Chapter 3 - Abraham's Righteousness

Through God’s desire to have a family, He implemented the concept of atonement. Those who have received atonement have a right relationship with God. As you read Abraham’s Righteousness, pay attention to the character and deeds of Abraham.
Abraham is seen in scripture as having many “types[1]”.He is the Christ in his obedience [2]; Savior, [3]rescuing Lot and others; Intercessor[4], even if it means to only save one human soul. God called Abram, Abraham, which literally means “Father of many nations.” He adopted Lot[5] whom was orphaned when Lot’s father, Haran (brother of Abram) and grandfather, Terah (father of Abram) were deceased. He was Father God[6] when Isaac, the child of promise and Isaac himself a type of Christ as the only son being sacrificed. Abraham was a first born son[7] by circumcision.
All of the types serve Abraham well, because he was an instrument of God, a pictorial story book of what God’s plan of salvation is. And by these characteristics, Abraham would be tested and be redeemed[8]. But at what point in the life of Abram did God decide that Abram was suited for the name Abraham? Why did God call Abram in the first place?
Foremost, Abram was a descendant of Shem; the youngest son of Noah who would be a blessing to God because of his character (Genesis 9:26-27). It is character because of the kindness and respect that Shem had for his father[9]. As you will see, character is what God was looking for. As one would respect his earthly father, he would also regard his Father in Heaven. Shem would be a blessing to God because from Shem's lineage the Messiah would come.
Second: Abram possessed qualities that reflect God’s character, cheded and aman. Checed is a Hebrew word that can be found in
2 Samuel 9:1 when David asked if there were any one of the house of Saul that he could show kindness to. Checed is very important in scripture and is central to God’s character. It is often translated as loving-kindness or mercy—though those words don’t have enough linguistic power to communicate all checed means. Caced presents the idea of a preexisting, presupposed relationship. It is what causes Paul to say of God:

“God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
(Romans 5:8 NIV)

Of the many types seen in Abram, you may see checed.
We must still answer the question: At what point in Abram’s life was Abram qualified to be a part of God’s plan to redeem man?
At the death of Haran, Terah took Lot as his own. When Terah, father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran, passed away, Abram accepted Lot as his own son, (Genesis 11:32, 12:4). God adopts those who are not of His own, in like manner, Abram accepted Lot into his family. (Anyone who was not a Jew was considered a “Gentile” [in New Testament terminology] and was not a member of God’s family. Through Christ, God reconciled even the Gentiles, giving them membership into God’s family [Ephesians 2:11-18]).
Nehemiah 9:7-8, in reference to Abraham records the words of the priest. In verse 8 they say of Abraham that “God foundest his heart faithful” (KJV). Faithful in Hebrew is the word aman.
The Theological Workbook of the Old Testament[10], says of aman that a “substantial use of aman is foster father”.
Foster father! God called Abram because he had the heart of a foster parent. It is because Abram had checed and was aman to Lot that God chose Abram to be the father of many nations. These attributes are reflective of God’s character. Abraham is called father of many nations as a picture of God and God’s plan to redeem all of mankind to be His family.
Most people would agree that Abram’s faith is why God called him righteous. However, Abram believed God long before Genesis 15:6. It seems that Abram’s character has something to do with why God called him, as well. His life is accentuated with holiness. Grant that Abraham was not perfect. He had a cultural occassion to lie. Lying is not what holiness means. However, in his humanness, he had what God needed him to have to be a servant. (Our humanness is why we need a savior). Holiness is only a concept characterized by action in Abram’s life before he is called righteous in Genesis 15:6[11]. In Abraham’s life, righteousness is gained by God’s grace because Abraham believed (had faith in) God. Abraham acted on his faith in God and in God’s interest which is to promote His concept of family. The concept of holiness is linguistically expressed through the use of the Hebrew word “qadhosh” – ceremonially or morally clean. “Qadhosh” appears for the first time in Exodus 19:6[12]. Abram separated himself from the ways of the world by being holy. The ways of the world is for self while Abraham lived consistantly for God’s purposes.
Abram means exalted father. The name given to him at birth was a banner before the Lord. In a civilization almost void of God-fearing men, Abram was a bold tag with which to be marked. There are some legends of Abram being teased as a child because he worshipped Yahweh and not idols[13]: the moon god of Ur and Haran. For Abram to be devoted to God in his youth and have an idol worshiping father, someone in his family must have been a strong influence in Abram’s life. Someone instructed Abram in walking with God.
It is possible that Terah had other things in mind when giving Abram his name. Terah was not a loyal Yahweh worshipper, if he was a follower of Yahweh at all. He probably patronized the moon god of Ur and Haran[14].
Let us chronicle the biblical accounts of Abram’s life, starting from Genesis 12:1 in a kind of time line to show that Abram believed in God for a long time before God called him righteous in Genesis 15:6. God called Abram in Genesis 12:1. He promised to make him into a great nation and bless him (verse 2). He told Abram that he would make Abram’s name great, which may be forecasting the name change in Genesis 17:5-6 to Abraham, a father of many nations. He was also promised protection.

“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.”
(Geneses 12:3 NIV)

This promise can plainly be seen in Abraham’s encounter with Abimelech[15]. God cursed the harem of Abimelech because he had added Sarah to it. God shut the women’s wombs and made them barren. When Abimelech released Sarah and gave livestock and servants to Abraham, God opened the wombs of the women in the king’s harem. God also had said to Abram that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3 NIV).

Apparently, Abram believed God even in chapter 12, because Genesis 12:4 says:

“Abram left, as the Lord had told him” (NIV).

By the time the scripture records God having accounted Abram’s belief as righteousness, Abram had cared for Lot as his own son. He gave him herds and flocks of livestock and servants to tend them. When Lot and Abram’s servants began to quarrel with one another because their livestock had grown so large that the land could not accommodate them, Abram offered Lot to choose where he would take his livestock and live. He spoke to him not as a burden or a subordinate, but called him his brother (Genesis 13:8).

“Lot looked up and saw the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt toward Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company.” (Genesis 13:10 NIV)

Why not permit Lot to be first to choose? God promised to give the land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates.[16] During Solomon’s reign, Solomon “ruled over all the kingdoms from the river (Euphrates) to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt” (I Kings 4:21 NIV).
The king of Sodom and the kings that he allied himself with fell to Kedorlaomer and his allies. When Abram heard that Lot was taken captive, he set out to rescue him. Abram took 318 trained men born in his household and defeated the four kings. He recovered all the plunder, Lot and all of his possessions and the people who fell captive.[17] For this, Abram accepted no reward. Abram’s character illustrates God’s plan to save people other than his own.

Isaiah prophesied the salvation of people other than Israel:

“Sing, O Barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child. For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. Enlarge the place of they tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations. Spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes. For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.” (Isaiah 54:1-3 KJV)

Genesis 15:6 is the first time that Abram’s faith is specifically referenced. But as one can see, Abram’s faith in God to do what He says He is going to do began long before this time.
In scripture, from the time God called Abram (Genesis 12:1) to God calling Abram righteous, (Genesis 15:6) the span of reading is three chapters. Unless the reader is paying extremely good attention to detail, he will miss the fact that the events spoken of in those three chapters are occurring while significant amounts of time pass in each instance:

1. Abraham’s journey from Haran to Shechem was about 400 miles.
2. From Shechem to On, Egypt was 300 miles.
3. Abraham stayed in Egypt through the famine. He had the same difficulty there with Pharaoh that he later had with Abimelech[18].
4. From Egypt, Abram went back to Bethal and stayed an undetermined amount of time[19]. The distance traveled was about 250 miles.
5. Lot settled in Sodom and after a while was a captive in Kedorlaomer’s campaign of conquest. Abraham became involved in order to rescue Lot and others[20].

All of these events are an indication that Abram trusted and believed in God for a considerable amount of time to Genesis 15:6.
What do you suppose were Abram’s thoughts about his unique, divine relationship?
His thoughts must have included some of what I imagine for him…

Why have I come into this, God’s favor?
I remember the story that my great grandfather, Serug, told me when I was a boy: a man named Noah had built a large boat in the middle of the wilderness. People thought he was insane but had a special pathological ability with animals. Someone said that God had told Noah to build that ark. If He did, it was a good thing because from what I understand of this legend, the whole earth was flooded. No man would be here today if it were not for Noah.
There is something else to this story. Oh, yeah!
Noah’s son, Shem received special favor from Yahweh. I can believe that because I’m living proof of God’s favor. The promise that God made to Shem was that the descendants of Shem’s brothers, Ham and Japheth, would serve the descendants of Shem. I’m a descendant of Shem!
I’ve always thought it strange that Nimrod said, “Let’s make a Shem[21] for ourselves.”
There’s something else about the blessing of Shem… What was it?
Oh! Great Grandpa told me why God doesn’t talk to too many people. He said that God had created man to be His family. One of God’s angels wanted to have more authority than he was created to have. He disguised himself as a serpent and figured that if he could trick the man into disobeying God that he would have effectively proven that he is more powerful than God. There is something about the line of Shem... It’s here somewhere… Let’s see… Oh, yeah!
God found out about it and was hurt and angry. He knew that man would one day realize that life without their creator was no life at all. So He devised a plan. Since His most prized creation are now children of Satan, God would have to adopt us back. He said, “One day, Lucifer, these children will hate you. When that day comes, you and I will go head to head. You will strike my heel but I will crush our head.”
It was something like that. But, I’m still missing something…
Through her offspring God would literally inhabit her seed. He will grow up and live as You, Father God, would require, because, after all, it is You in that man. And when He dies; as all men have since Adam and Eve disobeyed you, Satan will not be able to have Him because He, being You, was totally obedient to You… or something like that.
Father God! You have chosen me to be a part of Your plan. That’s why You are always talking about how numerous my descendants will be. This man-child will come from my seed. My descendants! They will be Your family! People had thought it vain to worship You. For years all I’ve heard is: “Go ahead, worship Yahweh. He’ll send you straight to the grave. Worship the moon god. Obtain immortality, enjoy fulfilling your desires. If there is no immortality, at least you will have fun in life.”
You have a plan to restore us to You, O Lord. I’m not sure of how all of this works. You’ve done everything You said that You would do. That thing You did with the harem of Pharaoh was cool. You have blessed me abundantly. Lord, I believe that You can fulfill Your plan. You will call us sons and daughters and we will be a family. In fact, You promise all of these things not just for me, but my…Oh, I don’t’ even have any children. I guess I’m just...

“’Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.’
…Abram said, ‘What can You give me since I
remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate
is Eliezer of Damascus?’
Then the word of the Lord came to him, ‘this
man will not be your heir.’ He took him outside and
said, ‘Look up at the heavens and count the stars, if
indeed you can count them,’ then He said to him, ‘So
shall your offspring be.’
Abram believed the Lord and He credited[22] it to
him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:1-6 NIV)

In Genesis 17 God sealed the deal. Abram was surely His man. He had all of the right qualifications. He has checed and is aman[23].
God weighed all that He knew about Abram: checed, aman, and Abram’s faith in God, and the way that Abram acted on his faith in God. He tallied it all up and thought Abram to be righteous.
Do you suppose God’s thoughts may have gone something like this?
He has checed, aman, faith. He willfully will put his own life on the line to save those who are in danger. They may not even be an acquaintance. He’s ambitious and wants to help out like he did with Hagar and Ishmael…he really messed things up there. But he did that because He really wants a family - and so do I. For now on

“No longer will you be called Abram. Your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.”
(Genesis 17:5 NIV)

Summery

The scripture says Abraham received righteousness from his 'belief' or faith in God. Abraham's life is punctuated with acts of holiness; Being devoted to living for The Lord. Holiness in the life of Abraham is seen in 'caced' and 'aman'. Abraham, living consistantly to exhibit the very nature of God and God's desire. How does holiness reveal itself? Explore and discover the answer to how and what we should be focused on in living a life for The Lord in chapter four: "Righteousness unto Holiness". As we move on to chapter four, take the idea of 'aman' - 'foster father' and translate 'aman' to something like 'foster family'.

Foot Notes
[1] “Type” is a term that is used in reference to events or persons that come as a foreshadowing of future events or persons. Example: Isaac was a type of Christ as he was to be sacrificed by his father. Jesus is the fulfillment of that type as he was sacrificed by his father.
[2] Genesis 12:1-4; 17:1, 23; 18:19; 22:16-18.
[3] Genesis 14
[4] Genesis 18:16-33
[5] Genesis 11:32
[6] Genesis 22
[7] Genesis 17:10-13
[8] Genesis 15:2-3; Isaiah 29:22 these scripture references are only intended to show that Abram’s inheritance is that he was redeemed.
[9] Genesis 9:23
[10] The Theological workbook of the Old Testament, Copyright 1980,from Moody Bible Institute of Chicago
[11] “Abram believed the Lord and He credited it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6 NIV).
[12] “you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. … .
[13] Halley’s Bible Handbook, copyright 1965, page 95, third paragraph.
[14] Joshua 24:2 substantiates that Terah served other gods.
[15] Genesis 20
[16] Genesis 15:18
[17] Genesis 14:14
[18] Genesis 20
[19] Genesis 13:4-11
[20] Genesis 14
[21] Shem is Hebrew for name. The significance of the Hebrew word “shem” is discussed in chapter two, page 8, third paragraph.
[22] Chashav in Hebrew is to count, count for or impute
[23] Aman can also mean trust, belief, or faith.