Abraham – God Begins to Bring Humanity Back to the Covenant
Even though humanity had given up on the Covenant, God never has. The rest of Salvation History is the story of God gently calling us back to the Divine Family by teaching us how to trust, obey and love Him. God takes the first step with a man named Abaram.
The main lesson that god wanted to teach Abram was to trust and obey Him. He called Abram to go on a journey, but He did not tell Abram where he was going. During this trip, God challenged Abram to rely on Him. Abram struggled to do so, and suffered when he failed. However, he grew in trust.
The core of this lesson in trusting God was God’s promise that Abram would be the father of a great nation. God waited until he and his wife were too old to have children before He finally announced that He would fulfill his promise. Again, Abram and his wife Sarai struggled to trust in God’s promise and tried to take matters into their own hands. However, God is true to His promise and Sarai gives birth to Isaac, the son of the promise.
Sarah lauging while Abramham receives the promise of a son
The height of Abram’s lesson to trust God comes in the well-known story in which God asks Abram to sacrifice his son. While it would be enough of a test for any father to be asked by God to sacrifice his son, this request from God had a very specific purpose. He was asking Abram to give up the only means through which the promise could come true. By being willing to obey God’s impossible command, Abram shows that he has finally learned to trust God completely. God would make this right. God would fulfill His promise one way or another. God knew what He was doing. Abram needed only to obey and trust. Of course, God never intended for Abram to kill Isaac. He would fulfill His promise through the son of the promise.
Once Abram learned the first lesson of love, God changed his name to Abraham and confirmed to him the three promises
- Abraham was to receive a multitude of descendents
- his descendents would receive the Promised Land
- and the entire world would eventually be blessed through him.
God now raises these promises to the status of a Covenant. Abraham and Sarah are now “back in the family” and will be the vehicle through which God brings humanity back to the Covenant. Abraham’s descendants will continue to learn and struggle to trust and obey God. However, the foundation set in Abraham will keep them anchored to God.