Abraham the Evangelist

I was preparing for my faith family's bible study and I came across a couple of interesting insights about Abraham in a commentary on Genesis. The first point involved Genesis 12:4-5

So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, (Genesis 12:4-5 ESV)[bolding mine]

When I first read the passage about "people that they had acquired," I thought Moses meant slaves. However Allen P. Ross in his commentary pointed out translating that phrase as "slaves" would probably be incorrect. Ross wrote the following observation about Genesis 12:5.

Tucked away in this verse, easily overlooked, is the expression "and the people [nepes] whom they had acquired [`asa] in Haran." This expression probably does not refer to the acquisition of slaves, for the Hebrew word nepes would not likely be used for that. And it certainly does not refer to their children, because Sarai was barren until Isaac's birth (21:1-7). Cassuto argues that this expression probably refers to proselytes (ibid., p.310). If he is correct, then the narrative implies that, already in Haran, Abram had been sharing his faith in the Lord. (p. 265, Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis , Allen P. Ross)

I thought, "Cool, Abraham shared his faith in the friendly environs of Haran with his family around him." However, another observation in the commentary gave me an insight into Abraham's boldness. I read next in Genesis 12:7-9:

Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD. And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb. (Genesis 12:7-9 ESV)

Abraham's responded to God's further revelation about the land going to his descendants was worship and calling upon the name of the Lord. In Ross's commentary the verb "called upon" can mean more than just prayer.

The response to God's confirming appearance was worship. The idea of sacrifice, presumed here with the building of an altar, continues the ancient form of expressing gratitude and devotion. But at the second mention of his building an altar to worship the Lord is the report that he "made proclamation of the Lord by name..." The expression, first used in Genesis 4:26 refers to the public proclamation of faith in the Lord. The expression is used in the Bible for prayer or for praise, but in Mosaic material it seems to be broader (although a public proclamation of the faith could include prayer and praise) Martin Luther translated it "preached" (predigte), a good rendering in this context.(p. 267, ibid)

So in summary, Abraham built an altar and preached about the one true God in the country of the pantheistic and antagonistic Canaanites. Abraham was bold in his faith even at this early stage. He messed up a few times, but Abram displayed a rare quality of faith that is praised in Hebrews 11.

The Holy Spirit's Role in Creation

The following quote by Michael Reeves is on the role of the Holy Spirit in creation. I never thought about the connection between the Holy Spirit's ministry and beauty before.

So, some Scriptures speak of creation as the work of the Father (it is conceived in his love); others speak of creation as the work of the Son (he brings about his Father’s will); but still others speak of it as the work of the Spirit. “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath [or Spirit] of his mouth” (Ps 33:6). How? What is the Spirit’s role? We have already seen that the Spirit empowers the Word, but he does even more: while the Son establishes and upholds all things (Heb 1:3), the Spirit perfects or completes the work of creation. Job 26:13 puts it delightfully: "By his breath [or Spirit] the skies became fair. In other words, the Spirit garnishes and beautifies the heavens and the earth. Our first vision of the Spirit, hovering dovelike in Genesis 1, captures something essential. It is that, like a mothering dove settling on her eggs, the Spirit vivifies, bringing what has been created to life. And so, while the Nicene Creed speaks of the Father as "Maker of heaven and earth," it speaks of the Spirit as the Lord and giver of life.

Life is something that God has always had, and in creation is it something he now shares with us. By his Spirit he breathes out life on us. And not just in the beginning: that is always the Spirit's work, to bring life. In the book of Job, Elihu says, "The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gave me life" (Job 33:4). Ongoingly in his creation, the Spirit vitalizes and refreshes. He delights to make his creation--and his creatures--fruitful. Isaiah writes of the time when "the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest" (Is 32:15). The psalmist sings: "When you send your Spirit, they [the creatures] are created, and you renew the face of the earth" (Ps 104:30). Small wonder, then, that creativity, the ability to craft, adorn and make beautiful, is a gift of the Spirit:

Then the Lord said to Moses, "See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts--to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship." ((Ex 31:1-5).

The Spirit makes his creation alive with beauty. (Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith by Michael Reeves)

The Rainbow in Genesis

I am reading a chapter in Sacred Bond about the Noahic covenant. The Noahic covenant is a covenant of common grace. God's makes promises to all men and all flesh. The rainbow is the sign God gives us that he remembers those promises. The authors spent some time on rainbows what it symbolizes to the ancient world and what it should symbolize to us today.

So what does the rainbow symbolize? There are two scholarly interpretations of the rainbow, both of which are worthy of mention. First, the Hebrew word for rainbow can mean either rainbow or bow, as in bow and arrow. God calls it "my bow" in verse 13. In ancient iconography, victorious kings and gods are pictured coming back from war with their bows in a horizontal position (like a rainbow). Going into battle, the king/god has the bow vertical in hand, ready to shoot; but after battle it is horizontal, symbolizing the peace after war. The rainbow, then, could be symbolic of God's war bow that hangs in the sky, symbolic of peace. God will not destroy the world again; he is no longer hostile.

Second, the ancients understood the sky or firmament as a dome-shaped barrier that held back the waters above, as in Genesis 1:6-7. Hence, when God judged the world in the flood, he opened the windows of heaven, releasing the waters above (7:11). In fact, the Hebrew word for flood refers more specifically to these celestial waters. Thus, God's promise is that he will never wipe out all flesh by the waters of the flood. The rainbow then visually represents the dome-shaped firmament as shut. The rainbow appears when it rains to show that the celestial waters will not be released.

The symbolic value of the rainbow could be either of these, or perhaps both. Either way, the effect of the symbol is clear. The rainbow reminds us that the floods will never come again. The beautiful arch points to God's promise that he will never judge the world by the waters of the flood. The firmament is shut; there is peace after the storm. (pp. 76-77, Sacred Bond: Covenant Theology Explored by Michael G. Brown and Zach Keele)