One of the most significant characters in the Old Testament is a man named Abram (later renamed Abraham). His story begins in Genesis 12, with God calling him to leave his family home and travel to a new land. At the time, he was already seventy-five years old, and his wife Sarai was infertile. Nevertheless, God promised that Abram would father a great nation, and that his descendants would inherit the land he traveled through.
Abram followed God to the land of Canaan, but then he left Canaan for Egypt to escape a famine. His actions in Egypt showed that he didn’t have much confidence in God’s protection. But God both protected Abram in Egypt and made him wealthy (Genesis 12:10-20). After Abram returned to Canaan, he fought a major battle, which he won with God’s help (Genesis 14:13-16). After all this, God appeared again to Abram:
But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky 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 it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:1-6).
Despite all he had seen, Abram still questioned God’s blessing. God did not rebuke Abram, however, but rather reaffirmed his promise that Abram’s descendants would become a great nation. Only after this reassurance was Abram finally convinced that God would actually do what he had promised. And God counted this faith as righteousness.
This promise was ultimately fulfilled, first in the nation of Israel, and then again, in a way nobody expected, when Gentiles also became his descendants, by believing in Christ (Galatians 3:29). Currently, 2.6 billion people, almost a third of the world’s population, are numbered among Abram’s children. Abram’s descendants have undeniably become a huge nation.
But there’s another story here as well. You see, Abram’s history didn’t just randomly appear on a scroll somewhere. It’s in the Bible because the Holy Spirit inspired Moses to include it in Genesis. This is the same Moses who led the Israelites out of slavery. Just like Abram, the Israelites left Egypt with great riches (Exodus 12:35-36). And just like Abram, the Israelites fought and won a major battle with God’s help (Exodus 17:8-13). But unlike Abram, the Israelites continued to show, time and again, that they did not believe God would fulfill his promise to bring them safely into the land he had given to Abram centuries earlier. It was in this context that Moses told Abram’s story, in a way that highlighted the difference between Abram’s faith and the Israelites’ unbelief.
But there’s also a third story here, and that’s ours. Long after these events, the Apostle Paul would write:
And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised (Romans 4:12).
He is the father of all of us who “follow in the footsteps of his faith.” But the interesting thing is that Abram’s faith was not constant. He started well, but along the way he failed repeatedly. Only gradually did he grow to be a man of great faith and obedience. Following in his footsteps is a journey, not a one-time test. Moses led the Israelites on this journey, and eventually, after forty years of wandering, they did arrive in the promised land. For those of us who believe in Christ, it’s now our journey too.
Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).