Individual Election, Covenant Succession & Trinity

Gen 15:1-3a; 22:1-2a
After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring"...Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering"...

Do you see covenant succession in these passages, or do you see a man who learned his portion is the Triune God? What I mean is this: as a Calvinist, and especially as a Presbyterian, it is simple to see here covenant succession with God sparing Isaac and confirming to Abraham that he would have a seed that would fill the whole earth...and of course, to see Isaac is a type of Christ, a blameless sacrifice to be offered up for the benefit of those who believe.

I read through these chapters several days ago and it hit me that God added clarity to His promise when He spoke to Abraham in Genesis 15. He told Abraham (Abram, then) that He is his shield and his exceedingly great reward...and I don't believe Abraham quite "got it" yet. He responds immediately by wondering who is he going to pass this reward on to.

To establish a line for Abraham, God must establish Abraham...to establish Abraham, he must be rooted in God. To be rooted in God, he must be willing to discard what is of most value to himself. To many who read this passage, they come up with theoretical contradictions or some vain existential philosophy where the "ethical" is suspended...I'd rather not delve into such superfluous options.

What we have here is a contrast...a contradiction to those reasoning as mere men. God had to bring something out of Abraham in order to establish His Promise. Was God his exceedingly great reward? Had Abraham not obeyed, it would demonstrate that he only saw his son as the promise of God...no, Abraham was the father of faith: He shows that God is his exceedingly great reward. Had he not been willing to kill Isaac, he would have shown that God is not a reward worth passing on as an inheritance. To lose his fellowship with God was worse to him than losing his son. So true was God to him that we are told in Hebrews (by way of divine commentary) that Abraham believed God would raise Isaac from the dead.

To Christians like me, we look for the Promise to be to our children. We see children as a gift and we look toward the future...this is antithetical to much of current evangelicalism which focuses on individualism. These professing believers see little (if any) continuity between their faith and the faith of their fathers...so focused are they on themselves that their children abandon the faith for agnosticism or Romanism. The latter being a trap many Reformed men have fallen into as of late. They have so reacted to individualism that they embrace external means of salvation and a "historical" structure...the individual dies at the expense of the many.

The life of the believer is Trinitarian. God is One in Essence and Three in Person: Neither has supremacy over the other...the Essence and the Persons are equally supreme so as to make the dispensing of one to be the dispensing of all.

If you're seeking to leave an inheritance of faith to your children, your inheritance must be God...how can you pass on what you don't have? You want a seed to fill the whole earth? Do you see the physical seed as the promise or is it faith? If the former, you may have seed, but it will not be an eternal inheritance. If the latter, you must realize your inheritance is only as great as your faith in the Triune God. Your reward is not protected by you...nor is the promise tied to your descendants but to the Word of God...it is His promise. He is the Shield.

This can be seen in the fact that the offering up of Isaac is a "type-ography". There aren't just a couple of types here, there is an interwoven topography that I can't possibly exhaust on this post.

Abraham was a type of the Father, and Isaac a type of the Son...in order for the type-ography to work, Abraham is simultaneously a type of the believer...and also simultaneously, Isaac is Promise.

Insofar that Abraham is a type of us, we will be called to do things that would seem to nullify God's Promise...but only if we are to reason as mere men. We must be willing to sacrifice all things so that we gain the Promise...eternal life. You may have to love God to the point your son or your daughter hate you. You may be looking for that perfect spouse, and you're getting up there in years...it may be that you are simply to be celibate and faithful to God (or God is testing your faith to give you what is best and increase your faith)...but you may come across that man or woman who "could work"...so you consider gaining a "good" thing at the expense of being faithful to God...perhaps God will make this mate work later, so you marry them "in faith". To you, you are failing to see God as your inheritance....your exceedingly great reward. He can raise sons from stones to your name.

At the point you feel you're about to lose it all, you gain it all. Abraham received Isaac as though from the dead...so Abraham received two blessings: his great reward in God, and the promise that God said would be in Isaac. Neither of these are opposed, rather, they are unified, the latter relying on the former. Though God may seem to take all that is temporal from you, He is actually giving. Think on Matthew 7:11: "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" An argument from the lesser to the greater: if evil men can give good gifts, God will give good gifts to His sons when they ask. We cannot walk in Christ thinking that God's gifts are found only in "happy" Providences...if you find yourself in the midst of inscrutable trouble, call out to God...and look in faith at what He is giving you: He is the Father to those that believe...though you may be bitten by a viper, know God has not given you a serpent when you've asked for food. This is the difference between those who shrink back and those who truly believe. To those who shrink back, you may protect a temporal gift, but you will lose it in the end...to those of strong courage, though you lose it, you get it back and then more: God is your exceedingly great reward.

If you want a great name, a posterity extending into the future...be sure you have Something to pass on other than your DNA. Unless you are established in the Triune God, you will simply be blown away like chaff...forgotten...no posterity...no Promise. If you seek an inheritance, know that it is God...and though you lose all and die to gain the kingdom, your blood will hit the parched ground to make it fertile.

Thoughts on Abram Rejecting the Gifts of the King of Sodom

Genesis 14:21-23
Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.”But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’

This passage struck me as I was reading the Word. I've decided to read through the Bible in 6 months (or less). If I simply read 5 pages per day, I will make it within 6, but I want to read more than the minimum. I worried that it would become a duty to perform, so I prayed God would prepare me, that His Spirit would attend to His Word, and He is faithful.

What struck me about this passage was how God had already promised Abram the entire earth after Lot chose to live among to Sodomites:
And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”

The act of faith on Abram's part is striking. He has God's prophetic Word that he will have offspring and the ends of the earth...the token from the king of Sodom could have been interpreted as though God's Word was being fulfilled before his own eyes: plunder and riches from the hands of those opposed to God...but he didn't take the riches. He did take benefit from Pharaoh, however, when he lied and said Sarai was his sister.

So what's the difference? Why take wealth from one unbelieving nation but not another? Is there a lesson in this for us? There are several things to consider (probably more):
1) Abram received wealth from Pharaoh as, what can only be interpreted, as a free act of God's mercy and grace in spite of his sin.
2) The gifts Pharaoh gave were the result of God's mighty acts...God plagued his household for taking Sarai as a wife.
3) Abram invaded the camps of the kings Arioch, Chedorlaomer, and Tidal and rescued Lot...and not only Lot, but other peoples of the land of Sodom. These kings and their armies had put the armies of Sodom to flight when they tried to rescue their people.

It's as if Pharaoh's gifts were acceptable because he knew he was a debtor to the God of Abram, that he was subject to God's rule. Yet the pride of the king of Sodom would be fed by blessing Abram. The glory of the defeat of those kings was to belong to God alone.

I think there are many applications to be gleaned here. It's apparent that evangelicalism has succumbed to the belief that the praise of unbelievers are to be desired. That this somehow is a gold star on the progress of God's kingdom by fleshly means. Doubt me? Who buys the Purpose Driven Life, or Your Best Life Now...other than evangelicals, aren't the other consumers businessmen? The profiteers of American industry. Men who seek to amass for themselves glory, fame, and money....but to be sure, these men pay their tithe. It is a tithe much like that of the king of Sodom. These are often major donors to churches, their building programs, their outreach ministries...they have plaques on the walls of churches that rubber-stamp the achievements of the profiteers.

Unlike Melchizedek, and unlike Abram, these men do not call upon the LORD and say of Him:
“ Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;

²⁰ And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”

For these men, they finance God's wars. Any victory can be traced materially back to them. God gets the credit, but God draws from a line of credit belonging to flesh. God is not the Possessor of their finances, their families, nor their ability to make money. These are the men we seek to impress. When they curse God's name or trample upon the weak, they are given a pass...after all, we may need their line of credit someday in the future. Or, perhaps we have already received from them. They have validated our words, or works, our teachings, our ministries...our credibility resides in these men. The kingdom of God becomes the kingdom of this world: an exchange of the eternal for the finite.

God's kingdom is eternal, all flesh must bow before Him. Whether or not wealthy men or princes bow in faith to our God, if we receive from them it must not be at the cost of Christ's kingdom. If a blasphemer wants to validate a man of God, or one seeking to please God, do not be flattered by his words. His gift is not a token of his faith, it is as a banker gives out a loan. The terms of these loans accrue an interest yet to be determined and can never be repaid. At least the unbeliever who is wise enough to fear God recognizes he adds nothing to the kingdom by his own strength but only as God has caused their plunder to benefit the Kingdom of our great King, God, and Savior, Jesus the Christ. For the unbeliever who has no fear, his wealth must always be spurned. The success of the gospel may be measured by their gifts remaining in their hands. It will descend into the grave with them.

Be certain that when you seek to follow Christ, there will be revilers...be certain as well that revilers may also speak soothing words and give you gifts that will shipwreck you.