There are two concepts that I would like to explore in this post. The first is what it means to be a "Son of Abraham". The second is how God knows if you are a Son of Abraham. Both of these concepts are firmly lodged in the story of Abraham, and are also illustrated elsewhere in the Bible.
To Be A "Son Of Abraham"
Abraham's name is mentioned 250 times in the King James Bible. But what does the name mean? (If you have been following my blog previously, you know that I love to use names in the context of the stories being told.) Abraham is introduced in Genesis 11 as "Abram", which means "exalted father." At this point in history, Abram had yet to have a son, and does not produce the heir of his estate until later, when he is 100 years old. (100 in terms of Biblical Numerics is the number of the elect, or chosen.) Then, in Genesis 17:5, God changes Abram's name - He adds an "H" to his name, an "H" which is also found in the middle of God's sacred name, Jehovah (yah-Ho-vah) - to create the name "Abraham", which means "father of many nations". (Indeed, God gives the meaning of the name in the very same verse). But what does that mean, that Abraham will be a father of many nations? Abraham is the great-great-great-etc-grandfather of Jesus, Who is the Lord of all nations. And that is what Abraham's name means. (There is no word for "grandfather" in Hebrew; the word father was always used, even when a grandfather was being described.)
But how is it that he is considered the "father of many nations"? It's true that he fathered Ishmael, who is considered to be the father of the Islamic nations, and that he fathered a number of children with his second wife after Sarah had died, who also became nations, but I believe the name has to do with those who are faithful to God and His Son Jesus Christ. The family relationship is considered through faith, and not by genealogical birth. Let me explain through some Scriptural examples:
In Matthew 3, John the Baptist chastises the Pharisees and the Sadducees that come out to see him, by saying, "Think not to say within yourselves [in your thoughts], 'We have Abraham to our father:' for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." Meaning that birth by genealogy was not going to save them; rather it is faith and repentance unto God that will gain His salvation.
The Pharisees seemed to think that salvation was a physical birthright, though. In John 8, after the incident where the crowd wanted to stone the adulterous woman (possibly adulterous... maybe falsely accused? I'm not sure how trustworthy the mob was - see the next post on when to believe crowds in Scripture) the Pharisees are arguing with Jesus about their heritage. Jesus corrects them in verse 24 by saying, "If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins." Meaning, regardless of whether Abraham was there patronymic father or not, without faith there was no salvation for them. He later says, in verse 37, "I know that ye are Abraham's seed." The word for seed in the Greek is "sperma", so that there is no confusion that Jesus is talking about the actual physical offspring of Abraham. A few verses later He says, "If ye were Abraham's children [the word here is "teknon", not "sperma", to differentiate from the prior statement], ye would do the works of Abraham." I think the Pharisees see what Jesus is getting at by using the two different words, switching from a physical meaning to a spiritual meaning, because they reply, "We have one Father, even God;" to which Jesus replies, "If God were your Father, ye would love Me... ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do." This once again focused who's child a person is by what they do and how they act. (I've condensed the argument for the sake of discussion and illustration, but I encourage you to go back and read the entire chapter. It's a good one!)
Once again, in Matthew 12 and Mark 3, Jesus asks, "Who is My mother? and who are My brethren?...whosoever shall do the will of My Father Which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother." Here, the mother is the "mother nation," and the brothers and sisters are those who believe and act in God's will.
Paul makes this crystal clear in Galatians 3:26-29 when he says, "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
A son of Abraham is one who believes and acts like it. (Now think about this in terms of Zacchaeus' actions in my prior post.)
How God Knows Whether You Are A Son Or Daughter Of Abraham
How does God know whether you are truly a Son or Daughter of Abraham? He can see your insides, which is to say, He knows your thoughts and motivations. He gave us plenty of examples to explain this to us, and I will go through a few below.
Solomon says in Proverbs 21:2, "Every way of man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts." We may be able to justify our own actions, but God knows what your thoughts are at the time that you act, and He takes this into consideration in His judgment.
Solomon's father David wrote in Psalm 7:9, "Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins." Trieth is also another word for "examine". Though we may not know a persons intentions when they act, thus making it all the more difficult to judge them for it ("judge not, lest ye be judged"), God does know their intentions.
In Revelation 2:23, Jesus says, "I AM He which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto everyone of you according to your works." Now compare this statement with the parable that Jesus tells in Jericho after calling Zacchaeus out of the sycomore tree (see the next post). God rewards based on your intentions and the actions that come from those intentions.
How do we know that God means that He can see your thoughts in the verses above? God tells Amos in Amos 4:13, "For, lo ["lo" is like an asterisk, and it means "pay attention to this!"], He that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, [Jehovah], The God of hosts, is His name." Since the Lord is declaring His name in the verse, I used the actual Hebrew name, rather than "The Lord" that is in the English translation. Jesus also constantly was able to determine peoples' thoughts when He was around them, and dealt with them righteously (an example is in Luke 6:8).
What about a physical example? Well, a physical example of this has to do with Abraham, who is the main tie together for this post. In Genesis 15, the Lord speaks with Abraham, and tells him that Abraham and his seed will inherit the promised land, and Abraham asks "how will I know this will happen?" and the Lord tells Abraham to lay out an offering, physical animals, and that they would be split down the middle and laid out in halves (except for the birds). Abraham does so, and he also drove away any unclean birds that would try to peck at the insides of the offering. Then what happened? The Lord walked in the middle of the cloven animals with a lamp... so that He could see the insides of the offering. And once He had seen the insides of the offering, He made a covenant with Abraham. This is the same figure as God "trying the hearts and reins". It's also the same as Jesus telling the Pharisees to "wash the inside of the cup" (Matthew 23:26) and is also the same figure as washing the "inwards" (insides) of the offerings that are made to God (see Leviticus 1:9 for an example).
"But how do we know that the offerings and sacrifices you described above mean us?" you may ask me. Paul gives you the answer to this in the beginning of Romans 12. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." The figure of the sacrifice was always meant to be our love and good actions and knowledge of God (see Hosea 6:6).
Are you a son or daughter of Abraham? Remember it is your thoughts and actions that determine if you are. You can change your behaviours (a.k.a. repentance from the old behaviours) and pray also for help to do so. God bless.
