Genesis 15:6 “And he believed in the Lord, and He
accounted it to him for righteousness.”
Relating faith to righteousness is an undeniable path
towards glory. The fundamental teaching of our faith is that we do not deserve
heaven but by grace we enter it. The only righteousness that we could gain is by
believing. This has to be understood properly as there was not one person in
the whole bible who could claim that he was righteous. Job said that he is
clothed with righteousness when talking about his charity earlier (29:14) but
in the next chapter he describes that his garment has disfigured (30:18). This
does not mean that Job had sinned during his time of trouble, but his
righteousness was not there. This is the same tone where we find our
righteousness as a filthy garment in Isaiah 64:6.
Many times we confuse righteousness with obedience.
Obedience is just living up to expectations but righteousness is excellence. Without
the existence of God excellence becomes impossible as there is none to
validate. And since it is God who is validating our deeds, we are expected to
present our deeds in the ways which please God. Deuteronomy 6:25 is one verse
that says obedience is righteousness. But this verse is given in a context
where the whole law to which we have to obey was given with a purpose of
preserving us alive and there is no excellence there. In Gen 15:7, God explains
Abram that Abram did not come to Canaan by himself by God had brought him. This
means that in obedience, God did not see any credits for Abram. The steering
wheel was in God’s hands and Abram was just participating in the trip. The
initial instructions to Abram were given so that God wanted separation as the first
step. At most times this separation alone gives us immense satisfaction and
holds us from progressing. Once more example where God does not honor man’s hard
work is seen in Deuteronomy 9:4-5. This explains 15:16 where God talks about
the iniquity of the Amorites. In our lives, blessings and success do not declare
that we are righteous but just that God is executing his plans, but our faith
and dependency on God clearly shows.
For Abraham, God accounts his faith as righteousness and
this was the first ever good thing God saw in Abram. Earlier Abram had obeyed
God sincerely and had been through trouble like famine and exile while in the
new land. Abram had also been very wise in rejecting gold from the king of
Sodom in the previous chapter’s end. But, here when he had just believed what
God had said, God saw that deed as righteousness. We do not see believing as a
deed or a task itself. All that we think that pleases God does not please him. If
we think that we are doing great by giving charity, it becomes self-righteousness.
This is not hated by God but it is neither loved. But there are some instant
actions which gain the Lord’s acceptance to us like in Gen 17:1-4 where God
wants Abram to walk blameless in front of God for the covenant but once Abram
fell on his face down, God was very pleased enough to initiate the covenant.
This is our God who longs for our personal relationship with Him rather than
just doing good deeds.
Even in Chapter 18 where Abraham intercedes for Sodom, we
can see God not appreciating it. The reason is that Abraham did not trust in
God’s wisdom and was asking the Almighty to be righteous. We can see God
getting furious and Abraham trying to slowdown His anger by begging while
interceding. But our first verse where Abraham believed God is almighty and
will multiply him without argument and God was very happy with this action. This
is the dependency God always appreciates. To build this dependency, we have to
build our trust on God. In 19th chapter, we read Lot not taking the
advice of the angels to flee to the mountains and staying in Zoar. If he had
been to the mountains, he might not have lost his wife.
The greatest honor Abraham got was in Chapter 22 where he
was willing to sacrifice his own son. When Issac was asking about the sacrificial
lamb in verse 8, Abraham does not answer bluntly but says “My Son”, you are everything
God has promised me. God will provide for Himself a lamb and another generation
through which He will do His will. Isaac was not just his son of old age, all
other hopes of descendants is gone as everybody is sent away. But still Abraham
submitted because he feared Lord (verse 12). He also ensured to remove every
possible hindrance to his submission. That’s why from “Lord will provide for
Himself”, Abraham changes his testimony to “The Lord will provide.” The decision
is God may not bless me but yet I will submit. This kind of submission is
complete selflessness and God honors that a lot. We read God swearing on
Himself to bless Abraham with actual blessings and multiply with the best of
multiplying. God was overwhelmed when Abraham submitted his all hopes to the
Lord without any expectation.
Abraham made Isaac carry the wood, which explains how we
should keep our hopes ready and submissive for being the sacrifice. We may be
ready to send our children as missionaries, but are we raising them as one? We
may be ready to sacrifice all our wealth if God demands, but are we making sure
that they are now used to glorify God?
Many evidences connect the mountain of sacrifice with
Golgotha. The verse does not say Mount Moriah as the location of Solomon’s
Temple (2 Chronicles 3:1) but it says a mountain in the land of Moriah and Golgotha
is in the same location as the city of Jerusalem and will be a highest place.
Also, we specifically read Isaac carrying his wood just like Jesus carrying the
cross. The connection is very important as It is God’s requirement the best of
our possessions and hope should be submitted to God completely. God did that
action first by sending His Son as the sacrificial lamb. We need to trust our
future to God (Mat 16:24,25). We should be ready to lose our life. Abraham did
not have hope of God’s kingdom but yet he was willing to give. But we know
where we are going to. Being ready to lose is not that hard. Carrying our cross
helps us always remember that we are living sacrifices. Isaac escaped from
being the sacrifice but Jesus didn’t.
Amen.
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