Abraham now meets God again. This is some dozen years or so after the Ishmael incident, there is no record of God speaking to Abraham in that period. One can also imagine how his relationship with his wife was going as well, and also what Abraham was thinking about himself.
Whatever the case, God had not forgotten Abraham and Sarah. In fact God was about to be even more explicit about His promises.
God said to Abraham, "I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers". What does it mean when God says "be blameless"? Abraham was clearly not blameless, nor was he about to become perfect, so I doubt it means that God expected him to live perfectly. So maybe it means he is to get over the guilt. This does not mean his behaviour does not matter; neither that the past has no effect (for it certainly would have an effect), nor that he could do what he liked in the future. For Abraham had to be faithful. It does mean that he is not to be living under a continual cloud of guilt, letting the guilt paralyse him. We are to do the same. We are to live as blameless, for because of Christ's death on the cross we are cleared of all sin, we are to live as free. Paul is a prime example of this. He was, as he refers to himself, the chief of sinners, having persecuted Christ and His church, yet in his life we find that he seemed to have no "hang-ups" about this. He knew perfectly well how bad he had been, but he also knew the effect of the cross and got on with serving the Lord.
We are to walk before the Lord, we are to live in His presence, not under a cloud. Then we will increase greatly in numbers. People will be attracted to a church of people who are living in the freedom of the Lord.
Whatever the case, God had not forgotten Abraham and Sarah. In fact God was about to be even more explicit about His promises.
God said to Abraham, "I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers". What does it mean when God says "be blameless"? Abraham was clearly not blameless, nor was he about to become perfect, so I doubt it means that God expected him to live perfectly. So maybe it means he is to get over the guilt. This does not mean his behaviour does not matter; neither that the past has no effect (for it certainly would have an effect), nor that he could do what he liked in the future. For Abraham had to be faithful. It does mean that he is not to be living under a continual cloud of guilt, letting the guilt paralyse him. We are to do the same. We are to live as blameless, for because of Christ's death on the cross we are cleared of all sin, we are to live as free. Paul is a prime example of this. He was, as he refers to himself, the chief of sinners, having persecuted Christ and His church, yet in his life we find that he seemed to have no "hang-ups" about this. He knew perfectly well how bad he had been, but he also knew the effect of the cross and got on with serving the Lord.
We are to walk before the Lord, we are to live in His presence, not under a cloud. Then we will increase greatly in numbers. People will be attracted to a church of people who are living in the freedom of the Lord.
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