The Faith of Abraham

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ²I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” ⁴So Abram went, as the Lord had told him. Genesis 12:1-4

Abraham is held up as a pillar of faith in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. God chose Abraham because of his faith and trust in God to be a blessing for future generations. His story is powerful and inspiring and reminds us that God is faithful and fulfills God’s promises in God’s time.

When Abram (his name changes later) first encounters God he is 75 years old. God tells the wealthy Abram to leave his home, land, family, and community to go to “the land I will show you.” He is told to leave everything behind but isn’t told where he will end up or how long it will take. He is simply told that God will make him a great nation and a blessing to all the families of the earth. Without the details spelled and without the need of convincing, Abram went. He trusted God without hesitation. This was only the first of many steps of faith that Abraham took, and at each step his faith and trust grew.

Later in the story (Genesis 15) the promise of children and descendants for Abram remains unfulfilled. God comes to Abram and once again challenges him to believe:

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” ²But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” ⁴But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” ⁵He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” ⁶And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:1-6

Abram still believes the promise of God but is beginning to become impatient. God reiterates the promises of numerous descendants and being a great blessing. Abram, despite being childless and very old and despite the previous promise being unfulfilled, believed and trusted God. How easy it would have been for him to dismiss God at this point. No one would blame Abram for walking away from God at this point. But Abram believes and God “reckoned it to him as righteousness.” Abram is righteous (in right relationship with God) because he continues to believe and trust despite a lack of worldly evidence or validation.

Abram’s faith is amazing and worth pondering for our own lives. But this story continues from there in an even more amazing way. While earlier in his encounters with God Abram is given few details, now that he has demonstrated even more faith God begins to reveal the nature of his blessings entail:

Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years; ¹⁴but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. ¹⁵As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. ¹⁶And they shall come back here in the fourth generation; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” Genesis 15:13-16

Basically, God promises that the immediate descendants of Abram will have no homeland, be slaves, experience oppression and only after generations have passed will they inherit the land God promised. And by the way, Abram will die of an old age and not see any of this happen. This is a raw deal! And yet Abram continued to believe and trust in God knowing that there would be no tangible benefit to him in his own life. Abram trusted God and was obedient not because there was something in it for him, but because he had learned God’s nature and character over time. Abram knew God and trusted that through God all things are possible. (This becomes even more evident in the story of Isaac in Genesis 22) While Abram was by no means perfect (the whole Hagar and Ishmael episode was not his shining moment) he continued to trust God and submit to God leading and guiding him throughout his life.

Abram trusted God not because of what he got out of it, but because God had a claim on his life. Once we decide that God is truly present and guiding our lives why wouldn’t we follow no matter how rational or irrational the path seems to be? The faith question isn’t a calculation of whether a particular path or choice makes sense. Rather it is a question of whether we trust God and if we do whether we have the courage to follow where God has called us to go. This kind of faith is cultivated over a life time and involves a journey of discovery, growth, and deep discipleship. Abraham shows great faith and became a great blessing. I pray the same for us all.