Romans 4 - In Depth Bible Commentaries

393(...continued)Abraham is pictured as a person who immediately accepted the divine word, and wholived out his life in obedience to the divine command, in expectation of receiving the divinepromise. Just as soon as he heard the divine word, Genesis tells us that "Abraham went asYHWH had told him..." The narrative tells how Abraham worshiped as he went on thatjourney, but also relates how he became fearful in spite of the divine promise of protection,and how he lied to the Egyptians concerning his relationship to Sarah, his wife, in order tosecure his own life--a deceitful action, but one that resulted in his becoming wealthy. It tellshow Abraham had trouble with his nephew Lot, and had to separate from him--but then heardthe divine word of promise once again. It tells of his courage in defending his nephew'sproperty, and his subsequent participation in the religion of Canaan (offering a tithe toMelchizedek of Salem).Genesis 15 tells the reader that after all of this, a divine vision came to Abraham, tellinghim not to be afraid, and promising him a great mass of descendants, even though he as yethad no child (as Abraham reminded YHWH (verses 2-3). It is in terms of this great promise ofan unbelievably blessed future that would be his, that 15:6 states, "Abraham placed trust inthe God, and it was considered for him (i.e., for Abraham, by God) as a right-relationship."What is the point of all of this? Simply that Abraham was a person who placed trust, orconfidence in the divine word–he obeyed its command and he believed its promise. Thatmeans, he placed confidence in the promise that he would become the father of a multitude ofnations, through whom all the nations of the earth would receive blessing, at the very time thathe and his wife Sarah were seemingly far too old to have children. As the years passed, andAbraham and Sarah constantly grew older, the divine promise seemed increasingly moreimpossible of fulfillment–still Abraham continued to walk out into the future, hand in Hand withYHWH God, trusting that somehow what God had promised would happen.It is just this placing of trust or confidence in the divine word that Genesis tells us wasconsidered by God as a "right-relationship" in Abraham--nothing more, nothing less. He livedout of the divine word, obeying its command, and trusting its promise for his future--even whenit seemed absolutely impossible that it would ever be fulfilled.The proper relationship of Abraham to YHWH is rooted in his trusting the divinepromise, and obeying the divine call, especially at just that time when it seemed most unlikelythat the divine promise could ever be fulfilled. This is the unique and all-importantcharacteristic of the person of faith, the one who walks with God.In spite of his own despondent doubts and even cynical misgivings, stilll Abrahamcontinued to place his confidence in YHWH's promise, and constantly built his life and hopeson the basis of that promise. As Gerhard Von Rad has stated, "Abraham's righteousness isnot communicated within the realm of the cult by a cult official; it is transferred to the realm ofGod's free and personal relationship to Abraham. But above all, his righteousness is not theresult of any accomplishments, whether of sacrifice or acts of obedience. Rather, it is statedprogrammatically that belief [i.e., ‘trust’] alone has brought Abraham into a proper relationshipto God. God has indicated his plan for history, namely to make of Abraham a great people;Abraham 'has firmly assented' to that, i.e., he took it seriously and adjusted to it. In so doing(continued...)213