Articles
LESSONS FROM THE BOOK OF GENESIS (Part 2)
Lessons Learned from Abraham
God told Abram, “I will bless thee, and make thy name great” (Gen. 12:2). This great promise, however, came with stipulations. One of the first words that comes to mind when one thinks about Abraham is the word FAITH. Brother Garland Elkins wrote, “What is faith? “Faith” is defined in these words: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen (Heb. 11:1, [ASV]). Therefore, faith is the ability to see the unseen” (Elkins 293). One is fortunate to read about the great extent of Abraham’s faith shown throughout the pages of the bible. Abraham was called by God to leave his home land and family (Gen. 12:1; Heb. 11:8), promised a son in his old age through his barren wife (Gen 17:16), and then later commanded to offer that son as a sacrifice unto God (Gen. 22:2). Garland Elkins profoundly explains,
We are not informed as to what transpired that night, but we can imagine how difficult it must have been to think of offering Isaac, the child of promise, his only begotten son by Sarah. When Abraham had interceded for Lot, he said, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Will he be strong enough in his faith and confidence to believe that God will do right in this command to him to offer Isaac his son? Job said, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him " (Job . 13:15). Abraham's attitude was, "Though he slay my son, yet will I trust him (Elkins 294).
Though God made great promises unto Abraham, it was still the responsibility of Abraham to wholly follow the commands God had laid before him.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Rom. 8:28). While the faith of Abraham is remarkable, it pales in comparison to the fulfillment of promise shown by God. God brought forth His will, in spite of moments that Abraham and Sarah had doubts (Gen. 12:13-20, Gen. 16:1-6, Gen. 20:1-7). How comforting it is to know that God’s ways are greater than man’s ways (Isa. 55:8,9),and that God is faithful and capable to fulfill His promises to mankind when one obeys God righteously (Deut. 7:9; Lam. 3:22,23; Rom. 8:38,39; Heb. 10:23). The commandments of God are worthy of absolute faith and obedi-ence, because God is faithful to fulfill His promises! - Josh Walker
