You’re the one, God, the God
who chose Abram
And brought him from Ur of the Chaldees
and changed his name to Abraham.
You found his heart to be steady and true to you
and signed a covenant with him…
Nehemiah 9:7 MSG
“You are Yahweh Elohim who chose (bachar – desired, preferred, selected, tested, appointed) Abram (“high father”) and brought (yatsa drew out, led forward, proceed publicly, upheld, went forth) him out of Ur (Uwr – city in Babylon) of the Chaldeans…”
You selected, tested, and appointed Abram and drew him out from Ur of the Chaldeans and appointed him the name Abraham – exalted father of a multitude.
I’m so grateful that when Yahweh tests and appoints us, He does so as a loving Father. He is not setting us up to fail, has no critical spirit, and is for our growth. And when He leads us out of places we’ve known into the unknown? He draws us out, woos us to Himself, and upholds us during the entire process. And He makes His finger on our lives public.
“…and gave (sum or sim – to place, appoint, assign, establish) him the name (shem – name, renown, repute) Abraham (“exalted father/father of Jewish nation” – from ab – father, father or a multitude, populous)…”
God gives to us, appoints, assigns, and establishes us where we’re to be. But, in His incredible compassion, He also assigns us a name there. Have you ever read about the significance of Abram to Abraham? If you’ll notice, the only difference is the added “ha.” From this website:
“…The Lord added to each of their names the “H” (corresponding to the Hebrew letter heh) in YHWH…Ab -ra -ham אברהם differs from the preceding only in one letter; it has ה he before the last radical…[possibly] added for the sake of dignity, God associating the patriarch more nearly to himself, by thus imparting to him a portion of his own name…”
“…The same…occurs…on the word Sarai, שרי which signifies my prince or princess, and Sarah, שרה where the whole change is made by the substitution of a ה he for a י yod…God shows he had conferred a peculiar dignity on both, by adding to their names one of the letters of his own: a name by which his eternal power and Godhead are peculiarly pointed out…”
Do you feel it? Do you see the dignity He gives when He establishes us in covenant with Himself? But there’s more:
“…God’s covenant was to multiply Abram exceedingly and to make him exceedingly fruitful. So much so that the name ‘Abram’ was no longer appropriate for him. Abram was 99 years old and so far had been exceedingly unfruitful. God changes his name to reflect his future fruitfulness […heh is associated with the Spirit…the breath/life of God—and with that, the ability to bring forth life…] and institutes the ordinance of circumcision–circumcision of the only part of the body that is able to take part in reproducing or multiplying descendants. Note that it is only after Abraham is circumcised that Isaac is conceived by Sarah, with Isaac being born just one year later when Abraham is 100 years old…”
What is it you feel you lack? The area that is tender when poked, still a hurt you hold before Him? It is there He will do the impossible in your life. Why there? Because you, above all people, will know that you know the result is from Him and His power. It cannot be from yourself. Still more:
“…A name exchange is always a part of cutting covenant. Each person takes on the name of the other family or tribe as a part of the process. Notice that Abram took on a letter in God’s name, and God started calling himself ‘The God of Abraham’, later the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So each time the name is said they are saying ‘I am Abraham in covenant with God’ and God is saying ‘I am God, in covenant with Abraham…'”
Oh, that He would associate Himself so intimately with His creation! That He would risk His perfect reputation on we mortals. That He would choose us, humanity, as Plan A in telling of His redemption. That He Himself would become Man, to so identify with creation as to become that which He came to redeem. (Source of above quotations)
“…You found (matsa – found, discovered, overtook, possessed) his heart (lebab – inner man, courage, desire, heart of hearts, intelligence, purpose, wholehearted; from labab – to get a mind, to encourage, to make cakes, to ravish) faithful (aman – confirm, support, enduring, doorposts, established, firm, lasting, sure, trustworthy, steadfast, to foster as a parent or nurse) before You (paneh – before the face of)…”
“You found his heart faithful before you.” You so overtook his inner man, found him so wholehearted before Your face, faithful like a supporting doorpost, established and steadfast like a parent or nurse.
What lovely imagery Hebrew definitions evoke. A parent, smitten with love for her child, by birth or adoption, never to be revoked. A committed and caring nurse, so invested in the health of his patient as to faithfully foster their health and healing.
And a child of God so possessed by the glory of God, having discovered His beauty and perfection is so that nothing on earth compares, that her intelligence, courage, heart of hearts is enduring before Him.
It’s the reason Job could say, after everything, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you…”
And Paul could say with sincerity, “To live is Christ and to die is gain…”
And we, believers, can say, “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going. Through suffering, these bodies of ours constantly share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.”
And, of course, if we aren’t there yet? Or still? Ask Him. Ask for such love, such overtaking, that He would show Himself utterly worthy and beautiful in your inner person. He delights to answer.
“…and made (karath – to cut off, cut down, kill, alliance originally by cutting flesh and passing between the pieces) with (im – along, beside, like, regard, together) him, a covenant (berith – ally, treaty)… “
“…and made with him a covenant…” I have read scholars refer to covenant-making as “cutting a covenant,” and now I see the reason in the Hebrew definition. To make such a treaty referred to the process of cutting a creature in half and passing between the pieces.
This is what Covenant Yahweh did when He Himself passed through the two pieces of animal sacrifice. What’s striking in today’s verses is how it points to God making this covenant with Abraham – beside, together. The significance of the smoking firepot alone passing through the sacrifice while Abram snoozed is how uniquely one-sided this treaty was. Yet today’s verses point to a togetherness, an agreement to come along beside, between this God and Abraham.
I think the understanding here comes from Abraham’s continued willingness to follow God where He called him. He had already left his country, his people, and his father’s house without knowing where they were going. He had watched God defend his wife with Egypt’s Pharaoh, despite his own cowardliness, showing how personally the LORD takes the treatment of women and the marriage covenant. And, when given an opportunity to select the best section of the land, Abram deferred to his nephew and God gave him the promise of the land of Caanan to him and his offspring forever.
But most importantly, when God spoke, “Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”
The resulting covenant was in response to Abram’s query, “O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”
God was about to show him how he could know: He would perform the covenantal ceremony on His own. He would take sole responsibility for making sure the promise came to pass.
Friends, we worship a God Who makes sure His Words are fulfilled. When we look around at all the turmoil, we can rest in the character of the One Who so personally took on the New Covenant, He became the cut sacrifice. All we do is believe and join Him, come along beside Him in His redemptive work.