Read with Me
Genesis 22:15-24 (HCSB)
Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By Myself I have sworn,” this is the LORD’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gates of their enemies. And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed My command.”
Abraham went back to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham settled in Beer-sheba.
Now after these things Abraham was told, “Milcah also has borne sons to your brother Nahor: Uz his firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel the father of Aram, Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” And Bethuel fathered Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
Listen with Me
Even though by this point God had made several iterations of His covenant with Abraham, now that he had passed the test of utmost devotion to Him, He reiterated it for the final time. Having received the son of the promise, and having chosen God over even him, Abraham had secured the promise for all his generations going forward.
When God reaffirmed this covenant, He swore by His own name since, as the writer of Hebrews noted (6:13), there is nothing higher by which an oath could be made. Thus, this covenant was sealed by God’s own identity and His own character.
This reaffirmation of the covenant focuses on three things:
- God promised to multiply Abraham’s descendants greatly. This was a startling prediction since, because of the ousting of Ishmael, Abraham now had exactly one descendant.
- Abraham’s descendants would conquer the strongholds of their enemies, a reference to the promised conquest of the Promised Land (Genesis 15:13-14).
- The blessings that the descendants of Abraham would receive were going to be so great that it would be patently obvious to all the surrounding peoples, no matter how steeped in paganism they were, that the God of Abraham is the one true God. And because of that, they were going to use the names of Abraham Isaac, and Jacob as shining examples of those who had been truly blessed by God.
After Abraham and Isaac returned to Beer-sheba where he had set up his main camp, Abraham got word of how things were going with his extended family back in Haran. The family of his brother Nahor had grown, with eight sons being born to his wife, and four more to his concubine. This seemingly unrelated information sets up the mission to Haran in search of a wife for Isaac that takes place in the following chapter.
Pray with Me
Father, faithfulness is required of us as Your people, but the result is many great blessings poured into our lives, and our ability to actually take hold of the things You have promised to do for us. Thank You for Your love and Your faithfulness that are so richly illustrated in the life of Abraham, and that are still available to us today. Amen.