Faithful to His Covenants
by Neal H. Surasky
Abraham is called the father of our faith. This becomes even more significant when we consider that Abraham’s father was an idolator, someone who worshipped other gods (Joshua 24:2). Our Jewish sages take it one step further and describe Terah as an idol maker. Abram is called out of a world of idolatry and into a relationship with God, not because of who Abram was, but because of who God is!
God makes a covenant with Abram as He calls him out of idol worship. God tells Abram, “And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:2-3). These promises will come to pass because of Abram’s faith, leaving behind everything he knew and was comfortable with in order to have a relationship with his Creator.
Because of his faith, God promised that Abram would be a great nation, that those who come against him would not prevail, and that everyone would be blessed because of him. This promise would pass down from Abram to his son Isaac by God’s choice, and then from Isaac to his son Jacob, again, by God’s choice. Today, the descendants of Jacob are the Jewish people, the nation of Israel.
There is no obstacle that is too great for God to overcome in the fulfillment of His promises. He can make a couple who are too old to bear children able to have children. He can cause a small group of Israelites to defeat an army of Syrians. He can even cause a Jewish virgin to have a Son, all so that the promises He made to Abram would come to pass. Our God is a God who keeps His promises!
God has called us all to come out of a world of idolatry and into a relationship with Him. Yeshua has made a promise to all of those who respond, as Abram did, in faith. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29).
Please pray with me.
Lord, God, thank You for calling me into a relationship with You. You have even overcome death in order to keep Your promises. As a result, we can trust that all of Your promises will come to pass, those to us, and those to all of Israel. And let us say, “Amen!”