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Scripture Reading: Exo. 3:15; Acts 7:2; Gen. 12:7; 17:1; 18:1
I. The God of Abraham (Exo. 3:15) seen in His dealings with Abraham as follows:
А. The God of glory, in His first appearing with His first calling and His first speaking to Abraham, as the vast magnet and the great motivation to Abraham that moved him to come out of the country of satanic idolatry — Gen. 11:31; Acts 7:2-4a.
B. The God of blessing, in His second calling with His second speaking to Abraham, promising him that He would make of him a great nation, make his name great, and make him a blessing to others and that all the families of the earth would be blessed in him; this attracted Abraham to go into the good land of the divine promise — Gen. 12:1-4.
C. The God of the earth, in His second appearing with His third speaking, in promising Abraham that He would give the land of Canaan to his seed — vv. 6-7.
D. The God of secret care for His elect, in saving Abraham from Pharaoh’s insulting of his wife — vv. 10-20.
E. The God of comfort and encouragement, in His fourth speaking, after Lot left Abraham, in promising to give to Abraham and to his seed the land of Canaan as far as he could see in four directions, and to make his seed as numerous as the dust of the earth — 13:14-17.
F. God the Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, in His divine supply with His blessing to Abraham through His priest Melchizedek after Abraham fought the battle against the four kings — 14:17-20.
G. The God of shield and exceedingly great reward, in His fifth speaking (this time in a vision) to Abraham, when he was afraid of the four kings’ avenging, in pointing to Abraham that his heavenly seed in their divine nature would be as many as the stars in heaven who could never be touched by anyone on earth; Abraham believed in Jehovah, and Jehovah accounted it to him for righteousness — 15:1-6.
H. The God of faithfulness, in foretelling to Abraham, in His sixth speaking to him in his deep sleep, that his earthly seed in their human nature would be sojourners in Egypt, serve the Egyptians, be afflicted by them for four hundred years, and in their fourth generation return to Canaan; and in making a covenant with him that He would give to his seed the land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates — vv. 12-21.
I. The God of silence, due to the fact that Abraham listened to his wife Sarah and married Hagar to get a son by the exercise of his flesh when he was eighty-six years old (16:1-4, 15-16); then God became silent to Abraham for thirteen years, until he became ninety-nine years old, and God appeared to him again (17:1).
J. The God of all-sufficiency, in His third appearing with His seventh speaking to Abraham, in being the God of circumcision to cut off His chosen people’s natural man in the flesh that they may become God’s new creation, signified by Isaac who was born by God’s grace, not by Ishmael who was born by Abraham’s flesh — vv. 1-21; Gal. 4:22-31.
K. The God with His human friendship, in His coming (in His fourth appearing with His eighth speaking to Abraham) as a man, in the form of a man, to visit Abraham as His friend (2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; James 2:23) on the level of humanity, with whom Abraham walked and who conversed with Abraham as a human friend with a human friend, concerning His judgment of Sodom, where His friend’s nephew Lot and his family lived — Gen. 18—19.
L. The God with friendship in humanity, in sending Abraham’s nephew and his two daughters out from the overthrow of Sodom, for the remembrance of Abraham as His intimate friend — vv. 29, 12-22.
M. The almighty God with His friendly care, in saving His close friend Abraham, with His almighty power, from the loss of his wife to Abimelech, king of Gerar — ch. 20.
N. The God of changelessness in keeping the principle of His grace, in recognizing Isaac, his son of Sarah, as his only son, in His ninth speaking to Abraham — 21:1-12.
O. The God with His trial, in proving Abraham, His intimate human friend, by asking him to present his only son, whom he loved, for a burnt offering to Him, in His tenth speaking to Abraham — 22:1-10.
P. The Triune God of provision, in providing a ram to replace Isaac for a burnt offering to Him (as the Angel of Jehovah — Christ), in His eleventh speaking to Abraham — vv. 11-14.
Q. The Triune God of blessing, in His twelfth (last) speaking to Abraham, promising him that He (as the Angel of Jehovah — Christ) would bless him and multiply his seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand on the seashore, and in his seed (Christ) would all the nations of the earth be blessed — vv. 15-18.
R. The God of friendship on the human level, in leading the old servant of His friend Abraham to secure a wife for his son Isaac — ch. 24.
II. As a whole, the God of Abraham being the God of speaking in appearing, with calling, in a vision, and in the human friendship, to unveil to His intimate friend on the earth what He aspired for him to be and what He wanted him to do according to His heart’s desire for the accomplishment of the eternal economy for the Divine Trinity.
In the previous chapter we saw God’s history in His working on Abraham. Now we want to see not only the history of God but also God Himself in Abraham’s life. In the Bible we cannot see another person whom God contacted, appeared to, and spoke to as much as Abraham. In His dealings with Abraham, God unveiled what kind of God He is. In Exodus 3:15 God declared that He is the God of Abraham but without any details. It was in so many dealings of God with Abraham that the details of what God is were unveiled.
The God of Abraham is the God of glory. Stephen said that when Abraham was called by God in Ur of the Chaldeans, God appeared to him in glory as the God of glory (Acts 7:2-4a). God’s glory is God Himself expressed. If God hides Himself, there is no glory. If God appears, if God is expressed, that is glory. God’s glory in His appearance might imply a kind of splendor, bright and shining.
The God of glory in His first appearing to Abraham with His first calling and His first speaking was as a vast magnet and great motivation to Abraham, which moved him to come out of the country of satanic idolatry (Gen. 11:31). No one could stand against such an appearing, calling, and speaking.
Abraham was attracted, but Genesis shows us that he did not answer God’s call in an absolute and willing way. It was not Abraham who took the lead to initiate leaving the world of idolatry. His father took the lead, and he followed. Actually, though, God was the magnet and motivation that moved Abraham to come out of the country of satanic idolatry. Abraham would not have made this move if God had not come to him as the God of glory. That drew him, attracted him, and motivated him.
God is also seen as the God of blessing in His second calling with His second speaking to Abraham (12:1-4). God not only called him but also promised to make of him a great nation and make his name great. Today in human history Abraham is a great name. Furthermore, God promised to make him a blessing to others. God not only blessed him but also made him a blessing to others. This blessing is the blessing of the New Testament gospel (Gal. 3:9, 14).
Abraham was a descendant of Shem, and we have seen that according to Noah’s prophecy, God would be the God of Shem, and Japheth would dwell in the tents of Shem. Japheth received the blessing of being enlarged (Gen. 9:26-27). According to history, the Europeans as the sons of Japheth have expanded and spread all over the earth. The whole world has become the dwelling place of the Europeans. Five hundred years ago it was not like this. But after Columbus discovered the Western world and through the development of transportation, the Europeans have spread everywhere. But they have to dwell in Shem’s tent, which becomes a blessing to them. God made Abraham, a descendant of Shem, a blessing to others. This blessing is in the tent of Shem. Many people throughout the whole earth are enjoying the blessings of God in Shem’s tent.
Every person needs a tent in which he can rest and enjoy life. God’s blessing to Abraham, which made him a blessing to others, implies the tent of Shem. When the Lord Jesus came as a seed of Abraham and a descendant of Shem, He became the tent, the tabernacle (John 1:14), which will consummate in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2-3). The New Jerusalem will be God’s eternal tabernacle, His eternal tent, in which numerous Old Testament saints and New Testament believers from all the nations will dwell to participate in the eternal blessing of the eternal life. This is all implied in the blessing God gave to Abraham. God’s second calling with His second speaking as the God of blessing attracted Abraham to go into the good land of the divine promise.
God is revealed as the God of the earth, in His second appearing with His third speaking, in promising Abraham that He would give the land of Canaan to his seed (Gen. 12:6-7). In His first appearing God called Abraham. In His second appearing He promised Abraham that He would give the land of Canaan to his seed. Abraham’s seed, generally speaking, refers to his earthly descendants, the Jews, Israel. But narrowly speaking, the seed refers to Christ (Gal. 3:16).
Even until today, the Jews have not fully inherited the land. They will not fully inherit it until the time of restoration when Christ returns. Christ will return as the unique seed of Abraham and will inherit the good land from the Great Sea, the Mediterranean, to the great river, the river Euphrates. There have been disputes and conferences about the boundaries of the nation of Israel for years, but when Jesus comes back as the unique seed of Abraham, He will clear up the situation and inherit the good land.
God gave this land to Abraham’s seed because God is the God of the land, the God, the Owner, of the earth. The earthly governments may think that their respective territories belong to them, but actually the entire earth belongs to Jehovah God (Psa. 24:1). The God of Abraham is the God of the land. As the Possessor and Owner of the land, He has the right to give it to His friend’s descendants.
The God of Abraham is seen as the God of secret care for His elect in saving Abraham from Pharaoh’s insulting of his wife (Gen. 12:10-20). God exercised His hidden care, His secret care, to save His friend Abraham and his wife. He is the God of secret care for His elect to rescue His elect from their troubles.
God is seen as the God of comfort and encouragement in His fourth speaking to Abraham after Lot left him. In His speaking God promised to give to Abraham and to his seed the land of Canaan as far as he could see in four directions and to make his seed as numerous as the dust of the earth (13:14-17). Abraham and Lot both became rich. They had many flocks, herds, and tents, and the land was too small for them to dwell together. Then Abraham asked Lot to choose the part of the land that he desired, and Lot left him.
Abraham was left in a lonely state. His father was dead, and his nephew Lot departed. Then God came to comfort and encourage him in promising to give him and his seed the land of Canaan as far as he could see and to make his seed as numerous as the dust of the earth. No one can count how many descendants God has given to Abraham, because they are innumerable. Many of his descendants were killed by the four kinds of locusts in Joel 1:4, signifying the Gentile governments with their invading armies. These locusts were like the waves from the Mediterranean Sea, which came to scour Israel as the dust. But regardless of how much the water washed away the dust, there was still some sand left. This is why in Genesis 22:17, Abraham’s descendants are not likened to the dust but to the sand on the seashore. Some of Abraham’s descendants are in the heavens as the stars. Some are the dust, but many of them were scoured away. The ones who remain after the scouring are as the sand on the seashore of the Mediterranean. Through our fellowship, I hope that we can realize that in God’s eyes and in God’s heart, Abraham was a special person.
The God of Abraham is seen as God the Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, in His divine supply with His blessing to Abraham through His priest Melchizedek after Abraham fought the battle against the four kings (14:17-20). He is not only the God of the heaven but also the God of the earth, so He is the Most High. Abraham took three hundred eighteen of his trained servants to defeat the four kings who captured Lot (v. 14). In that victory he recovered Lot and his family with their possessions (v. 16). At that time Abraham needed some supply and refreshment. The priest of God came to serve him with bread and wine as a kind of refreshment, and that refreshment resembled the Lord’s table (Matt. 26:26-28). In the Lord’s table, He supplies us and refreshes us, the tired, weary sinners.
The God of Abraham is revealed as the God of shield and exceedingly great reward in His fifth speaking (this time in a vision) to Abraham (Gen. 15:1-6). A vision is a kind of divine scenery, not a physical scenery. In that vision God spoke to Abraham. After defeating the four kings, Abraham may have been afraid of their avenging. Thus, God came in to tell Abraham that He would be a shield to protect him. He would also be Abraham’s reward for his rescue of Lot. God was concerned for Lot, and Abraham cooperated with God to rescue him. This was a real credit to Abraham before God, so God rewarded him for this. This shows us that God is very fine in taking care of His people.
In His fifth speaking in a vision to Abraham, God also promised Abraham that his heavenly seed in their divine nature would be as many as the stars in heaven, which could never be touched by anyone on earth. Abraham believed in Jehovah, and Jehovah accounted this believing to him for righteousness (vv. 5-6). In Romans 4 Paul considers this as the example of justification. God is the shield, God is the exceedingly great reward, and God is also the Justifier. God’s justifying of Abraham meant that God became happy with Abraham and that Abraham was altogether in harmony with God. He was altogether acceptable to God, having no problem with God.
God is revealed as the God of faithfulness in His sixth speaking to Abraham in his deep sleep. In Genesis 15:1-6 God spoke to Abraham in a vision. In 15:12-21 God went on to speak to him when he was in a deep sleep. God spoke to Abraham in a dream, foretelling that his earthly seed in their human nature as “the dust of the earth” (13:16) would be sojourners in Egypt. They would be aliens in a foreign country and live there, serve the Egyptians, be afflicted by them for four hundred years, and in the fourth generation return to Canaan. Because of His faithfulness in keeping His promise, He also made a covenant with him to assure him of His faithfulness in His promise that He has given to his seed the land from the river of Egypt, the Nile, to the great river, the river Euphrates. Such a covenant was a confirmation of God’s promise to Abraham in 12:7; 13:14-17.
God is also seen as the God of silence to Abraham. This was due to the fact that Abraham listened to his wife Sarah and married Hagar to get a son by the exercise of his flesh when he was eighty-six years old (16:1-4, 15-16). That offended God to the uttermost. Then God became silent to Abraham for thirteen years, until he became ninety-nine years old, and God appeared to him again (17:1).
After Abraham was called out of Haran and went into Canaan, “Jehovah appeared to Abram and said, To your seed I will give this land” (12:7). This word spoken to Abraham was God’s promise to him, indicating that God would give a seed to him to inherit the land of Canaan as his possession.
When Abraham’s nephew Lot was separated from him, leaving him lonely with no heir to inherit his possession, God said to him, “All the land that you see I will give to you and to your seed forever. And I will make your seed as the dust of the earth” (13:15-16). This was to repeat the promise to Abraham in 12:7, with a strong confirmation of God’s unchangeable promise to make his seed as numerous as the dust of the earth.
When Abraham was afraid that the four kings might come to seek vengeance, after he had recovered his nephew Lot and his family from the four capturing kings, at this point in Genesis 15 God spoke to Abraham in a vision. God promised him that his seed would be as many as the stars in heaven (v. 5) and made a covenant with him. In Genesis 12 God spoke a word as a promise to Abraham. In Genesis 13 God repeated that promise and confirmed it. In Genesis 15 God made a covenant with Abraham (vv. 8-12, 18) to reconfirm that promise.
In spite of God’s repeated promise and His confirming covenant, in Genesis 16 Abraham’s wife proposed that he take Hagar her maid to bear a child for her (vv. 1-3). Abraham took, by exercising his flesh, Hagar, and she bore a son by the name of Ishmael. This was a real offense to God. And God became silent to Abraham for that long time of thirteen years.
When Abraham was ninety-nine years old, God came in to reconfirm His covenant, which became a covenant of circumcision (17:9-14). In God’s third appearing with His seventh speaking to Abraham, He is the God of all-sufficiency in being the God of circumcision to cut off His chosen people’s natural man in the flesh so that they may become God’s new creation, signified by Isaac who was born by God’s grace, not as Ishmael who was born by Abraham’s flesh (vv. 1-21; Gal. 4:22-31).
Circumcision is the cutting off of the flesh, signifying that the flesh of our fallen man, our natural man, has to be cut off, ended, terminated. The apostle Paul said that the physical circumcision in the Old Testament was a full type of the crucifixion of Christ in dealing with the flesh of our body (Col. 2:11). Christ’s death on the cross, His crucifixion, is our real circumcision which cuts off our flesh with its passions and its lusts (Gal. 5:24).
Even after God had made the covenant of circumcision with Abraham, he still did not want to give up Ishmael (Gen. 17:18). He asked God to let Ishmael remain, but God told him that He would establish His covenant only with Isaac (v. 19). God would recognize only Abraham’s seed who was brought forth by Sarah. According to Galatians 4, Isaac was a type of one born of grace, and grace is typified by Sarah (vv. 22-31). Only one who is born of God’s grace will be counted by God as a legal seed, a legal heir, to inherit what God has promised to Abraham and what God has covenanted with Abraham.
Circumcision indicates that God wants our natural man to be cut off. Then God wants us to be reborn by His grace in resurrection, typified by Isaac. Thus, Genesis 17 reveals Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. The crucifixion is to cut off the old man; the resurrection is to bring forth, or to beget, the new man, and the new man is signified by Isaac.
The birth of Isaac is a sign of Christ’s resurrection. God would recognize only the people brought forth by Christ’s resurrection as the legal seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:29). In Genesis 17 Christ’s crucifixion is signified by circumcision, and Christ’s resurrection is signified by Sarah’s begetting Isaac. First Peter 1:3 says that we all have been regenerated by the resurrection of Christ. Christ’s crucifixion is a termination, and His resurrection is a germination. Christ’s death terminated our old man, and Christ’s resurrection germinated our new man to make us the new creation.
Isaac was born of the free woman, born of grace. He was a pattern of the New Testament believers. We, the New Testament believers, are all born of the free woman, the grace of God. Thus, Isaac as Abraham’s seed typifies both Christ (Gal. 3:16) and all of the New Testament believers (v. 29). Christ is the Head, and the believers are His Body. Isaac was not born by the flesh of the old man but by God’s grace in resurrection.
In Genesis 17:1 God appeared to Abraham and declared to him that He is the God of all-sufficiency. Most of the versions translate this as “the almighty God,” but the Hebrew word here indicates all-sufficiency. Genesis 17 actually covers the new covenant, the new testament. God’s economy in the New Testament is all-sufficient. In the New Testament we have everything. We have the death of Christ to cut off our old man, and we have the new birth through Christ’s resurrection. Through Christ’s death and resurrection, we have everything in the New Testament. Philippians 1:19 indicates that the Spirit of Jesus Christ has a bountiful supply that is all-sufficient.
From this point God acted as a friend to Abraham. God with His human friendship came (in His fourth appearing with His eighth speaking to Abraham) as a man, in the form of a man, to visit Abraham as His friend (2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; James 2:23) on the level of humanity (Gen. 18—19).
The first time God visited man was when He visited Adam. Adam became fallen, and God came to seek him. God asked Adam, “Where are you?” (3:9). With Abraham, God’s visit was different. He came to visit Abraham as His friend on the level of humanity, not on the level of divinity. God did not appear to Abraham as a divine being but as a human being. As a man, God came to talk to Abraham, and Abraham gave Him water for Him to wash His feet. Abraham also served this One a meal prepared by his wife. This is all on the human level.
God’s appearing to Moses was different from this because it was on the level of divinity. In Isaiah 6 God appeared to Isaiah as the One on the throne in the heavens. That was also His appearing on the level of divinity. But here in Genesis 18 the appearing of God was on the level of humanity. Abraham walked with God, and God conversed with Abraham as one human friend to another. I believe that Abraham’s walking with God was different from Enoch’s walking with God (5:24). I do not believe that Enoch walked with God as with a man. But Abraham walked with God as with a man, and God conversed with Abraham as a human friend. He spoke to Abraham concerning His judgment of Sodom, where Abraham’s nephew Lot and his family lived. God came to His friend to rescue His friend’s nephew. Again, we can see God’s hidden care, His secret care, for Lot as one of His elect.
The God with friendship in humanity is revealed in His sending of Abraham’s nephew and his two daughters out from the overthrow of Sodom, for the remembrance of Abraham as His intimate friend (19:29, 12-22). The God of Abraham is a God of human friendship, and Abraham’s God is our God.
Genesis 20 shows us the almighty God with His friendly care, in saving His close friend Abraham, with His almighty power, from the loss of his wife to Abimelech, king of Gerar. God caused that king’s family to lose the capacity to beget children (vv. 17-18). That was God’s exercise of His almighty power. Then God told that king that Abraham would pray for him. Abraham later prayed for him, and the women of his house were healed. God exercised a friendly care for Abraham by His almighty power.
God is also the God of changelessness in keeping the principle of His grace, in recognizing Isaac, Abraham’s son of Sarah, as his only son, in His ninth speaking to Abraham (21:1-12). The God of Abraham is the God of changelessness in keeping His word, His promise.
Genesis 22:1-10 reveals the God with His trial, in proving Abraham, His intimate human friend, by asking him to present his only son, whom he loved, for a burnt offering to God, in His tenth speaking to Abraham.
Genesis 22:11-14 reveals the Triune God of provision, in His providing a ram to replace Isaac for a burnt offering to God (as the Angel of Jehovah — Christ). This was God’s eleventh speaking to Abraham. The One who spoke to Abraham was Jehovah, yet this was the Angel of Jehovah. Therefore, in Genesis 22 we see Christ in two aspects. Christ is typified as a ram and is seen as the Angel of Jehovah. The ram is the substitute for sinners, and the Angel of Jehovah is the One who serves Jehovah in taking care of God’s friend.
The Triune God of blessing, in His twelfth (last) speaking to Abraham, promised him that He (as the Angel of Jehovah — Christ) would bless him and multiply his seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand upon the seashore, and in Abraham’s seed (Christ) all the nations of the earth would be blessed (vv. 15-18).
The God of Abraham is seen as the God of friendship on the human level, in leading the old servant of His friend Abraham to secure a wife for his son Isaac (ch. 24). Though this was not directly motivated by God, it was carried out by God. Abraham charged his old servant to find Isaac a wife, and his old servant did it by following God’s leading.
As a whole, the God of Abraham is the God of speaking in appearing, with calling, in a vision, and in the human friendship, to unveil to His intimate friend on the earth what He aspired for him to be and what He wanted him to do according to His heart’s desire for the accomplishment of the eternal economy for the Divine Trinity. What God did was in His friendship with a human friend, but this was for the accomplishment of God’s economy. This is because God wanted this friend to have a seed and that seed is Christ, who is the centrality and universality of God’s eternal economy. Thus, in the life of Abraham we see the beginning, the foundation, of the accomplishment of God’s eternal economy. For the accomplishment of His economy, God dealt with Abraham in the way of human friendship.
The way God worked on Abraham is the way He works on the believers in the New Testament. The first one justified by faith was Abraham (15:6). Paul says that Abraham is the father of all those who are justified by faith, so Abraham is the father of all the New Testament believers (Gal. 3:6-7). Our father’s God should be our God.
On the morning of His resurrection the Lord Jesus told His disciples that He was ascending to His Father and our Father and to His God and our God (John 20:17). Thus, the God of Abraham and the God of Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:17a) both are the God of the New Testament believers. In the relationship between God and us, the Bible puts us on the same standing not only as Abraham but also as Jesus Christ. Oh, what a wonder! Since we are the sons of Abraham in Christ (Gal. 3:29), his God is our God, and since we are one with Christ (v. 27), His God is also our God. To explain this fully, the entire New Testament from Matthew 1 to Revelation 22 is needed.
The God of Abraham is the God of crucifixion, signified by circumcision, and the God of resurrection for the new birth of God’s elect by God’s grace. Hence, this God is the God of His New Testament with His New Testament blessing for His New Testament economy. Today we are enjoying the New Testament blessing in Christ. Faith in Christ brings us into the blessing that God promised to Abraham, which is the promise of the all-inclusive Spirit, who has the bountiful supply (Phil. 1:19), as the New Testament blessing (Gal. 3:9, 14). We can never forget that, as the seed of Abraham, we have his God as our God, in whom we participate for our divine enjoyment, nor can we disregard that, as the members of Christ, we have His God as our God, who is our eternal portion in His eternal life.
