Abraham believed in the promise he would have a son by Sarah. It would be a miracle! Totally impossible since she was sterile. But his faith in He who gave the promise justified him in the eyes of God.
Why is it that we call Abraham the father of all believers? Because he believed he would get a miracle?
Abraham had 2 character traits we can all have:
- He heard the voice of the only true God, and
- He put into practice what he had heard.
The miracle got off to a bad start
However, he did not have a good start. He lived in the city of Ur in Babylonia. His fellow citizens were idol worshippers and worshipped many gods. (Marduk and Ishtar)
How could he know about the only true God in such an environment? But if you study the number of years that Noah lived (Genesis 11), we see he died 2 years before the birth of Abraham. Tradition says that his son Shem lived up to 75 years after Abraham entered Canaan. So since Abraham entered the promised land at 75, he was 150 when Shem died. He could have easily transmitted the story of the only true God known in the pre-flood period.
This was a promise that could not happen…unless a miracle!
In any case, God spoke to him by direct revelation. He was looking for a man with a simple faith in the power of His word to create a nation in which would be born the Messiah (Chosen One)
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Genesis 12.1-3)
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him… (Vs 4)
Again an example of practicing faith. Abraham left without knowing where he was going. True faith is revealed by obedience.
6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring, I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. (Genesis 12. 6-7)
The promise of multiple blessings and one miracle
Here are some of the promised blessings :
· I will make you a great nation – This was a big problem which needed a miracle because even before leaving Ur, he knew his wife was sterile.
Now Sarai was barren; she had no child. (Genesis 11.30)
· and I will bless you, and make your name great.
No problem with that promise.
Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold (Genesis 13.2) (But as sterile couples know, all the money in the world doesn’t replace having a child.
· and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you. But again this promise could not happen with his legitimate wife, for Sarah was sterile. What was needed was a miracle and Abraham knew that. That did not prevent him to discuss it with God about it in case He was not aware of what the problem was.
But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” 4 But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” 5 He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness
This is not confidence in the accomplishment of a promise but confidence in his God. And that is what made him righteous in the eyes of God.
God was very specific concerning the “promised son”:
Now he was 99 years old, and his wife was 90. It was even more impossible to have a miracle-baby than ever before!
God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” (Genesis 17.15-16)
19 God said, “No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; I will bless him and make him fruitful and exceedingly numerous; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year.” (Genesis 17.19-21)
Yes, God is the God of the impossible miracle. And it is not because WE don’t see the solution that God doesn’t have one for us.
What lessons can we find in the life of Abraham?
- We often have to leave our comfort zone to follow God’s path.
- Walking by faith and with confidence that God will keep His promise of a miracle justifies us in His eyes.
- God is more interested in our obedience than our sacrifices.
- He can put life in any sterile place.
- God is the engineer of our circumstances. What is impossible for men is possible for God.
- When the moment has come for the miracle (even when it is too late) He gives the starting point for the last phase. “Sarah shall bear to you (a son) at this season next year”
What miracle are you expecting from God? What is the promise you have received?
Are you like Abraham when it is too late?
19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.”
Did you notice that the antidote to unbelief is praise?
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This is the word of encouragement for today.
(Day 19) The language everyone will understand
(Day 21) The testing of your faith is worth gold
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