Abraham marks an important phase of the progressive revelation of God, for with him begins the dispensation of promise. But my purpose in this article is to present, on the smaller scale of Abraham’s personal life, the progressive way in which God was pleased to reveal Himself to this most blessed saint. From this point of view, his life is full of precious practical instructions for the personal life of each one of us.
The Almighty
Abraham was called out of his kindred and country to go into a place completely unknown to him and where he was not given as much land as to place his foot upon. He was called to abide in that country (in which he failed at first, going down to Egypt for a while) and to resist the different temptations connected to his position of stranger and pilgrim. For this, God revealed Himself to him as the Almighty, the Possessor of heaven and earth, which made him conscious of his high position and the blessings he was enriched with. Having the Most High as his God, the Possessor of everything in heaven and earth, anything that the world, in the person of the king of Sodom, could offer lost its value for Abraham (Gen. 14:18-2418And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. 21And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. 22And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, 23That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: 24Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion. (Genesis 14:18‑24)).
Thy Exceeding Great Reward
In chapter 15:1, God speaks to Abraham in a vision: “I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” This fresh revelation of God to him implied the coming of the heir, as the answer of Abraham clearly shows. But the man of God was old, and so was his wife, so how could that happen? Now God reveals Himself to him as the One “who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were” (Rom. 4:1717(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. (Romans 4:17)). Abraham believed God, for in spite of all that, the natural eye was so obviously against the promise of God. Therefore “sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable” (Heb. 11:1212Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. (Hebrews 11:12)).
His walk now was to be marked by and in full accord with that fresh revelation of God: “I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.” One remark here as to walking would be in order. Our walk should be both before God and with God. Walking before God is walking according to the revelation God has made of Himself and of His will in any given dispensation. Walking with Him is walking according to His character and moral traits, which never change and are common to any dispensation. These two principles should be distinguished, but not separated, and kept in proper balance in our life as believers.
The God of Glory and Resurrection
Nevertheless, in order for this progressive revelation to be taken one step further, God needed to reveal Himself to Abraham as the One that not only can bring fruit from what naturally seems dead and barren, but as the One that can bring life out of death, as the God of resurrection. This is beautifully illustrated in the well-known chapter 22 of Genesis. There the heir is figuratively passing through death and, also figuratively, is received back as risen from the dead. Abraham learns the capital truth (so hard to learn and so easy to forget) that there could be no blessing whatever for man except through the death and resurrection of the blessed Substitute that God Himself provided.
In his inspired account, in Acts 7:2,2And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, (Acts 7:2) Stephen tells us that “the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran.” We see that his history as a believer begins with the God of glory and ends, so to speak, with the God of resurrection. The purpose of God for Abraham, and for us too, is “the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 2:1414Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 2:14)). But this glory was not possible for us without the death and resurrection of His Son, according to the order we find in Romans: “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. ... [He] raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. ... [We] rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23; 4:24-25; 5:223For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)
24But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. (Romans 4:24‑25)
2By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:2)).
Now We Know God as Our Father
It is wonderful to witness the patience and loving-kindness of God in carrying Abraham through all these various experiences, making Himself known to him in a progressive way and filling his soul with confidence, peace and adoration. This is what He desires today for each of us too, and He is certainly able to do it. Only we must keep in mind that, in contrast with Abraham, we have Him fully revealed as our Father, and this through His beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We do not look forward to any further revelation in this sense. But there will always be room for knowing Him better and getting closer to Him in our personal experience. We need, according to Abraham’s example, to trust and obey God, to separate from evil and to cultivate communion with Him, so that we may “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:1818But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. (2 Peter 3:18)).
E. Datcu