In the previous chapter we saw God’s history in His working on Abraham. Now we want to see not only the history of God but also God Himself in Abraham’s life. In the Bible we cannot see another person whom God contacted, appeared to, and spoke to as much as Abraham. In His dealings with Abraham, God unveiled what kind of God He is. In Exodus 3:15 God declared that He is the God of Abraham but without any details. It was in so many dealings of God with Abraham that the details of what God is were unveiled.

THE GOD OF GLORY

The God of Abraham is the God of glory. Stephen said that when Abraham was called by God in Ur of the Chaldeans, God appeared to him in glory as the God of glory (Acts 7:2-4a). God’s glory is God Himself expressed. If God hides Himself, there is no glory. If God appears, if God is expressed, that is glory. God’s glory in His appearance might imply a kind of splendor, bright and shining.

The God of glory in His first appearing to Abraham with His first calling and His first speaking was as a vast magnet and great motivation to Abraham, which moved him to come out of the country of satanic idolatry (Gen. 11:31). No one could stand against such an appearing, calling, and speaking.

Abraham was attracted, but Genesis shows us that he did not answer God’s call in an absolute and willing way. It was not Abraham who took the lead to initiate leaving the world of idolatry. His father took the lead, and he followed. Actually, though, God was the magnet and motivation that moved Abraham to come out of the country of satanic idolatry. Abraham would not have made this move if God had not come to him as the God of glory. That drew him, attracted him, and motivated him.

THE GOD OF BLESSING

God is also seen as the God of blessing in His second calling with His second speaking to Abraham (12:1-4). God not only called him but also promised to make of him a great nation and make his name great. Today in human history Abraham is a great name. Furthermore, God promised to make him a blessing to others. God not only blessed him but also made him a blessing to others. This blessing is the blessing of the New Testament gospel (Gal. 3:9, 14).

Abraham was a descendant of Shem, and we have seen that according to Noah’s prophecy, God would be the God of Shem, and Japheth would dwell in the tents of Shem. Japheth received the blessing of being enlarged (Gen. 9:26-27). According to history, the Europeans as the sons of Japheth have expanded and spread all over the earth. The whole world has become the dwelling place of the Europeans. Five hundred years ago it was not like this. But after Columbus discovered the Western world and through the development of transportation, the Europeans have spread everywhere. But they have to dwell in Shem’s tent, which becomes a blessing to them. God made Abraham, a descendant of Shem, a blessing to others. This blessing is in the tent of Shem. Many people throughout the whole earth are enjoying the blessings of God in Shem’s tent.

Every person needs a tent in which he can rest and enjoy life. God’s blessing to Abraham, which made him a blessing to others, implies the tent of Shem. When the Lord Jesus came as a seed of Abraham and a descendant of Shem, He became the tent, the tabernacle (John 1:14), which will consummate in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2-3). The New Jerusalem will be God’s eternal tabernacle, His eternal tent, in which numerous Old Testament saints and New Testament believers from all the nations will dwell to participate in the eternal blessing of the eternal life. This is all implied in the blessing God gave to Abraham. God’s second calling with His second speaking as the God of blessing attracted Abraham to go into the good land of the divine promise.

CHAPTER SEVEN

GOD’S HISTORY IN TIME 
(FROM THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE. 
TO THE FINAL JUDGMENT 
AT THE GREAT WHITE THRONE— 
GENESIS 1:1—REVELATION 20:15)

(6)

WORKING ON HIS ELECT 
FROM ABRAHAM TO JOSEPH

(2)

THE GOD OF ABRAHAM 
SEEN IN HIS DEALINGS WITH ABRAHAM

Scripture Reading: Exo. 3:15; Acts 7:2; Gen. 12:7; 17:1; 18:1

OUTLINE

1. The God of Abraham (Exo. 3:15) seen in His dealings with Abraham as follows:
   1. The God of glory, in His first appearing with His first calling and His first speaking to Abraham, as the vast magnet and the great motivation to Abraham that moved him to come out of the country of satanic idolatry—Gen. 11:31; Acts 7:2-4a.
   2. The God of blessing, in His second calling with His second speaking to Abraham, promising him that He would make of him a great nation, make his name great, and make him a blessing to others and that all the families of the earth would be blessed in him; this attracted Abraham to go into the good land of the divine promise—Gen. 12:1-4.
   3. The God of the earth, in His second appearing with His third speaking, in promising Abraham that He would give the land of Canaan to his seed—vv. 6-7.
   4. The God of secret care for His elect, in saving Abraham from Pharaoh’s insulting of his wife—vv. 10-20.
   5. The God of comfort and encouragement, in His fourth speaking, after Lot left Abraham, in promising to give to Abraham and to his seed the land of Canaan as far as he could see in four directions, and to make his seed as numerous as the dust of the earth—13:14-17.
   6. God the Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, in His divine supply with His blessing to Abraham through His priest Melchizedek after Abraham fought the battle against the four kings—14:17-20.
   7. The God of shield and exceedingly great reward, in His fifth speaking (this time in a vision) to Abraham, when he was afraid of the four kings’ avenging, in pointing to Abraham that his heavenly seed in their divine nature would be as many as the stars in heaven who could never be touched by anyone on earth; Abraham believed in Jehovah, and Jehovah accounted it to him for righteousness—15:1-6.
   8. The God of faithfulness, in foretelling to Abraham, in His sixth speaking to him in his deep sleep, that his earthly seed in their human nature would be sojourners in Egypt, serve the Egyptians, be afflicted by them for four hundred years, and in their fourth generation return to Canaan; and in making a covenant with him that He would give to his seed the land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates—vv. 12-21.
   9. The God of silence, due to the fact that Abraham listened to his wife Sarah and married Hagar to get a son by the exercise of his flesh when he was eighty-six years old (16:1-4, 15-16); then God became silent to Abraham for thirteen years, until he became ninety-nine years old, and God appeared to him again (17:1).
   10. The God of all-sufficiency, in His third appearing with His seventh speaking to Abraham, in being the God of circumcision to cut off His chosen people’s natural man in the flesh that they may become God’s new creation, signified by Isaac who was born by God’s grace, not by Ishmael who was born by Abraham’s flesh—vv. 1-21; Gal. 4:22-31.
   11. The God with His human friendship, in His coming (in His fourth appearing with His eighth speaking to Abraham) as a man, in the form of a man, to visit Abraham as His friend (2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; James 2:23) on the level of humanity, with whom Abraham walked and who conversed with Abraham as a human friend with a human friend, concerning His judgment of Sodom, where His friend’s nephew Lot and his family lived—Gen. 18—19.
   12. The God with friendship in humanity, in sending Abraham’s nephew and his two daughters out from the overthrow of Sodom, for the remembrance of Abraham as His intimate friend—vv. 29, 12-22.
   13. The almighty God with His friendly care, in saving His close friend Abraham, with His almighty power, from the loss of his wife to Abimelech, king of Gerar—ch. 20.
   14. The God of changelessness in keeping the principle of His grace, in recognizing Isaac, his son of Sarah, as his only son, in His ninth speaking to Abraham—21:1-12.
   15. The God with His trial, in proving Abraham, His intimate human friend, by asking him to present his only son, whom he loved, for a burnt offering to Him, in His tenth speaking to Abraham—22:1-10.
   16. The Triune God of provision, in providing a ram to replace Isaac for a burnt offering to Him (as the Angel of Jehovah—Christ), in His eleventh speaking to Abraham—vv. 11-14.
   17. The Triune God of blessing, in His twelfth (last) speaking to Abraham, promising him that He (as the Angel of Jehovah—Christ) would bless him and multiply his seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand on the seashore, and in his seed (Christ) would all the nations of the earth be blessed—vv. 15-18.
   18. The God of friendship on the human level, in leading the old servant of His friend Abraham to secure a wife for his son Isaac—ch. 24.
2. As a whole, the God of Abraham being the God of speaking in appearing, with calling, in a vision, and in the human friendship, to unveil to His intimate friend on the earth what He aspired for him to be and what He wanted him to do according to His heart’s desire for the accomplishment of the eternal economy for the Divine Trinity.