4A6

4A6. God’s nature expressed as power:

In grace, God did for Abraham UNCONDITIONALLY what was otherwise impossible

4A6(title) God’s nature expressed as power

God expressed His infinite power TO and THROUGH Abraham by means of many miraculous interventions in various situations.

4A6(sub-title) In grace, God did for Abraham UNCONDITIONALLY what was otherwise impossible

In grace, God UNCONDITIONALLY chose and called Abraham and declared that he was a blessing Gen 12:1,2d. When Abraham obeyed God’s call and went to Canaan, God UNCONDITIONALLY protected and prospered him miraculously in various “impossible” ways. This was both earlier and later in his life there.

4A6(a) Early miraculous acts of God for Abraham

There were a number of remarkable acts of God that favored Abraham early in his migrations, as follows:-

# God protected Abraham and Sarah from the Pharaoh when they went down to Egypt for relief in a famine. God did this even though they had put themselves in a compromised situation Gen 12:11-19. God prospered them and brought them back safely to Canaan Gen 12:20, 13:1-4a. Abraham worshipped God for this Gen 13:4b [see 4B30(c), 4B31(c)].

# Abraham and his 318 trained men were able to rout the armies of four kings. They rescued Lot along with all his household and possessions Gen 14:1-16. Abraham again acknowledged God’s powerful role in this victory Gen 14:17-24 [see 4B26(d), 4B27(d)].

# When God destroyed the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, He miraculously saved Lot and his daughters Gen 19:1-29. This was because “He remembered Abraham” Gen 19:27-29 who had interceded for them Gen 18:20-33.

# Abraham and Sarah moved into the Philistine territory of Abimelech at Gerar. There they put themselves in the same compromised situation as they had with Pharaoh Gen 20:1-16. Yet God again protected and prospered them, making Himself known TO Abimelech THROUGH Abraham Gen 21:22. Abraham worshipped God for His favour Gen 21:33. God also miraculously answered Abraham’s prayer for Abimelech’s wife and slave girls to be able to have children Gen 20:17-18 [see 4B30(c), 4B31(c)].

4A6(b) God declared His power, which was acknowledged by Abraham

Abraham had been obeying God’s calling and experiencing His power. Abraham then acknowledged God’s greatness Gen 14:22b.

God had also reassured him by saying “I am your shield” (or Sovereign) Gen 15:1. Abraham replied by calling God “Sovereign LORD” Gen 15:2a. He was acknowledging God as the all-powerful Ruler or King of all creation and people, including himself [4A1(b)(i)].

God later declared to Abraham that He was El Shaddai (“God Almighty”) who obviously could keep all the promises He had made Gen 17:1b [4A1(b)(ii)].

4A6(c) God’s later miraculous acts for Abraham

There were further remarkable acts of God that favored Abraham, as follows:-

# When Abraham and Sarah were far too old for procreation, God promised and then miraculously enabled them to become the parents of Isaac Gen 15:4, 17:15-19,21, 18:9-15, 21:1-7 [see 4B24(a)(iii.i), 4B26(e), 4B27(e)].

Not surprisingly, it was in this context that God posed the ultimate question concerning the expression of His power: “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” Gen 18:14a [see 4B31(b)].

# Abraham had obeyed God and was ready to sacrifice Isaac Gen 22:1-19. But God miraculously provided a ram for the sacrifice Gen 22:8,13-14 [see 4B24(a)(iii.v), 4B26(f), 4B27(f)].

# Abraham had commissioned his chief servant to go back to Mesopotamia and find a wife for Isaac from amongst his own people there Gen 24:2-67. God miraculously directed the servant and gave him success Gen 24:26-27,50-52. He returned bringing Rebekah Gen 24:56-61.

4A6(d) These expressions of God’s power were to reassure Abraham

It can be seen that Abraham slowly gained more confidence in God’s promises [see 4B26(f)]. This was closely related to his favorable experiences of God’s miraculous acts of power. They were a major factor in reassuring him that God could and would fulfil His extraordinary UNCONDITIONAL declarations and promises to him. That would NOT be impossible!

Arrows 4A3 -> 4A4,

4A3 -> 4A5 and

4A3 -> 4A6

These arrows indicate that in accord with God’s primary purpose, He was expressing His own nature as perfection, love and power, specifically TO and THROUGH Abraham.

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