Three Insights from Genesis 12:1, 15:1, and 17:1

12:1 – “The Lord said to Abram” marks the beginning of divine speech.  This is God’s word to Abram that is designed to grasp a hold of our attention and take notes. This should be true of anytime God speaks, but this certainly held a special bookmark for writer’s audience. God’s command to Abram is to “Go.” He is to leave three things (collectively understood to mean ‘homeland’), and to go to one thing: “The land that I will show you.”

As Arnold notes, this is the “first of several lexical links between Gen 12 and 22, the first and last times Yahweh speaks to Abaram” (pg. 130). These “bookend” chapters serve to tell the story of Abraham to show the importance of “divine command followed by radical obedience” (pg. 130). The life and legacy of Abraham reveal the faithfulness of God. God’s plan is to create a new “family,” a new “household.” The obedience and dependence of Abram to “go” makes possible the fulfilling of God’s promise.

15:1 – “The word of the Lord came to Abram….” Arnold notes how this phrase is used in prophetic literature and is only found here in all the Pentateuch. He then describes the intent to show Abram as a prophet. I have never thought about Abram/Abraham as a prophet, but Arnold draws some very interesting (and convincing) connections. Again, Arnold notes that God’s words to Abram are prophetic because they are not only just for him, but for his promised children, and the whole nation of Israel.

Prophecy is understood in a dual sense of both saving and judging. I think the vision given to Abram includes both elements. I would suggest:

God says to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield, your very great reward.” The shield is a defensive weapon and is understood metaphorically for protection (saving?). God says he is a “very great reward.” The reward for Abram’s faithfulness and obedience is the fulfilling of the promises of God.

A reward is given to those who faithfully and obediently fulfill some type of expectation. The converse of reward is punishment…or judgment. Therefore, I don’t think it is too far of a stretch to see the prophetic within this verse. In fact, looking at the verse this way gives more strength to Arnold, who has little to say in regard to “reward.”

17:1 – The opening verse of chapter 17 is an extremely important verse. It reveals much about the nature and character of God as well as His expectations for those who would follow after Him. As Arnold notes, the writer opens this chapter by referring to God as “Yahweh.” This makes the point that the same God who revealed Himself to Moses and the Israelites at the giving of the covenant is the same covenant-making God with Abram. God is revealing Himself to Abraham as He similarly was revealed to Moses. Arnold says that God is “pulling back the curtain on himself as it were, allowing himself – even presenting himself – in theophanic certainty. How does God reveal himself to Abram? As El Shadday, “God Almighty.” Here, we see the connection between Yahweh and El Shadday is the same God of the Israelites, the covenants, and all of Israel’s ancestors. “God Almighty” was a special revelatory name understood by Israel’s early ancestors and Yahweh is God’s revealing name about Himself to the Israelites. The writer connects them here, signifying God’s nature and identity.

Putting the writer’s and God’s words together to make Yahweh, God Almighty, is helpful in communicating and understanding the majesty and transcendence of God. (This is only a helpful insight; nothing more.) It gives Abram assurance of God’s promises and covenant. Thus, how God reveals himself to Abram is almost as important as the mandate (imperative) that is given to him.  God says, “walk before me, and be blameless” (v. 1). What else should we expect from such a Holy God? That God would say ‘walk blamelessly before me’ (pg. 169) seems a minimal expectation for Yahweh, God Almighty. Yet, El Shadday demands that we live our lives characterized by “unobjectionable acceptability” (pg. 169). In this way, we constantly live for God by gratefully (and graciously) accepting His will while maintaining the highest integrity with how we conduct ourselves. I believe this establishes a precedent in scripture. I don’t believe this was imperative meant just for Abram/Abraham, but for all of Abraham’s descendents and all who would become believers.

Genesis 11:8-9

Gen. 11:8-9

I wonder if it may be beneficial to note a few similarities between God splitting up humanity and the animals after the flood (Gen. 9:2) and the dispersing of humanity at the tower of Babel. Ultimately, in both situations, God had the best in mind for all parties. It is out of His grace that He causes division.

In causing “fear and dread” among the animal kingdom, God separates Noah from the animals he and his family have been taking care of for the past year. In my speculation, this may be a protection against complacency and dependence of the animals upon the humans (as in domestication). So God causes a division among them so that both may be able to fulfill their original blessings in Gen. 1.

The scattering at the tower of Babel sneaks of some similarities, I think. Here, God confounds/confuses the language of the builders, which causes division among them. This is out of grace that God does this. For sure, without such a gracious action humanity would again find itself in a Gen. 6:1-2 scenario. With such pride (hubris), nothing would stop humanity. Therefore, God confounds their language and scatters them. Dr. Coleson notes the repeating of the adverb “there” twice in verse 9, “because there Yahweh confused the speech of all the earth, and from there Yahweh dispersed them across the face of all the earth” (Coleson, pg. 294). Similarly, as God caused a protective separation of humanity and animals, here God is protectively separating humanity from itself. In fact, by doing this God is further enabling humanity to fulfill His blessings to Noah and his sons instructed at the departure of the Ark.

Coleson also notes that “the place that generation had refused to leave became the place to which most of them never again returned” (Coleson, pg. 294). Perhaps we can take into consideration that the speculation of God dividing humanity and animals after the flood was to protect the animal kingdom from complacency. Perhaps, then, we may be able to draw a line here to show that similarly God is protecting humanity from such a similar complacency within itself. Perhaps humanity would become too proud and contented with its own existence that it would once again push God out into the margins.