God Chooses a People

MEMORY VERSE: “And l will make of thee a great nation, and 1 will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.” —Genesis 12:2

GENESIS 12:1-3,7; 17:1-8; 21:1-3

ABRAHAM—or Abram, as he is called in this lesson—is referred to as the father of the faithful, and much is said in the Bible concerning his great faith in God and in his promises. God promised to make of him a great nation; and he also promised that through Abram’s seed all the families of the earth would be blessed. But Abram’s wife was barren, and years went by with no indication that they would ever have a child.

Years later God said to his friend, “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward” Abram replied, “Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?” God had promised Abram an heir, but at this point it seemed to the patriarch that God was not faithful to his promise. While God had said, “I am thy … exceeding great reward,” Abram was childless and apparently had not been rewarded at all.

Abram continued, “Behold, to me thou hast given no seed [as you have promised]; and, 10, one born in my house is mine heir” (Gen. 15:1-4) However, God reassured Abram that he would have a child of his own: “He that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.” Thus God overruled Abram’s decision to make the steward of his house his heir.

Abram accepted the Lord’s will in the matter; but still Sarah was barren, and in addition to this was past the time of life when she could be expected to bear a child. This led to the arrangement suggested by Sarah herself that her maid, Hagar, bear Abram a son. Abram agreed to this, and Ishmael was born. After all, God had simply said that Abram must be the father of the child. He said nothing as to who the mother should be. In all of this Abram seemed sincerely to be seeking the Lord’s way.—Gen. 16:1-4

But it was also God’s will that Sarah should be the mother of the heir of promise. God now had changed Abram’s name to Abraham, “and God said to Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.”—Gen. 17:15,16

This was almost more than Abraham could believe, and the record is that he “fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?” (Gen. 17:17) However, not long after this Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah. God thus fulfilled his promise that Sarah should bear him a son.—Gen. 21:1-3

When Isaac became a young man God asked Abraham to offer him as a burnt offering. This was a severe test of Abraham’s faith. He had waited a long time for the birth of this miracle child, and it probably seemed out of keeping with the Lord’s promise that he now be slain as a burnt offering. But Abraham’s faith had become strong. He had no doubt that God was dealing with him, so he obeyed the Lord in the belief that if necessary in order to fulfill his promise he would raise Isaac from the dead. (Heb. 11:19) Actually God did not permit Abraham to slay his son, but instead, at the right moment, provided a ram to be offered as a substitute.

Because of Abraham’s great faith in the face of this severe test, God confirmed his promise with his oath, and now the Abrahamic promise is often referred to as God’s oathbound covenant. But the promise remained the same, which was that through the seed of Abraham all the families of the earth would be blessed.

From the natural standpoint Abraham did become the father of a great nation, for the nation of Israel was made up of his descendants. However, as Paul wrote concerning Abraham, “the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” (Rom. 4:13) It is upon this basis also that Abraham becomes the father of many nations. Gentiles can become his seed through faith in and obedience to the promises of God.

QUESTIONS

What were the progressive steps in Abraham’s understanding pertaining to the seed of promise?

How did God specially test Abraham’s faith?

Upon what basis is Abraham the father of many nations?

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