.
Abraham was given a promise from God that his off spring would inherit the land of
Cannan as a reward for his belief and faithfulness.
The promises weren't Abraham's reward; no; his reward was the oath that
notarized the promises. Here's how the promises are worded in their original
language.
†. Gen 12
:1-3
. . Now Yhvh had said to Abram
: Get out of your country,
from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show
you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name
great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I
will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall
be blessed.
†. Gen 15
:4-5
. . And behold, the word of Yhvh came to him, saying
: This
one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall
be your heir. Then He brought him outside and said
: Look now toward
heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them. And He said to
him
: So shall your progeny be.
What's missing in the original language? Answer
: an oath. Does that mean
the promises as per Gen 12
:1-3 and Gen 15
:4-5 were incomplete? No; they
were good as gold as-is. But this next version of the promises contains an
added benefit.
†. Gen 22
:16-18
. . By Myself I have sworn—testifies Yhvh —because you
have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son
: in
blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your progeny as
the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your
progeny shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your progeny all the
nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.
Don't you see? Abraham didn't earn the promises by offering Isaac, no, he
earned the oath.
†. Gen 26
:3-5
. . Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for
to you and your progeny I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath
which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your progeny
multiply as the stars of heaven
: I will give to your progeny all these lands;
and in your progeny all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because
Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My
statutes, and My laws.
Yhvh would have made good on the promises He made to Abraham at Gen
12
:1-3 and Gen 15
:4-5 without having to swear to it. I mean
: after all God's
word is His bond. The oath was icing on the cake. It was done for Abraham's
and his progeny's sake (in this case Isaac) to assure them the promises
were in the bag no matter what.
†. Heb 6
:16-17
. . For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for
confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to
show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His
counsel, confirmed it by an oath.
Yes; and that oath was hard-won. It required nothing less than the sacrifice
of Isaac's life. Don't ever forget that; in point of fact, you might even wish to
take advantage of it; viz
: "in your progeny all the nations of the earth shall
be blessed" refers to Christ.
†. Heb 6
:18-20
. . By two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God
to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold
of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both
sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where
the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest
forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Mel officiated as a priest of God prior to Moses' covenanted law. Therefore,
since Bible law isn't retroactive, then Mel's constituents weren't obligated to
comply with Moses' law; and one of his more famous constituents was
Abraham.
Did Abraham have a license to steal? No. Though he was above Moses' law,
he wasn't above Noah's law; which stipulates the death penalty for murder,
and forbids dining upon bleeding flesh
.
But the important thing to get out of all this is that Christ is a Melchizedekian kind of
priest; which means his constituents are above Moses' covenanted law too.
†. Ps 110
:4
. .Yhvh has sworn and will not relent
: You are a priest forever
after the manner of Melchizedek.
Cliff
/