Title: The Reciprocity of Promise and Obedience, June 5
Genesis 12:1-9
The reciprocity of promise and obedience
Abraham's Pre-History
Considering the fact that Abraham is still revered as the father of faith in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam even today, the saying that he is the ancestor of the whole world comes to life. Abraham described in the Old Testament was the person who had the most exemplary faith toward Yahweh until the New Testament. This story of Abraham begins in earnest in today's text, but the first mention of his name is in Genesis 11:26.
After the story of Noah's Flood in Genesis 7 and 8 and the Tower of Babel story in 11:1-9, the writer of Genesis goes on (10-26) to list the descendants of Shem, Noah's first son. Terah is at the end of this genealogy, and Terah’s three sons were Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Their hometown was originally ‘Ur of the Chaldeans’, the birthplace of Mesopotamian civilization. Terah took Abram, his wife Sarai, and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, from Ur of the Chaldeans on their way to Canaan and settled down in Haran. The story up to this point took place before the story of Abraham was narrated in earnest.
We can find some clues in the overall history of the Abrahamic story to understand the Abrahamic narrative. It was his father Terah rather than Abraham who started emigrating to Canaan from Ur of the Chaldeans, who worshiped the moon as a god. However, it is said that Terah did not go to Canaan, the original goal, and stayed in Haran until he was 205 years old.
The reason I mention the story of Terah, which is not given much importance in Abraham's epic, is to point out that the topics of God's promise and Abraham's obedience did not come out of nowhere without context. Use your literary imagination a little bit about the whole history of the story of Abraham. Father Terah must have told the family first to leave Ur of the Chaldeans and go to Canaan. Among the three sons, Haran was dead, so he left it, and Nahor did not agree with his father, but Abraham followed him. Abraham may have persuaded his wife, Sarai, and even his nephew, Lot. You must have heard many stories from your father Terah about why you should leave Ur of the Chaldeans. During the long journey from Ur of the Chaldeans to Haran, you must have heard many stories about Yahweh from your father Terah. Before his death, Terah may have given Abraham a will to carry out his unfulfilled Canaanite migration. Abraham, who had heard many stories about Yahweh through his father Terah, was now ready to read the word of Yahweh. At this very moment, Yahweh speaks to Abraham.
Yahweh's word
Verses 1-3 of today's text are Yahweh's promises that run through the entire Bible. “Leave your hometown and your relatives and your father’s house and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make your name famous. Your name will be those who bless others. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you. The world will wear your virtue.” Even after Abraham's arrival in Canaan, the LORD appeared to him again and said, "I will give this land to your descendants" (verse 7).
Whenever we come across this statement from the Bible, we are a little confused. What does it mean that Yahweh God spoke directly to Abraham? The God who appeared to Abraham, why does he not appear to me today? In ancient times, Yahweh God appeared directly, but now he speaks in a different way? What on earth is the substantive truth of this statement that Yahweh God spoke to a specific person?
Think of it as a modern day story. Let's say a family of deep faith has a plan to immigrate to Australia. A father will pray according to his father, and a mother will pray according to his mother. After seeking advice from those around them and holding family meetings, they decided that it was God's will for them to emigrate. Years later, generations later, their descendants can think back to their ancestors who first planned to emigrate, thinking that the word of Yahweh had appeared to their ancestors.
Abraham's immigration to Canaan was similar. As explained earlier, Abraham heard many stories from his father Terah about the reason for emigrating to Canaan, or he must have learned what the will of Yahweh God was in the course of one's life. Of course, the Bible is completely silent as to what happened in Abraham's process of recognizing God's Word, as the Bible focuses on the fact that there was total divine intervention in Abraham's post-Chaldean incident. . Instead, the Bible could be described as if God had spoken His will to Abraham directly, based on the mythological narrative of the time that God spoke directly to man.
Look carefully at this word of Yahweh. Its core is in words such as great nation, blessing, making a name, and the source of blessings and curses. It means that the purpose of Terah and Abraham's departure from Ur of the Chaldeans is here. In verse 11:30, it is pointed out that Abraham's wife Sarai was a barren woman, and God's promise to form a great nation appears soon after that, so Ama Terah and Abraham are one family staying in Ur of the Chaldeans or Haran. You may have thought that this could not thrive. This includes, of course, the claim that Ur of the Chaldeans left because it was an idolatrous city. There were many complex reasons, but it is clear that infertility and one of the main reasons that a large nation came to Canaan were. It is not at all strange that people at that time, who had no choice but to think of survival itself as God's salvation, saw God's blessing in the prosperity of their descendants.
Today we no longer experience God's salvation in this way. Of course, on a fundamental level, it is still possible to think that the prosperity of descendants is God's blessing in that it is a miracle in itself that all living things, including mankind, survive on this small planet called the Earth, but the meaning is clearly different from that of Abraham's time. . Rather, we may have to sustain life on this planet in a way that reduces human offspring.
What is important in this statement that Yahweh God appeared and spoke to Abraham is that our destiny lies in the word of Yahweh, and more specifically in the promise of Yahweh. The ancient Israelites noticed that fact early on, so they could be said to be a chosen nation. In this regard, today we too must prepare to understand and interpret the spiritual depth of how God promises us life. If Abraham was to leave Haran, what would it be to us today?
Abraham's obedience
Abraham ‘set out on his way’ as Yahweh had commanded (4). He was 75 at the time, so Sarai must have been 65. In their old age, far past the age of childbearing, they moved with their nephew Lot, relying on Yahweh's promise to make a great nation. You may think that you should leave because you have heard the word of Yahweh firsthand, but this is not the case at all. As mentioned earlier, Yahweh did not appear directly to him and speak to him. Of course, broadly speaking, it is clear that God spoke to Abraham in the sense that God showed him a certain way, but the way God speaks to man is variable and much more dynamic in that it relates to man's choices. The right choice is what we call ‘obedience’. The reason Abraham's faith is called obedience is also because he chose it right.
Even now, we are living at the crossroads of choices like Abraham in some respects. The way to make this life we are given only one time the best life is to choose God's promises. But the problem is that we can't confirm what God's promise is right now. We are presented with a number of possibilities from which we can choose, but nowhere is there a clear indication. It is similar to students facing a ‘choice to choose’ type test question in which they have to choose one out of four without knowing the exact answer.
I'm not here to imply that our choices simply depend on the fluke. Although our lives and our future are uncertain, there are criteria by which we must choose. Abraham too became the father of faith and a symbol of obedience by overcoming uncertainty in the future according to that standard and setting out on the road.
That criterion is history. More specifically, it is God's revelation through history, as evidenced by Abraham's departure from Ur of the Chaldeans with his father Terah. In other words, it is a historical interpretation of one's life. Abraham heard many stories from Terah about Yahweh God or the will of Yahweh God, and he must have interpreted his life. Will you stay here in Haran, or will you set off on your way back to Canaan? Although the road was uncertain, he left Haran thinking that Canaan was the future for him and his descendants.
leave the road
In today’s text, the expression ‘leaving out’ appears a lot. Abraham went on his way as Yahweh had commanded, and Lot went with him (4), and he 'set out' with all his possessions (6), and 'passed through the land of Canaan' to Shechem, where he offered an altar, and then again there. 'Leave' (8), pitched a tent and offered an altar in the mountainous region between Bethel and Ai, and 'set out' again, moving toward the Negev (9).
Biblical texts simply say left or moved, but each time Abraham risked his whole life to make a decision. For him, the choice to leave was obedience. In the process, Abraham came to a much deeper understanding of God's will, and God revealed Himself in his obedience. We may refer to this as ‘the spirituality of leaving’. The important thing in this spirituality of departure is that we focus our whole life on God's call and promise rather than on leaving itself. Such a person can be obedient to an uncertain future, even if it fails as a result.
The obedience of Jesus is the beginning of salvation for all mankind. Paul's teaching is that if sin began to mankind through the disobedience of the first Adam, salvation is now possible through Jesus, the second Adam. Today, as disciples of Jesus Christ, we must know how to discern God's promises and obey them. These promises of God and our obedience will be mutually combined to create a wonderful work of salvation that we cannot expect.