Why did God call Abraham?
After the fall spread across the nations, God called one man to carry one promise: descendants, land, and blessing for all families of the earth through him. Abraham believed God, and it counted as righteousness, which is why everyone who believes today is called his child.
This question arose from studying What went wrong in Eden? and What is the Bible's big story? and What happened at Babel?.
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Not a summary of these passages: the passages themselves. Read them, then come back to the study below.
The study
What the Scripture says
God's answer to Babel was a person, not a program
After humanity's pride scattered the nations, God did not launch a reform movement. He told one seventy-five-year-old, childless man to leave everything behind for 'the land that I will show you.' Salvation history funnels through one family so that the blessing can later fan out to every family on earth.
Now Yahweh said to Abram, “Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you.
He said, “Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Get out of your land, and from your relatives, and come into a land which I will show you.’
The promise was bigger than Abraham could see
'All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you': Abraham was chosen not for privilege alone but for mission. Paul reads this precisely: God announced the gospel in advance to Abraham when He promised that the nations would be blessed through him. The promise always aimed past Israel at the world.
I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you.”
The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Good News beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you all the nations will be blessed.”
He believed, and God counted it as righteousness
When Abraham worried that his servant would inherit everything, God pointed him at the stars and repeated the promise, and 'He believed in Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.' Before any ritual, any law, any sign, Abraham was right with God by trusting Him. That is why faith, not descent or performance, marks his true children.
He believed in Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.
For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
Know therefore that those who are of faith, the same are children of Abraham.
The covenant rested on God alone
In the strange ceremony of Genesis 15, God had the animals cut in pieces, and only the smoking firepot and flaming torch passed between them while Abraham slept. In that culture both parties walked the path; here only God did. The promise is guaranteed by His character alone, which is why Abraham's failures and ours cannot break it.
It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
I will not break my covenant, nor alter what my lips have uttered.
As you read, you may wonder…
Scripture raises the next question
Studying the Word naturally opens more of it. Follow what you just read: it leads somewhere.
Continue this trail
Why did God test Abraham with Isaac?→“Abraham said, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they both went together.”How did Jacob become Israel?→“Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken of to you.””What was God doing in Joseph's slavery?→“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive.”Explore further
What is faith, exactly?→The Gospel trail“Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.”How do I find Christ in the Old Testament?→The Word of God trail““You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me.”Did God choose me to be saved before I chose Him?→The Gospel trail“even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in love;”What does the Exodus show us about God?→Exodus & Covenant trail“The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and there shall no plague be on you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.”Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
Now Yahweh said to Abram, “Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you.”
He believed in Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.
The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Good News beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you all the nations will be blessed.”
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