Modern March | a Christian blog

Posted: 05 Dec 2010 10:20 AM PST

ADVENT & ANTICIPATION

Scripture: Genesis 12; Genesis 15; Galatians 3:16

Last week, during the First Sunday of Advent, we took a moment to consider the idea of anticipation in the life of Adam and Eve. They were the only humans to have experienced the reality of shalom and harmony with God, and experienced the brokenness of all things because of sin. This week, we will move farther ahead in the history of the Israelite people to consider the anticipation of Abraham.

We are introduced to Abraham in Genesis 11, where he is first known as Abram, son of Terah. At this point in the story, Abram is around 75 years of age when God gives him the charge to leave his land and move elsewhere (Genesis 12:1). The reason for this unusual call was that God was going to use Abram as the springboard back into Eden by giving him the skull-crushing offspring promised in Genesis 3:15. God says:

"I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:2-3, NLT)

These few short verses are packed with significance. In order to be a "great nation," Abram must first have descendants. The importance of descendants can be traced all throughout the Old Testament as the Israelites await and anticipate the coming Redeemer promised in Genesis 3:15. Generation after generation the people have asked “Is this the promised son? Is this the one who will lead us back into Eden?” But the lengthy prologue of Geneis 1-11, which include several cycles of grace, sin, and judgment, shows us that he has not yet come.

But then the narrator does something interesting. At Genesis 12, these cycles come to a halt and the narrative slows down with the calling of Abram—undoubtedly showing us that it is through Abram and his offspring that this cycle will eventually be broken. The anticipation becomes palpable as Abram asks in Genesis 15:2, "O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don't even have a son?" (NLT.) God's response is to reaffirm the promises of chapter 12, and enter into a covenant with Abram (now renamed Abraham). Abra(ha)m would have a son which would lead to a nation, and this future nation would enter into the "Promised Land," the land of Canaan, which would function as a type of Eden and could be understood as a sign-post of the coming New Creation.

There is also an intertextual link between the account of Genesis 12 and Eden. The word "bless" appears 3 times in Genesis 1-2 (The creation/eden account), three times throughout chapters 3-11, (cycles of grace, sin, judgment), and then, astonishingly, four times in just Genesis 12:1-3 alone. God is telling Abram that the blessings originally intended for the whole world under the cultivation of Adam and Eve would now come about through Abram and his descendant(s). This blessing wouldn’t just be for one future nation, but rather the world. God thus blesses the world through a domino effect as he intends those who are blessed to respond by blessing others.

What incredible promises for 75-year old Abram. The promise of an heir at such an old age, and not just any heir but one from whom the Messiah would come. After the failure of the nations at the tower of Babel in Chapters 11, God has responded yet again with grace-filled hope.

Eventually, for Abraham, the anticipation for offspring would fall to unbelief and rise back to faith. The promises God gave were not fulfilled on Abraham's desired timeline, and thus fueled Abraham’s unbelief. Abraham's heir would not be born for another 25 years when Abraham would be 100 years old. The Scriptures record Abraham and his wife Sarah’s response to the news of a son just one year prior to his birth in Genesis 17 and 18. Sarah laughs in disbelief, "but we are so old, how can we have a child?" But the promise was fulfilled, and one year later, Abraham and Sarah had a son.

Isn’t this a familiar emotion as we wait in expectation for Christ to return? God gives us his promise, but does not fulfill it on our timeline. Instead of building Godly anticipation and yearning, however, we like Abraham and Sarah, fall to unbelief and grumbling. Yet, Abraham and Sarah had a son. But before they had this son, they had waited 100 years, and before that, the world had been waiting for almost 1,500 years.

Many more centuries later, Jesus the true Son of promise came, and he came with a promise—that he will return again to usher in the New Creation and bring back Eden. We offer the same laughter of disbelief. It has been two-thousand years since Jesus first came to the earth, in the flesh, and as a baby. Surely, if he was going to return, he would have done so already? So we ask, “Can we trust in God's promises?”

Hallelujah, Abraham and Sarah had a son.

Filed under: Scripture Lessons, Series