Showing posts with label Abraham. Show all posts

"Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham Thy friend for ever?" 2 Chronicles 20:7

"But thou, Israel, art My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham My friend." Isaiah 41:8

"And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the friend of God." James 2:23

2 Chronicles 20:7 - The region of Abraham's possession - his land
Isaiah 41:8 - The race of Abraham's posterity - his nation
James 2:23 - The righteousness of Abraham's position - his sacrifice

"And he (Abraham) believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness." Genesis 15:6

This is a significant verse and is quoted thrice in the New Testament
1. Galatians 3:6 - The emphasis here is on "believed".
2. Romans 4:3 - The emphasis here is on "counted".
3. James 2:23 - The emphasis here is on "righteousness".

The gospels describe the Lord as greater than
* The temple (Matt 12:6) - The magnificence of His glory
* Jonah (Matt 12:41) - The consequence of His going
* Solomon (Matt 12:42) - The excellence of His government
* Jacob (John 4:12) - The beneficence of His grace
* Abraham (John 8:53) - The precedence of His giving

Eph. 3:18-20
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Breadth - Christ is greater than Abraham
Length - Christ is greater than Jacob
Depth - Christ is greater than Jonah
Height - Christ is greater than Solomon
Fullness - Christ is greater than the Temple

Refer to my earlier post Biblical Imaginations on a definition of biblical imagination.

Gen 22:6-7
"And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"
God's judgment - Fire
God's wrath - Knife
Man's sins - Wood
Christ's love - Cords that bound Isaac

Gen 48:14 "And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn"
The Cross of Christ alluded in the crossing of Israel's left and right hands?

Test 1 : Gen 12 - Promise (land). Passed
Test 2 : Gen 12 - Produce (famine). Failed
Test 3 : Gen 13 - Plenty (riches). Passed
Test 4 : Gen 14 - Power (Melchizedek). Passed
Test 5 : Gen 16 - Patience (son). Failed
Test 6 : Gen 21 - Pain (Ishmael/Hagar). Passed
Test 7 : Gen 22 - Posterity (love). Passed

Those instances Abraham compromised when he deviated from God's will were not counted.