God’s Promise to Abraham
From “As Far As the Curse is Found” by Michael Williams pgs 108-109
THE CALL OF ABRAHAM
The Missional Purpose of God’s Covenant with Abraham
- Even though the word covenant (Hebrew: berith) does not appear in connection with Abraham until Genesis 15:18, God’s call in Genesis 12:1-3 expresses the heart of the Abrahamic covenant.
- The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you
- I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you;
- I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
- I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
- ESV
- 1 Now the Lord said [1] to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
- 2 And 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 him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
- Most commentators today agree that the New International Version above is somewhat insensitive to the syntax of the passage.
- The text begins with an imperative, a divine command for Abraham to uproot himself from his father’s house and homeland.
- Then follows a string of three subordinate clauses, three divine volitional declarations:
- I will make you into a great nation.
- I will bless you.
- I will make your name great.
- The final clause of Genesis 12:2 is the problem.
- While the NIV translates it as “and you will be a blessing,” it is actually a purpose clause.
- Thus it would better be translated “so that you will be a blessing.” [as in the ESV above]
- In light of this, we see that the three promises are God’s enabling provision for Abraham that equip him for his mission to be a blessing.
- The third verse displays a similar structure: subordinate clauses (only two this time) followed by a purpose clause:
- I will bless those who bless you,
- but whoever curses you I will curse,
- so that by you all the peoples on the earth will be blessed.
- These purpose clauses function as the two primary clauses in the text:
- so that you will be a blessing
- so that by you all the peoples on the earth will be blessed.
- All of this underscores the main point of this chapter: that by narrowing his concern to Abraham, God is not turning his back on all others.
- God’s election of Abraham is not a parochial dismissal of his former cosmic concern.
- It must be remembered that the God who calls Abraham is the God who has called the creation into existence and who has called all humankind to reflect his character and steward his creation.
- That sovereign kingly call is not being surrendered here.
- Rather, the relation between God and all the families of the earth will now depend on Abraham and his descendants, his seed, mediating the blessings of the covenant to all.
- God calls Abraham and his descendants to serve the well-being of all, by being the people of God, by being the kind of community that all men are called to be by their Creator.’
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