13 January 2014 - Abraham

From Genesis chapter twelve it is clear what God had planned

He told Abraham to leave his country and move to a new land

For “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you”

“I will make your name great and you will be a blessing too”

So Abram left as the Lord told him; with him went cousin Lot

Setting out for Canaan with families, possessions, and what not

They arrived to find Canaanites in the land God was promising

But God appeared saying, “I will give this land to your offspring”

So Abram “built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared”

For it was the Lord who God and his family earnestly revered

After Abram saved Lot and others from the powerful kings four

The Lord’s word came to him in a vision that rocked him to his core

“I am your shield and your very great reward” so “do not be afraid”

But Abram doubted since no heirs had he and his wife made

The Lord said that Abram would have a son as his rightful heir

The offspring would number more than the stars, God did declare

The words were not written for Abram alone, per Romans 4: 23-25

But for all that believe in Jesus who from the dead came alive

Per Genesis sixteen, “Abram’s wife, Sarai, had borne him no children”

“Go sleep with my maidservant” named Hagar, she told Abram then

Abram agreed and did that in the hope she would bear him a child

Hagar despised Sarai after conceiving; this of course Sarai reviled

Hagar then tried to run away but to her the Lord did speak

She gave birth to Ishmael, whose future was quite unique

God changed Abram’s name to Abraham when he was ninety nine

At the same time, he established a covenant that was divine

“The Lord was gracious to Sarah” as per chapter twenty one

When “Abraham was in his old age”, Sarah bore him a son

In Genesis twenty two, God later put Abraham to the test

To sacrifice his son Isaac was God’s stated request

Abraham did as he was told and tied Isaac to an altar

He raised a knife to kill the boy, Abraham did not falter

But an angel of the Lord intervened and told him to stop

God had seen that Abraham’s obedience was tip-top

And as 1 John four verse ten does plainly discuss

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us”

As an atoning sacrifice for our sins, God sent his Son
Like Abraham, God was willing to part with a loved one