Welcome to Day 2586 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom – Theology Thursday – When Abraham Met Jesus – I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible.
Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script – Day 2586
Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2586 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.
Today is the 47th lesson in our segment, Theology Thursday. Utilizing excerpts from a book titled: I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible written by Hebrew Bible scholar and professor the late Dr. Michael S Heiser, we will invest a couple of years going through the entire Bible, exploring short Biblical lessons that you may not have received in Bible classes or Church.
The Bible is a wonderful book. Its pages reveal the epic story of God’s redemption of humankind and the long, bitter conflict against evil. Yet it’s also a book that seems strange to us. While God’s Word was written for us, it wasn’t written to us. Today’s lesson is: “When Abraham Met Jesus.”
Some of the most startling things in the Bible are hidden in plain sight.
Galatians 3:7-9 is a case in point. Amid the predictable focus on law, grace, and the gospel, Paul blindsides us: 7 The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.
8 What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.”[a] 9 So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.
But Abraham lived two millennia before Jesus. There’s nothing about a crucified Savior in the stories about Abraham. What is Paul thinking? To correctly process Galatians 3:7-9, we need to think about the gospel in different terms.
We typically think of the gospel in terms of the crucified Savior, Jesus, dying for our sins. But the work of Christ was just the means to accomplish what God sought. God wanted a sinless, holy, human family. The sacrifice of Jesus —fully God and fully human—was the necessary mechanism to achieve that larger goal. The gospel is God’s plan to become a man so He could have that holy, human family. Could Abraham have grasped that?
God’s decision to produce His family through Abraham is described in Genesis 12:1-3: The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” Paul quoted part of that passage in Galatians 3:7-9. Paul believed that as a result of that divine encounter, Abraham came away with the knowledge of the gospel: God would become a man to provide the means for a human family. And even more than that, Abraham discerned that he and his offspring—which didn’t yet exist, and which seemingly couldn’t exist—were a critical part of that plan. Was Paul reading a different Old Testament than us? No, Paul got his information about the good news where all the gospel writers did—Jesus (Gal 1:12; 1 Cor 15:8).
If John 8:56 is any indication, Jesus happened to be an authority on Abraham’s divine encounter with God: 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad.” Abraham saw Jesus’ day? The Jews listening to Jesus immediately understood Him to mean that He had met Abraham. That’s why they said in the next verse, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” They were actually right—on both counts. We know that John referred to Jesus as the Word (John 1:1). Less well known is that the “Word of the LORD” is at times an Old Testament description of the embodied God of Israel. For example, Jeremiah was visited by “the word of the LORD” (Jer1:2, 4) whom he called Lord GOD (Jer1:6). The Lord GOD, the “word,” is embodied in human form in Jeremiah 1:7: “Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth.” There are other such passages in the Old Testament.
One of them is Genesis 15, where the covenant promises between God and Abraham were sealed: “After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision.” Notice that this was a vision. Genesis 1 2, the passage Paul quoted in Galatians 3, has the same language: “Then the LORD appeared to Abram.”
Paul wasn’t out of his mind. Abraham had met the Word, and through that encounter, he understood the salvation plan of God.
The lessons that make up Theology Thursday on the Wisdom-Trek Podcast for the next couple of years will satisfy the statement, “I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible.” I trust you’ll enjoy them—and, of course, not be bored.
Reflect…
If you found this podcast insightful, subscribe and leave us a review, then encourage your friends and family to join us and come along tomorrow for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’.
Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.
As we take this Trek together, let us always:
- Live Abundantly (Fully)
- Love Unconditionally
- Listen Intentionally
- Learn Continuously
- Lend to others Generously
- Lead with Integrity
- Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to’ Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday! See you next time for more daily wisdom!
Transcript
Welcome to Day 2586 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom – Theology Thursday – When Abraham Met Jesus – I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible.
Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2586
Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2586 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.
Today is the 47th lesson in our segment, Theology Thursday. Utilizing excerpts from a book titled: I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible written by Hebrew Bible scholar and professor the late Dr. Michael S Heiser, we will invest a couple of years going through the entire Bible, exploring short Biblical lessons that you may not have received in Bible classes or Church.
The Bible is a wonderful book. Its pages reveal the epic story of God’s redemption of humankind and the long, bitter conflict against evil. Yet it’s also a book that seems strange to us. While God’s Word was written for us, it wasn’t written to us. Today’s lesson is: “When Abraham Met Jesus.”
Some of the most startling things in the Bible are hidden in plain sight.
Galatians 3:7-9 is a case in point. Amid the predictable focus on law, grace, and the gospel, Paul blindsides us: 7 The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.
8 What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.”[a] 9 So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.
But Abraham lived two millennia before Jesus. There’s nothing about a crucified Savior in the stories about Abraham. What is Paul thinking? To correctly process Galatians 3:7-9, we need to think about the gospel in different terms.
We typically think of the gospel in terms of the crucified Savior, Jesus, dying for our sins. But the work of Christ was just the means to accomplish what God sought. God wanted a sinless, holy, human family. The sacrifice of Jesus —fully God and fully human—was the necessary mechanism to achieve that larger goal. The gospel is God’s plan to become a man so He could have that holy, human family. Could Abraham have grasped that?
God’s decision to produce His family through Abraham is described in Genesis 12:1-3: The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” Paul quoted part of that passage in Galatians 3:7-9. Paul believed that as a result of that divine encounter, Abraham came away with the knowledge of the gospel: God would become a man to provide the means for a human family. And even more than that, Abraham discerned that he and his offspring—which didn’t yet exist, and which seemingly couldn’t exist—were a critical part of that plan. Was Paul reading a different Old Testament than us? No, Paul got his information about the good news where all the gospel writers did—Jesus (Gal 1:12; 1 Cor 15:8).
If John 8:56 is any indication, Jesus happened to be an authority on Abraham’s divine encounter with God: 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad.” Abraham saw Jesus’ day? The Jews listening to Jesus immediately understood Him to mean that He had met Abraham. That’s why they said in the next verse, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” They were actually right—on both counts. We know that John referred to Jesus as the Word (John 1:1). Less well known is that the “Word of the LORD” is at times an Old Testament description of the embodied God of Israel. For example, Jeremiah was visited by “the word of the LORD” (Jer1:2, 4) whom he called Lord GOD (Jer1:6). The Lord GOD, the “word,” is embodied in human form in Jeremiah 1:7: “Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth.” There are other such passages in the Old Testament.
One of them is Genesis 15, where the covenant promises between God and Abraham were sealed: “After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision.” Notice that this was a vision. Genesis 1 2, the passage Paul quoted in Galatians 3, has the same language: “Then the LORD appeared to Abram.”
Paul wasn’t out of his mind. Abraham had met the Word, and through that encounter, he understood the salvation plan of God.
The lessons that make up Theology Thursday on the Wisdom-Trek Podcast for the next couple of years will satisfy the statement, “I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible.” I trust you’ll enjoy them—and, of course, not be bored.
Reflect…
If you found this podcast insightful, subscribe and leave us a review, then encourage your friends and family to join us and come along tomorrow for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’.
Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.
As we take this Trek together, let us always:
Live Abundantly (Fully)
Love Unconditionally
Listen Intentionally
Learn Continuously
Lend to others Generously
Lead with Integrity
Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to’ Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday! See you next time for more daily wisdom!
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