Why did God call Abraham?

Editor's Note: This sermon was given at Tikvah Yisrael Messianic Congregation in Cleveland, Ohio. The manuscript below was the basis for the sermon in the video above.

I love lectionaries. That's the fancy church word for the Parasha haShavua. Lectionaries tell you what to read when. 

When you're a preacher, whether visiting or in your home congregation, looking at 66 books of the Bible and wondering what to preach is intimidating. The lectionary, the parasha, narrows down the options. Every time, I delight at how the Holy Spirit speaks through the calendar of readings.

The Torah portions are often a couple of chapters long. What caught my attention this year in Chayei Sarah (Genesis 23:1-25:18)  is the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah. That resonated with the Haftarah of 1 Kings 1:1-31, where David affirms Solomon as the royal heir.  Those pair well with Jesus' geneology in Matthew 1. So that's what we'll consider today: the family of Yeshua, seed of the woman sent to reconcile the families of the earth to God and to each other.

My pastor in Jerusalem says, “My job is not to teach you something new but to remind you of what you already know.” That's what I intend to do today. I want us to remember and meditate on the thread of redemption that runs from the Garden, through Abraham and David and on to Yeshua Ben David, Ben Abraham. It is good news meant to be proclaimed to all the nations, to the Jew first then to the nations.

Seed of the woman

In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve. And they rebel when they eat from the one forbidden tree after being seduced by the evil serpent. In the cool of the day, God questions the three rebels. He’s looking for confessions. Then he passes judgment.

It is God’s declaration to the serpent that is important to us today.

14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

    cursed are you above all cattle,

    and above all wild animals;

upon your belly you shall go,

    and dust you shall eat

    all the days of your life.

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,

    and between your seed and her seed;

he shall bruise your head,

    and you shall bruise his heel.” (Gen 3)

As God judges the snake, God makes his first proclamation of mercy to sinful humanity. Adam and Eve had believed the lies of the serpent and fallen into rebellion. They ate what they were told not to eat.

 But instead of destroying them, as justice required, God showed not just restraint but mercy and grace.

• Mercy in not executing them.
• Grace by promising that the Seed of the Woman would punish the serpent.

This promise of the Seed of the Women, the Child of the Woman who will vindicate humanity even while being wounded – even killed by the poisonous snake – is foundational for the redemption story the Bible tells.

In Messianic circles – I have long counted myself a Messianic Gentile, so I'm speaking to me here too – we often start with the call of Abram and the blessings of Abram:

• I will make you a great nation;
• I will bless those that bless you and curse those that curse you;
• I will give you a land. 

Yes! But we have to understand why God called Abram/Abraham. We need to also ask, How does the call of Abraham fit with the very first promise of redemption, that the Child of Woman will crush the serpent's head even as the snake crushes this hero's heel.

OK, we're looking for a hero but not like Bonnie Tyler is holding out for a hero.

Torah portion Chayei Sarah tells us the story of Isaac marrying Rebekah. Why do we care?

Because Isaac is the son of promise. He is proof of God’s promise to Abraham to make him a great nation. But why does God call Abraham?

What does it matter that God called Abraham?

The call of Abraham is all about Genesis 10 and 11.

After the flood, the Sons of Noah multiplied into 70 families. Seventy represents all of humanity, all the people groups of the earth.

And these 70 families got together and said, “Let us make a name for ourselves.”

Not “let us reach heaven.” Not “let us praise God.” No, they thought of their own pride and there was also a touch of rebellion, “Let us make a name for ourselves” so we won’t be dispersed over all the earth (Gen 11:4).

God had told Adam and Eve and Noah’s family to fill the whole earth, and the 70 nations descended from Noah did not want to. Adam and Eve do what they are told not to do. The 70 nations don’t do what they are told to do.

God sees the Tower of Babel, the pride, the rebellion, and calls it not good.  All humanity is united in a rebellious acts. Yet, God responds with mercy and grace. Rather than wiping the nations, he instead confusing the languages so they will stop their rebellious project and populate the earth.

Still, there is an implied question at the end of chapter 11. If you stopped reading at chapter 11, one wonders, “Is God through with the nations?"

As people who love Israel and the Jewish people, we probably know well Romans 9-11. Paul is in anguish in Romans 9 that so many of his fellow Jews cannot see Jesus. He provokes the believers in Romans 10 to go preach. Then he asks in Romans 11, “Has God rejected his people?! Heaven forbid!"

In Genesis 11 we see the mirror of Romans 11. The nations have teamed up to defy God, and God confuses them and scatters them. And the implied question is “Is God through with the nations?” Has God rejected all 70 nations that makeup humanity? We could even ask, Is God through with humanity? Adam and Eve rebelled. Noah and his sons did no better. Their children were also rebellious at Babel. Now what?

In mercy, God scattered the nations instead of crushing them. In grace, God calls Abram.

Let’s hear Genesis 12:1-3:

Now Adonai said to Avram, “Get yourself out of your country, away from your kinsmen and away from your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, I will bless you, and I will make your name great; and you are to be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse anyone who curses you; and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

What families? The 70 families of Genesis 10. The 70 families who rebelled at Babel.

God’s grace is he calls Abraham to bless the rebels from the Tower of Babel.

• God has Abraham bind Isaac, for the families of the earth
• God unites Isaac and Rebecca, for the families of the earth.
• God wrestles with Jacob, for the families of the earth. 

Jacob says in Genesis 49, that Judah will rule until Shilo comes. Who is Shilo? I’d venture to say that he is the promised Child of the Woman who will crush the snake.

Genesis ends and we don’t hear about Judah again, really, until 1 Samuel, when God tells Samuel to anoint a ruddy shepherd boy named David.

In our Haftarah reading, David is old and the wrong son is setting himself up to be king. What does it matter?

It mattered to David because God promised David, “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Sam 7:16). David knew that Solomon was the next generation in the move toward redemption, toward the Son that even David would call Lord (Ps 110, Matt 21:41-46).

From David to Malachi (or Chronicles, depending on your book order), the nations continue to rebel. They worship idols and persecute the Sons of Abraham. Why? Because the serpent does not want the Son of the Woman to come.

Then Matthew opens…

This is the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah, son of David, son of Avraham
Avraham was the father of Yitz’chak,
Yitz’chak was the father of Ya‘akov,
Ya‘akov was the father of Y’hudah and his brothers…

Matthew goes on to tell us of a woman – Miriam – who had known no man. She’s never had sex, yet she will have a son, “and you are to name him Yeshua [which means Adonai saves], because he will save his people from their sins.”

Behold the hero all creation has been waiting for!

Here is the Son of the Woman, Yeshua, the one who dies punishing that old Snake, the Father of Lies and the enemy of our souls.

Behold Jesus, Suffering Servant who sacrifices himself for the sins of the whole world! 

Yeshua is the Son of Abraham who blesses the nations, those rebellious nations who still say, “Let’s make a name for ourselves” with skyscrapers, nuclear bombs, and overflowing bank accounts.

This is why Paul says the good news of Yeshua the Crucified Messiah is “God’s powerful means of bringing salvation to everyone who keeps on trusting, to the Jew especially, but equally to the Gentile. For in it is revealed how God makes people righteous in his sight” (Rom 1:16-17)

What do we do with this good news?

We proclaim it! We tell our friends and family. We tell our co-workers and that guy we always see at the gym.

We need to tell our Jewish neighbors, too. I know you know. Remember, I’m here to remind you what you already know.

The nations are still rebelling, now worshiping money and power but still persecuting Abraham’s family.

October 7 revealed the antisemitism in the nations and in the hearts of mankind. Why do the nations hate the Sons of Jacob? Because they believe the Serpent’s lies. And the Serpent hates the Sons of Jacob because they brought forth the Messiah, the Son of the Woman who will cast him in the Lake of Fire in the end.

So, those of you who are Jewish followers of the Messiah, be bold in your identity as brothers and sisters of Jesus, the one who blesses the nations.

And those of you who are not Jews, comfort and encourage the Jews around you, especially those who don’t yet know Jesus.

If you’re not sure how to start the conversation, CMJ is here to help.

Go! Go tell the nations, go tell the Sons of Abraham that the Messiah has come and he will complete justice and peace in this world.

Let us pray.

Almighty and everlasting God, you established your covenant with Abraham and his seed: Hear the prayers of your congregation, that the people through whom you brought blessing to the world may also receive the blessing of salvation, through Yeshua Messiah our Lord.

And, Merciful God, creator of all the peoples of the earth and lover of souls: Have compassion on all who do not know you as you are revealed in your Son Yeshua the Messiah; let your Gospel be preached with grace and power to those who have not heard it; turn the hearts of those who resist it; and bring home to your fold those who have gone astray; that there may be one flock under one Shepherd, Yeshua Messiah Adonienu. Amen