Seder 13: Abram's Faithfulness

 Genesis 15 begins with the phrase, "After these things....", a phrase that also appears in Genesis 22:1, 20.  Joseph Soloveitchik suggests that this phrase marks transitions in Abram's life and divides his life into four periods.  The second one is covered in Genesis 15-21, chapters that feature God's covenant with Abram.

At this point God comes to Abram in a vision, as he would later to other prophets.  Commentator John Sailhamer sees Abram portrayed as a forerunner of Jeremiah, who later would be given a message about Judah's exile and return.  God reveals to Abram that his descendants would endure slavery in Egypt before settling in the land promised to them (vv 12-16).  

But before receiving that revelation, Abram asks God about something that is troubling him.  God has promised him numerous descendants (Ge 13:16), but he is still childless.  God assures Abram that the promise will be carried out (Ge 15:2-5).  The narrator then reports in verse 6, "And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness."

Abram's belief was not something that occurred in an instant.  He grew in faith as he walked with God over many years.  James the brother of Jesus saw Genesis 15:6 exemplified by Abram's willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac. In this case Abram's obedient actions demonstrated his faith (James 2:14-26).  

Language similar to Genesis 15:6 appears in Ps 106:30-31, where it is applied to Phinehas.  When Phinehas took decisive action to stop the apostasy at Baal Peor, "that was counted to him as righteousness from generation to generation forever" (verse 31). 

In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on January 27, 2024, Kyle Kettering explored the meaning of Genesis 15:6.  He noted that this verse marks the first appearance in Scripture of tzedakah, the Hebrew word for "righteousness."  Looking at other places where the word is used (Ge 18:19; Dt 6:25; 24:13, e.g.), we can see that the word often designates "right deeds or actions that accord with God's desire and plan."  Psalm 106:3 declares, "Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times!"

By Jesus' time, the word had come to be used specifically for deeds of charity.  Jesus uses the word this way in Matthew 6:1-4.  

Kyle observed that righteousness is a goal of man's relationship with God, and that trust is an essential component of biblical righteousness.  As Hebrews 11:6 says, "without faith it is impossible to please him." Habakkuk famously wrote that "the righteous shall live by his faith" (Hab 2:4).  The ESV footnote observes that "faith' In Habakkuk 2:4 means "faithfulness."    

In Romans 4, Paul holds up Abraham as example on one who was deemed righteous based on his faithfulness, not on specific deeds of the Torah.  

In the phrase "he counted it to him as righteousness," there are technically two ways to identify the antecedents of the pronouns "he" and "him."  We almost always think of "he" as God and "him" as Abram, but the other way around makes sense as well.  Certainly Abram deemed God to be righteous as well.