I have been looking at Abraham over the last few days, but you do realise that he was saved through grace and faith in what God was relaying to him about Jesus, long before the law was given.
The people of Israel, those who were enslaved, were redeemed FIRST , the law came later ......
The law did not save them
The law did not redeem them
The relationship between them and The Lord already existed before the law was given.......
What I found interesting we’re Ismael and Isaac
Tow pictures of salvation .......
Ismael was born according to the flesh , the result of human reasoning , sinful effort, mans way ( best human effort/ reasoning ) Helping God and presuming he cant do it without us.
Isaac- The result of Gods promise , trusting God in his promise alone , mans helplessness reaching out for divine help .........
The Israelites were brought into a relationship with God, which they were to respond to out of gratitude - the law was an expression of that act, the law doesn’t have any power to save. The law was given to them later as guidelines on how to protect themselves - it’s relevant and valid, but if you place the law higher than redemption then you are choosing to be an Ismael rather than an Isaac !!!
Just some thoughts from a study I was doing yesterday .........
Rita