12 th March: 2 nd Sunday in Lent

Abraham, blessing of the world

From the eating of the forbidden fruit (3), the fratricide committed by Cain (4), the corruption of the people in Noah’s time (6–9), to the building of the Tower of Babel (11), the prehistory of Genesis is focused on depicting the sinful and disobedient nature of humans. All these events may be seen as a preparatory step for the appearance of Abraham, a figure who emerges immediately after. Through Abraham, the history of God’s salvific work for the sinful human race finally began.

At the historical moment when God called Abraham, God commanded him to “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” Unlike the world nowadays, when information about other regions is easily accessible and living in harmony with other peoples is possible, during these ancient times it was unrealistic to leave one’s own hometown and kindred to wander into the world of the unknown. To understand how terrible it was to be cut off from connections and blood relations, one need only look at the example of Cain, who was punished by God to become “a wanderer on the earth” after he murdered his brother Abel. Indeed, as Cain exclaims, “My punishment is greater than I can bear!” (Gen 4:13): the prospect of being a wanderer and not knowing where to go was extremely terrifying.

Regardless, Abraham obeyed God’s command to leave his own country. This obedience to God without asking questions was what made Abraham’s faith special. God had not yet revealed to Abraham the location of the new land. He only told him about “the land that I will show you.” Still, Abraham left his home trusting in God’s words alone. Literally, “he set out, not knowing where he was going” (Heb 11:8). Abraham did not know where he was going, but he knew very well who was going with him. He was able to set out knowing that God would be with him everywhere he went.

God is not a tyrant who desires absolute obedience to unrealistic commands. Lying behind all of God’s commands is an intention to provide the best, and one receives the best things that God has planned if one obeys him. In fact, this pattern of command-promise, as shown in the case of Abraham, was later repeated with his son Isaac (26:1–3) and with Isaac’s son Jacob (46:1–5). ¹ God’s promise is fulfilled for those who obey his commands.

God promised an amazing blessing to Abraham. God said that He would make Abraham into “a great nation” and that He would make his name “great”. As a way to explain this more specifically, God repeatedly promised that Abraham’s offspring would be countless in number (13:16, 15:5, 17:4–6, 22:17, 26:4, 28:14), and that He would provide land for his future generations (12:7, 13:14–17, 15:7, 17:8, 26:3, 28:13).

Abraham receives a privilege, and the rights of this privilege were great, for it stated that God would side absolutely with Abraham. God says, “I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse” (Gen 12:3a). This presents God’s will to protect—that is, for the one who has chosen to walk God’s path, God ensures that “The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night” (Ps 121:6). Such a promise of protection is repeated when Isaac blesses Jacob (Gen 27:29) and when Balaam blesses Israel (Num 24:9). As well as standing by Abraham, God also stands with Jacob and Israel. To reiterate, God’s blessing to Abraham is not limited to just Abraham as an individual; God’s interest goes beyond Abraham as an individual to his future generations, the Israelites, and to all nations of the entire world. Within Abraham, “all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God’s love and his salvific plan towards the entire world are most well summarized in the following verse: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16). When God called Abraham, He already had in mind this plan of salvation. Therefore, the calling of Abraham was the beginning of a grand plan that does not stop at the salvation of Israel but leads to the salvation of all humanity. When God was indicating to Abraham that “you will be a blessing”, it could be understood as having this soteriological intention already embedded in it. The Apostle Paul elucidates this as follows: “So you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.’ For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed” (Gal 3:7–9).

The important thing, however, is that God did not only call Abraham. The same God who called Abraham also calls us today. As God called Abraham to be a blessing, He also desires each of us to be a blessing to the world. In this modern age (compared with the time of Abraham), individuals and society, nations and countries are much more deeply connected to one another. The environment is configured in such a way that the lives of individuals can now assert much more influence on their surroundings and the world. Taking advantage of this, when we influence our family, nation, country, and the world to change, and when we assert a good influence and spread the gospel of Christ, only then can we fulfill our roles as a blessing in this world.

Abraham was originally from the city of Ur, located to the south of the Mesopotamian region and when he received God’s command he was staying at Haran in northern Mesopotamia. Interestingly, however, both of these regions were places where the Mesopotamian moon god Sin (Akkadian) or Nanna (Sumerian) was being worshipped. Hence, when God commanded Abraham to leave his hometown, he was in fact ordering Abraham to leave the pagan environment for a new spiritual order where God alone was worshipped. If Abraham’s life was about relying on connections and blood relations, he was now being asked to change his life into one that relied only on God. When Abraham left his hometown in obedience to God’s command, he was in fact expressing his will to live his life from then on relying on God alone.

Let us apply this to our lives. What is it that we are trusting in? Is it blood relations, connections, money, power, or reputation? Do we live our lives relying on these things? Or are we truly relying on God alone? Do we live our daily lives confessing that “My help comes from the Lord” (Ps 121:2)? Continually putting ourselves under this self-examination, and striving to choose a life where we rely solely on God—this is the point of difference between a believer and a non-believer. When we live such a life, we can become a blessing to the world, and this is a privilege given only to believers.