Genesis 15:3-6 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars– if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 17:1-7 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. 2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” 3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

Do you remember growing up in Sunday School and before you would head into you class, all the classes would meet together and sing songs? “Jesus Loves Me”, “I’ve Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart, WHERE?”, “This Little Light of Mine”, “The B-I-B-L-E”, and “Father Abraham” were the songs I remember the most. Granted I probably would know more if I had attending Sunday School on a more regular basis after the age of 6. But for some reason, “Father Abraham” was my favorite song to sing:

Father Abraham, had many sons,
Many sons had Father Abraham,
I am one of them, and so are you,
So let’s all praise the Lord! (right hand, left hand, right foot, left foot)

Probably because it had all the motions. I am very white when it comes to dancing but hand motions the hokey-pokey style, I could handle.

But later in my life I got to thinking about that song. Father Abraham, wasn’t my Father. Didn’t God make a convenant with Abraham about the nation of Israel? Wasn’t it the Jews that called Abraham Father? And I am definately not a Jew. I would be what you would call a Gentile. It would be a slam to Jews everywhere for me to say that Abraham was my Father. So I came to the conclusion that that song was just a kids song that is fun to sing, but very theologically incorrect! Until today!

If you have a Bible around you and want to see what I am talking about, open and read Romans 4. If you need a page number, its on page 952 in my Bible but I can probably guarantee that that is not the page number in your Bible. But it could be a good start for looking. But of course I just opened my Study Bible and Romans 4 is found on page 1604. So if all else fails, look in the table of contents at the front of your Bible.

Paul completely goes against the Jewish status quo. They were proud of Abraham as their Father. They even flaunted it in Christ’s face at the end of John 8. But in Galatians 3:6-7 it says, “6 Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 7 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.” This is what Paul goes on to explain here in Romans 4. Starting in verse 2 Paul says that Abraham was not justified by works, because then he could boast, but (v. 3) Abraham believed God. What did He believe? Genesis 15:3-6 says;

And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars– if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Now let’s look at this. The Book of Genesis happens to be a chronological book. And this passage is found in Genesis 15. Abraham is promised by God that his offspring will be as the stars. Abraham believed this and it is credited to him as righteousness. This word “credit” is found 11 times, just in this chapter (v. 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 22, 23, 24). This is a banking term which means “to place on one’s account.” God took his big ink pen and wrote righteous across Abraham’s savings account. Notice (v.4) that it wan’t because of something that Abraham did that credited righteousnes to his account, because it would have been an obligation to do the work. But (v.5) Abraham did nothing but one thing. He believed. He trusted God and by his faith, he was credited righteousness. Romans 4:13 says “It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.” So Abraham’s convenant in Genesis 15 was for a people. A people of faith.

Again to the chronological aspect of Genesis, the next passage is in Genesis 17. Chapter 17 says that God will give Abraham a nation. A nation which is later called Israel and is around 2-3 million people within 500 years. Now this isn’t debated. Everyone knows that the nation of Israel started with Abraham. Hense why they call him their father. But if Genesis 15 comes before Genesis 17, then wouldn’t the convenant with the people come before the convenant with a nation. If that doesn’t give you proof then look at Genesis 12:4. It says that Abraham is 75 years old. Next time we see an age is in Genesis 16:3. It says that Abraham had been in Canann 10 years. So lets assume that 1 year alapses between Genesis 12 and Gensis 15 putting him at 76 years old when the covenant of God giving Abraham a people is put into place (if you don’t like to assume then look at Genesis 16:16. 86-10 years= 76). The next age we see is in Genesis 17:1. Abraham is 99 years old. 23 years has now gone by between Genesis 15 and Genesis 17. That is not enough time for Abraham’s descendants to be numbered as the stars in the sky, considering Abraham’s true heir was not Ishmael (Genesis 16:4-5; 16) but Isaac and he wasn’t on the scene for at least another year. And even if Ishmael was the choosen son, there had only been 23 years that had past. Even if Ishmael was an eagar beaver from the time he hit puberty, it is unlikely that he could procreate a people that numbered the stars in the sky. So this convenant extends past the convenant of cirucumcision made in Genesis 17. Hense why then the convenant of people and a nation coexist. This is why Abraham can be called our (Gentiles) Father. Because he became the fahter of offspring from those who believed and those who were circumsized. Whew!!! Now that’s alot to think about!

Romans 4:18-25 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead– since he was about a hundred years old– and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness– for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

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