of Romans spoke of two systems of salvation, the book of James spoke of two kinds of faith.
To the Jewish person living in the first century, and even to us today, Jew or Gentile, it is hard to overcome the thought that we are saved by a system of law keeping. Human traditions that come in a “check list” package are so subtle, so deceiving. We can be easily made to feel that being RIGHT in a few areas of the Bible EARN us salvation. CIRCUMCISION was the checklist ITEM for the Jews of the first century. This is what the Galatian letter was all about. Chapter three of this letter is where Paul drove the point home that faith in Christ Jesus is in harmony with God’s promise to Abraham. “Even so Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.” (Gal 3:6-7)
So why the Law of Moses then? This is the question burning in the minds of Paul’s Jewish audience. Today, it may be some other human tradition that we elevate as the CHECK LIST ITEM. Here is Paul’s answer,
“Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise.” (Gal 3:19-29)
There is equality in God’s eyes among all who believe and obey His Son, Jesus. The fleshly human standards that people devise only divide. IF we find ourselves in a constant state of tension with believers or non-believers we may not be SONS of Abraham. We may be doing the deeds of the flesh (ie: Gal 5:20 “enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions”). If we are living by the very Spirit who saved us then we must walk by the Spirit (Gal 5:25). If we believe God’s promise to Abraham is fulfilled in Jesus then let us reject human law that keeps us from being loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle people who have control over ourselves. (Gal 5:22-23) Learning the Spirit’s revealed word and walking by faith in that living word will give us the power to bear these fruits (see also 2 Peter 1:2-13).
Living by faith is not as sensational or appealing as living by a set of human laws (such as, “well I am circumcised”). This was true in the first century and it is true today. We can take great encouragement from the Hebrew letter. This letter confronted head on the notion that it was better following the Old, yet fleshly system. The Jewish Christian was being persecuted for going against the Old ways. The Hebrew writer gave the Jewish Christian hope. “For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.” (Heb 2:16
To overcome the darkness of any culture during any time period all one needs to do is recall how God fulfilled his promises to Abraham. “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU.’” (Heb 6:11-14)
We conclude by quoting the Hebrew author once again. Upon illustrating how many people have gone before us who put their faith in God, including of course, Abraham, the Hebrew writer then exhorted,
“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose
