The God of Abraham (Acts 7:1-8)

 The God of Abraham

 

 

 

 

[Acts 7:1-8]

 

 

A promise is a promise.  President Lincoln was a man who kept his promises, especially those made to his mother.  One day, President Abraham Lincoln was riding in a carriage with a Union colonel who had come from Kentucky.  The colonel took out a bottle of whiskey from his pocket and offered President Lincoln a drink.  President Lincoln declined, saying, ‘Thank you, but I do not drink whiskey.’  A little while later, the colonel pulled out a pipe and offered it to President Lincoln.  Again, President Lincoln declined, saying, ‘No, thank you, Colonel.’  Then, President Lincoln explained, ‘Let me tell you why I do not drink alcohol or smoke.  When I was about nine years old, my mother called me to her bedside.  She was very ill.  'Abe,' she said, 'the doctor tells me I may not recover.  I want you to be a good man.  Promise me that you will never put alcohol or tobacco in your mouth as long as you live.'  I made that promise to my mother, and I have kept it ever since.  Do you think it would be right for me to break that promise now?’  The colonel took President Lincoln's arm and said, ‘Sir, I promise you that I will do my best never to break that promise.  It is one of the finest promises a person can make.  If I had made that promise to my mother and kept it, I would have saved at least a thousand dollars by now, and I would be a far better man than I am today’ (Internet).  What is the meaning of a promise?  Keeping a promise is a mature act of taking responsibility for one's own words, and it also reflects the nature of God, who unfailingly fulfills His promises.  Therefore, promises are sacred.  The significance of a promise lies not in its weight of value, but in the sincerity and diligence with which it is kept (Internet).  Do we truly understand the meaning of a promise and make sincere efforts to keep them?

 

In today's passage, Acts 7:1-8, Stephen begins his speech, and he talks about Abraham.  I want to reflect on the title "The God of Abraham" centered around Acts 7:1-8.  In the midst of this, I want to consider our responsibility for faithful living, growing in faith along with knowledge of knowing God.

 

First, the God of Abraham is a God who is visible.

 

Look at Acts 7:2 – “To this he replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran.”  When Stephen was accused of blasphemy by the leaders and elders of the synagogues of the Freedmen (who belonged to the synagogues of the Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others from the provinces of Cilicia and Asia), the high priest of the Sanhedrin questioned Stephen, asking, "Are these charges true?" (v. 1).  Stephen's lengthy speech in response to this question is recorded in Acts 7:2-53.  In this speech, Stephen speaks about Abraham in Acts 7:2-8.  Stephen does not defend himself but rather begins by explaining the history of Israel, starting with their ancestor Abraham, and culminating in the present generation accusing him (Yoo).  Notably, in verse 2, when Stephen addresses the crowd as "Brothers and fathers," he subtly reminds them that he himself is still one of them.  He conveys that the history of the Israelites began with the glorious God appearing to Abraham, leading up to the present generation (Yoo).  What is interesting here is the connection between Stephen's previously mentioned "face like an angel" (6:15) and “the God of glory" mentioned in Acts 7:2.  The word for "glory" used here is “karan” in Hebrew, signifying the radiance that symbolizes God's glory.  Therefore, a glorious face represents a human countenance reflecting the glory of God.  When it is said that Stephen's face appeared like an angel, it means that his face was radiant.  This statement implies that Stephen's face reflected the glory of God, much like Moses, who came down from Mount Sinai with the stone tablets bearing the Ten Commandments, with his face shining (Yoo).  Then, in verse 2, the statement that “the God of glory" appeared to Abraham indicates the connection between Abraham and Stephen.  In other words, Stephen, while defending himself against the accusations of the Jewish leaders, clearly states that he is also a spiritual descendant of Abraham.  However, what is evident is that while Stephen is a true spiritual descendant of Abraham, the Jewish leaders accusing him are not the genuine spiritual descendants of Abraham as we understand it.

 

Indeed, are we truly the genuine spiritual descendants of Abraham?  If we answered "yes" in faith, then we must reveal the God of glory to the people of this world through our faces and lives.  This means that God's glory should be reflected through our faces and lives.  To achieve this, what must we do?  We must listen to His voice in the midst of His presence and obey.  Living in the shelter of the Lord means advancing in a way of life where all our desires, thoughts, and actions constantly receive His guidance, as Henry Nouwen notes in his book "In the Name of Jesus": ‘Living in the shelter of the Lord means moving toward a life in which all of our desires, thoughts, and actions are constantly guided by the Word of the Lord’ (Nouwen). 

 

So, what was the command of the God of glory that Abraham heard?  Look at Acts 7:3 - "Leave your country and your people, God said, and go to the land I will show you."  The God of glory appeared to Abraham and commanded him to leave his homeland, Ur of the Chaldeans, and depart from his relatives. "Leave your country and your people  ... and go …"  Would it have been easy to obey this command?  Who would willingly leave behind a stable life and beloved homeland to become a wanderer in a foreign land forever?  However, Abraham followed through with this command because God had ordered it.  Although he did not know the outcome of all future challenges, he cheerfully set out on the path, thinking as if God's command had already solved all future problems (Park).  This is faith. It is the belief in holding onto God (by His word), moving according to His lead (Gen. 12:4), believing that God accompanies in this movement, and trusting that as a result of this action, one will reap all the blessed fruit (Ref.: Heb. 11:8) (Park).

 

We must reveal the God of glory to the world. It can no longer be just through words.  By listening to God's word and obeying it, we must bring forth the glory of God into this dark world.

 

Second, the God of Abraham is a God who moves.

 

Look at Acts 7:4 -  "So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living."  The God of glory appeared to Abraham in Ur of the Chaldeans and commanded him to leave your country and your people (v. 3).  In obedience to this command, Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans, dwelt in Haran until the death of his father, and then came into the land of Canaan (v. 4).  The "land I will show you" in verse 3 and "this land" in verse 4 refer to the land of Canaan.  It is the very place where Stephen and the Jews who accused and reviled him are now living. God, in His glory, called Abraham out of the land of the Chaldeans and, after dwelling in Haran, brought him into the land of Canaan.  Why did God call Abraham out of the land of the Chaldeans to dwell in Haran and then move him into the land of Canaan?  The reason is so that God could fulfill the promise of blessing He gave to Abraham.  This blessing is stated in Genesis 12:1-3: "The Lord had said to Abram, 'Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. 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. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.'"  God wanted to bless Abraham, and to do so, He called him out of the land of the Chaldeans to dwell in Haran, and from there, brought him into the land of Canaan.

 

Our God is a God who moves us in order to bless us.  Look at John 5:24 - "Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life."  Those who hear Jesus' gospel (word) and believe in God the Father who sent Him have already crossed over from death to life. God has moved us from hell to heaven.  We are no longer heading towards eternal death in hell.  By believing in Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, we are already on the path to eternal life in heaven.  Therefore, as those who have received new life, we have the responsibility to remove all idols from our lives.  The reason God called Abraham out of the land of the Chaldeans into the land of Canaan was not only to bless him, but also to rescue him from a city of idol worship.  The land of Haran, where Abraham was, was a city of idol worship. "Haran was a city in Aram where the moon-god "Sin-and-Nikkal" was worshiped" (Baker’s Encyclopedia of the Bible).  God moved Abraham from the city of idol worship, Haran, to the land of Canaan.  Look at 1 Samuel 7:3: "And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, 'If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.'"  We must put away (move away) all idols from our hearts and serve only God.  Look at Job 22:23 - "If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent." We must remove wickedness and idols.  We have already moved from a life of unrighteousness to a life of righteousness.  Therefore, we must live a life of righteousness.  To put it more theologically, we are already partially living the life of heaven.  We, as the people of the kingdom, have already been moved from this sinful world, akin to Egypt, to the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, we must partially live the heavenly life according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  This is our life.

Third and last, the God of Abraham is a promise-making God.

 

Look at Acts 7:5 - "He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child."  After God moved Abraham from Haran to the land of Canaan, He promised Abraham, "He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land" (vv.5-7, Gen. 15:13-16) (Yoo, Park).  In this land of Canaan (Acts 7:7), God promised Abraham that he and his descendants would serve (worship) Him.  Dr. Yoon-seon Park mentioned a couple of characteristics of God's promise: (1) God's promise is not fulfilled in a short period of time.  The promise was fulfilled about 400 years later. (2) God's promise treats the future grand plan as if it already exists, even if there is no practical basis.  God promised Abraham that he would have many descendants, even though he had no children at the time (Gen. 15:5, 16).  Why does God make such promises to Abraham, and also to us, promises that are not fulfilled in a short period of time and may seem unrealistic without any practical basis?  The reason is that He makes promises in this way to show His omnipotence and to cultivate in people a faith that believes without seeing, so that when the promise is fulfilled, people may come to know His almighty power and have a faith that is truly believing (Park).

 

Do we truly have a faith that believes without seeing?  Do we truly have the confidence that our Lord, who has made us promises, will fulfill them?  Are we praying, expecting, and waiting with this confidence for the fulfillment of the promises of our Lord?  From today's passage, Acts 7:6-7, we can see that it took about 400 years for the promise of God to be fulfilled.  However, in Genesis 25:7, we learn that Abraham died at the age of 175.  Therefore, it can be concluded that Abraham passed away without witnessing God's fulfillment of the promise.  Will you, like Abraham, hold on to God's promise, even if it does not come to pass in your generation?  Abraham held on to and believed in God's promise until the end, without wavering or doubting.  Instead, he died in faith, not having received the promises, but seeing them from afar and welcoming them (Heb. 11:13).  This is true faith.  True faith is to die in faith, to welcome the fulfillment of promises from afar, even if they are not received in one's own generation.

 

How can we have a faith like Abraham's, a faith that believes without seeing?  The only way is through receiving the covenant of circumcision from God.  Look at Acts 7:8 - "He gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision.  And so Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth.  Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs."  The statement, "He gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision," means that God commanded Abraham's descendants, as a sign of the covenant, to practice circumcision (Gen. 17:10-14) (Park).  Abraham performed this circumcision on his son Isaac, and it became a practice for his descendants thereafter.  Therefore, Isaac circumcised Jacob, and Jacob circumcised his twelve sons.  Why did God command Abraham's descendants to practice circumcision, a sign of the covenant proving that they were God's people?  The reason is that God wanted Abraham's descendants to remember His promise, which was that through Abraham's descendants, the land of Canaan would be possessed, and through them, all the nations of the earth would receive the blessings of salvation (Gen. 12:1-3, 18:18, 22:17-18) (Park).  Because of this sign of the covenant, circumcision, Abraham was able to have a faith that believed without seeing.  So, what kind of circumcision do we, the true descendants of Abraham living in the New Testament era, have?  We have the circumcision of Jesus Christ.  Look at Colossians 2:11 - "In him, you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands.  Your whole self-ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ."  This circumcision of Christ, as mentioned in Romans 2:29, is not outward, but inward; it is of the heart, not by the written code: "No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code" (Rom. 2:29).  The one who has received the circumcision of Christ in their heart has the assurance that God will fulfill His promises.  Look at Romans 4:21: "being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised."  Furthermore, the one who has received the circumcision of Christ in their heart, even in seemingly hopeless and impossible situations, does not doubt God's promises, but rather grows stronger in faith, giving glory to God (v. 20).

 

In the article titled ‘Promise Beyond Impossibility,’ the following passage is written: ‘Those who firmly grasp God's promise may appear foolish and powerless.  However, in the face of God's promise, their weakness becomes strength.  Therefore, spiritually, seizing God's promise is to become infinitely powerless concerning oneself.  A person who calculates and reasons everything before God is almost incapable of moving toward the land of God's promise.  This is because that land can only be entered by leaving the remaining journey in the midst of thoroughly acknowledging one's own weakness and entrusting it to God's promise. ...  Abraham was greater than anyone.  He became great through the strength he called his own weakness.  The one who encounters promise encounters impossibility.  The one who holds onto the promise in every impossible situation sees the possibility hidden within it’ (Internet).

 

 

 

 

 

Seeing, carrying out, and believing in the God who sees, carries out, and promises,

 

 

 

James Kim

(With a heart of gratitude to the faithful God who continues to fulfill His promise even to unfaithful sinners)